David delivered a workshop on Creative Leadership in Malta in February 2025.
His Creative Leadership workshop is designed especially for creative, cultural and arts enterprises.
Working in partnership with In Place of War, in collaboration with Arts Council Malta, David helps artists and creatives to become even more successful through CASE Malta, the Creative and Social Entrepreneur Programme.
He has previously delivered online workshops on Creative Entrepreneurship for participants in the CASE Malta programme in January and June 2023, February 2024 and in February 2025.
The interactive Creative Leadership workshop addressed leadership issues relevant to creative and cultural businesses, arts practitioners and people leading creative projects, including collaborations and joint ventures.
The workshop covered topics such as:
– The difference between management and leadership
– The Six Leadership Styles
– Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
– Inspirational Leadership
– Leadership and Organisational Culture
– Case studies and examples of effective leadership in the creative industries
David was also involved in giving feedback to CASE Malta participants’ pitches as a member of the judging panel. Participants presented their creative enterprises and pitched for funding and/or mentoring.
Some online resources relating to this Creative Leadership workshop are available free online for workshop participants and other creative entrepreneurs worldwide:
– Leadership quotes (download PDF)
– Six Leadership Styles (download PDF)
– Inspirational Leadership (more…)
– Chapter 9 on Leadership in David’s book ‘T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity’. Download free eBook.
– How to Lead and Manage Virtual Teams (download PDF)
Some comments from workshop participants:
“Loved it! Inspired me to continue and sparked some ideas I left behind.”
– Victoria Chan
“Very interesting and insightful, especially differentiating between leadership and management – I’d never looked at it from that perspective! Improvements? Insist on a longer session next time please!”
– Joanne Scerri Valentino
“Leadership styles was a useful topic to cover. Also liked the practical examples mentioned. More of those please, especially for smaller businesses and dealing with collaboration. Thank you!”
– Tiziana Gauci
“This conversation came at the right time for me as the projects I am working on right now (and also in the past), my role fluctuated between leadership and management and it’s good to be able to recognise that and unpack what each role means. Thank you!”
– Anna Formosa
Read ‘Ideas in Action’ article from Malta, featuring CASE Malta participant Diellza Ilgner:
How to Find Your Niche as an Artist.
David draws on his own experience of leadership in the cultural and creative industries. He has set up businesses in the creative industries, managed and led employees, and taken a lead in creative and cultural projects. He has also advised and mentored leaders in the arts and cultural economy worldwide.
His international experience is based on having worked in more that 60 countries around the world.
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management and has other academic qualifications and professional accreditations.
He is an associate lecturer at the Leadership School Armenia.
Some information about his expertise in Leadership projects, plus testimonials from clients and participants is below.
“David Parrish’s presentation was inspirational and educational for all at the Leadership School in Armenia.
It was wonderful working with you and we are incredibly thankful that you were able to join us for your lecture and Q&A. Your remarks were so heartfelt and that standing ovation was well deserved! Thank you.”
Samvel Movsisyan, Founder, Leadership School Armenia
www.leadershipschool.am
“David was totally invaluable to my growth as a leader. His calm and considered approach let me delve right into the core of the issues facing my organization and my own professional development. The feedback that he gave was specific, honest, extremely generous and had a transformative effect on my work. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”
Sam Snedden. The Basement Theatre. Auckland, New Zealand
www.basementtheatre.co.nz
Creative Leadership Projects and Clients
In Tbilisi, Georgia, David delivered a training workshop for Cultural and Creative Leaders, commissioned by the British Council and the Culture & Creativity EU-Eastern Partnership Programme.
In partnership with the Leadership School Armenia, David delivered lectures and presentations in Yerevan on leadership, creativity and innovation, including : “How to be an Effective Leader” and “i-Creativity for Innovation, Impact and Profits”.
In Saudi Arabia, David presented a workshop on Leading Creative Cultures for the Program for Advanced Leadership and Management (PALM8) for the Madinah Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship (MILE).
He has worked with Hilton International and the ‘Hilton University’ delivering Leadership and Management training for Senior Vice Presidents (Europe) in Denmark and Switzerland. For Hilton International he also developed a training course in ‘Leadership and Communication’ training for fast-track hotel managers from around Europe, delivered in Milan, Strasbourg and Berlin.
In Bosnia & Herzegovina, David designed and delivered an in-house leadership training workshop for the management team at SPARK Business Park in Mostar, working in partnership with the Swiss EP project.
David developed and delivered a Change Management workshop, including Leadership and Management elements, with Thames Water International and the Australian National University, for senior managers from East Asia.
“How do you lead T-Shirts and Suits?” was the subject of David’s leadership presentation as guest speaker at the annual conference of the Marketing and Advertising Global Network (MAGNET) in Munich.
He provided Leadership and Management training for the ‘Grow Creative’ programme for senior executives of creative and digital businesses at Lancaster University. He also developed and delivered the ‘Leading Creative Cultures’ module and a workshop on ‘Leadership: Culture and Strategy’.
David devised and ran a training workshop ‘Leading and Managing Organisational Change’ at the Asia Pacific Centre for Continuing and Professional Development, in partnership with the Asia Business Forum, in Singapore and Thailand.
David was commissioned as a trainer and mentor to the ‘Accidental Leaders’ and ‘Accidental Managers’ programmes by Vision + Media in the UK.
Working with The White Room and Skillset Wales, David designed and delivered a training workshop in ‘Leadership and Communication’ for senior managers in the TV and media sector in Wales.
‘How to Lead and Manage Virtual Teams’ was a module developed for Hilton International by David, who also wrote and published an article on this subject.
He ran a leadership training module on ‘Leadership and Innovative Thinking’ for senior managers in partnership with Singapore company Lighthouse Global Training.
David has provided consultancy advice to a range of clients and mentored business owners, company directors and senior managers on Leadership and Management issues.
In addition, David has written about Leadership and Management in his book ‘T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity’, in his ‘Creative, Cultural and Digital Industries Guide’ for Business Link, and in numerous articles published online and in print.