Executive Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership
Meet the faculty: Marc Sasserath
Marc Sasserath is an affiliate professor for Entrepreneurship at ESCP Berlin campus. He studied business, philosophy, languages, and clinical organizational psychology in Germany, France, and the UK. As the founder & CEO of a brand consultancy and the founder & Chairman of an innovation firm, he works with leading and ambitious brands.
Marc is particularly passionate about entrepreneurial branding and cultural transformation.
In the Executive Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership (EMDIEL), he teaches participants about personal branding and self-marketing.
We had the opportunity to ask Marc about the role of self-branding in founding and transformation.
ESCP: Marc, you have a background in clinical organizational psychology, amongst others. How did you come to combine it with your passion for branding?
Marc Sasserath:That’s a very good question. I’ve been always interested in people and I always had a great desire in understanding how disfunctionalities develop.
Understanding organizations has a lot to do with culture and the underlying patterns that drive an organization. Brand is a very powerful tool in understanding identity, defining the future, and making it work. The concept of brand is rather complex to understand. It can provide a simple framework to give orientation, and provide a holding environment at the same time. For me the relationship between branding and clinical organizational psychology is a beautiful marriage of two disciplines that can create something extremely powerful together.
ESCP: One of your mottos is “Marken geben dem Sein Sinn.” / Brands give sense to meaning. Can you explain what this phrase means to you?
Marc Sasserath: People grasp brands instantly as they are part of our everyday life and people need orientation and direction. There is a beautiful concept that I call boundary object. A boundary object is a three-dimensional space that tells where you are, but also where the boundaries of your space lie. Brands are boundary objects for identity and work as proxies. They are the essence of what organizations stand for and why they are there. In this respect they give sense to being.
ESCP: In your teaching in the EMDIEL, you focus on entrepreneurial branding and self-marketing. How do you think these skills can help new entrepreneurs, but also managers and leaders in a corporate setting reach their goals?
Marc Sasserath: If you know who you are and where you want to be, heading there is much easier. But it also helps you to be self-effective and find happiness in your professional life. I really like the japanese concept of ikigai, which can be described as having a sense of purpose in life, as well as being motivated.
ESCP: When it comes to the (sometimes difficult) decision as to whether to be an entrepreneur or intrapreneur: what is your advice to people who are trying to make this decision?
Marc Sasserath: Ask yourself how strong you are and if you are really driven by bringing your entrepreneurial idea to life.
ESCP: Finally, what is your most memorable ESCP experience?
Marc SasserathI have three and they are very distinct:
- The launch of U-School - the proof that business schools can be very entrepreneurial
- One of my EMDIEL sessions that was a super dense and intimate experience as we created the perfect safe space
- The LGBT+ leadership programme that gives me a lot of joy and reward.
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