Discover leadership lessons from BTS leader RM (Kim Namjoon). Learn how his management approach built a $50 billion brand and what executives can apply.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Wed 31st December 2025
RM (Kim Namjoon) serves as the leader of BTS, the South Korean musical group that became one of the twenty-first century's most successful entertainment phenomena. Beyond the music, RM's leadership offers surprising relevance for business executives—lessons in team development, crisis management, and building organisations that inspire extraordinary loyalty.
When BTS's management company, Hybe Corporation, launched its initial public offering in 2020, it raised approximately $50 billion. Harvard Business School researchers studied the group's success, identifying leadership principles that apply far beyond entertainment. RM's approach to leading seven individuals with different personalities, ambitions, and talents provides a masterclass in collaborative leadership that transcends cultural and industry boundaries.
In K-pop groups, the leader role carries specific responsibilities distinct from Western band structures. RM's leadership encompasses:
| Responsibility | Application |
|---|---|
| External representation | Speaking on behalf of the group in interviews and official settings |
| Internal mediation | Resolving conflicts and facilitating communication between members |
| Creative direction | Guiding musical and artistic vision whilst balancing individual contributions |
| Cultural bridging | Translating Korean content for international audiences |
| Strategic alignment | Ensuring individual ambitions align with group objectives |
RM assumed this role as a teenager, stepping into leadership with few role models in the industry. His development from uncertain young leader to globally recognised figure offers insights into how leadership capacity grows through deliberate practice and genuine commitment to others' development.
RM became leader partly through circumstance—he was the first member recruited and possessed English fluency essential for international communication. But his selection also reflected observable leadership qualities: intellectual curiosity, communication skills, and genuine concern for others' wellbeing.
Research examining BTS's American market success identified four reasons for RM's influence: "He marked the beginning of BTS, his compassion and dedication, his powerful speech abilities, and his leadership role towards teamwork." Notably, these qualities developed rather than appeared fully formed. RM's leadership journey demonstrates that capability grows through experience, reflection, and intentional development.
RM exhibits what leadership scholars call "principle-based leadership"—leading from consistent values rather than situational expediency. His core principle appears straightforward: growing others represents his primary commitment.
How this manifests:
Knowledge sharing — RM recognised that the group's rappers had a creative head start over vocalists. Rather than maintaining this advantage, he curated playlists exposing all members to alternative sounds and deeper lyrics.
Platform creation — He actively creates opportunities for other members to lead in their areas of strength, stepping back when others' expertise exceeds his own.
Long-term orientation — His decisions prioritise the group's decade-long trajectory over short-term individual gains.
This approach inverts the conventional leadership model where leaders accumulate power. RM's leadership gains strength through distribution rather than concentration—a paradox familiar to servant leadership practitioners.
RM's communication style emphasises transparency, particularly during difficult moments. Rather than suppressing conflict, he creates conditions where members can express concerns safely.
Key communication practices:
In one documented instance, RM intervened when members' emotions threatened group cohesion, helping them "calmly explain and discuss what they're going through, providing a platform to solve issues." This facilitative approach treats conflict as information rather than threat—a perspective many corporate leaders struggle to maintain.
Perhaps RM's most sophisticated leadership challenge involves aligning seven individuals' aspirations with group objectives. Each BTS member pursues solo projects whilst maintaining group commitment—a balance requiring constant negotiation.
How RM manages this tension:
| Challenge | RM's Approach |
|---|---|
| Solo ambitions | Supporting individual projects that build group value |
| Creative differences | Finding synthesis rather than compromise |
| Attention distribution | Ensuring all members receive recognition |
| Evolution needs | Allowing the group's identity to develop whilst maintaining continuity |
RM explained this philosophy using a nautical metaphor: "A team is like a boat carrying everyone toward a shared goal, where sometimes members might get distracted or focus on different things." His role involves continuous course correction rather than rigid direction—steering whilst respecting others' agency.
Harvard Business School research identified strategic elements in BTS's success applicable to business contexts:
1. Express Social Conscience
BTS produced music addressing social issues with consistent messages of self-love and community. They partnered with UNICEF and donated to causes including Black Lives Matter. This values-driven approach attracted fans seeking meaning beyond entertainment.
Business application: Authentic social engagement—not performative positioning—builds stakeholder loyalty. Employees, customers, and investors increasingly evaluate organisations by values alignment.
2. Communicate Directly with Stakeholders
Hybe created Weverse, a platform enabling direct fan engagement. Band members personally respond to fan posts, creating relationships that transcend transactional consumption.
