Strategic Leadership series: 03
Sector Challenges
The following post is a full essay, interspersed with some personal commentary, that I recently submitted towards the completion of my CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership & Management course.
It’s academic. And it’s also the beginnings of a cheatsheet for leaders out there wondering how to make a change. It takes 5-10 mins to read.
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At present we find ourselves in the third decade of the 21st century and in an age of technological & digital revolution. The world is a rapidly changing and a dynamic place to live and work. In arts sector organisational contexts, there are complicated moral, political and social challenges present (which arguably cuts across all sectors). The UK Government's current ‘Levelling Up’ agenda (n.d) says that ‘[a] twenty-first century recipe for a new Industrial Revolution, depends on harnessing an array of interventions and catalysing a range of sectors.’
What this means for arts organisations is an enforced approach to levelling up and change-making, whereby Arts Council England (n.d), on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, as the sector’s governing body, will ‘want to see villages, towns and cities across the country thrive through a collaborative approach to culture. We know that historically our investment in some areas of England has been too low, so we’ve set out lists of Levelling Up for Culture Places and Priority Places that we’ll prioritise working with [outside of London].’
A piece of the puzzle.
It is these challenges and sector landscape that Amy’s organisation and that of many client organisations in her portfolio, now operate in.
A piece of the puzzle.
It is these challenges and sector landscape that Amy’s organisation and that of many client organisations in her portfolio, now operate in.
A landscape where foundations are still moving and new demands are being imposed, priorities have shifted, hybrid working is here to stay, all of which accompany ongoing recovery from the pandemic. Payrolled staff working in the arts sector received the lowest pay increases of any industry sector in the past year, despite vacancies more than trebling, official ONS figures show, according to Arts Professional (2022). These factors, altogether, are having a knock-on effect on organisations, posing significant challenges for strategic leaders & leadership behaviours, competencies and principles. Having explored beforehand, the sector Amy leads in is rife with inflexible structures, outdated hierarchies, a lack of diverse leadership. To that end, add the impact of lived experiences, work/life imbalances, and resistance to organisational change, it is highly probable that the arts sector is overdue for an overhaul. Carty (2020) says that;
“The seismic eruption of Covid-19 gives us an opportunity. There are tough decisions to come. Business models, income streams and hierarchies are all being re-assessed, restructured and remodelled. Change is inevitable.
Can we genuinely open up our circles of influence to inclusive leadership and share the power that must inevitably be shared for change to be experienced? It’s time for big questions, honest conversations and transparent shifts. Empathy, care, deep listening, equality, fairness and kindness are vital as we set a new tone for the future of our sector and create the society we want for future generations. Now is surely the time to #BeTheChange.”
— Clore Leadership
What’s more, the sector has diminishing public subsidy and resources, with competition for these resources now more fierce than ever before. There are issues that include changing audience trends, such as loss of audiences thanks to covid fear. Brownlee (2022) notes: “It remains a worry that a substantial minority of previous theatre attenders still do not feel confident to return. Data shows these are not just older audiences but include previous customers from all generations. Arts organisations need to consider how best to encourage these customers back to their venue or how best to continue to serve them through digital content.”
Technological change is present, and many artists/organisations are slow to embrace how technology could inform, impact or enhance their work, make back office systems more efficient or develop creative practice. Brexit continues to pose difficulties on the movement of people, visa requirements and additional administration in connection to touring companies and the wider performing arts. Toxic cultures are also at play. Particularly in performing arts, where Equity (2022) has found ‘that reviewing levels of anxiety in a given week found dancers (24%), opera singers (32%), acting students (52%), actors (60%) and rock musicians (90%) to far surpass mental health levels (depression and anxiety) observed in the general population (6%). Across the studies, a culture of unstable work, antisocial working hours, time away from home, and financial fears were cited as the main attributors to increased stress and mental health.’
I have suffered with my mental health, as a direct result of working in the arts, in the past. I am now a Mental Health First Aider, trained with MHFA.
If you need help or support, start here: https://www.mhm.org.uk/pages/faqs/category/helpful-resources
Further, IETM in a 2021 report, the main observations based on #MeToo in the arts, are that;
1) The #MeToo movement in Europe is far from being homogeneous.
