Bossing It: Why There Is No One-Size-Fits-All When It Comes to Leadership with Adrienn Major

Adrienn Major is a multi-skilled production professional with 15 years’ experience in the media industry.

Throughout her career, she has worked alongside every element of the production process, from traditional video production, photography, live streaming and broadcasting at production houses to producing for global brands including Google and LEGO, and managing vast campaigns at top creative agencies including R/GA, AMV BBDO, VCCP Kin, We Are Social, and adam&eveDDB.

LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?

Adrienn> When I began working as a producer I took on a level of leadership, because when you’re managing a campaign or shoot there are various teams that look to you for guidance. But my leadership journey really began four years ago when I launched POD LDN with my business partner. Leadership doesn’t come naturally to me, so I wanted to do as much learning as possible to improve my skills for the team. Ever since I began learning about leadership I have become more comfortable with it. 

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? 

Adrienn> I’m still working on the kind of leader I want to be, and it changes continually. I began by looking at my previous bosses and reflecting on their styles, how they approached things, what I liked and disliked. This was, I guess, my basis for good leadership. I have also invested time in LinkedIn courses, I listen to podcasts, watch videos, and read more on the topic. 

Working with a coach is another source that has really helped me define my leadership style. At the start of the process, he interviewed my team extensively and carried out psychometric tests on me. It really helped me to see my behaviour patterns, and how that affects my approaches in different situations so I know what to work on. 

LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership? 

Adrienn> I think my big moment came when I realised that I needed to learn to look at things in two different ways. Because what might be a preferred situation for myself, might not be the best situation for the business, and I needed to learn to treat them separately. Sometimes, for the business, you have to make decisions that you really hate personally at that moment, but overall it's for the benefit of others in the company.

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? 

Adrienn> I didn’t really want to be in a leadership role. I wanted to make a difference and build something that mattered. I guess I only realised along the way that leadership would be an important part of the journey as a founder. I think it was in the first year of launching POD that I realised that if we wanted to scale up, and grow as a business, I also needed to level myself up to the challenge in order to lead my team well. That’s when I started to invest more time in learning and self-development. 

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? 

Adrienn> I think it helps that I am naturally curious and have a problem-solving approach, so I am always happy to learn or try new things. I think you can look at leadership a bit like learning a language. At first it is difficult for everyone, even for those who might have great language skills. But the more you practise it, the more fluent you become. It’s important to also understand that there is no one-size-fits-all. Finding your leadership style and approach is part of the process and you learn and unlearn along the way. 

LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them? 

Adrienn> For me, learning to delegate is a big one. I was very used to working on my own as a producer and it was a real challenge to delegate, and I am still learning to do it. The way I work on it is to remind myself that we have all these awesome people that we hired and they are completely capable of handling the situation. I also look at things objectively. It is not sustainable if I try and do everything, we simply can’t build a business like that. 

I am proud of the progress I have made over the last few years. I’m more relaxed, I am happy to let the team try things and I understand that making mistakes is part of their self-development, as well as a learning experience for the whole team.

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? 

Adrienn> I wouldn’t say I have failed, but I have made mistakes that have led to losses in some form or another. Again, I think the best advice is to learn from it. The team looks to me for guidance in these situations and the best I can do for them is not to let it get to everyone, but collectively go through the positives, and the learnings and recover. Unfortunate situations happen in every company, and we need to remind ourselves that we are not exempt from this. 

LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered? 

Adrienn> I am a big believer in transparency in all aspects of life, it is very important to me. If I feel like I am out of my depth, I like to admit it. I think it's also important for my team to know that I am still learning and that we all make mistakes sometimes. 

Another important thing to mention is that during recruitment we clearly communicate that we are still in a start-up phase and new recruits need to be on board with a start-up mentality. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have processes, it means that we are still testing and perfecting them. There is also a place for being careful and considered, and making difficult decisions that might affect individuals in the company is one. 

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? 

Adrienn> I am looking for a mentor at the moment who I can learn from and who inspires me. Now, I have a coach who helps me with how I approach situations, and my mindset.

LBB> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters? 

Adrienn> In the beginning, it would stress me out when there were external changes that were out of our hands. Since then I have learned a few tricks. Being proactive in every way possible, rather than reactive, is a great trick in this area. We optimised the business and built it around efficiency, and that really helped us ride the waves. 

On a personal level, I learned to deal with stress better. I focus on the positives and the opportunities external situations provide rather than focusing on the ones I can’t control. As Churchill said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. I can apply this advice by thinking about how we can make the most of a bad situation, that can perhaps help us stand out. 

LBB> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you’ve prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce? 

Adrienn> This is a topic close to my heart, as I know being the only one “from somewhere else” or being different is not easy. I was born in Hungary and came to London to study and begin my career. So one thing I try to do besides hiring a diverse team is to make sure we have multiple people from the same or similar backgrounds, so no one feels alone or “stands out” in a negative way. It makes me super happy if they can speak their own language and embrace their own culture within the team. I think it's a small trick that can help people feel included, and not just be there to boost diversity figures. 

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? 

Adrienn> Building a culture is, I guess, really hard for us, because we have multiple offices across the world. To bring teams together we aim to meet one to two times a year in the same location. 

We try to be flexible about how people work. And we have a variety of “setups” across our offices aimed at people doing different roles. While our client service team can be more flexible, for post production teams this can be more difficult due to the huge files they have to deal with. The way we balance this is to allow them to also WFH -when they can - so it doesn’t feel unfair. 

LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey? 

Adrienn> I would say LinkedIn courses and my coach Tom Cross. I think it's super beneficial to have someone who is an “outsider” that you can talk to and they can guide you objectively in a results-driven way. I hope to also find a mentor this year. I would like to work with someone I can look up to, that my values align with, and who has the experience of building a business.