When art becomes a life-shaping force – Inspiration in leadership and everyday life at the ESSCA event

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 04. 18. 09:39

The Budapest campus of the ESSCA School of Management, together with the porcelain jewelry manufacturer ZEMA and renowned artists, held an inspiring event on April 15th at the Kraft Salon. The program focused on the connection between the arts and personal and professional development.

The event, titled “How do the arts influence our private and professional lives?”, aimed to demonstrate that self-expression, creation and artistic activities not only shape personality, but also play a key role in the development of leadership skills. The event featured presentations by Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray, director of the Budapest campus of ESSCA, opera singer András Farkas, and Erzsébet Papp, owner and artistic director of ZEMA.

Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray highlighted that artistic activities – whether it is music, painting or crafts – develop the inner skills that are the hallmarks of an authentic, empathetic and strategically aware leader. “Art is not only an aesthetic experience, but also a mental training, a mirror of self-knowledge and a source of inspiration,” the director said.

The example of the ZEMA manufactory clearly illustrates how creativity becomes the basis for quality and business success. Hand-painted porcelain jewelry is also in demand internationally, and behind it are values such as patience, precision, aesthetic sense and commitment to sustainability.

The international examples presented at the event – such as the graffiti workshops in Paris or the music programs in Angers – show that ESSCA consciously gives space to creative self-expression on all its campuses. In Budapest, for example, students contribute to making hospital pediatric wards friendlier.

“Leadership is an art, just like interpreting a piece of music: it requires vision, sensitivity, discipline and openness,” Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray summed up the message of the event.