Leadership in Arts Organisations: The Power of Successful Work Relationships 3031401905, 9783031401909

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Leadership in Arts Organisations The Power of Successful Work Relationships

Andrea Hausmann Lena Zischler

Leadership in Arts Organisations

Andrea Hausmann • Lena Zischler

Leadership in Arts Organisations The Power of Successful Work Relationships

Andrea Hausmann Institute for Cultural Management Ludwigsburg University of Education Ludwigsburg, Germany

Lena Zischler Institute for Cultural Management Ludwigsburg University of Education Ludwigsburg, Germany

ISBN 978-3-031-40190-9    ISBN 978-3-031-40191-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Springer Nature 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Pattern © Melisa Hasan This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Paper in this product is recyclable.

Contents

1 A  Short Introduction to This Book  1 References  4 2 Theoretical  Foundations of Leadership in Arts Organisations  5 2.1 Understanding and Scope of Leadership  5 2.2 Basic Model of Leadership  8 2.3 Overview of Leadership Theories 11 References 14 3 Typical  Framework Conditions for Leadership in Arts Organisations 17 3.1 Organisational Characteristics 17 3.2 Characteristics of the Workforce and Their Collaboration 27 3.3 Characteristics of Arts Leaders and Their Work Situation 33 References 37 4 Management  Levels and Leadership Tasks in Arts Organisations 41 4.1 Hierarchical Levels and Types of Arts Leaders 41 4.2 Core Tasks of Arts Leaders 46 4.3 Other HRM Responsibilities of Arts Leaders 49 4.4 Framework Conditions for Motivation and Responsibility 55 References 62

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Contents

5 Elements  of Leadership Behaviour in Arts Organisations 65 5.1 Leadership Styles 65 5.1.1 Traditional Perspectives 65 5.1.2 Leading in a Digital Work Environment 70 5.2 Personal Leadership Principles 75 5.3 Use of Power in Leadership 78 References 81 6 Leadership  Tools for Communication 83 6.1 Introductory Overview 83 6.2 Communication as a Leadership Challenge 85 6.3 Informal Feedback 89 6.4 Formal Feedback 92 6.4.1 Performance Review Meeting 92 6.4.2 Teams and Team Meetings 96 6.5 Conflict Management101 6.5.1 Definition, Types and Phases of Conflicts101 6.5.2 Conflict Prevention and Conflict Management Methods104 References108 7 Leadership  Tools for Coordination111 7.1 Organisational Charts and Job Descriptions111 7.2 Organisational Culture114 7.3 Vision, Mission and Values Statements119 7.4 Organisational Leadership Principles123 7.5 Target Agreements and Budgets125 7.6 Training and Development128 7.7 Organisation Development132 References138 8 Leadership  Tools for Evaluation141 8.1 Employee Surveys141 8.2 360-Degree Feedback148 8.3 Evidence of Effective Leadership153 References156

About the Authors

Prof. Dr. Andrea Hausmann  is a professor at the Institute for Cultural Management, Ludwigsburg University of Education, Germany. She advises organisations in the arts and cultural sector on leadership and organisational development. Lena  Zischler is a research assistant at the Institute for Cultural Management, Ludwigsburg University of Education, Germany. She conducts research on leadership in the arts.

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List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 6.1 Fig. 8.1

Basic model of leadership Onboarding checklist for the first working day Framework conditions for individual responsibility and motivation Categories and types of leadership tools for arts organisations Example of a question in an employee survey

9 53 58 84 146

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List of Tables

Table 1.1 Table 2.1 Table 3.1 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 6.3 Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Table 7.3 Table 7.4 Table 7.5 Table 8.1 Table 8.2 Table 8.3 Table 8.4 Table 8.5

Field reports on leadership in arts organisations 3 Understandings of leadership 7 Opportunities and risks of dual leadership 21 Benefits and challenges of remote work 73 Attitudes and ritual behaviour of leaders 77 Gains and sacrifices of assuming a leadership/power position 80 Opportunities and challenges of performance review meetings 94 Gains and losses through teamwork 97 Glasl’s model of conflict escalation 105 Aspects of a job description for a digital media content manager115 Vision statements of three opera houses 119 Mission statements of three opera houses 119 Values statements of three opera houses 120 Goals of staff development for arts organisations and employees 129 Main phases and activities of an employee survey 143 Pros and cons of written survey methods 144 Suitable topics for employee survey questionnaires 145 Concerns of employees and arts leaders 147 Phases of a 360-degree feedback process 152

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CHAPTER 1

A Short Introduction to This Book

Abstract  In this chapter we explain why employees are the most important resource for arts organisations and how ubiquitous the typical leadership problems are in organisations such as, for example, museums, theatres, orchestras, libraries, cultural centres and the like. Keywords  Arts Organisations • Arts Leadership • Competitiveness • Performance Employees are the most important resource of arts organisations. Whether it is the friendly staff at the box office or in the exhibition spaces, dedicated art educators in workshops and on guided tours, lighting and sound technicians behind the scenes, administrative staff preparing the budget or passionate artists on the theatre stage or in the orchestra pit: All employees of arts organisations are directly involved in the production of goods and services, which means that their work has a direct impact on the quality of the cultural offer and thus on the experience and satisfaction of key stakeholders such as visitors. To ensure the success, competitiveness and long-term performance of arts organisations, it is therefore very important to create appropriate framework conditions for effective working relationships, good teamwork and an individual working situation for each member of the arts

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hausmann, L. Zischler, Leadership in Arts Organisations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6_1

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organisation. To achieve this, effective leadership is necessary, and management literature has long agreed on this. But what is the status quo in arts management theory and practice in this respect? Indeed, arts management researchers have been calling for a stronger focus on leadership issues in arts organisations for some time now (e.g. Suchy 2003). In fact, however, it is only recently that more attention has been paid to human resources (HR) and leadership issues in arts management literature (e.g. O’Connell 2019; Hausmann 2019; Byrnes 2022). It is therefore not surprising that professionalisation in the field of effective leadership still leaves much to be desired in many arts organisations. This is shown not only by the more spectacular cases of recent years in which managers of arts institutions from all sectors have abused their leadership power (e. g. Kamp 2020; Landsberg 2021; Wolff 2020), but above all by the numerous, far less spectacular problems of everyday collaboration in arts organisations. To illustrate this with examples, we looked at Indeed, a global American employment platform that makes information on leadership in arts organisations easily accessible. Here, as on various other portals (e.g. Glassdoor, Kununu), employees can rate their former or current employers based on certain criteria. It is obvious that each of these ratings reflects a single, subjective impression, and the personal background of a reviewer is not disclosed. However, these general problems of online rating platforms are not relevant for our purpose. What is relevant is that the comments of the different users listed in Table 1.1 give a good first impression of the typical problems and challenges of leadership in arts organisations and that they occur regardless of the type and sector. Most of the issues raised in Table 1.1 will be addressed in the context of this book because they are so archetypal of work relationships in many arts organisations. Given the nature of the Palgrave pivot book series, our discussion will be compact, concise and practice-oriented. Our explanations are based on the assumption that leadership does not only concern arts managers, but all employees and hierarchical levels. Therefore, both perspectives will be considered in the following, so that this book is designed as a useful guide for both leaders and staff to better assess leadership situations and (jointly) work towards successful working relationships in arts organisations. This pivot explores issues of leadership in arts organisations. This includes organisations that fall into the typical arts categories such as visual

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Table 1.1  Field reports on leadership in arts organisations Symphony orchestra

“No room for advancement (…). Cronyism is a problem and job opportunities are already spoken-for long before they are posted internally and to the public”; “No appreciation for hard work”; “(…) upper management may talk about equity and equality but no accountability if it is followed through” (reviews from 2016, 2019 & 2022). Museum “You aren’t allowed to have ideas here (…). Often spoken to in a belittling manner”; “There was so much departmental conflicts between employees”; “Lack of training and opportunity of progress” (reviews from 2018, 2019 & 2020). Museum “Lots of favoritism, nepotism, and narcissism (…). No one has your back”; “Many micromanagers”; “(…) HR is mostly unhelpful & unresourceful”; “(…) has yet to update its workplace culture to reflect modern times (…). Departments often do not work with one another but against each other”; “Inconsistent management”; “Complain to the head manager and I felt like I wasn’t heard” (reviews from 2020, 2021 & 2022). Public library “Most managers were trained as librarians (…) but never trained to be managers (…). Really bureaucratic, transactional management”; “Management always takes the patrons side”; “disrespectful management, no direction, no regard for staff especially part timers”; “Unresolved staff issues”; “The union is useless” (reviews from 2021 & 2022). Center for “They don’t seem to care about turnover (…). They also like to refer to performing the staff as a ‘family’ which is just a way for them to take advantage of arts employees (…)”; “Quantity over quality, and chaos over communication”; “Management (…) never took the time to actually talk to me about their concerns or let me prove my full potential” (reviews from 2019; 2020 & 2022).

arts, performing arts, music and literature (e.g. museums, theatres, operas, orchestras, libraries or literary houses). However, we understand the term arts organisation in a broad sense and include organisations such as arts councils, heritage, arts and cultural centres, cinemas or festivals. Regardless of the respective (artistic) content and products, when we speak of arts organisations, we mean organisations that are (as far as possible) organised in a planned manner, manage scarce resources carefully, are (largely) autonomous in goal-setting and implementation, and combine production factors (labour, money, material, etc.) to produce artistic and cultural goods and services to meet external demand in the interest of certain owners, external funding bodies or other stakeholders, and offer them for exchange on their respective markets.

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In the following we offer a sound theoretical discussion on leadership in arts organisations. To illustrate the theoretical context, we incorporate our practical expertise from various cooperations and projects with arts organisations and give many examples from different arts sectors.

References Byrnes, William J. 2022. Management and the arts. New York: Routledge. Hausmann, Andrea. 2019. Cultural leadership I. Begriff, Einflussfaktoren und Aufgaben der Personalführung in Kulturbetrieben. Wiesbaden: Springer. Kamp, Justin. 2020. The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit fired its executive director following accusations of abusive leadership. Artsy. https://www.artsy. net/article/artsy-editorial-museum-contemporary-art-detroit-fired-executivedirector-accusations-abusive-leadership. Accessed 11 Nov 2022. Landsberg, Torsten. 2021. Allegations of abuse of power at Berlin theater. DW. https://www.dw.com/en/allegations-­of-­abuse-­of-­power-­at-­berlin-­ theater/a-­57443221. Accessed 11 Nov 2022. O’Connell, Jim. 2019. Arts leadership. Converging on change. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society 49: 365–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 10632921.2019.1588817. Wolff, Carla. 2020. Swiss dance scene hit by another charge of abuse. Swissinfo. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/swiss-­dance-­scene-­hit-­by-­another-­ charge-­of-­abuse/47967738. Accessed 11 Nov 2022. Suchy, Sherene. 2003. Leading with passion. Change management in the 21st-­ century museum. Lanham: Alta-Mira Press.