Business application: Disintermediation strengthens relationships. When leaders communicate directly rather than through corporate channels, they build trust that survives criticism.
3. Focus on Target Market
BTS identified and served a specific audience rather than pursuing mass appeal. This focus enabled deeper connection with core fans who became brand evangelists.
Business application: Niche dominance often proves more valuable than broad relevance. Leaders who clearly define their audience can serve that audience exceptionally.
4. Build Community, Not Just Customer Base
BTS fans (ARMY) represent a global community, not merely consumers. This community creates content, defends the brand, and recruits new members—generating marketing value impossible to purchase.
Business application: When customers become community members, they transition from value extractors to value creators. Leadership involves nurturing this transition.
5. Develop Authentic Narrative
BTS's story—seven young men who overcame industry scepticism to achieve global success—provides narrative structure that fans participate in continuing.
Business application: Organisations with compelling stories attract talent and customers. Leaders should articulate and embody organisational narratives.
| Dimension | RM's Approach | Typical Corporate Leader |
|---|---|---|
| Decision authority | Consensus-seeking | Directive |
| Credit distribution | Deflects to team | Accepts personal credit |
| Conflict handling | Facilitates resolution | Decides outcomes |
| Development focus | Others' growth | Organisational results |
| Communication style | Transparent, personal | Formal, strategic |
| Time horizon | Decade-long relationships | Quarterly performance |
These contrasts don't suggest RM's approach suits all contexts. Corporate leadership often requires faster decisions and clearer accountability. But RM's style offers useful contrast to default patterns—particularly for leaders managing creative teams, long-term relationships, or distributed authority structures.
BTS has navigated multiple crises—cultural controversies, member health issues, military service obligations, and the pressures of global fame. RM's crisis leadership demonstrates several principles:
Protective Positioning
RM consistently positions himself to absorb criticism. During controversies, he takes responsibility publicly whilst protecting other members from media scrutiny. This protective instinct—"You take the front line when there is danger"—exemplifies Mandela's leadership philosophy.
Maintaining Calm Under Pressure
RM's public composure during stressful moments—award ceremonies, international speeches, unexpected challenges—demonstrates emotional regulation that enables others to remain calm. Leaders' visible anxiety amplifies organisational stress; visible composure contains it.
Honest Acknowledgment
Rather than deflecting criticism, RM acknowledges mistakes directly. This honesty, counterintuitively, strengthens rather than weakens his authority. Followers forgive errors more readily than dishonesty.
Long-Term Perspective
Crisis moments demand short-term focus. RM maintains longer perspective, contextualising immediate challenges within the group's decade-long journey. This perspective enables proportionate responses rather than reactive overreaction.
RM's evolution from teenage trainee to global leader offers insights into leadership development:
1. Leadership Grows Through Practice
RM became an effective leader by leading—not through training programmes or theoretical study. Organisations develop leaders by providing leadership opportunities with appropriate support.
2. Mentorship Accelerates Development
RM benefited from guidance within BTS's management structure. Emerging leaders need experienced advisers who provide perspective without directing decisions.
3. Feedback Enables Improvement
BTS's intense working environment provided constant feedback. RM developed by responding to this feedback—adjusting his approach based on results.
4. Self-Reflection Deepens Capability
RM's introspective nature—evident in lyrics and public commentary—suggests regular self-examination. Leaders who reflect on their practice improve faster than those who simply accumulate experience.
5. Values Provide Stability
RM's commitment to principle-based leadership provided stability during turbulent periods. Leaders grounded in clear values navigate uncertainty more effectively than those without such anchors.
RM is credited with co-writing or co-producing over 90% of BTS's music. Yet this creative centrality doesn't suppress others' contributions. His approach to collaborative creativity offers lessons:
RM's English fluency and cultural awareness enabled BTS's international success. He served as bridge between Korean cultural context and global audiences—translating not merely language but meaning.
Cultural translation skills include:
| Skill | Application |
|---|---|
| Language capability | Communicating directly without intermediaries |
| Cultural awareness | Understanding different audiences' perspectives |
| Adaptive framing | Presenting ideas in culturally resonant terms |
| Authenticity maintenance | Adapting without losing essential identity |
For business leaders operating across cultures—whether national, generational, or organisational—these translation capabilities prove increasingly essential. Leaders who bridge cultural differences create value inaccessible to those confined within single contexts.
