💼 Leadership isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone — it’s a skill that takes time, practice, and yes, the occasional misstep to master. In this new limited-edition EnterpriseAM vertical, we’re asking industry players what makes a great leader. Speaking to us this week is Kareem Abou Gamrah, co-founder and CEO of leading MENA content creation agency Peace Cake.

EnterpriseAM: What’s something you wish you had known before taking the helm at Peace Cake?

Kareem Abou Gamrah: Defining roles and responsibilities is critical. When people come into a new space, they’re excited to help grow the company and fulfill the vision — manifest the thing. If there is no “this is where this person’s job ends and this is where this person’s job begins,” it causes leakages.

This might make people feel unfulfilled in their job, which is demotivating. They could have great ambition for it, but they don’t see their work coming to fruition the way they would have wanted. It kills the team.

E: How important is empathy as a leadership trait?

KAG: In our line of business, you build people, not products. The investments that we make in crafting and building really strong storytellers, artists, editors, or designers — all of that makes empathy a tool. It’s not just a tool to manage a tough moment or talk someone down from an intense moment — it becomes how you get them to shift gears from second to third, and third to fourth.

Empathy is one of the basic things that, once you count it as an investment, you see it shared through them to their juniors down the line. They’ll remember how you acted in tough moments and how you treated a missed deadline.

E: You mentioned that you always give your employees your trust. Does that mean you lean towards a leadership style that’s more democratic, where you let everyone do their own thing and act as a guiding light?

KAG: I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily democratic, because I don’t think it works the same in every system. Too many heads in the same room without a clear line of who’s the decision maker is never a positive.

I used to be a micromanager in the sense of wanting to offer support on all fronts — I would work with finance, operations, everything. Then you realize that if your team doesn’t know how to deal with things on their own, it’s on you as a leader — you can’t grow a business or develop a system that way.

E: How do you go about communicating at Peace Cake?

KAG: One of the most difficult things a leader can accomplish is normalizing the tough talk. You do not want to avoid having tough conversations — it just adds more weight and makes processes slower. But you have to find a way to make the conversations less charged and get to a point where you can tell someone, “Hey, this thing sucks. You don’t suck — you’re actually incredible — but I want to have an objective conversation about this thing.”

E: So you would say having open communication is a way to preempt conflict within a team?

KAG: I like to claim that I have an open door, but I learned it’s not just about that. I’ll always make sure to sit in different areas of the office. That takes power away from the hierarchical structure that everybody comes into the workplace with. The last thing you want to do is be in an echo chamber where you’re just being told what you want to hear. That’s every CEO’s nightmare.

E: How do you go about solving that conflict within your team?

KAG: I take a very straightforward approach where I listen very, very well. It’s very important to let the person feel heard. I always appreciate the fact that someone came and spoke up — you always want to underscore that, whether the issue is one that will be resolved through method A or B, or whether they’re right or wrong. Celebrate that, “Hey, you’re heard, you’re here, we are in this together.”

Then you ask them first, “What would a resolution to this issue look like?” Whether it’s a personal conflict, a process issue that is bothering them in terms of workload, or a wall hit with a client. Very often, as a manager or leader, you fall into this parental role of wanting to fix it for them, but my fix might not necessarily be how they want it fixed. It’s a chance for me to hear what a fix looks like for them.

E: In your industry, how do you ensure that your team isn’t just relying on past successes?

KAG: Future-proofing work is one of the most essential parts of our job. We always have to stay ahead of what’s happening. In content, if something is working today, there’s no guarantee that it will work tomorrow. A significant part of our job is anticipating trends — or more importantly, constantly trying out new formats before the old way gets stale. That and an insane amount of content consumption. Everyone at Peace Cake is always consuming content, whether short- or long-form, and exchanging insights.

E: Peace Cake sees creatives of all ages working together — how do you approach leading these different generations?

KAG: We have two kinds of age groups who work at the company — we’re around 56 people now. There are those who are 30+, and those are around 25. The older ones have lived work experiences — they’ve had tough managers before and done time sheets or check-ins.

Then there is the younger generation, who has ambition and excitement, but hasn’t really dealt with what it’s like to report to someone or follow through on an objective. It’s all about gaining their trust, challenging them towards a better outcome, and encouraging them to share and discuss ideas with each other rather than enforcing a singular opinion.

E: Culture is one of the most important aspects of a workplace. You guys sound super fun, how do you do it?

KAG: Our environment is designed to be playful to bring out creativity. If there is tension in the space, it’s not going to be exciting for you to brainstorm. It doesn’t have to be funny, it has to be open and positive. I try to lead with humor, not ego. It’s about clarity and sharpness, but I also throw in a good joke or something wildly stupid sometimes just to shock them into “Oh, right, this is a normal interaction.”

If you ask someone at random in the office how many hours a week they work, or how taxing our work is, it’s a lot. It has to be packaged in a way where you don’t hate your job. That’s no way to live, and I wouldn’t want someone to work like that.

E: What do you think is the difference between a good leader and a great leader?

KAG: Knowing when to give people space to succeed and when to hold them accountable for whether or not they do. When you bring someone in, you give them space, explain how you measure success, and give them the tools to achieve it. And then you hold them accountable for whether or not they reach it. You can’t hold them accountable from day one.

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