CHAPTER 2

Theoretical Foundations of Leadership in Arts Organisations

Abstract  We understand effective leadership as a means of building and maintaining relationships that are goal- or outcome-oriented. Generally speaking, leadership is, above all, influenced by the work situation, the people and the organisational goals. In this chapter we address the most important variables influencing leadership and give a brief overview of the most important leadership theories. Keywords  Definition and Scope of Leadership • Variables of Leadership • Interrelations in Leadership • Leadership Theories

2.1   Understanding and Scope of Leadership We want to base further discussion on an understanding of the term leadership that is as clear as possible. That this is not easy is shown, among other things, by the long-standing controversial debate in academia as to whether and how leadership and management differ from each other. Advocates of the approach that the two concepts are fundamentally different, such as Kotter (1990), understand management tasks as planning, organising, staffing and controlling, with the aim of creating a certain degree of order and stability in the organisation. In contrast, leadership tasks in this line of research consist of setting the direction, aligning,

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motivating and inspiring people with the aim of achieving change and movement. However, there are now many voices arguing that a rigorous distinction between management and leadership is no longer appropriate (e.g. Ricketts and Ricketts 2017; Yukl and Gardner 2019; Northouse 2021). For example, Northouse argues: When managers are involved in influencing a group to meet its goals, they are involved in leadership. When leaders are involved in planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling, they are involved in management. Both processes involve influencing a group of individuals towards goal attainment. (2021, p. 18)

In the practice of arts organisations, where arts managers (at whatever level) regularly do not have the choice to focus only on a specific set of tasks due to limited resources, these academic debates quickly lose relevance, or as the arts management expert Byrnes aptly puts it, “Ideally, a good manager should be a good leader, and a good leader should be a good manager” (2022, p. 240). For this reason, we do not want to go further into possible (theoretical) distinctions between leadership and management at this point, but rather point out that we will use the two terms synonymously in this book. Next, we take a closer look at the concept of leadership, which is defined very differently in the management literature. In fact, there seem to be (almost) as many understandings of the term as there are publications on the subject. Table  2.1 lists selected examples from the management literature. On the one hand, these examples show how difficult it is to get to the bottom of the phenomenon of leadership and find a common understanding. On the other hand, much is expected of the members in a leadership relationship, especially the leaders: They are expected to be inspiring and to influence not only the behaviour but also the perceptions and expectations of others. And to do all this in the ongoing day-to-day business, which in most arts organisations is characterised by a chronic lack of resources (especially time, people, budget)—this is undoubtedly an enormous challenge, especially for those arts leaders who, due to their (academic) training, have had little or no insight into the responsibilities and tasks of a leader.

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Table 2.1  Understandings of leadership Author(s)

Definitions

Armstrong and Taylor (2020, p. 420) Bass (2008, p. 52)

Leadership means inspiring people to do their best to achieve a desired result.

Northouse (2021, p. 6) Ricketts and Ricketts (2017, p. 5) Schein and Schein (2016, p. 125) Weibler (2004, p. 258)

Leadership is an interaction between two or more members of a group that often involves a structuring or restructuring of the situation and of the perceptions and expectations of the members. Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. We define leadership as the ability of a person—the leader—to move an organization or group toward the achievement or accomplishment of its goals and objectives, using whatever style is the most effective in each situation. Leadership is the management of culture.

Leadership is a jointly created, mutually accepted special relationship that gets its changing, concrete gestalt from the mode of intercourse of two (or more) directly or indirectly connected persons, embedded in a necessarily constraining situation and context, who together strive to solve problems.

When discussing the topic of leadership, it is important to bear in mind that it is an interdisciplinary phenomenon that is also dealt with in sociology, philosophy and psychology. It is therefore worthwhile to look at the topic beyond the business literature. This brings the social process of leadership and the relationship between leader and led more to the fore (e.g. Sprenger 2013; Clarke 2018; Weisenstein 2020)—and thus the fact that it is not only the leader who exerts influence and has room for manoeuvre, but also the led. However, the leadership relationship is not an end in itself, but serves primarily to achieve the mission and goals of an arts organisation. The fact that the goals and needs of the members of the organisation are also regularly met in the process is a (desirable) side effect. Bearing in mind the above, we understand leadership in this pivot as follows: Leadership in arts organisations aims to establish and maintain effective working relationships that are goal- or outcome-oriented and characterised by mutual, if not symmetrical, influence and alignment.

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With regard to the scope of leadership, we consider it necessary to emphasise here that effective leadership is relevant in every kind of arts organisation: it is a general concept used for relational, goal-oriented collaboration between executives and staff. It is therefore independent of the –– size of organisation: Leadership issues arise in large arts organisations, such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) with approx. 800 employees (Kamp 2020), as well as in small, owner-managed concert agencies working with only a few employees. –– type of organisation: Leadership tasks arise regardless of whether the services of an arts organisation are primarily administrative (e.g. arts council, department for culture, artist/event agency), scientific (e.g. libraries, museums) or artistic (theatres, orchestra, etc.). –– legal status/organisational structure: The importance of effective professional working relationships is the same whether we are talking about a commercial creative enterprise or a non-profit arts organisation, a centrally managed department or an independent company. –– scarcity of resources: Resources are scarce by definition, especially in arts organisations. At the same time, the arguments often put forwards by leaders that they “don’t have enough time” or “have too much to do” are not legitimate excuses to justify why they are not fulfilling their leadership duties and role responsibilities. But those being led cannot escape their responsibility either by reflexively pointing to the “too small budget” or the “too ambitious plans” (see Sect. 4.3 for more on this). So, while effective leadership is important in all types of arts organisations, there is no recipe for leadership success that applies equally to all arts organisations. Rather, the above criteria play a role in the effective implementation of leadership in that each organisation, its people, its conditions and its culture are individual and the available leadership tools must be selected and adapted accordingly in order to successfully lead a particular arts organisation and achieve its goals.

2.2   Basic Model of Leadership The key elements of leadership addressed in the discussion above are related to each other in Fig. 2.1. This results in a basic model of leadership that illustrates the interdependencies between the elements (which are discussed in more detail in the chapters mentioned in brackets below):

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Leader Leadership Situation

Interaction & Relationship

Leadership Success

People Fig. 2.1  Basic model of leadership

–– Leadership situation: As said before, the leadership situation in arts organisations is characterised by scarce resources (time, budget, staff, etc.). This regularly requires challenging decisions on the allocation of these resources which have to be made taking into account the institutional specifics, the organisational goals and the relationship between the leaders and the led. Furthermore, the leadership situation is influenced by the culture of the organisation, its traditions and values, as well as its structure (hierarchies, boards, etc.) (see Chap. 4). –– Leaders: Through their personality and actions—and sometimes also their inaction (e.g. by sitting out decisions)—leaders have a direct influence on the leadership situation and leadership success. However, leaders also influence the leadership situation indirectly, particularly through the way they shape the relationship with those they lead (participative, authoritarian, etc.). Certain conditions among the leaders but also in the arts organisation are particularly conducive to the success of this influence (see Chaps. 3 and 4). –– People: Employees also directly and indirectly influence the leadership situation and leadership success through their activities (or inactivity). A particular challenge for effective leadership is that the workforce in arts organisations is very heterogeneous (types of employment, job areas, qualification levels, etc.) (see Chap. 3). –– Leadership success: On the one hand, leadership success refers to the primary organisational goals, i.e. to achieve the mission (see Sect. 7.3). On the other hand, leadership success is expressed in secondary variables, such as a good working atmosphere, high job satisfaction, feelings of belonging and cohesion. As a rule, leadership success usually has a self-reinforcing effect on those involved in the process and thus encourages appropriate behaviour in the future (see Sect. 8.3).

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Having presented the variables of the basic model of leadership, we would like to introduce below the two basic forms of leadership that coexist in every arts organisation. Ideally, both support and complement each other (in fact, however, there are numerous examples in arts practice where the people acting are thwarted by entrenched structures). 1. Leadership Through People As explained above, there is a direct, interactive relationship of influence between the leaders and the led. Relevant here are the personality and skills of the leader as well as his/her willingness to actually take on the role responsibility as a supervisor. In addition, it is also of interest to what extent the employees are able and willing to commit to their chosen workplace and to take responsibility for the quality of their work results—also, and especially, in the face of scarce resources. 2. Leadership Through Structures In addition to direct leadership, i.e. leadership through individual decisions and actions, this pivot also examines indirect leadership, which is largely independent of a particular leader. The control and coordination of actions at the workplace and the influencing of employees’ behaviour is rather achieved through orders, rules, etc. These can be –– fixed, standardised, rather less “tangible” tools, such as hierarchical levels, communication and reporting lines, organisational charts, job descriptions, procedures (e.g. travel expense forms) or even the design of workplaces (e.g. at physical visitor touchpoints, such as lobby space, front desks etc.) and, on the other hand, –– influencing factors that are difficult to grasp, such as unwritten norms, rituals, values or the organisational culture as a whole. Leadership through structures is a substitute for leadership through people. Ideally, certain structures make it possible to reduce complexity and relieve the individual manager because they partly reduce the need for

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interactive leadership and at the same time create a reliable framework within which interactive leadership can take place. However, leadership through structures can also lead to (overly) restricting the creativity of staff, to promoting “working by the book” or to increasing the complexity in an organisation—as everyone knows whose arts organisation has a high number of standardised rules and regulations that are not flexible enough for specific (project) requirements.

