Tomás García Gatica

Student Number - 2966093

Lecture’s Name – Marlin de Bresser

While this essay is being written, millions of people are watching TV-series. It seems that movies are not long enough, and that is why people are spending hours watching a TV-series, as you basically, never really finish the storyline. Netflix is little by little imposing the fact that seeing a series is not an option of entertainment, but rather as an activity within your daily routine. Because of that, it is so the closeness of viewers with the story that they are having some kind of “relationship” with the characters. Virtually, viewers observe the daily life of the characters at the same time they are living theirs, even from the couch.

The fictional characters are reflected through different personalities from the real world and are used under everyday different roles that are well done. Because of that, this serves as a guide for the followers that are not only watching their favourite characters, they are also learning from them.

Leadership is one of the many topics that are touched on series and therefore you can learn. This has been reflected in various cases and in different ways. For example the Pacemakers Leader: Charles Carson (Downton Abbey) or the Democratic Leader who makes Olivia Pope (Scandal), Coercive Leader of Cersei Lannister (Game of Thrones), the Affiliative Leader of Yvonne 'Vee' Parker (Orange is the New Black) and finally the Managers Leaders as they are: Gus Fring (Breaking bad), Frank Underwood (House of Cards) and Don Draper (Mad Men). These are visionary leaders, whom place their long-term objectives, and are need of a passionate team to accomplish their goals. This type of leadership also needs someone who, like the protagonist of Mad Men, lead innovation. “Leading Innovation is about building an organization where individual slices of genius come together to create collective genius through collaboration, discovery-driven learning, and integrative decision-making.” (Collective genius: The art and practice of leading innovation, 2010. p191)

Because leading an agency requires creativity and innovation skills, it is interesting to analyze how Don Draper behaves and what is taught from the screen by Creative Director and partner of the agency: Sterling, Cooper, Draper & Pryce - about leading innovation.

Every advertisement that Don Draper creates is more than just ideas well executed. They are effective and they solve any marketing problem that each of the companies and brands come across. One of the reasons why the campaigns of Don are so effective is due to that he always manages to understand the target group of the product perfectly and knows how to persuade them.

He understands that the consumer comes first and thinks of his or her happiness above all. This means that it is more important to satisfy their needs than to try to sell them a new product or service.

This leader also has skills in speaking and presenting to a client. He does not impose his ideas, but he is able to explain and convince the client that the idea proposed is always the best choice. He is an extremely creative a publicist and always manages to distinguish with innovative ideas for the clients. This helps to build willingness and create a community with a sense of shared purpose, values and rules of engagement. He also has a magnetic presence, especially with women, and manages to win the attention of the audience at all times. When he speaks, nobody interrupts, since his arguments are always solid and convincing. Draper always knows what he is talking about and is never unsure of what he has said. “Psychological leader characteristics, such as high energy and self-confidence, dominance and a strong need for power, and a strong conviction in their own beliefs and ideals” (e.g., House, 1977; House, Woycke & Fodor, 1988; House & Howell, 1992). (Leadership in Organizations, 2011. p174)

Don Draper not only handles his team as a leader but he knows how to enhance the virtues of everyone in the team. In every chapter of the series, he demonstrates excellent leadership that is based on assigning to each person with specific responsibilities, compliance dates of delivery and before all, excellence in each campaign. This leader creates an organization where people are able to do the work of innovation with creative abrasion (intellectual diversity and intellectual conflict), creative agility - that involves quickly pursuing multiple experiments, learning from the outcomes, and then adjusting plans – and creative resolution. He always keeps his eyes open to recognize the skills of his employees. Draper was always attracted to the new beginnings, regardless if he really needed one or not. The most remarkable case for Don was the case of Peggy Olsen, one of the editors of the creative agency that used to be his secretary. She was later promoted - thanks to the skills and confidence that Don gave her.

After analyzed Don Draper behaves, I can concluded that it is true that people are interacting much with what they see apply it to real life. Thanks to the leading innovation skill that Don Draper has, he has the ability to build an organization where individual slices of genius come together to create collective genius through collaboration. This organization has creative abrasion, creative agility and creative resolution and because of that, anyone can learn this while watching the TV-series.

DEN HARTOG, DEANNE, and PAUL KOOPMAN. “Leadership in Organizations.” Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology – Volume 2. 2001. SAGE Publications. 16 Feb. 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2016

Hill, L. A., Brandeau, G., Truelove, E., & Lineback, K. (2014, June 10). Collective genius: The art and practice of leading innovation. Retrieved May 15, 2016