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Actively taking work

StarMaker

Hong Kong·Training Provider·12 years operating

About StarMaker

StarMaker is a principal-led leadership development practice founded and led by Sam Bobertz. We equip leaders and teams for the moments that shape culture, trust, alignment and performance. Through facilitation, coaching and role-play simulations, we help people communicate clearly, strengthen working relationships, navigate change and respond well in important workplace situations. The work is practical, reflective and highly interactive. Participants work with real workplace dynamics, examine different perspectives and patterns, and develop more considered ways of responding that they can apply at work. StarMaker has trained and coached more than 10,000 professionals across 40+ companies in Asia, North America and Europe. The aim is to strengthen the judgement, awareness and adaptive capacity leaders and teams need to move strategy forward as conditions change.

At a glance

Vendor type
Training
Company size
1–10
Facilitators
In-house + associates
Delivery
in-person, virtual, hybrid
Languages
English, Mandarin Chinese
Availability
Actively taking work
Response time
48h
Lead time
21 days
Pricing options
Per-project, Per-programme / journey, Retainer, Day-rate

What sets us apart

StarMaker creates the conditions for leaders and teams to work with dynamics that are often hardest to address in everyday organisational life. Sam draws on psychology, group dynamics and experiential practice, facilitating in ways that support candour, thoughtful challenge and different perspectives. By holding the structure of the process, he can help loosen the pull of hierarchy and habitual roles, making room for more candid conversation, perspectives that might otherwise go unheard, and greater shared understanding. The aim is not simply to understand what is happening, but to expand awareness, explore different responses and connect that learning to real workplace situations.

Methodology

Experiential Learning, Facilitated Dialogue, Structured Peer Inquiry, Applied Improvisation, Forum Theatre, Embodied Exercises, Applied Mindfulness, Individual and Group Coaching, Actor-Supported Role-Play Simulations, Workplace Big Five Assessments, Action Learning and Workplace Experiments

Areas of expertise

Leadership Development & People Management Leadership Communication & Difficult Conversations Team Effectiveness & Dynamics Change Leadership & Adaptability Organisational Culture & Stakeholder Alignment

Key industries

Financial Services Healthcare / Pharma Hospitality / Travel Real Estate / Construction Professional Services

Operating locations

Hong Kong China Singapore

Trusted by industry leaders

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Watch how StarMaker approach delivery

Programs (3)

Leading Through Change: The Human Dynamics of Uncertainty, Trust & Adaptation
Leadership Development

Leading Through Change: The Human Dynamics of Uncertainty, Trust & Adaptation

Leading Through ChangeChange Communication & SensemakingSelf-Leadership & Emotional Regulation+8 more
Leading Through Change is a multi-phase leadership journey for directors and senior leaders responsible for carrying consequential change through teams, functions or regions. It is particularly relevant when uncertainty is affecting trust, confidence, relationships or people’s sense of stability and predictability. Leaders may themselves be working with incomplete information while still needing to help others make sense of what is happening and move forward. The journey develops six interconnected areas: - Understanding the Human Dynamics of Change - Self-Leadership Under Uncertainty - Sensemaking Without Manufacturing Certainty - Trust, Credibility & Human Connection - Coherence Across Leaders - Agency, Contribution & Forward Movement The programme is grounded in the organisation’s actual change context. Leadership Community, realistic actor-supported role-play and Growth-in-Action help leaders make sense of what they are seeing, practise consequential conversations, broaden their leadership range and test different approaches in real work. The journey concludes with integration, shared leadership agreements and a light structure for continuing peer-led practice over the following 90 days. Relevant contexts include restructuring, M&A and post-merger integration, divestment, technological or AI-related change, leadership transition, cultural or identity change, rapid growth and organisational transformation.
Journey · 16hExperientialUp to 22
View details ›
Future-Ready Leadership Journey for Emerging & Middle Managers
Leadership Development