2.3  Overview of Leadership Theories One reason for the diversity of conceptual understandings discussed in Sect. 2.1 is to be found in the different theoretical approaches to leadership. The basic aim of leadership theories is to examine the conditions for successful leadership and thus to explain how a leader can support other members of an organisation in fulfilling their tasks. In the following, selected (traditional) approaches from a constantly growing number of leadership theories are presented; the focus is either on –– the leader, –– the leadership situation or –– the leadership relationship. It should be noted at the outset that there are points of criticism of all leadership theories; for example, the postulated relationships cannot always be empirically proven due to their model character. On the other hand, the approaches contain important indications for arts management practice of how the understanding of leadership has developed over time and which different variables have an influence on leadership. For a more detailed discussion of leadership theories, see e.g. Northouse (2021). 1. Trait Theory In trait theory, the leader is the key variable to explain leadership success. The central assumption is that successful leadership depends on the presence of certain characteristics, such as intelligence, empathy, problem-­ solving ability, decision-making ability, self-confidence, assertiveness, reliability, responsibility, stress-resistance, eloquence or intuition. The characteristics of a leader are time-stable dispositions to certain behaviours,

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largely independent of a particular leadership situation. The behaviour of leaders is understood as the result of these characteristics and is otherwise not the focus of this theory. To this day, the explanation of leadership behaviour through traits has a high value—also due to the low complexity of this model. However, this approach also has weaknesses. For example, it is not possible to draw up a universally valid list of useful leadership qualities. This is also due to the diversity of leadership situations: while in one situation certain qualities are very beneficial, in other situations other qualities may be necessary. Furthermore, it is questionable whether and to what extent certain traits, if not innate, can be learned later. Last but not least, it is unclear whether the presence of individual characteristics is sufficient or whether they must be present in a certain constellation. With the emergence of the so-called transformational leadership in recent years, trait theory has once again moved more into the focus of theory and practice. In contrast to the classic transactional leadership, in which, simply put, good working conditions on the part of the employer are “exchanged” for good task performance on the part of the employees, transformational leaders are no longer in a barter relationship with those they lead but rather transform and develop them according to their values, needs and mission. In short, they “are able, by force of their personality, to make significant changes in the behaviour of their followers in order to achieve the leader’s vision or goals” (Armstrong and Taylor 2020, p. 707). Despite its popularity, the approach—which ultimately remains vague as far as specifically required transformational qualities are concerned— should be viewed critically. Especially in the arts and cultural sector, the risk seems too great to us of unnecessarily promoting a (frequently male) cult of genius or stardom, especially if it is used unreflectively and exclusively as a style of leadership. 2. Behavioural Theory In contrast to the person-centred theories outlined above, the behavioural approaches focus on how leaders behave towards other members of the organisation and which type of influence, or more precisely, which leadership style is particularly successful in this respect. This led first to the one-­dimensional Continuum of Leadership Behaviour (Tannenbaum and

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Schmidt 1958) and later to the two-dimensional Managerial Grid (Blake and Mouton 1964), both of which are still very popular in leadership practice and are discussed in more detail in Sect. 5.1.1. The first approach focuses on the degree of employee participation in decision-making; this one-dimensional view is also a major point of criticism. In the second approach, managers are distinguished according to whether they are more focused on the matter at hand (task-oriented) or more focused on the employees (relationship-oriented). Criticism of this approach refers, among other things, to the fact that here too (only) the leader is assigned an active role, while the influence of the person being led and the leadership situation continue to be neglected (in short, that even two dimensions are not sufficient to adequately reflect the complexity of leadership). 3. Situational Theory Intensive research into the above-mentioned approaches finally led to the conclusion that there is no such thing as the optimal leadership qualities, the best leadership style or the ideal leadership behaviour but that the situational context plays a central role in leadership success and the achievement of organisational goals. The focus is less on the typical influencing factors, such as those generally found in arts organisations (see Chap. 3), but rather on the specific circumstances of a decision-making and leadership situation. Aspects such as the –– –– –– –– ––

complexity of a decision, availability of relevant information, time and cost pressures, potential for conflicts and importance of acceptance of a decision by those being led

must be considered in the sense of this theoretical approach when choosing a leadership style. Although situational theory is widely recognised (Northouse 2021), there are some points of criticism here as well. For example, little is said in this approach about the fact that, and how, the leadership situation can be influenced by a manager (and, likewise, by those being led). Rather, it is assumed that those affected are merely reacting to the situation but cannot actively shape it.

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4. Interactional Theory From the further development of trait-, behaviour- and situation-oriented leadership theories, interaction theory has emerged. This approach no longer takes a static view of the role of the leader and the led and instead focuses on the dynamics of the leadership relationship or the mutual influence. This relationship is influenced on the one hand by the people involved (with their behaviour, personality traits and competencies) and on the other hand by the respective characteristics of a leadership situation. The cause-effect relationships are more complex in this approach because it also takes into account, for example, that all parties involved have room for manoeuvre and a certain amount of power, so that the leadership relationship is a dynamic process of exerting and resisting influence.

References Armstrong, Michael, and Stephen Taylor. 2020. Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. London/New York: Kogan Page. Bass, Bernard M., and Ruth Bass. 2008. The Bass handbook of leadership. Theory, research, and managerial applications. New York: Free Press. Blake, Robert R., and Jane S. Mouton. 1964. The new managerial grid. Key orientations for achieving production through people. Houston: Gulf Publishing. Byrnes, William J. 2022. Management and the arts. New York: Routledge. Clarke, Nicholas. 2018. Relational leadership. Theory, practice and development. London: Routledge. Kamp, Justin. 2020. The Museum of Modern Art made drastic cuts in order to weather COVID-19. Artsy https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-­editorial-­ museum-­modern-­art-­made-­drastic-­cuts-­order-­weather-­covid-­19. Accessed 7 Sep 2022. Kotter, John P. 1990. A force for change. How leadership differs from management. New York: Free Press. Northouse, Peter G. 2021. Leadership. Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Ricketts, Cliff, and John C. Ricketts. 2017. Leadership. Personal development and career success. Boston: Cengage Learning. Schein, Edgar H., and Peter Schein. 2016. Organizational culture and leadership. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Sprenger, Reinhard K. 2013. Radical leadership. Frankfurt/New York: Campus. Tannenbaum, Robert, and Warren H. Schmidt. 1958. How to choose a leadership pattern. Harvard Business Review 36: 95–101.

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Weibler, Jürgen. 2004. New perspectives on leadership research. Zeitschrift für Personalforschung/German Journal of Research in Human Resource Management 18: 257–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/239700220401800301. Weisenstein, Greg R. 2020. Relational leadership. Putting people first. Denver: Outskirts Press. Yukl, Gary, and William L. Gardner. 2019. Leadership in organizations. Harlow: Pearson Education.

CHAPTER 3

Typical Framework Conditions for Leadership in Arts Organisations

Abstract  This chapter discusses some of the key factors that influence leadership in arts organisations. This includes organisational characteristics (e.g. understanding of HRM, dual leadership concepts) as well as key characteristics of employees (e.g. heterogeneity of work areas and tasks) and leaders (e.g. uncertainties about leadership roles, challenges of self-­ leadership) in arts organisations. Keywords  HRM • Boards • Works Council • Power • Dual Leadership • Burnout

3.1   Organisational Characteristics 1. Intangibility of the Cultural Offering Most of what is offered by arts organisations, such as exhibitions, performances, concerts, readings, workshops or guided tours, is largely intangible. Such services cannot be bought by the audience and “consumed” at home but must be used on site. This means that the processes of creating and using cultural products regularly coincide. There is no possibility of postprocessing, and employees must be able to call up their performance on the spot. And it is the staff at visitor touchpoints who often serves as a © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hausmann, L. Zischler, Leadership in Arts Organisations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6_3

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quality surrogate for the overall service experience with an arts organisation. Their friendliness, helpfulness, service orientation, stress resistance, etc., have a major impact on the overall satisfaction of the visitors. This is also relevant because the intangible offerings of arts organisations cannot be inspected and tested by the audience before buying a ticket; instead, they usually buy “a pig in a poke”. The resulting quality uncertainties must be compensated for by marketing and communication measures, but also by well-managed staff. Managing Service Quality

Researchers have identified five determinants of service quality (Berry and Parasuraman 1991; see also Kotler et al. 2021), which we believe are also relevant for arts organisations and should be considered by their managers and staff (the dimensions are in descending order of importance): 1. Reliability: the ability to deliver the promised service accurately and dependably. For example, visitors can rely on the play starting at the announced time or that an exhibition contains the most important (original) works of an artist. 2. Responsiveness: the ability to provide a prompt service to visitors and the commitment to help them. This includes, for example, keeping the visitors informed and responding quickly to requests. 3. Assurance: the ability of staff to convey trust and confidence. This requires communicative skills on the part of the employees. This is especially important with cultural products, where first-time and occasional visitors, in particular, do often feel uncertain whether they can correctly assess their quality. 4. Empathy: the ability to care for and provide for one’s clients individually. It is important to know and understand the interests and needs of the audience/different target groups. 5. Tangibles: The appearance of the physical facilities (the building itself, sanitary facilities, etc.), equipment, personnel or means of communication. Again, the audience draws conclusions from the quality of the premises to the overall quality of its visit.

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2. Understanding of HRM and Institutional Anchoring In many arts organisations, the importance and role of human resource management (HRM) in general for performance and long-term viability is still underestimated. Especially in medium-sized and small arts organisations, HRM is traditionally understood in a rather narrow and operational way; the focus here is on the administration of personnel or personnel-­ related issues rather than on (strategic) management. Rather frequent than rare, there is no human resources (HR) department, but a few people are chronically overloaded with operational tasks. Only large arts organisations usually have an independent, (hopefully) adequately staffed HR department that sees itself, or should see itself, as a central service provider and strategically oriented partner for HR issues. Such a department ideally coordinates closely with other functional areas and drives forwards, for example, the implementation of systematic employee development, the introduction of new leadership tools and, overall, a professional orientation of HR policy. A former HR manager of an art museum uses the example of museums to show typical problems of HRM in arts organisations: Issues like succession planning, performance management, compensation strategy, diversity, and many others, are issues that have an impact on museums, just as they do in all other sectors. Yet leadership in museums is in need of education about these topics, and sometimes, even simple convincing that they are important to the future of the organization. Add to this the lack of funding to invest in the staff and in HR processes and we find we are back in the days of paper-driven manual processes. This pulls HR more towards the tactical end of provided services and less able to be the partner who has the ability to add value to the strategic direction of the museum. (Engel 2016)

Engel’s statement makes it clear once again how important it is for arts managers to be familiar with HR issues—both in smaller and larger arts organisations. Byrnes rightly adds that (…) it becomes critical for mangers to have a general grasp of the rules and regulations controlling the hiring and firing of employees and the use of independent contractors. Mistakes in human resource management (HRM) can lead to costly and time-consuming litigation. (Byrnes 2022, p. 193)

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Regardless of the size of an arts organisation, it is advisable for arts leaders to know the main rules and regulations in the context of HRM.  This is because HRM plays a role not only in hiring and firing staff but also in ensuring employee satisfaction, developing culture and structures, and the performance and competitiveness of an arts organisations in general. In our opinion, it is therefore crucial for success that arts leaders are aware of this high strategic importance of HRM and actively use it for their organisations. 3. Dual Leadership at Top Management Level In this section, we would like to take a closer look at a form of leadership that has become a tradition in some arts and cultural sectors, namely, dual leadership (de Voogt 2006). We understand dual leadership (also: co-leadership) in arts organisations as the constellation of two people at the highest level of the hierarchy, usually an artist or a scientist and a manager, who jointly assume leadership tasks on the basis of their (different) competencies. This form of leadership is implemented in many organisations in the performing arts and music, visual arts but also, for example, in sociocultural centres, cultural administration, or organisations supporting culture (foundations, associations, etc.). The background to this is the fact that arts organisations have to be managed artistically or scientifically as well as organisationally and administratively—and that only in exceptional cases these different competencies are united in one person. Different forms of this collegial management model can be distinguished: 1. Formal dual leadership: This is the case when the leadership constellation has been formally approved, e.g. by the bylaws or other regulations. In practice, many different variants are possible (e.g. Döös and Wilhelmson 2021). For example, the two directors may –– have the same hierarchical rank, but do not have to (e.g. if the artistic director is above the managing director in the organisational chart and has the right to make the final decision). –– divide their management tasks and responsibilities according to their specialisation or they perform the tasks jointly.

