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The Berlin School of Creative Leadership is perhaps the first of its kind in the world. Based at Steinbeis University of Berlin, the school has set up with the intention of teaching creative leaders how to manage. It sees high-level creative professionals take part in a year long MBA, focusing on strategy, innovation, change management and leadership skills.

So far, however, take up among Middle East communication professionals has been limited. In an effort to win over potential recruits in the region, the Berlin School did its best to be visible at this year’s Dubai Lynx Awards, giving presentations and organizing a workshop. The school even offered a potential $10,000 scholarship for professionals undertaking the course.

FOUNDING FATHER. The course was founded by Leo Burnett Worldwide’s former chief creative officer. When Michael Conrad retired, he was contacted by the German Art Directors Club who asked him if he was willing to engage in education for the sake of the next generation of creative people. “I was very reluctant because the real problem isn’t the next generation, but the current management in agencies,” he says. “Sometimes, a chief creative officer is not as effective in his role as he should be, because it’s not easy to put the creative quality on top of a company’s agenda. If a creative company doesn’t have a creative heart at the center of it, how can it be creative? We hoped that chief creative officers would become managers.”

The result was an MBA for creative leaders in all communication fields, with teachings provided at a global level by both academics and accomplished practitioners. The Berlin School was born in the fall 2006, and is now building its fourth class. Groups of 25 to 30 senior communication people, generally aged in their late thirties, meet for 80 days of teaching in a year and a half, served up in six double-week modules (four in Berlin, one in Tokyo and one in the United States, in partnership with the Kellogg School of Management).

Nationals from some 15 different countries have been part of the program. “The global aspect is very important, it’s very interesting to see how Japanese, Latinos, Anglo-Saxons solve a problem. Everybody learns from each other,” says Conrad. Which could explain his attempts to attract some more Middle East participants.

SPEAKING TO THE CONVERTED. While the Lynx Awards were useful exposure in the region, Conrad believes the real Middle East breakthrough will come after getting those next few students through the program. “More awareness will be produced when we have more participants,” he says. “Then, they become evangelists.”

Which certainly seems to be the case for Bechara Mouzannar, regional executive creative director of Leo Burnett. Mouzannar is the only graduate of the course from the Arab world to date. He’s a passionate advocate, and says the school changed his perception of his work.  “After 27 years of work, it’s always good to open your eyes to new horizons and to break the routine,” he says. “One needs to be aware of the new techniques, the new scenarios and of the upcoming challenges. In four years, 80 percent of ad spend will be generated on the Internet, for example. Technology is transforming humans into the new media. We need to learn how to tell a story in a different way with a brand at its core, outside the formats we’re used to. Questioning the status quo is part of what we learn, on top of redefining positively our models and media landscape, managing creative teams in a rational and motivating way, having a vision and defining a plan that can be implemented and so on.” Since completing the course Mouzannar says he feels “rejuvenated.”

According to Conrad, two more high-ranking communication pros from the region may shortly join the program. That’s a start, but only time will tell whether the Berlin teachings will spread in the Arab world.

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