Webinar with leadership program S.T.A.R.S released
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhz8IeqbGuI
In this stars Webinar, stars International Board Member Michael SCHINDHELM, Writer, Filmmaker, Advisor on Culture and Arts, Lugano/Singapore, talks about leadership, the significance of culture and art for society and business, about innovation and human resources. Some take-aways are:
- Michael SCHINDHELM (MS) and Angela MERKEL, to become the Chancellor of Germany later on, shared in the 1980ies an office at the academy of sciences in East Berlin and both left science and moved to the world of politics and culture, respectively. Why? The fall of the Berlin Wall was the disruptive moment for both, they were young enough to reinvent themselves and take the opportunities.
- MS’s dedication to Angela MERKEL in one of his books: “Go into the wide open”, made Merkel to her own motto and reflects the spirit of this generation of East Germans after 1989.
- What could managers learn from culture? In the pandemic, culture is in a defensive mode, i.e. not regarded as that relevant for the society, and has to reconsider its role. Apart from lockdowns other answers are needed, i.e. social and emotional aspects. On the other hand, business is very focused on facts and figures, efficiency and optimization. Leadership requires a better understanding of social and emotional intelligence. In this regard, culture has a unique selling point.
- Why major focus on films? MS is first of all a storyteller, a documentary filmmaker, constantly looking out to find the right perspective to understand the reality, to hunt for the moment of authenticity, with the help of intellectual and social exchange.
- Why major focus on China? China took a direction after the end of the communist world system different from all other countries, with tremendous economic success. Documentaries like “Bird’s Nest” and “The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg” as well as the upcoming film about Hong Kong studied the social transformation in the country by showing the impact of culture.
- The latest film “A Vaccine at the Speed of Light” (The BioNTech Project): is the story about luck and genius, an extraordinary story of scientists, coming from Turkey, and making this incredible career in Germany. Another message is that disruptive innovation does not necessarily come from the center, but from the periphery.
If you are based outside Switzerland and Germany (geoblocking), you can watch the English version of the film here. - MS’s work as a cultural advisor: culture is a tool for creating a new social and societal openness, particularly in developing countries, and is potentially an incubator for testing social changes.
- MS’s ambition: discovering and exploring the human resource and capacity.
- Inspiration comes from personal contacts, reading unsystematically across various fields of culture, science and politics, and connecting the dots.