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2. Informal dual leadership: This variant is not based on a formal, e.g. contractually defined arrangement, but on the not uncommon fact that the actual (often artistic) leader is away a lot (for rehearsals, representation tasks, etc.) and/or has little leadership competence, so that another person with appropriate skills but without a formal mandate has to step in and fill the leadership vacuum. Table 3.1 shows that the division of responsibility in dual leaderships has advantages and disadvantages. In summary, the existence of dual leadership has a considerable influence on the leadership situation in arts organisations. If this influence is to be primarily positive, it is important that 1. the co-leaders “pull together”, i.e. they appear as a unit towards third parties (employees, sponsors, media, etc.), 2. they complement each other professionally and at the same time recognise each other’s competence,

Table 3.1  Opportunities and risks of dual leadership Opportunities

Risks

1. T  wo perspectives can be considered 1. Problems between the co-leaders: when making decisions (e.g. artistic and −  Pseudo-­equality business side) − Rivalry & top dog attitude 2. R  oles can be divided between two − Insufficient clarification of people, e.g.: competencies − Decision preparer and decision maker − High need for coordination − Task-oriented leader (i.e. high technical − Different objectives and values (artistic competence) and relationship-oriented vs. business goals) leader (i.e. high social competence) 2. Problems for and with staff: 3. C  an be a tool of HR development when − Inconsistent, contradictory issuing of a young and an experienced manager work orders to employees work (well) together − Conflict-­ridden working atmosphere 4. C  o-leaders can take the load off each − Playing off the co-leaders (“but he/ other and support each other she said...”) emotionally

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3. the co-leaders trust each other, respect each other and have a shared vision of the arts organisation (e.g. Reynolds et al. 2017), 4. there is a high level of willingness and ability to engage in ongoing dialogue and regular consultation, 5. there are rules of procedure that provide the framework for recurring decision-making situations, define the distribution of tasks and responsibilities and, ideally, also set out the procedure for dispute resolution or decision-making in the case of disagreements and conflicts.

New Leadership Forms

For some time now, scholars and practitioners have been increasingly interested in pluralistic forms of leadership (shared and distributed leadership, etc.) (e.g. Gibeau et al. 2016; Murawski 2020). This is by now also reflected in the practice of arts organisations. While co-­ leadership already has a longer tradition, there are some organisations that are also trying out new forms of leadership. To give a few examples from recent years: –– At Kunsthalle Wien in 2019, three people who were hired together took on equal shares of the position of artistic director. –– At Birmingham Museums Trust, where previously only one person was CEO, two people were appointed as joint CEOs in 2020. –– At City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, three people have been working as co-artistic leaders since 2021. They alternate their responsibilities as lead artistic director per season. These new forms of plural leadership also offer advantages and disadvantages; ideally, they are not only tested in practice, but also examined by arts management research. Basically, it can be recommended that with such a groundbreaking change in the organisational structure (as with other change processes), it is important to take the staff along and prepare them for the new leadership models.

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4. High (Contractual) Complexity in the Workforce The heterogeneous staff structures common in arts and cultural sectors (see also Sect. 3.2) lead to a high degree of complexity, which not only affects employment contracts and agreements, but has an overall impact on leadership in arts organisations. First of all, there are many different contractual and employment relationships in the sectors, e.g. –– –– –– –– ––

permanent employees (full and part time), temporary staff (e.g. freelancers, seasonal workers), trainees, apprentices, interns and volunteers.

In addition, there are several unions representing specific groups of workers in an arts organisation and thus negotiating separate contracts, work rules and compensation structures (Byrnes 2022). It is important that arts leaders are aware of this complex, contractual and legal system (and seek expert advice if necessary). However, it is equally important that they are aware of how this system can affect the arts organisation and its culture. We would like to explain this in more detail with the help of an example: Artists in particular, but also many other cultural and creative professionals in certain sectors, are less likely to be in a traditional full-time employment relationship. This means that they are more often self-employed, work part-time, often have two or more jobs and have no permanent contract (i.e. they are often not or only partially covered by social security) (EENCA 2020a). Arts managers should be aware that precarious working conditions foster power asymmetries and dependencies in arts and cultural sectors (see also the discussion below). If a person is afraid of losing his/her job or has few financial resources or connections, he/she is inevitably less able to defend him-/herself against abusive situations and inappropriate behaviour (Keil and Khreiji-Watts 2021). Furthermore, in our work with arts organisations, we have found that in many organisations, there is a big dichotomy between permanent and temporary staff. The latter often have fewer rights and are treated unequally, e.g. in terms of –– training and development, –– space situation,

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–– information sharing, –– participation in events or –– receipt of other benefits. Leaders should be aware of how important temporary workers are to the success of the arts organisation. It is therefore important to treat them largely similar to permanent employees. Where it is not possible, it should be transparently explained and adequately justified. 5. Power Asymmetries and Dependencies It is an undisputed fact that theatres, orchestras and museums in particular are traditionally very hierarchical organisations. But also in other sectors, e.g. in the film, book and art markets (e.g. ILO 2020; EENCA 2020b), structures can be found that promote an asymmetrical distribution of power in favour of a few and contribute to a high degree of professional and personal dependency of workers on managers, some of whom have abused their position in recent years. Even if the abuse of power is usually carried out by individuals, several people are always responsible for the fact that certain structures exist or that such an abuse of power is possible. Therefore, it is not only important to hold the abusers of power accountable, but also to change the mindset in arts organisations. Fortunately, there is greater awareness of this systemic problem today, and policymakers and the relevant associations alike are making efforts to change the situation and find new ways of distributing power. One of many examples is the Federation of International Actors. It has published a practical manual on combating sexual harassment to help unions and advocacy organisations in the sector develop their own policies and actions (FIA 2020). However, it is not only the task of the higher bodies but also of each individual to participate in changing the general culture in a particular arts organisation and to prevent abusive behaviour. This is also confirmed by the authors of a study on gender and power relations in the European cultural sector: Precise vocabulary, accurate definitions, and clear articulations are crucial, and they need time to be formulated, agreed upon, accepted, and adopted. Tools that are meant to act against sexual harassment and power abuse— such as codes of conduct, hotlines, or training—only work if they are under-

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stood and put into everyday practice by the majority of an organisation’s community, no matter its scope. (Keil and Khreiji-Watts 2021, p. 13)

In the context of this topic, the discussion of what power exactly means, why it is necessary and how it can be used in a healthy way is extremely important. For this reason, in Sect. 5.3 we go into the topic again in detail and give advice on how to use power wisely. 6. Influence of Boards In many arts organisations—there are boards that function as governing bodies. They have titles such as board of directors, board of trustees or board of governors (Rhine 2018). Board members’ responsibilities include overseeing the arts organisation and its operations, approving the annual budget, planning strategy with the executive director, fundraising and networking (Byrnes 2022). The nature and scope of the duties, the exact number of board members, etc., are usually laid down in the bylaws. However, we do not want to go into detail about the board itself (see Byrnes 2022 for more information) but rather shed light on the special— and often very difficult—relationships between boards, management and staff. These relationships can be challenging for many reasons, as the examples below illustrate: –– Different backgrounds and interests: Problems can arise when the board is made up of passionate arts supporters who have limited understanding of how an organisation works and how arts products and services are created. In other cases, tensions can arise between the artistic vision of management and staff and the fiduciary responsibility of the board. –– Blurred roles and responsibilities: The board usually hires the leader of the organisation (e.g. CEO, artistic director) and is responsible for evaluating and monitoring him/her. The executive director serves the board by, for example, supporting and keeping them informed. In practice, however, the boundaries between the different roles and responsibilities often become blurred. For example, the board often feels insufficiently informed, while at the same time many arts managers feel that the board interferes too much in day-to-day business. –– Change of board chair: The board chair is responsible for leading the board and usually has a particularly close (working) relationship with the leaders of the arts organisation. However, as the board chair

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usually changes every few years depending on the ­statutes, the board culture can vary, which sometimes makes it difficult to establish a long-term balance of power in the collaboration between boards and management. For example, it is difficult for a weak board chair to develop the board (culture, operating norms, etc.), control the different stakeholders on the board or manage conflicts. At the same time, it is also a challenge for executive arts leaders to adapt to different board chairs and to find a good working mode. A healthy relationship between board, management and staff is crucial for success. For this to work, it is important that the board and managers share the same vision and mission for the arts organisation. Written rules that clearly define responsibilities and tasks are very important to avoid conflicts. Furthermore, the board needs to develop and evaluate itself regularly. Overall, the interpersonal aspect is extremely important here: there must be mutual trust, honesty and respect, as well as a high level of appreciative communication. The director of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles has another advice for top management: (…) but one of the things that I would advise aspiring museum directors to do—whenever possible—is to seek board members who are kind, ethical, generous people; it’s not enough just to be wealthy. You will like your job and your life much more. (Philbin in an interview with Shapiro 2016, p. 93) Lack of Diversity in the Composition of Boards

Although awareness has increased in recent years, certain groups (racial and ethnic minorities, younger people, artists) are still under-­ represented on many arts sector boards (e.g. Smith 2017; Banks 2019). It is important that arts organisations (especially board members and managers) continue to make efforts to diversify their boards, as this can open up important possibilities (Arts Council England 2017). A diverse board can –– bring in different perspectives (e.g. in solving problems, developing strategies), –– better understand the needs of underrepresented visitor groups and –– be aware of a wider range of risks to the organisation (e. g. reputation, legal and other compliance risks).

