In my recent research into organizational structures, one of the most curious elements I found was how leadership positions change in relation to organizational size. As organizations move from small to large, their CEO’s tend to possess less direct arts experience. Immediate reflection on this datum elicits an obvious response: of course! The demands of the job become so intense as to preclude growth and involvement in the art form itself (and that this is understandable and okay). Is it okay?<\/i> How does this happen? <\/p>\n
In the arts sector one constantly hears that there’s a crisis in leadership, not only in the present, but in the pipeline as well. Even assuming that some of this perception is only noise, there are problems in senior leadership, and the reasons are multiple and complex. Let’s start with the one I introduced in the first paragraph here. <\/p>\n
As a performing arts organization is born, the central figure is typically the artist, who assumes the role of the artistic director. As the organization moves through its start-up phase and begins to grow, a managing director is sought. This establishes the duality in leadership that is so unique to the performing arts. In a majority of cases the managing director was drawn to h\/her profession because of significant personal involvement in an art form. Sadly, however, from the point a managing director assumes h\/her new role, the field insists that h\/she forget that h\/she ever had skills and\/or a deep understanding of the organization’s art form. S\/he is allowed to be “passionate” about the art, that’s all. This expectation becomes manifest to avoid obvious conflicts between the artistic and managing directors, but interestingly it sows the seeds for future problems, if not failure.<\/p>\n
For one, the managing director sustains h\/herself for years on the energy of the company, the proximity to the art form. H\/she is passionate and supportive, but as time goes by, h\/she realizes that h\/her skills and understanding of contemporary issues in the art form are waning, and irretrievable. However, as h\/her career may grow, permitting jobs at larger organizations; and as the organization grows, the managing director is often called on more frequently to make artistic decisions. The artistic director may not live in the city, may only be in residence for 15 weeks, may be splitting h\/her time between a number of positions. The managing director knows the organization’s audience well, and must supervise the planning of seasons. H\/she has considerable influence on choices and day-to-day decisions that affect artistic issues and quality. And, all this must be done effectively, but also so that it doesn’t look like h\/she is doing it. However, the disconnect between former deep experience in the arts form and present day artistic decision making becomes wider and wider, raising questions about the artistic integrity of the organization. <\/p>\n
And then there are managing directors who have never had any involvement in the arts at all — an interesting topic to take up in the future. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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