Collegial leadership at ZENTRALNORDEN

2025 | 6 min reading time

An honest experience report from everyday agency life

In a world in which teamwork and personal responsibility are becoming increasingly important, we are convinced that collegial leadership is a building block for the future of collaboration. Many people are familiar with the term, but what does it actually mean in practice? And what does it actually mean for us at ZENTRALNORDEN?

»For us, collegial leadership is not just a concept, but a way of life that changes everyday working life - towards more personal responsibility and mutual trust.«
- Sören, CEO

Our journey: From founding team to agile organisation

For over five years, we have been experimenting with new forms of leadership, seeking advice and inspiration from outside and continuously reorganising ourselves as a team. Founded by four friends, ZENTRALNORDEN developed into an owner-managed company and is now an agile, collegially structured organisation. This was not always easy and required courage to change, but the journey has been worth it.

Our tools: fast trout and wild salmon

What does collegial leadership mean for us in concrete terms? Over the years, we have developed a number of tools that help us to make and implement decisions together more quickly and efficiently:

Quick Trout: The Quick Trout is our agile standard tool for the questions and problems that we solve together. Topics can be brought to the table quickly here - whether small or moderately complex. Anyone can participate and contribute their own ideas. The aim is to find uncomplicated solutions and encourage motivation for active participation. For example, a Schnelle Forelle took up the topic of our Christmas party, considered what should happen there and developed a project from the ideas and the timetable.

»The Fast Trout has revolutionised our problem-solving behaviour. No long meetings, but short, effective dialogue formats. Here you can feel how collegial leadership lives.«
- Katrin, Designer

Wild Salmon: Wild Salmon came about almost by chance when we wanted to bring all the minds at ZENTRALNORDEN together for an important decision. This format offers space for the ‘big questions’ that we work on together as a team. The Wild Salmon happens less frequently, but when it does, the energy is palpable and the results are often groundbreaking. For example, we take time once a year to reflect on our annual strategy (OKRs) together.

»The Wild Salmon is like brainstorming on steroids. Everyone is heard here and the best ideas emerge from the diversity of our perspectives.«
- Patrick, Art Direktor
Wilder Lachs: Gemeinsam arbeiten wir an der Ausrichtung unserer Agentur

Role-based leadership: An annually elected steering group is the guardian of our collegial leadership and holds the reins. In terms of content, a strategy working group complements the processes. It draws up our OKRs, which define the framework for our trout and salmon and ensure that we are all swimming in the same direction.

Tips and lessons learnt

Our experience shows that collegial leadership not only brings freedom, but also responsibility. Here is some advice for others who want to embark on this journey:

- Start small and iterate: 'Test an unfinished prototype and constantly adapt it to your needs. ‘Be brave and just start - the first step is often the most important.’ - Katrin, designer

- Share responsibility: 'Courage to take personal responsibility can grow in small steps, e.g. in areas such as quality assurance. ‘Sharing responsibility creates trust and opens up new opportunities for the entire team.’ - Sören, CEO

- Mistakes are allowed: 'An open feedback culture is crucial for learning from mistakes and growing as a team. ‘A culture of error is important for testing and developing prototypes. But we realise that it's not always easy and that we can still grow in this area.’ - Patrick, Art Director

Conclusion: successful together

For us, collegial leadership is not just a working method, but a way of growing together and finding creative solutions. Of course, this approach is not suitable for every company and every situation. But for us at ZENTRALNORDEN, it is currently the best way to be successful together.

»Collegial leadership is like a good soap opera - sometimes chaotic, sometimes successful, but in the end you stick together and achieve great things together.«
- Patrick, Art Director

Curious?

Book an appointment with us and get a live insight into our collegial way of working. We look forward to sharing our journey and perhaps inspiring others to take the plunge.

Leonie Holkenbrink

Strategy | ZENTRALNORDEN

As an experienced communications strategist on both the agency and NGO side, Leonie has already mastered many communicative challenges. No matter what it's about, she has to get to the heart of the matter. Leonie loves organising creative workshops and is perhaps the only person who loves meeting marathons. In addition to her work at ZENTRALNORDEN, she works as a mediator where she promotes a positive culture of conflict.

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