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7. Influence of Works Councils In many European countries, such as Germany, France, Italy and Denmark but also in non-European countries, such as the UK, there are so-called works councils. This is a body made up of employees who represent the entire workforce in the organisation. The tasks and forms of this body can vary from country to country, but basically works councils represent the interests and rights of the employees towards the employer. This includes, for example, that –– no one is discriminated against in recruitment and promotion on the grounds of gender, age, disability, etc., –– the interests of employees are considered and protected in organisational changes (e.g. development of home office arrangements) and –– rights and contracts are followed. In practice, collaboration between works council and top management is often conflictual—this also applies to arts organisations. One main cause of conflict is often different objectives of the two parties: While the works council represents the interests of the employees, top management has the organisation and its (artistic, scientific, economic, etc.) interests in mind. Both parties depend on each other to fulfil their tasks and are quite capable of obstructing the work of the other. This includes infrequent and non-appreciative communication, lack of understanding for the concerns of the other party, delaying and blocking decisions, refusing to implement measures, bureaucratic and aggressive behaviour, or power plays. If top management and the works council do not work well together, this can have a major impact on the arts organisation as a whole (organisational culture of mistrust, organisational gridlock, etc.) and on effective leadership in particular. To prevent the aforementioned conflicts, it is important that both parties treat each other with respect and take each other seriously, promote an open communication and develop and discuss goals together (more about conflicts in Sect. 6.5).

3.2   Characteristics of the Workforce and Their Collaboration The following section deals with those organisational members who report to (at least) one superior and who themselves do not perform (formal) leadership tasks. Since in the further discussion we will focus on such

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aspects that can be challenging for arts managers in the context of leadership, it is important for us to emphasise at this point that staff in arts organisations are largely highly motivated and qualified, have a wide range of skills, are typically passionate about the mission of their organisation and strive every day to do an above-average job. 1. Status of Work Areas In typical arts organisations a distinction can be made between artistic (performer, musician, dancer, artistic director, etc.) or scientific staff (historian, conservator, curator, librarian, etc.) and administrative staff (controlling, finance, marketing, etc.). Another group is the technical staff (including lighting, production, stage management, requisites). In addition, there are service employees with and without visitor contact (box office, guards, cleaning, security, etc.). In our work with arts organisations, we have noticed that although all departments and each individual employee are important to the overall performance of an organisation, there are sometimes areas of work whose members consider themselves to be  more important than other departments or employees. This attitude can have a negative impact on the overall organisational culture and working climate. We would like to illustrate this with an example: In the organisational chart of an arts organisation we advised, the department with the service staff was (of course) on the same hierarchical level as all the other departments. In practice, however, it became apparent that the status of the department head and the service staff was significantly low(er) in the lived hierarchy of the organisation and that they were not adequately valued by many other staff members and department heads. This resulting lack of appreciation was evident, for example, in the fact that they were often the last to be informed about new developments, they were thanked less often for their work, they were not asked for their opinion, other staff members who were not authorised gave them instructions, and they were not seen as “proper” colleagues by other departments, but only as “the” service staff. The treatment of service staff is only one example among others. It can also happen to other groups, such as art educators, marketing staff, administrative staff, technicians, that their status in the lived hierarchy is (supposedly) lower than that of artists, curators, scientists, for example.

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However, when the appreciation gap between certain departments becomes too large, and hierarchies are lived differently than they are actually defined in the organisational chart, this can have a negative impact in many ways, e.g. frequently expressed dissatisfaction, conflicts, “work to rule”, poor collaboration, and frequent absenteeism. Arts leaders are well advised to set a good example and consistently show their staff that everyone in the institution is important for the overall success—from the management to the artists to the service staff. There are many small ways to do this that can be implemented in everyday work, e.g. regular visits to the service areas and direct, appreciative communication. Moreover, official events and formats, such as joint lunch breaks, company outings or volunteering in different departments, are also possible.

Appreciation for the Museum Guards

Museum guards are not only responsible for the safety of artworks, staff and visitors but also function as ambassadors of their museum. Although museum guards in the US are currently at the centre of discussions about equality and safety in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests (Sheets 2022), their importance is still not recognised by many. An article in the Guardian in which guards at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston describe their workplace paints an unflattering picture of a racial and class hierarchy within the museum, with some feeling marginalised and demeaned at work. As one of the guards aptly describes this: “They’re looking at us like we’re low-ground, we’re not a part of the museum, like we’re low-class” (Greenberg and Sweeney 2019). Fortunately, there is also some movement and initiatives in the museum sector to change the situation. One example is the Baltimore Museum of Art, where in 2022, 17 current or former museum guards were invited, with the help of the curational team, to create an exhibition from the artworks in the collection that attracted a lot of public interest (Dafoe 2022). Campaigns and actions such as this can create a greater awareness of the importance of the guards among visitors, museum managers and staff from other departments.

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2. Diversity of Objectives, Priorities and Values It follows from the above that the work areas in typical arts organisations are very heterogeneous. This applies accordingly to the people who work in these areas. Employees in the arts have very diverse educational backgrounds and thus different professional terminologies, ways of working and thinking, and above all different objectives, priorities and values. Due to this, there is often little understanding of the other departments, their tasks, responsibilities and needs. This can have an impact on the collaboration between departments, which can then be conflictual and not very appreciative (especially if there is a lack of good leadership that promotes understanding of the respective otherness). This can be illustrated, for example, by a typical conflict between the artistic staff on the one hand and the administrative staff on the other: The administration is regularly suspected of not understanding enough about art and therefore not knowing how complex (and thus expensive) artistic processes are. The artists, in turn, are often suspected of not being considerate enough with scarce resources and not caring that not everything that seems to be indispensable as artistic expression can be paid for. In some organisations, this stereotyping has become so chronic that people talk more and more about each other but less and less with each other. To avoid these problems, not only good leadership is needed, but also a generally appreciative organisational culture. In addition, it may be useful to promote collaboration in interdisciplinary teams more strongly. The general director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam highlights the benefits this has had for his museum as follows: One great decision that we made was to open up the groups to the entire organization, from curators to marketing. This gave everyone a feeling of empowerment to be able to use their specific knowledge and skills. It also provided the groups with more diverse perspectives that became crucial in tackling these multifaceted issues. For example, a curator knows the collection and has an antenna out for what’s currently important in the academic community. Meanwhile, a security guard has everyday contact with the public and sees how visitors move around in the museum. (…) We learned that having the involvement of people from many different disciplines ensures that we’ll maintain a stronger connection between the museum and the community. (Dibbits in an interview with Aghina and Webb 2018)

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3. Different Needs for Autonomy and Responsibility In arts organisations, there are many work areas that have tasks with high complexity and little structure. Many employees, such as artists and researchers, have above-average qualifications and work with a high level of self-motivation and commitment: (…) the discipline and drive required to become an artist, scholar, curator, singer, dancer, actor, designer, or musician is already part of the culture. Most performers do not need to be told to learn their lines, blocking, choreography, or music—they know that is expected of them. (Byrnes 2022, p. 257)

If these conditions are met, non-directive leadership styles, i.e. leadership styles with a high degree of freedom and autonomy of the led with regard to decision-making responsibility, task fulfilment and goal achievement, are generally considered to promote success. However, this type of leadership style can overburden those employees who, due to their personal disposition, benefit little from (too much) autonomy and the responsibility that comes with it. This can concern, for example, staff in areas of activity that require little prior training and represent less complex tasks (as is usually the case in the visitor contact area). For this type of staff, a directive leadership style is often more appropriate, where managers set clear goals and rules for their staff and give precise instructions. Leaders in arts organisations need to identify and decide which leadership style is appropriate for the different staff groups they are responsible for (see Sect. 5.1 for more on the topic of leadership styles). 4. Difficulties in Balancing Work and Life As discussed earlier, arts and cultural sectors often have working conditions that foster dependency and pressure to perform. This makes it frequently difficult to reconcile work and private life, as confirmed by the managing director of Aurora Theatre Company: The disparity between what is reasonable to someone who doesn’t work in theater and what is reasonable to someone who does is pretty extreme. If one person just takes a day off in the middle of rehearsal, it completely messes everything up. The guilt that goes along with doing that is very intense, especially for something that you love or think you love or once loved. (Saltzman Kellner in an interview with Janiak 2021)

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It seems that it is especially difficult for artistic staff to maintain a work-­ life balance. For many employees, this is not a problem at first, as “the cultural industry sector seems to attract passionate people” (Suchy 2003, p. 31). However, study results indicate that the personalities of creative and cultural workers are often oriented in such a way that self-exploitation and chronic overstrain become a permanent condition, as one dancer confirms: You see comments like ‘you just aren’t trying hard enough’ or ‘you probably shouldn’t be dancing if you aren’t taking this seriously’. It’s comments like these that invalidate the struggles of dancers and make them feel unheard. Because the truth of the matter is that dancers are pushing themselves so far that they’re getting burnt out and fatigued (…). (Spencer 2021)

However, many passionate non-artistic workers also know about the challenges to maintain a good work-life balance (at least in the medium to long-term). In the face of chronic scarcity of resources, this can become a considerable challenge in professional life—also and especially when cultural policy goals remain vague and it is therefore never entirely clear whether and when the organisational purpose has been achieved. There are several measures that arts organisations and their leaders can take to prevent burnout among employees. These include, for example: –– Raising the issue of burnout in the arts organisation and de-taboo it (e.g. through self-care workshops). –– Developing policies and procedures to best protect employees (e.g. regulations on how to deal with overtime). –– Promote work-life balance (e.g. encourage employees to use holidays, take time off, reduce overtime). –– Establish early warning systems for burnout and other symptoms of stress (e.g. staff appraisals, employee surveys). –– Create a workplace culture where mental health issues can be openly discussed. –– Be aware of the role model function as a manager and stick to the rules (e.g. do not send e-mails after 6 p.m., do not call employees on weekends, maintain your own work-life balance in the long term). –– Intervene immediately when employees show symptoms of burnout, sit down together and talk about it in confidence.

