As a follow-up to the repost of my essay on “Upending Our Ideas about Leadership in Museums” and some of my initial reflections on what has (or hasn’t) changed since 2020, I want to hear from you.
I’m really curious to get your thoughts on what you’ve been seeing and experiencing when it comes to leadership since the start of the pandemic.
How has your perception of leadership evolved over the past few years?
Can you recall recent instances of positive, human-centered leadership that have left a lasting impact on you?
Has your own leadership practice changed since the beginning of the pandemic?
Leave your responses here in the Comments, and (as always) I encourage you to check out and respond to other people’s comments.
I feel like I could write an entire book about this Mike! But I think the four points you made in your article back in 2020 still hold, though I think the fourth one about leadership being everywhere might need reframing. I believe it is possible to lead from any role, but doing so takes a certain degree of politicking, leveraging your allies, building coalitions, and luck (to be in the right place at the right time). Many museums are still very traditional in their hierarchies and top-down and unilateral leadership (and often their attempts at inclusive leadership practices are largely for optics), so it's a difficult thing to make change within an entire institution (though easier in one's own sphere or area of impact). On a personal note, I feel like since the pandemic my own leadership has become much more human centered while leadership at the ED level has become less so. I've been struck watching different EDs at the few institutions I've worked out listen less to their staffs, make snap judgments that do not reflect "seeking first to understand," and allowing board members and other stakeholders way too much influence over decision making, while staff members are kept at bay. This has been a real surprise since the pandemic seemed to ignite so much thinking about work / life balance, the demands our institutions put on staff from underrepresented communities, as well as the importance of museums in serving communities as an important learning and social resource. It's been kind of shocking. I could go on, but maybe better over beers! Thanks for reposting this article. Was great to reread.
I bet you could write a book about this (that would be a really good book, too).
I hear what you're saying about leadership and the hierarchies of museum institutions. There are many challenges around that, I completely understand.
I've started doing a version of my "Institute for Changemakers" that just works with a team from a single institution, including people from across departments and at all different levels of the hierarchy. It has been so interesting to see how powerful that can be at addressing some of these barriers and challenges, since staff across departments begin to gain a new mindset and practice when it comes to how they work together, how they think about workloads, and how they navigate barriers to change. This work has led me to believe (even more than before) that change is possible within institutions, no matter how entrenched they are in status quo thinking and power inequities.
Overall, I see the same things you're seeing -- staff getting a bit more "human-centered" since the pandemic crisis, and directors/boards getting less so. It is not a good trend, and I'm interested in ways to help pause this and get things headed in a better direction (yes, I'm one of the optimistic ones).
It would be awesome to chat more in person soon (I'm long overdue for a trip up to Seattle -- we should cook something up). Cheers!
Nov 17, 2023·edited Nov 17, 2023Liked by Mike Murawski
My gallery has become much more focused on financial sustainability in my view at the expense of foregrounding meaningful engagement with artworks. I’m worried that we might end up being more like a theme park attraction if we continue largely focusing on art that is popular and has revenue potential. Leadership is not supporting the human aspect these days.
Thanks for sharing what is happening in your gallery. I know your not alone -- there have been many organizations experiencing this shift since the pandemic. I would argue that a scarcity mindset has taken hold of so many nonprofits, which is really limiting the ways in which they serve their missions, take care of their staff/people, and connect with communities. This scarcity mindset often creates a false choice between revenue & financial stability and doing the work of partnerships, engagement, and being more human- and people-centered. These things are not opposed to each other, and we need to stop telling ourselves this story.
I'm glad you're highlighting this. I'll be curious to hear if others are feeling similar things happening with leadership.
I feel like I could write an entire book about this Mike! But I think the four points you made in your article back in 2020 still hold, though I think the fourth one about leadership being everywhere might need reframing. I believe it is possible to lead from any role, but doing so takes a certain degree of politicking, leveraging your allies, building coalitions, and luck (to be in the right place at the right time). Many museums are still very traditional in their hierarchies and top-down and unilateral leadership (and often their attempts at inclusive leadership practices are largely for optics), so it's a difficult thing to make change within an entire institution (though easier in one's own sphere or area of impact). On a personal note, I feel like since the pandemic my own leadership has become much more human centered while leadership at the ED level has become less so. I've been struck watching different EDs at the few institutions I've worked out listen less to their staffs, make snap judgments that do not reflect "seeking first to understand," and allowing board members and other stakeholders way too much influence over decision making, while staff members are kept at bay. This has been a real surprise since the pandemic seemed to ignite so much thinking about work / life balance, the demands our institutions put on staff from underrepresented communities, as well as the importance of museums in serving communities as an important learning and social resource. It's been kind of shocking. I could go on, but maybe better over beers! Thanks for reposting this article. Was great to reread.
I bet you could write a book about this (that would be a really good book, too).
I hear what you're saying about leadership and the hierarchies of museum institutions. There are many challenges around that, I completely understand.
I've started doing a version of my "Institute for Changemakers" that just works with a team from a single institution, including people from across departments and at all different levels of the hierarchy. It has been so interesting to see how powerful that can be at addressing some of these barriers and challenges, since staff across departments begin to gain a new mindset and practice when it comes to how they work together, how they think about workloads, and how they navigate barriers to change. This work has led me to believe (even more than before) that change is possible within institutions, no matter how entrenched they are in status quo thinking and power inequities.
Overall, I see the same things you're seeing -- staff getting a bit more "human-centered" since the pandemic crisis, and directors/boards getting less so. It is not a good trend, and I'm interested in ways to help pause this and get things headed in a better direction (yes, I'm one of the optimistic ones).
It would be awesome to chat more in person soon (I'm long overdue for a trip up to Seattle -- we should cook something up). Cheers!
My gallery has become much more focused on financial sustainability in my view at the expense of foregrounding meaningful engagement with artworks. I’m worried that we might end up being more like a theme park attraction if we continue largely focusing on art that is popular and has revenue potential. Leadership is not supporting the human aspect these days.
Thanks for sharing what is happening in your gallery. I know your not alone -- there have been many organizations experiencing this shift since the pandemic. I would argue that a scarcity mindset has taken hold of so many nonprofits, which is really limiting the ways in which they serve their missions, take care of their staff/people, and connect with communities. This scarcity mindset often creates a false choice between revenue & financial stability and doing the work of partnerships, engagement, and being more human- and people-centered. These things are not opposed to each other, and we need to stop telling ourselves this story.
I'm glad you're highlighting this. I'll be curious to hear if others are feeling similar things happening with leadership.