2) The process of change is often resource-intensive and complex.
3) Precarious working conditions are fertile breeding grounds for harassment and abuse.
4) Increased understanding of what contributes to violence and inequity is leading some to think differently about art.
5) Supportive leaders are instrumental to structural change.
6) (Social) media plays an important role, while also being ambiguous and paradoxical.
#MeToo movement. Call it out. Don’t put up with it. Report.
The sector workforce has been affected by these conditions and especially covid, particularly young people, who according to Dossa for Arts Professional (2022); ‘Generation post-pandemic’ will enter a workplace that has been fundamentally changed forever. She goes on to say that ‘reputation is everything’ and that ‘when looking where to work, this generation is most influenced by an organisation’s reputation, values and how well it looks after its employees, rather than whether it offers a good salary. Importantly this reflects a wider cultural shift, with a recent study by Perna (n.d), Gen-Z workers in the USA showing that 70% of younger employees want to work for a company whose values align with their own and that ‘that Gen Z employees are ambitious, require stimulating work and expect to be recognised for their work’.
What’s the fix?
We need to step up. Create the change we want to see through action. Don’t comply with the sector bullies and bullsh*t. Change starts from within.
Therefore, proposed methods of how to respond to these complicated sector and organisational challenges could be through developing leaders of the future, ones that are transformational, have integrity, resonant, ethical and open to, as well as embracing of, change. Morgan (2022) says that, ‘it takes a new approach to leadership to thrive in this fast-paced future of work.’ In the same article, he goes on to cite Schwartz, who in turn claims leaders can do three things to take advantage of the changes in the future of work. These are;
a) recognize the role of leaders to deliver value, not just save money.
b) leaders are responsible for making change, not just maintaining the status quo.
c) leaders must lead workforce ecosystems, not just individual employees.
Our new world of work is connected, meaning leaders have to look at all the ways they can access and curate talent. It’s about combining teams, technology, and all types of employees to drive innovation and growth.
Finally, leaders must be a co-creator, moving from a supervisor mentality to a player-coach mentality. Their role isn’t to micro-manage tasks but to develop their people and create an engaging and empowering environment.
As Abby Wambach, the USA Women’s Football team ex-captain says in her book Wolfpack,
‘There is power among us. Let’s unleash and unite. Lead with humanity. Lead now - from wherever you are. ‘
In striving to be a leader of the future, Amy’s current client portfolio is demanding skills and attributes aforementioned earlier in this essay. One client, is requiring a combination of extreme dynamism, resilience, flexible ways of working and utmost care of and with the team. Exercising these skills in real-time gives Amy a further competitive advantage, and ongoing professional development learning opportunity. However, it is also a strong belief she holds to be able to embody the type of leadership she understands to be relevant and successful, as Hilary Carty said earlier, #BeTheChange.
Towell for The Audience Agency (2022) speaks about adopting principles of dynamism in strategies and plans, by imagining different futures, then planning for them. Thinking how to adopt specific dynamic behaviours, and using them in action as well as actively planning for change – then, being ready to change said plan, to a new plan, as well as having data to support existing models – driving innovation. To be able to navigate the sector challenges over the next few years, with pace of change still accelerating, Amy will need to be resilient. McKinsey authors Brende & Sternfels (2022) state that; ‘resilience should be seen as the ability to deal with adversity, withstand shocks, and continuously adapt and accelerate as disruptions and crises arise over time,’ adding that, ‘resilience has been described as the ability to recover quickly but recovery alone is not an adequate goal. Truly resilient organisations [and people] bounce back better and even thrive.’
To thrive, inclusive cultures must be built and nurtured, as a business imperative (Goldstein, 2022), where people or staff who feel very included are nearly three times more likely to feel excited by and committed to their organisations. By inviting diverse people, and valuing difference to have a ‘seat at the table’; is already a key component of how Amy works with clients and, it also forms the basis of her working methodology. As in Clore Leaderships’ report on Place/s at the Table: a review of disability and governance in the Cultural Sector (2021), it details feedback from 72 surveys and 24 interviews, showing that lack of resources, prejudice, legal complications, ableist systems and lack of confidence all stood in the way of effective inclusion of disabled people. Taking this on board and being proactive here will set-up leaders for success.