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3.3   Characteristics of Arts Leaders and Their Work Situation In the second chapter, we explained the concept of leadership in more detail. Now we would like to take a closer look at arts leaders, i.e. the people who exercise leadership. We will focus primarily on legitimate or formal leaders. According to the management literature, these individuals can be distinguished from other employees in arts organisations on the basis of various criteria, such as –– hierarchical position, –– performance of leadership tasks and assumption of management responsibility, and –– decision-making and directive powers towards other members of the organisation. Depending on the size and structure of an arts organisation, leaders can be found on several hierarchical levels (and with different levels of responsibility), which we will discuss in more detail in Sect. 4.1. In this section we would like to address some particularities that we have noticed in our work with arts organisations. 1. Lack of Clarity About the Term Leader While in theory there is a relatively clear understanding of what constitutes a legitimate leader, in the practice of arts organisations, we often find structures and arrangements that contradict this. In some arts organisations, for example, a job title implies that the job holder is a leader in the sense described above, e.g. someone is called a manager, but no employees report to him/her, and therefore he/she de facto has no (relevant) decision-­ making and directive powers (Hausmann and Liegel 2018; Byrnes 2022). In short, he/she is not a leader, but only carries the title, usually with the intention of raising the status of a long-serving employee. What is well-intentioned, however, is misleading and less helpful in terms of a clear organisational structure. In other arts organisations, employees are appointed as leaders but only one other employee reports to them. While they are entitled to give instructions to this employee, they do not perform any other leadership tasks (such as annual reviews, development meetings, goal setting, etc.).

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That means, they are given the title of “leader” but perform the associated management tasks only to a limited extent. The remaining tasks are carried out by arts managers at higher levels of the hierarchy. Again, such an arrangement increases complexity in an arts organisation and reduces the efficiency of organisational processes. The arts management expert Byrnes (2022, p. 17) criticises this “inflation of job titles” in arts organisations, adding that these titles are rarely followed by corresponding remuneration, which is another fact worth highlighting. All in all, this lack of clarity about the term leader or manager can lead to organisational (leadership) problems that have a negative impact on the achievement of departmental and organisational goals, e.g. –– lack of clarity about roles and tasks, –– disputes about power, –– uncertainty about who will take strategic responsibility. 2. Importance of and Need for Informal Leaders As said above, the focus of this pivot is on legitimate or, correspondingly, formal leaders, i.e. those individuals who can be defined as leaders by virtue of their position, employment contract and/or job description. However, as mentioned above, in the practice of arts organisations other, non-legitimate or informal managers also often take on leadership responsibility: 1. Such informal leaders have no formal authority, i.e. their job description and/or contract of employment does not include any management responsibilities. However, they are recognised by other members of the organisation as influential decision-makers because of certain characteristics. These characteristics include, for example, long organisational affiliation and professional experience, special qualities and skills and/or own leadership ambitions. 2. As written earlier in the context of dual leadership, the existence of such an informal leader can be advantageous if the formal leader is frequently absent (due to travel, other professional commitments, illness, etc.), cannot exercise his/her leadership role due to a lack of competencies, or is not willing to take on certain leadership tasks. Especially in arts and cultural sectors, a situation can quickly arise in which the actual leader is so rarely on site due to conferences, guest

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conducting, representation duties, etc., that employees have to turn to other people with their everyday professional problems. However, for this to work, there must be an awareness and acceptance among those involved that the informal leader leads temporarily, i.e. in certain clearly defined situations—and steps back in other contexts. 3. However, if the presence of an informal leader is not wanted, is not openly communicated and/or there is no regular exchange between formal and informal leaders, then the disadvantages of such non-­ legitimate co-leadership will predominate (e.g. development of shadow structures, parallel work due to unclear responsibilities, uncertainties about strategic direction). 3. Strong Emphasis on Professional Competence In the discussion on leadership theories (see Sect. 2.3), it became clear that there is no such thing as a “born leader”. At the same time, practice shows that leaders in the arts—in certain sectors more than in others— tend to have strong emotions and, in some cases, even narcistic temperaments. While emotions are highly suitable for initiating creative processes, certain emotions, such as frequent outbursts of anger and lack of ability to self-regulate, have a clearly negative effect on the goal of successful leadership, as experts in the arts confirm: (… An) individual leader can demonstrate narcissism, intolerance for the weakness of others and an unstoppable ego that may achieve much but at a great cost to others. Individual arts leaders are often in a position of great influence and in this role can behave in a despotic and autocratic manner. Bad behavior by artistic leaders is often excused as artistic temperament when in fact it is just bad behavior. It is not acceptable to behave like a crazed adolescent or a tyrant because you are the leader. Justifying this in the context of arts practice is equally unacceptable. (Caust 2018)

Another problem lies in a (too) one-sided emphasis on professional competence with simultaneous neglect of social competence in the selection of (artistic, scientific) leaders: It seems to be common that hiring committees assume that high-level, complex skills such as facilitating teams and working relations can be learned ad hoc in addition to artistic responsibilities. (Keil and Khreiji-Watts 2021, p. 21)

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In addition, it also happens that selection committees are too impressed by big names and lose sight of whether the applicant . truly fits in with the staff and (if one exists) the co-leader, 1 2. has the leadership skills required for the advertised position, 3. is interested in personal and professional development in the field of leadership. The problems mentioned above show that there is a need to create awareness of the importance of leadership skills in running an arts organisation, not only among leaders but also at other, higher levels (boards, governing bodies). This can start with students receiving training on the subject as part of their (arts, artistic) education. But it is also important that hiring committees are trained and/or staffed with leadership experts and ask for other relevant competencies. Furthermore, it should be in the interest of each arts organisation to systematically train and develop its leaders throughout their working lives (see Sect. 7.6 for more details on this topic). 4. Self-leadership as a Constant Challenge In arts organisations, leaders face numerous challenges for which not all of them are prepared when they take office. One of the biggest challenges are the typical working conditions in arts and cultural sectors: Irregular working hours due to evening and weekend shifts, premieres, exhibition openings, special dinners or evening council meetings are the rule rather than the exception for many arts managers. A blurring of private and professional life is therefore inherent to the job, and the theatre canteen often becomes a second living room. In addition, there are the challenges of working without limits in terms of time and space (home office, 24/7 accessibility via smartphones, etc.), the increasing speed of information and transmission and the (perceived) compulsion to make decisions “immediately”. In addition, there are different role expectations of arts leaders that are not always compatible, both in the professional context (employees, board members, stakeholders) and in the private context (family, friends, etc.). Furthermore, there are the expectations that an arts leader has of him-/ herself. Quite a few arts managers overtax themselves with demands that can hardly be met when resources are chronically scarce. This constellation

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can lead to role conflicts. The director of HAU Hebbel am Ufer, for example, reacts to this situation as follows: It is a role, not an identity. (…) And what I see is that people sometimes identify too much with being 'the boss'. I find that dangerous; it can spoil the character. That is why I want to leave this role in the office when I go home. (Vanackere in an interview with Oswald 2018; translated by the authors)

Such a conscious handling of different roles can be part of the efforts to achieve a balance between professional and private life and can be understood as the perception of leadership responsibility towards oneself. In this respect, a guiding principle comes into play here that can be found in this or a similar form in the literature on the topic of “self-­ leadership”: It is safe to assume that those who can lead themselves (well) can also lead others (well). Arts organisations and their governing bodies should be aware, however, that the burnout of an individual leader never affects him/her alone but also other members of the organisation and, therefore, the organisation as a whole. For example, if the top manager is no longer able to do his/her job, arts leaders at the next level of the hierarchy or other staff members may come under pressure because they have to take on additional responsibility and continue work that has already been started (rehearsals in progress, upcoming premieres, open casting decisions, etc.). In conclusion, we would therefore like to emphasise that ensuring a work-life balance is important not only for the individual but also for the arts organisation as a whole, which is why decision-makers (e.g. boards, governing bodies) should have a vested interest in supporting the long-term performance of their top managers.

References Aghina, Wouter, and Allen Webb. 2018. Accidentally agile. An interview with the Rijksmuseum’s Taco Dibbits. McKinsey Quarterly 4: 94–105. https://www. mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-­a nd-­o rganizational-­p erformance/our-­ insights/accidentally-­agile-­an-­interview-­with-­the-­rijksmuseums-­taco-­dibbits. Accessed 12 Sep 2022.

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Arts Council England. 2017. How to create diverse boards. Culture change guide. Arts Council England. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/ download-­file/How%20to%20create%20diverse%20boards_0.pdf. Accessed 19 Sep 2022. Banks, Patricia A. 2019. Why boards of cultural organizations need to diversify. And how to do it. Scholars Strategy Network. Scholars. https://scholars.org/contribution/why-­b oards-­c ultural-­o rganizations-­n eed-­d iversify-­a nd-­h ow-­d o-­i t. Accessed 19 Sep 2022. Berry, Leonard L., and A.  Parasuraman. 1991. Marketing services. Competing through quality. New York: Free Press. Byrnes, William J. 2022. Management and the arts. New York: Routledge. Caust, Jo. 2018. A force for good. Arts leadership and the individual. Artshub. https://www.artshub.com.au/news/opinions-­a nalysis/a-­f orce-­f or-­g ood-­ arts-­leadership-­and-­the-­individual-­255994-­2359956/. Accessed 12 Sep 2022. Dafoe, Taylor. 2022. The Baltimore Museum of Art invited its guards to curate their latest exhibition. Here’s how they took on the challenge. Artnet. https://news. artnet.com/art-­world/baltimore-­museum-­arts-­newest-­exhibition-­security-­ guards-­acted-­curators-­chose-­honor-­perspectives-­2088144. Accessed 13 Sep 2022. de Voogt, Alex. 2006. Dual leadership as a problem solving tool in arts organizations. International Journal of Arts Management 9: 17–22. Döös, Marianne, and Lena Wilhelmson. 2021. Fifty-five years of managerial shared leadership research. A review of an empirical field. Leadership 17: 715–746. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150211037809. Engel, Christine. 2016. The role of human resources in museums. American Alliance of Museums. https://www.aam-­us.org/2016/01/02/the-­role-­of-­human-­ resources-­in-­museums/. Accessed 12 Sep 2022. European Expert Network on Culture and Audiovisual (EENCA). 2020a. The status and working conditions of artists and cultural creative professionals. EENCA. https://eenca.com/eenca/assets/File/EENCA%20publications/ Study%20on%20the%20status%20and%20working%20conditions%20of%20 artists%20and%20creative%20professionals%20-­% 20Final%20report.pdf. Accessed 14 Nov 2022. ———. 2020b. Gender gaps in the cultural and creative sectors. EENCA https://eenca. com/eenca/assets/File/EENCA%20publications/Final%20Report%20-­%20 Gender%20in%20CCS%20EAC%20with%20Additional%20sections%20AV%20 and%20Radio.pdf. Accessed 10 Sep 2022. Gibeau, Émilie, Wendy Reid, and Ann Langley. 2016. Co-leadership. Contexts, configurations and conditions. In The Routledge companion to leadership, ed. John Storey, Jean Hartley, Jean-Louis Denis, Paul Hart, and Dave Ulrich, 225–240. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739854.

