An invitation from Improbable and Theatre503:
So do we ACTUALLY do it?
Earlier this year, Improbable and Theatre503 hosted two D&D satellites on arts leadership. We had one asking ‘do we need to talk about the future of Executive Directors?’ and one asking ‘What is the future of Arts Leadership?’. Both were full of fire, honesty, and genuine care. As soon as we entered the room, we got stuck into our problems. There were past, present and future Arts Leaders working it all out.
But we wanted to acknowledge who was missing from the conversations. During a conversation about Executive Directors and Trustee relationships, we craved to have trustees in the room to work it out with. We also noticed in the second satellite that the discussion leaned more towards artistic leadership than executive. But there were more creatives in the room, so that makes sense. The most fruitful conversations were those that had multiple perspectives and roles in it. We want to see more of that.
Perhaps our previous satellite invitations meant we inevitably siloed ourselves. If we truly want to shape the future, we need everyone—all perspectives—in the room together.
So this time, we’re crystal clear:
Executive Directors. Artistic Directors. Senior Leadership Teams. Trustees. Past, present, and future.
Bring your trustees. Bring your teams. Bring your fellow leaders. Or if you are reading this and it resonates with you, come alone.
We can’t make our organisations work alone. It’s time to come together.