Honest analysis requires acknowledging that RM's approach suits specific contexts that may not generalise:
Entertainment Industry Context
BTS operates within entertainment, where creative collaboration differs from operational business. The leadership approaches that build musical groups may not transfer directly to manufacturing, finance, or professional services.
Cultural Specificity
Korean cultural expectations shape BTS's group dynamics. Leadership practices that work within Korean hierarchical norms may require adaptation for other cultural contexts.
Selection Effects
BTS members were chosen for trainability and compatibility. Most organisations cannot select team members as carefully, limiting leaders' ability to build such cohesive units.
Success Bias
We study BTS because they succeeded. Many groups with similar leadership approaches failed. Success teaches lessons, but we must be cautious about attributing causation.
RM (Kim Namjoon) is the leader of BTS. He became leader partly because he was the first member recruited and possessed English language skills essential for international communication. His selection also reflected leadership qualities observable from early in his career: intellectual curiosity, communication ability, genuine concern for others' wellbeing, and willingness to take responsibility during difficult moments.
RM demonstrates several effective leadership characteristics: principle-based decision-making centred on growing others, transparent communication that addresses conflicts directly, ability to balance individual ambitions with collective goals, protective positioning that shields team members during crises, and cultural translation skills that bridge different audiences. Research identifies his compassion, dedication, communication ability, and commitment to teamwork as key factors in BTS's success.
Harvard Business School research identified several lessons from BTS's success applicable to business: expressing authentic social conscience builds stakeholder loyalty, direct communication with customers strengthens relationships, focused targeting of specific markets enables deeper connection, transforming customers into community creates sustainable value, and compelling organisational narratives attract talent and customers. These lessons apply across industries beyond entertainment.
RM approaches conflict as a facilitator rather than judge. He creates conditions where members can express concerns safely, helps them articulate issues calmly, and seeks synthesis rather than compromise. He positions himself as a middle ground that balances tensions rather than taking sides. This approach treats conflict as information about team needs rather than threat to be suppressed.
Elements of RM's leadership style apply to corporate contexts, particularly for leaders managing creative teams, long-term relationships, or distributed authority. His emphasis on others' development, transparent communication, and protective leadership during crises transfers across industries. However, corporate settings often require faster decisions and clearer accountability than RM's consensus-seeking approach provides. Leaders should adapt principles rather than copying practices directly.
RM's approach to developing others includes sharing knowledge rather than hoarding advantage, creating opportunities for team members to lead in their areas of strength, supporting individual projects that build collective value, and maintaining long-term orientation toward others' growth. He demonstrates that leadership capability grows through practice with appropriate support, mentorship, and regular self-reflection.
RM's success demonstrates the increasing importance of cultural intelligence for leaders operating across boundaries—whether national, generational, or organisational. His ability to translate Korean content for global audiences, communicate directly in multiple languages, and adapt presentation for different cultural contexts enabled BTS's international expansion. Leaders who bridge cultural differences create value inaccessible to those confined within single contexts.
The question "Who is the leader of BTS?" yields a simple factual answer: RM (Kim Namjoon). But the question's deeper significance lies in what his leadership demonstrates about building high-performing teams, navigating cultural complexity, and developing others whilst pursuing collective goals.
RM's leadership journey—from uncertain teenage trainee to globally recognised figure—illustrates that leadership capability develops through practice, reflection, and genuine commitment to others' growth. His approach offers useful contrast to hierarchical, command-oriented leadership models that dominate many corporate contexts.
The business lessons from BTS's success—authentic social engagement, direct stakeholder communication, focused market targeting, community building, and compelling narrative—apply beyond entertainment. Harvard Business School's serious examination of these lessons suggests relevance for leaders across industries.
Yet honest analysis requires acknowledging limitations. RM's approach suits specific contexts—creative collaboration, carefully selected teams, Korean cultural norms—that may not generalise universally. Leaders should extract principles rather than copy practices, adapting insights for their particular circumstances.
Perhaps the most important lesson is simply this: leadership exists wherever one person influences another toward shared goals. RM's influence over BTS—and, through their music, over millions of fans worldwide—demonstrates that effective leadership transcends traditional organisational boundaries. Whether you lead a global corporation, a small team, or a community group, the principles of service, transparency, and commitment to others' growth remain universally relevant.
As RM himself observed, "A team is like a boat carrying everyone toward a shared goal." The leader's role involves continuous course correction whilst respecting others' agency—steering without dictating, guiding without dominating, leading whilst remaining genuinely committed to those being led.