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Greenberg, Zoe, and Emily Sweeney. 2019. I was black, I was nobody, and I worked for security. Guards at the MFA speak out. Boston Globe. https://www. bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/06/29/was-­b lack-­w as-­n obody-­a nd­worked-­for-­security/Gnx0HcBETH3F7KGYiWQe4O/story.html. Accessed 13 Sep 2022. Hausmann, Andrea, and Antonia Liegel. 2018. Zur Repräsentation von weiblichen Führungskräften in Museen. Stand der Forschung und empirische Ergebnisse. PH Ludwigsburg. https://www.ph-­ludwigsburg.de/fileadmin/phlb/hochschule/fakultaet2/kulturmanagement/PDF/Forschung/Studie_Weibliche_ Fuehrungskraefe_in_Museen.pdf. Accessed 14 Sep 2022. International Federation of Actors (FIA). 2020. Combatting sexual harassment. FIA Actors. https://fia-­actors.com/fileadmin/user_upload/News/Documents/ 2020/January/FIA_Manual_Combatting_SH_EN_V2.pdf. Accessed 10 Sep 2022. International Labour Organization (ILO). 2020. Policy brief on sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. ILO. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/ public/%2D%2D-­ed_dialogue/%2D%2D-­actrav/documents/publication/ wcms_761947.pdf. Accessed 10 Sep 2022. Janiak, Lily. 2021. Theater workers aren’t just changing jobs during the pandemic. They’re leaving the field. San Francisco Chronicle. https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/theater-­w orkers-­a rent-­j ust-­c hanging-­j obs-­d uring-­t he-­ pandemic-­theyre-­leaving-­the-­field. Accessed 26 Sep 2022. Keil, Marta, and Katie Khreiji-Watts. 2021. Gender and power relations. #MeToo in the arts. From call-outs to structural change. Shift culture. IETM. https://www. ietm.org/system/files/publications/SHIFT%20Gender%20and%20 Power%20Relations%20Report%202022.pdf. Accessed 26 Sep 2022. Kotler, Philip, Kevin Lane Keller, and Alexander Chernev. 2021. Marketing management. Harlow: Pearson Education. Murawski, Mike. 2020. Making the case for collaborative leadership in museums. Art Museum Teaching. https://artmuseumteaching.com/2020/09/14/ collaborative-­leadership/. Accessed 26 Sep 2022. Oswald, Kristin. 2018. Vom Menschen aus denken Teil II.  Führung in der Kulturmanagement-Praxis. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www.kulturmanagement.net/Themen/Fuehrung-­i n-­d er-­Kulturmanagement-­P raxis-­Vom-­ Menschen-­aus-­Denken-­Teil-­II,2316. Accessed 28 Oct 2022. Rhine, Anthony. 2018. Theatre management. Arts leadership for the 21st century. London: Palgrave. Reynolds, Sarah, Ann Tonks, and Kate MacNeill. 2017. Collaborative leadership in the arts as a unique form of dual leadership. Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society 47: 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2016. 1241968.

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Shapiro, Michael E. 2016. Eleven Museums. Eleven directors. Conversations on art & leadership. High Museum of Art: Atlanta. Sheets, Hilarie M. 2022. Baltimore museum guards take seats at the curator’s table. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/arts/design/ baltimore-­museum-­guards-­curators-­union.html. Accessed 13 Sep 2022. Smith, Fiona. 2017. Do arts boards need more artists? Australian Institute of Company Directors. https://www.aicd.com.au/board-­of-­directors/performance/skills-­matrix/do-­arts-­boards-­need-­more-­artists.html. Accessed 19 Sep 2022. Spencer, Emma. 2021. The importance of recognizing burnout in dance. DWC. https://www.dancewearcenter.net/blog/2021/5/7/importance-­ recognizing-­burnout-­x4m46. Accessed 12 Sep 2022. Suchy, Sherene. 2003. Leading with passion. Change management in the 21st-­ century museum. Lanham: Alta-Mira Press.

CHAPTER 4

Management Levels and Leadership Tasks in Arts Organisations

Abstract  This chapter explains the different management levels in arts organisations and their characteristics. In addition, the most important core tasks and other responsibilities of arts leaders are discussed. A special focus is laid on the leadership task of creating a framework that promotes staff motivation and task performance. Keywords  Management Levels • Leadership Tasks • Staff Motivation • Individual Responsibility

4.1   Hierarchical Levels and Types of Arts Leaders Depending on the size of an arts organisation, arts leaders can be found in different hierarchical positions—referred to in the literature as management or leadership levels. Usually, three main levels can be distinguished: top-level, middle-level and first-line management (Marcus and van Dam 2019). The executives at each level have different tasks, functions and responsibilities, which we present in more detail below. 1. Top-Level Arts Managers Top-level arts managers are at the top of the organisational hierarchy and responsible for the entire organisation and its overall performance (Samson et  al. 2020). They are in charge of setting the purpose and long-term © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hausmann, L. Zischler, Leadership in Arts Organisations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6_4

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organisational goals and planning strategies to achieve them. They also design the organisational structure, set overall strategies and allocate resources (Yukl and Gardner 2019). In general, decisions made by top management have an impact on the whole organisation. With their way of leading and communicating, they play a decisive role in shaping the organisational culture. Top managers are typically also the face of an arts organisation and perform representative tasks. They are usually accountable and report to the board or other regulating bodies, shareholders and the public. At the same time, their role is to oversee the activities of middle management. There are only few top management positions in arts institutions. They often have job titles such as chair of the board, managing/artistic director, general manager, chief executive officer (CEO) or president. For more on the specifics of dual and shared leadership at this management level see Sect. 3.1. Female Top Managers in the Arts

For some years now, the lack of women in leadership positions in the arts and culture sectors has been recognised as a problem that is being tried to be solved (Caust 2018, p.  40). Indeed, some progress has already been made. Initiatives such as the British Council’s program “Women and Leadership in Arts and Culture”, launched in 2017, have made its mission to support female professionals in the arts. These efforts and the growing awareness of gender equality in arts leadership seem to be successful. For example, a study of the Arts Council England shows that in 2020/2021 the proportion of female managers in National Portfolio Organisations was 62% (2022). However, it is always reasonable to take a closer look at such figures. And indeed, although the number of female arts managers has visibly increased in recent years, they continue to be underrepresented in certain top management positions (especially on the artistic side) (e.g. Hausmann and Liegel 2018; Dance Data Project 2022). In addition, when female managers are in a top management position, they often lead small- to medium-sized (and thus often less renowned) organisations. “Many major arts organizations still tend to be led by men, and with a few exceptions, the artistic leadership of many artforms is still dominated by men” (Caust 2018, p. 40). This observation is supported by a study examining diversity among leadership roles in the largest arts organisations in Canada. It shows that while about half of CEOs/executive directors are female, only 34.5% of artistic directors and 37.5% of board chairs/presidents are women (Wall-Andrews et al. 2022).

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2. Middle-Level Arts Managers Middle-level arts managers stand between top management and lower-­ level management in the hierarchy. In arts organisations, they are responsible for interpreting and implementing the overall strategy and direction of top management—often by developing shorter-term strategies for their own area of responsibility. They are accountable to top management for the organisational unit or department they lead. At the same time, they supervise lower-level managers, give them instructions and evaluate their performance. Compared to top management, they have less discretion and room for action as they have to adhere to the rules and decisions set from above (Yukl and Gardner 2019). Furthermore, they perform strategic tasks on a smaller scale and are usually more involved in the operational business. In the arts sector, examples of middle management titles are, among others, head of exhibition management, head of division theatre and dance or marketing director.

The Special Nature of the Sandwich Position

Arts managers in so-called “sandwich” positions are persons who lead but are also led at the same time (e.g. by the next hierarchical level). The term is often used to illustrate the leadership situation of middle- or lower-level managers, which creates many challenges, e.g. –– Role conflicts: The arts leader is both a supervisor and a supervised employee. These two roles have different—sometimes contradictory—requirements (e.g. make own decisions, but only within a certain framework set “from the top”). –– Pressure from above and below: The arts leader is responsible for decisions and staff performance and at the same time is accountable to his/her supervisor. This can lead to a double pressure of expectations to meet both the needs of the employees and the requirements of the supervisor(s). –– Mediator function: Often, the arts leader in a sandwich position is the bridge between employees and top management. Communicating effectively here can be a major challenge. (continued)

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(continued)

These multiple challenges can lead to overwork and excessive demands. To avoid this and to be able to deal with the special position appropriately, it is important that the role, responsibility and tasks of the manager in the sandwich position within the arts organisation are clearly defined and recognised. 3. First-Line Arts Managers First-line arts managers—also called front-line managers—report to middle management and supervise the non-management employees, i.e. those who themselves usually do not perform formal leadership tasks (lighting technician, arts educator, etc.). In practice, this usually means that first-line managers are responsible for the efficient fulfilment of the requirements of the higher level, ensure compliance with the guidelines and are directly responsible for the production of services and products. Their job is to guide and support the staff in their daily work, to supervise the execution of the work and to refer the problems they cannot solve themselves to their own supervisor. Front-line managers’ plans usually have a short time horizon, and their goals are much more specific than those of higher levels. In practice, it often happens that they partly take over tasks that are also carried out by the employees reporting to them. However, it may also be the case that due to understaffing in arts organisations, the roles of first-line and middle managers are combined or that there is no front-line manager at all (Byrnes 2022). In the arts sector, examples of front-line managers are people such as the technical supervisor of a theatre or the explainer team leader of a museum. Span of Control

The term “span of control” relates to the number of employees for which a supervisor is directly responsible (Harrison et al. 2019). The span can be narrow or wide depending on the number of employees. There is no fixed span of control—it is ideal when it allows the arts organisation or an organisational unit to work at its best. When determining the right span of control, it is important to consider certain factors that influence this (McKenna 2020), including the following: (continued)

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(continued)

–– Job complexity: If the job is very complex (i.e. varied/less routine work), a narrow span of control (i.e. a smaller number of employees) can help the arts leader to better support the staff. –– Extent of formalisation and standardisation: If, for example, there are precise and established job descriptions, procedures and rules (as is often the case in the service/visitor area, for example), a wider span of control is possible because these structures regulate the work of those being led and thus relieve the supervisor. –– Preferred managerial style: Whether the span of control should be narrower or wider depends not only on the type of employee (Sect. 3.2) but also on the individual skills and competencies of a leader. Experienced arts leaders can typically supervise more people than managers who are in a leadership position for the first time.