Moving forward, Amy has already published an EDI pledge on this website [see footer below], including a commitment to care & wellbeing, anti-racism, anti-ableism & gender equity. To continually apply the principles of strategic leadership to the sector as detailed in this essay; Amy actively seeks to adopt, embody, understand, integrate, practice and lead by example in order to continue to be a successful leader in the arts, now and in the future.
There’s so much more I could have argued and discussed here, it’s a HUGE TOPIC. I also could have dropped a few names of leaders/orgs that I know need to make room to improve in the sector. Can’t we all? But, alas academic word counts mean I had a limit!
Know that there are things I’ve missed here, it is not the whole conversation. I warmly welcome comments, discussion and debate.
Mostly, I want you to know that I can support you in this work. Ready to make a change?
Shall we work together? Contact me, let’s chat.
Bibliography & Sources
GOV.UK. (n.d.). Levelling Up the United Kingdom. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom.
Arts Council England. www.artscouncil.org.uk. (n.d.). Priority Places and Levelling Up for Culture Places | Arts Council England. [online] Available at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/LUCPs#section-1
ArtsProfessional. (n.d.). Arts workers get lowest pay rise of any sector. [online] Available at: https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/arts-workers-get-lowest-pay-rise-any-sector?no=cache
www.cloreleadership.org. (n.d.). #BlackLivesMatter. No room for equivocation. | The Clore Leadership Programme. [online] Available at: https://www.cloreleadership.org/resources/blacklivesmatter-no-room-equivocation
mhminsight.com. (n.d.). UK Performing Arts Survey 3 | Morris Hargreaves McIntyre. [online] Available at: https://mhminsight.com/articles/uk-performing-arts-3-12237
Equity UK. www.equity.org.uk. (n.d.). Equity - Equity global study finds those working in the performing arts are more likely to experience poor mental health. [online] Available at: https://www.equity.org.uk/news/2022/may/equity-global-study-finds-those-working-in-the-performing-arts-are-more-likely-to-experience-poor-mental-health/
GENDER AND POWER RELATIONS: Research-informed recommendations for network organisations on combating sexual harassment and power abuse in the European cultural sector #MeToo in the Arts: From call-outs to structural change. (n.d.). [online] Available at: https://www.ietm.org/system/files/publications/SHIFT%20Gender%20and%20Power%20Relations%20Report%202022.pdf.
ArtsProfessional. (n.d.). Generation post-pandemic. [online] Available at: https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/generation-post-pandemic
Perna, M.C. (n.d.). OK Boomer: 5 Surprising Insights Into What Gen-Z Workers Want In A Job. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2021/04/27/ok-boomer-5-surprising-insights-into-what-gen-z-workers-want-in-a-job/?sh=3c04fd02760b
Jacob Morgan. (2022). How Leaders Can Thrive In The Future Of Work. [online] Available at: https://thefutureorganization.com/how-leaders-can-thrive-in-the-future-of-work-2/
Wambach, A., 2019. Wolfpack. 1st ed. New York: Celadon Books.
The Audience Agency. (n.d.). How Dynamic Are You? [online] Available at: https://www.theaudienceagency.org/resources/how-dynamic-are-you
www.mckinsey.com. (n.d.). Resilience for sustainable, inclusive growth | McKinsey. [online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/resilience-for-sustainable-inclusive-growth
Goldstein, D. (2022). Three steps to supercharge DE&I capability building. [online] McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/three-steps-to-supercharge-dei-capability-building?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hdpid=77052dc0-75d6-4226-a4a7-f5cf6b9ec711&hctky=12454427&hlkid=5c09d672391d4ec9a68f554b4809dbc1
www.cloreleadership.org. (n.d.). Tim Wheeler’s ‘Place/s at the Table’: A review of disability and governance in the Cultural Sector | The Clore Leadership Programme. [online] Available at: https://www.cloreleadership.org/resources/places-table-review-disability-and-governance-cultural-sector