Future-Ready Leadership Journey for Emerging & Middle Managers

Leadership Development & Self-AwarenessGrowth Mindset & AdaptabilityLeadership Communication & Influence+7 more
Future-Ready Leadership Journey is a configurable, multi-phase development programme for emerging leaders, middle managers and high-potential talent preparing for broader leadership responsibility. As participants grow into leadership, the demands on them extend beyond individual expertise. They are increasingly expected to lead through others, navigate change, strengthen working relationships and contribute to the organisation beyond their immediate roles. The journey supports this transition through a coherent developmental progression, grounded in the organisation's culture, leadership expectations and future direction. Developmental Progression:- Building self-awareness and adaptability Participants explore their leadership tendencies, strengths and impact, develop greater curiosity, question assumptions and expand their capacity to respond thoughtfully to unfamiliar situations. Leading through relationships and conversations Participants strengthen their ability to work with difference, communicate with clarity and care, develop others, give feedback and navigate important workplace conversations. Leading change and contributing to the wider organisation Participants explore how to mobilise others through change, connect everyday leadership with organisational priorities and contribute more intentionally to the organisation's future. Learning through Experience and Application:- The journey combines experiential workshops, facilitated dialogue, reflection, realistic practice and workplace application. Depending on organisational priorities, it can incorporate psychometric assessment, individual or group coaching, internal mentoring, stakeholder engagement, business challenges and action learning. Additional areas such as strategic storytelling, digital and AI mindset, innovation, commercial awareness and culture can be integrated where relevant. Integration and Graduation:- The journey culminates in opportunities to consolidate learning, recognise development and reconnect participants with the organisation through reflection, senior-leader engagement and forward commitments. Delivered in person, virtually or in blended formats, the programme is configured around the cohort and organisational context rather than prescribed as a fixed sequence of workshops.
Journey · 24hExperientialUp to 36
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Executive Readiness for Strategic & Stakeholder Moments
Leadership Development

Executive Readiness for Strategic & Stakeholder Moments

Executive Communication & PresenceStrategic Communication & Message ClarityStakeholder Engagement & Influence+8 more
Executive Readiness for Strategic & Stakeholder Moments is a high-touch journey for executive teams, ExCo members and senior leaders preparing for a real upcoming moment where how they communicate, respond and work together really matters. The programme develops readiness across three interconnected areas: Own the Message — message integrity, strategic clarity and genuine ownership of what leaders are communicating. Show Up as a Team — executive-team coherence, trust, accountability, presence and self-awareness under scrutiny. Meet the Stakeholder — stakeholder attunement, genuine dialogue and adaptive response when challenged or taken off-script. Individual coaching is a core component. Each leader receives four 2-hour one-to-one sessions surrounding two full-day Executive Readiness Labs, where realistic simulations allow individual and team patterns to surface, be coached and refined. The programme is shaped around the actual strategic or stakeholder moment ahead and can integrate input from investment banks, communications advisers, legal teams, strategy consultants or other specialists where useful. Relevant situations can include investor roadshows, board engagements, important client conversations, strategic presentations, negotiations, transformation communication and other consequential stakeholder moments.
Journey · 24hExperientialUp to 8
View details ›

Lead facilitator

Sam Bobertz photo
Sam Bobertz· Lead
Managing Director & Lead Facilitator
Thoughtful, experiential and relational; combining clear structure, candid dialogue, realistic practice and reflection.

Sam Bobertz is a Hong Kong-based leadership facilitator and coach known for thoughtful design and engaging facilitation. With over a decade working with clients across industries and cultures, he helps managers, senior leaders and teams strengthen how they communicate, relate and respond in the situations that shape trust, alignment and performance. His work connects theory with carefully curated experiential practices, drawing on facilitated dialogue, coaching, reflection, embodied exercises and realistic rehearsal where appropriate. By thoughtfully combining different approaches, he helps leaders cultivate the capabilities they are learning about, rather than simply understand them intellectually. The aim is to develop greater awareness, judgement and range of ability in the moments that matter. Sam's academic background combines Psychology and East Asian Studies, with a particular focus on Chinese philosophy, leadership and governance, culminating in a paper on the Huainanzi and the art of rulership. He is a Workplace Big Five Advanced Practitioner. His approach has also been shaped by years of studying and practising theatre-based leadership coaching within StarMaker. Having spent ten years living and working in Mainland China, he facilitates in both English and Mandarin. His experience spans financial services, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, technology, hospitality and professional services.

Workplace Big Five Advanced Practitioner — Paradigm Personality LabsBA, Psychology — University of ArizonaBA, East Asian Studies — University of Arizona
Read the team narrative

StarMaker is a leadership development practice founded and led by Sam Bobertz in Hong Kong. Sam remains directly involved in client conversations, programme design and facilitation, and works bilingually in English and Mandarin Chinese. The work rests on a simple premise: leadership develops through the situations people actually face. Insight matters, but it becomes useful when people can examine their own responses, encounter different perspectives, practise alternatives and make more considered choices. Rather than reducing leadership to a set of scripts, StarMaker helps people strengthen the awareness, judgement and relational capacity to respond well when the moment matters. The approach draws on psychology, experiential learning, theatre and improvisation, group dynamics and organisational dynamics. Facilitated dialogue, coaching, realistic role-play, reflection and workplace application are used as the situation requires. Practice expands what people notice, what they see as possible and the choices available to them; reflection helps connect that learning back into their work. How the work is held matters as much as the method. Sam aims to create conditions for candour, recognise the emotional and political realities present in a group, challenge assumptions with care, and help people explore difficult dynamics without unnecessary defensiveness. Trust, care and maturity are treated as foundations for stronger alignment, ownership and adaptation, not as abstract values. StarMaker is intentionally small and senior-led. Depending on the engagement, a trusted network of associate facilitators, professional actors and specialist partners may be brought in to add perspective, realism, expertise or delivery capacity. They contribute within a StarMaker-led engagement rather than representing the practice independently. We do not hand work off to junior delivery teams, and we do not force clients through a standard methodology simply because it exists. The method follows the need, and where other advisers are already involved, StarMaker can work alongside them so that the human, relational and behavioural dimensions reinforce the wider business objective.

