What is the entertainment industry? Media and entertainment include television, movies, streaming services, gaming, and performing arts. Entertainment companies encompass some of the world’s highest-grossing businesses worldwide.
As of December 2022, the biggest entertainment companies per trailing twelve months (TTM) revenue were:
- Comcast Corp. – $121.2 billion
- The Walt Disney Co. – $82.7 billion
- Netflix Inc. – $31.5 billion
- Paramount Global – $30 billion
- Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. – $26 billion
Nintendo Co. Ltd. (one of the most recognized brands in the video game industry) ranked eighth out of the top ten entertainment companies, generating $14.3 billion in TTM revenue.
Each company requires effective and strategic leadership to remain profitable among stiff competition.
Here’s a look at how leaders might succeed in the entertainment industry.
Set an Example to Inspire People
As a leader, the main goal is to influence and guide people into doing their best work. That starts with setting an example to inspire people.
Working with others means dealing with challenges and obstacles. Strong character is essential for an effective leader. To influence others, you must treat them with dignity and respect.
Some ways to lead by example include the following:
- Listen to your team
- Stay organized
- Deliver on promises
- Take part in critical projects
- Resolve conflicts
In the entertainment industry, influential leaders should also hire talent based on their character. Working with like-minded people serves as a genesis for an inspired workplace.
Become a Visionary Leader
Leaders in the entertainment industry compete with some of the world’s top companies and brands. Their roles effectively determine a company’s direction.
Leaders must also see the bigger picture to balance influencing people in the short term. That means defining long-term goals to bring about organizational clarity.
With a clear vision, leaders help to create a sense of purpose that motivates employees. Leaders must also learn to adjust to their goals, if necessary.
Visionary leaders know how to navigate the ups and downs of any business.
Characteristics include:
- Offers a compelling vision for the future
- Takes risks by thinking outside the box
- Communicates goals effectively
- Makes step-by-step plans to achieve objectives
- Envisions opportunity when others might see a downside
To become a visionary leader in the entertainment industry, individuals must adapt to emerging technologies. Firm leaders must learn how to use new technology for business growth.
Visionary leaders in creative fields should also import ethical behavior in an inclusive environment to bring about social change.
Learn From Your Competitors
Influential leaders must learn from their competitors to stay competitive in any industry—for example, the gaming industry in the U.S. and U.K.
Casinos have to compete with some of the largest companies in the world. They constantly change with partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions.
Staying up-to-date with the latest gambling laws and regulations is also crucial for companies based in London, New York City, or elsewhere in America. These companies must often open new locations to remain one step ahead of any significant changes in the industry.
From $10 deposit casinos in offshore markets to the Las Vegas Strip, leaders in any branch of the entertainment industry must learn from their competitors.
Build Trust with Your Clients and Colleagues
Proper communication helps to foster long-term relationships. For leaders to succeed in the entertainment industry, they should build trust with their clients and colleagues.
With trust comes new opportunities, and that’s how professionals in the entertainment industry can rise to leadership roles.
Here are a few communication skills to help refine your leadership qualities:
- Pay attention to verbal and nonverbal cues
- Use deliberate language carefully in a formal tone
- Know your audience
- Prepare before giving a speech
- Practice active listening
- Develop and implement a workplace communication strategy
Building trust with the people you work with also helps to promote and maintain your reputation. Clients in the entertainment industry may recognize leaders by how they treat colleagues.
So, it’s a valuable resource to develop trust with those around you.
Practice Confidence with a Positive Attitude
Happiness at work comes from healthy self-esteem and a positive attitude. Leaders who exude confidence help energize employees to work with purpose and direction.
Top directors in the movie industry with a positive attitude motivate those on set to give their best efforts. Confidence from an experienced leader shows up on screen during a challenging scene when actors deliver a moving performance.
A positive attitude from confident leadership in the entertainment industry lifts others to the top of their game.
Characteristics of positive leaders include integrity, respect, self-awareness, courage, and gratitude. These traits bring movies, TV, and other performing arts to a higher level.
Be Resilient
For leaders to be influential, they must be proactive and resilient through ups and downs. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the entertainment industry. So leaders must acknowledge the precarity of their positions with accountability for mistakes and failures.
The television industry is known for picking up shows for only a few seasons, up to four at best. Leaders at production companies should always be quick to recover from any letdowns.
Resiliency also surfaces during long-term success. If a TV show becomes widely popular or a film is a big hit with an audience, significantly advancing your career, then staying grounded is essential.
It’s common in show business for success to go to people’s heads, for them to lose sight of why they started in the industry in the first place.
Remember to stay resilient, no matter what happens.
The Future of the Entertainment Industry
Even before widespread lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, the entertainment industry changed their business models significantly. The meteoric rise in worldwide internet availability transformed show business.
Now, anybody with a smartphone and a camera acts as a professional photographer, TV or movie producer. Social media apps also influence how people get their entertainment through endless videos online.
Combinations of streaming video and user-generated content allow anybody to watch or become an actor, actress, or film star.
In the not-so-distant future, people may engage through 3D virtual reality headsets, offering an alternate universe in how they stay entertained.
Influential leaders must adapt to those changes to the best of their abilities.
