Bossing It: Choosing Your Battles Wisely with Linus Ewers
First job as a graphic designer at the age of 17. Started at the post office at 19. Directed hundreds of commercials around the world.
Style: Combines breath-taking images and captivating narrative.
International breakthrough: His film school graduate work at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. A romantic fantasy, told at 2,400 frames per second for Calvin Klein Watches.
Driving motivation: To harvest the emotional potential of a project. To induce the audience to connect with it. His own consultancy and creative production brickbeach since 2017. Expanded into fully virtual production with his digital company tabletop supersensory. Three kids.
Campaigns for Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Mercedes-Benz, Coke, Domino’s and many more.
Awards: Cannes Lions, Grand Prix Effie and Gold Effie for SABMiller.
Trivia: Famous for his hand-chopped U.S. prime beef burgers. Make sure you order medium-rare.
LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?
Linus> Running our school newspaper.
LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn’t want to be?
Linus> When I started my career, I didn't have time to find out. I had to learn everything by doing.
LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?
Linus> I used to have a severe agoraphobia-anxiety disorder. It's a funny thing when you're a director. I mean, you must travel a lot, there will be big spaces and huge locations. Imagine having to work on the roof of the tallest building in Africa with a disorder like that. I told the crew about my challenge. They asked me a few questions and helped me from then on. That's how the crew made it possible for me to lead at all. I learned that leadership is something you must make sacrifices for.
Learning: I could have covered up my bouts of anxiety. They would have thought: "What an idiot!" We wouldn't have achieved what we achieved.
LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you?
Linus> I always knew what I wanted to achieve. To achieve the desired results, I needed a team. And I needed this team to work towards this specific result.
LBB> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned?
Linus> You can learn it. But only if you are prepared to recognise that leadership is not about "being the boss". It is about responsibility. This often means that you put yourself second, because you can't be the best at everything. You need to be able to take control and call the shots. But you also need to know your weaknesses, probably even better than your strengths. You need to be willing and able to face these weaknesses. The good news is that you can turn your weaknesses into your strengths.
LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?
Linus> Make sure your passion for something doesn't get in your way. No matter how much you think you have a better idea or creative solution than your clients, it's a marathon not a sprint. Choose your battles wisely.
LBB> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it?
Linus> I fail every day. My credo is: accept that for every 10 decisions or steps you take, 1-2 will be wrong. That leaves you with 80-90%. That's better than making half the decisions you could make.
LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be as transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?
Linus> "Authenticity" comes from openness.
If you are not approachable and understandable, you will not succeed.
My core team knows about my important, sometimes personal issues that could affect the work. When my younger brother passed away, I called the team together the next day. I told them that the doctors had said that I might behave strangely over the next few weeks.
That people like me, who can't just take a four-week break, might have very erratic patterns of behaviour while grieving. So, I asked the team to let me know whenever I behaved strangely or deviated from my usual approach. Some did. That helped us all.
I hate the term "boss" or "CEO" because a lot of people use it as a status symbol. I mean, there seem to be 1,000,000 CEOs on LinkedIn. Even people who don't have employees are now calling themselves CEOs. If you need a title to be accepted as a leader, you're in the wrong place or in the wrong profession. But I've also learned that these titles, when used honestly, can help you remind yourself that you are ultimately in charge.
LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so, who were/are they and what have you learned? And on the flip side, do you mentor any aspiring leaders and how do you approach that relationship?
Linus> I learn from many people every day. One important advisor is definitely our in-house strategy person Cornelia. On the other hand, I am very proud of how our animation director Max has developed, in whose professional development I have perhaps played a modest role.
LBB> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters?
Linus> Transparency. But be careful: if you have an experienced team, fine. If not, be careful. Transparency can scare people.
LBB> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you’ve prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce?
Linus> We focus on people and their expertise. Regardless of gender or origin.
LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with increases in remote and hybrid working patterns?
Linus> Our culture is our strength. We are resilient, curious, experienced, transparent and fair. These attributes apply to any work situation remote or in office, freelance or on-staff.
In our daily lives, we work remotely almost 100% of the time and have no problems. But again, the same applies as above: If you have an experienced team, fine. If not, you should be careful. Freedom is also a duty and not just a privilege.
LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey?
Linus> As far as books go, that would be Simon Sinek's "Start With Why". I know that's a pretty common choice. But it reminds me that with everything that happens, you have to know WHY you're doing the things you're doing, and the rest will fall into place.
By the way, knowing why you personally are on this planet as a human being helps a lot in that regard.