Case studies

Hospitality & Travel
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels / The Peninsula Hotels
90 Emerging & Middle Managers Over Three Years | APAC, Europe & North America | 12-Month Leadership Journey
Emerging & Middle Manager Leadership Development

Now in its third year, the programme has become one of HSH’s key leadership-development avenues for supporting the organisation’s future direction and cultural evolution. Through a multi-phase journey combining leadership workshops, coaching and applied development, emerging and middle managers build the awareness, communication, adaptability and leadership capacity needed for broader responsibility. Following the success of earlier iterations, the programme now plays a central role in helping shape the organisation’s future globally.

Chemicals & Manufacturing
BASF
150+ Leaders | APAC, North America & Europe | Multi-Phase Leadership Programme
Change Leadership & Adaptability

During a period of significant organisational change, leaders needed to navigate uncertainty while maintaining trust and connection through emotionally demanding conversations. StarMaker supported the transition through a multi-phase programme combining experiential workshops, actor-led role-play and group coaching focused on communication, trust and adaptability. Client feedback highlighted greater attunement to stakeholder emotions and an increased ability to foster genuine trust, supporting greater stability through the global organisational transition.

Diversified Group / Conglomerate
Confidential
6 Senior Leaders, including CEO, CFO & Managing Directors | APAC | Individual Executive Coaching & Investor Simulation
Executive Readiness & Strategic Communication

Ahead of a consequential investor roadshow, the CEO, CFO and Managing Directors needed to show up as a coherent leadership team: clear on the message, confident in what they stood behind and able to respond credibly under scrutiny. StarMaker combined individual executive coaching before and after an intensive two-day team process with a realistic investor simulation hosted by a leading investment bank. The impact of the experience has continued beyond the roadshow itself, with feedback pointing to a noticeable shift in how the leaders work together as a more connected, mutually supportive and effective leadership team.

What clients say

"Sam's session was insightful, innovative and entertaining at the same time. He shared practical tools for assessing clients needs/concerns, storytelling techniques that built improvisation skills that help with spontaneous problem solving. There is a perfect balance between theories and break-out exercises."
Ken Lo · EVP, Distribution & Networks, Asia Pacific · Sony Entertainment
"Sam and the Starmaker team provide a unique blend of training, fusing together theatre based communication skills with a motivational psychology lens. Their sessions are always highly engaging, thought provoking and focussed on ensuring participants leave with hands on practical skills that can be immediately applied."
Victoria Great · Vice President, Learning and Innovation · CapitaLand Singapore
"From the one-to-one coaching session I had with Sam, his style and way of mentoring with psychological support are creative that provoked me to review my blind spots in communications. The follow-up activities tailor made after each session are thoughtful for continuing the self-learning and practice."
Sam Wong · Managing Director · McCann Health Hong Kong

Frequently asked

When should an organisation consider working with StarMaker?
StarMaker works with organisations developing leaders for greater responsibility, navigating change, strengthening team relationships or preparing for important conversations and decisions. Sometimes the need arises from a specific challenge, such as difficult stakeholder relationships or a significant organisational transition. At other times, the opportunity is developmental: helping managers grow, building stronger leadership teams or preparing people for what lies ahead.
How are StarMaker programmes designed and customised?
We begin by understanding the people involved, their organisational context and what they are being asked to navigate or develop. From there, we design and curate a combination of learning experiences suited to the objectives. These may include facilitated dialogue, experiential exercises, reflection, coaching, applied improvisation, workplace experiments and actor-supported role-play. The intention is not simply to communicate useful theories and frameworks, but to create opportunities for participants to practise and cultivate the capabilities they are learning about.
How does StarMaker measure progress and support workplace application?
We work with clients to clarify what meaningful development would look like and how progress might be recognised. Depending on the engagement, evaluation may include participant feedback, self-assessment, observations during structured practice, and follow-up reflections or conversations with managers and programme sponsors. Longer development journeys can also incorporate employee trust and pulse surveys, alongside agreed measures to track changes in awareness, behaviour and workplace application over time. Our aim is to connect learning with what participants actually do differently, while distinguishing evidence of individual development from longer-term organisational outcomes.
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