Tom Fussell: Leading creative people

How do you lead creative people in a high profile organisation like the BBC?

Tom Fussell is the CEO of BBC Studios, the BBC’s production and distribution business. Most recently, his team was responsible for the coverage of the King’s coronation and the Queen’s funeral. It doesn’t get much bigger or more under the spotlight than that.

In this episode, Tom discusses how he’s creating the conditions for people to feel empowered to do their best work, often in high pressure situations like these. He covers how he’s scaling the business whilst maintaining coherence, including how he makes partnerships work successfully. He reflects on his leadership approach, the tough calls he’s made, and how he looks after himself.

You’ll hear about:

• What is Tom Fussell’s leadership style?
• Positioning BBC Studios in the BBC
• How to lead creative people
• Maintaining coherence whilst scaling the BBC
• Making partnerships work
• How to evolve an inclusive and diverse culture
• The challenges of being CEO of BBC Studios
• The importance of giving people space
• How Tom keeps fresh as a leader

The best bits of these conversations are captured in my newsletter Strategic Leader.

More about Tom

Tom Fussell is the CEO of BBC Studios, the BBC’s production and distribution business. He is on the BBC executive board, reporting into director general, Tim Davie. Tom became CEO in October 2021 after holding the interim position for 13 months. Prior to this, Tom was CFO at BBC Studios, starting the role in 2017, having held the same position at BBC Worldwide since May 2016.

He has previously held leadership roles at Shine, Harper Collins UK, Random House and the BBC.

• Tom’s LinkedIn profile.
• BBC Studios.