In our work with arts organisations, we have noticed that some of them have either too wide or too narrow a span of control. Heads of departments with complex artistic or scientific tasks are sometimes directly responsible for 15 to 20 people. Proponents of a wide span of control cite benefits such as cost savings, as fewer managers are needed, and the reduction of hierarchical levels, which can result in more efficient communication and faster decision-making. However, we advocate that the span of control should in no case be too large, as this can lead to the arts manager having to take on too many administrative tasks and having too little time for the individual employee (support with questions and problems, annual reviews, development meetings, etc.). In addition, larger teams are more difficult to coordinate (e.g. finding appointments), and competitive cliques can form, which can lead to conflicts. At the same time, it is clear from the above arguments that a too narrow span of control is not efficient either.

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4.2  Core Tasks of Arts Leaders Having introduced the different types of leaders in arts organisations, we now go into more detail on their core tasks and other responsibilities. Here, too, there is no uniform canon in the literature, and very different understandings of the tasks of arts managers can be found. For this reason, we would like to highlight here some tasks that we have identified as the most important ones in the course of our collaboration with arts organisations. The focus is mainly on top and middle management tasks, although some (especially the less strategic) tasks are also relevant for front-line managers. First, we start with core tasks, by which we mean original leadership tasks that cannot and should not be delegated to other employees. 1. Building and Maintaining Working Relationships In Sect. 2.1 we explained that successful leadership is expressed, among other things, in resilient working relationships that are goal- or outcome-­ oriented. This results in one of the most important leadership tasks: the continuous reflecting, shaping and nurturing of these work relationships in order to achieve the mission of the arts organisation. By this we mean both the building and long-term maintenance of the relationship between the arts leader and individual employees as well as between the different members of a work group. Successful work relationships have a great influence on the satisfaction, motivation and willingness to perform for all organisational members. Failure to build trusting, cooperative relationships usually leads to a working climate of competition and conflict and to low organisational performance overall. Such a shaping of work relationships succeeds more easily if arts managers (and, obviously, the other organisational members as well) are able to perceive, understand and regulate their own emotions and behaviour (if necessary, with external help of a coach or mentor) and to notice and contextualise the emotions of others (Pendleton et al. 2021). It is particularly important that arts leaders take an honest authentic interest in their employees and show them respect and appreciation, as the former general director of the Santa Fe Opera illustrates: One of the things that I strive to do each year is to learn the names of everyone who works for our company. I put a lot of practice into that—a lot of flashcards, with photos and names and which department and so forth. I really enjoy getting to know the people who work backstage who are starting out, and it is my hope that this experience will be indelibly imprinted in

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their life experience, and they will look back and say, ʻYou know, that summer at the Santa Fe Opera was fantastic, and you know what, the General Director even knew my name.’ It’s thrilling to see how people light up when you recognize them and value them. That has really been the guidepost to my management style: to have high regard for the individual and to understand their contribution. (MacKay in an interview with Harder 2018)

In this pivot, we look at many ways in which the work relationships between arts leaders and employees can be shaped and nurtured. There are both indirect ways, such as influencing organisational culture or the shaping of the organisational structure (Sects. 7.1 and 7.2), and direct ways, such as the use of communication tools (Sect. 6.2) and conflict management (Sect. 6.5). The task of building and maintaining relationships takes a lot of time and is never finished but requires constant attention and activity. 2. Setting and Communicating Direction (Ensuring Future Viability) Another core task of arts leaders is to set the direction and to lead the organisation into the future, i.e. to ensure long-term viability. As said in the introduction to this chapter, for top management, this means seeing the “bigger picture” and determining where the organisation realistically can and should be in the future. A clear strategic direction offers many advantages: it can have a motivating and binding effect, clarify the allocation and use of resources, help with decision-making, reduce conflicts, etc. For this to succeed, it is important for arts managers to communicate their ideas appropriately to their staff, as an arts leader also emphasises: You have to be able to communicate your vision to others. You have to convince people of it and get them behind it. You have to create that sense of a group that can do it together. (Cole in an interview with Madden 2022a)

Furthermore, it is important to express the direction of the organisation in different ways (e.g. using mission, vision, strategy, goals, plans and tasks) (Zaccaro and Klimoski 2001), which requires all leaders of an arts organisation. Strategic and operational goals in particular help to make the big picture more tangible and connect them to the daily work of the staff. In our work with arts organisations, we have noticed that arts leaders are often not aware of the importance of goals or find it difficult to phrase and implement them (keyword: SMART goals).

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3. Shaping the Organisational Structure and Organising Work Designing the organisational structure of an arts organisation is another important leadership task of top management that cannot be delegated. In principle, organisational structures should be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are up-to-date and efficient. Necessary structural changes, such as reducing management spans or combining organisational units, can promote collaboration, improve the flow of information and communication and reduce conflicts. For this to succeed, it is important to closely involve the affected staff and arts managers in the process and to clearly communicate the reasons for the changes early on. This leadership task is also performed to a lesser extent by middle and lower management. They are also encouraged to review the structures within their department or unit as well as the tasks and collaboration of their staff. In this pivot, we provide arts managers at all levels with helpful tools for fulfilling this leadership task and refer to Chaps. 6 (communication), 7 (coordination) and 8 (evaluation) for detailed information. We would like to particularly highlight Sects. 7.1 and 7.7, in which we take a closer look at organisational charts and organisation development. 4. Making Decisions Decision-making is a comprehensive thought process in which alternatives are developed and compared, and the most favourable alternative is selected after weighing relevant factors (Van Wart 2017). In arts organisations, major or minor decisions have to be made on a daily basis that have a greater or lesser impact on the work, the staff and the performance of the organisation as a whole. In the context of leadership, the process of decision-­ making is particularly important (Riggio 2018). Organisations in which decisions are regularly postponed or not made at all will stagnate, employees who have to work in such an environment inevitably become dissatisfied, reduce their willingness to perform or migrate to other employers. It is up to the arts leader to decide to what extent employees should be involved in the decision process and whether decisions should be made more autocratically or participatively (see more on this in Sect. 5.1). On the one hand, involving employees in decision-making has many advantages (e.g. inclusion of different perspectives, higher acceptance of decisions, higher job satisfaction and staff motivation). On the other hand, there are also serious challenges that need to be considered (e.g. lack of

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motivation, intentional procrastination, longer decision-making process, group thinking). Either way, in certain cases (e.g. conflicts, time pressures, instructions of boards), it is necessary for the arts leader to make the final decisions alone. Here, too, the staff should always be taken into account, as one artistic director underlines: If you understand what’s important to people, then it’s easier to make decisions. It’s easier to find common ground between people. Not that the decision is always going to make everybody happy. It’s one thing to just autocratically make a decision; it’s another to say, ‘I heard you all, and I know this is important to you. Based on that, this is what I think we should do.’ Then, people will go with you. Much of that is the transparency of it. You know, it’s just saying, ‘Everybody is a part of this team. Everybody is important’. (Cole in an interview with Madden 2022a)

5. Setting Framework Conditions Arts leaders should see themselves as enablers who support and empower their employees in the best possible way to carry out their work and achieve their goals. For this to succeed, a core task of arts managers is to create such framework conditions that enable their employees to work self-responsibly and with motivation and to develop and grow. These framework conditions, which we will present in more detail in Sect. 4.3., include structures, work content and workspace facilities that promote dialogue, trust, commitment, mutual support and respect.

4.3  Other HRM Responsibilities of Arts Leaders In addition to these core tasks of arts managers mentioned above, which we believe cannot and should not be delegated to other members of the organisation, there are of course a number of other important responsibilities to be fulfilled by arts leaders. Since the resources of arts managers are also limited, we see the need to initially delegate these areas of responsibility to capable staff and only then, (final) decisions have to be made, to return the task to them. In the context of HRM, such as workforce planning, recruitment and selection or staff release, leadership is a cross-­ sectional function. Certain problems and decisions arising in these fields can only be solved and made by a leader. This is illustrated in the following subsections.

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1. Leadership and Workforce Planning As discussed above, the future viability of an arts organisation depends on the extent to which its leaders can adopt a strategic perspective despite everyday operational problems: Which (new) products and services will be relevant in the next years, and which will become less important for stakeholders such as the audience? What does this mean for the existing tasks? How many employees (quantitative aspect) and which competencies (qualitative aspect) will be needed for new tasks and when (temporal aspect)? An example from the recent past is that only a few arts organisations found it necessary to create job positions for social media and online marketing. Often, the existing marketing and public relations staff were obliged to maintain Facebook, Instagram and the like “on the side”. In the meantime, however, arts leaders have realised how important and time-consuming professional online marketing is and have released additional resources. The same applies to positions such as diversity manager or organisational development officer. Here, too, arts leader can and should hand over parts of their responsibility (e.g. development of an advertisement text, sifting through application documents), but the decision to create such positions with a view to future viability must be made, as discussed above, by the responsible manager. 2. Leadership and Recruiting/Selection A crucial responsibility of arts managers, as the opera director at the theatre in Basel, Switzerland, confirms, is de facto the recruitment and selection of the right employees: One of the most important leadership tasks occurs before the real action starts. The team must be carefully selected and brought together. (Berman in an interview with Moghimi 2018; translated by the authors)

As a rule for recruitment, the better the employees are—in terms of the given professional qualifications, but also in terms of social skills and the ability to fit into an existing team—the easier it is to pursue organisational goals and the higher the share of genuine (strategic) tasks in the range of tasks of an arts manager (or the lower the share of operational tasks), as the director and CEO of Brooklands Museum, England confirms:

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(…) we’ve become much more concerned about recruiting people with the right attitudes and attributes, about being upfront with people that we expect them to take the initiative (…). People will be supported to do that, but we’ve recruited people that want to work in that way (…). (T)he pace we’re going to need to work at in the future—is much better supported by this different attitude in terms of management and leadership, and the kinds of people that we have in the organisation now. (Newbery 2022)

With regard to limited resources, arts leaders will have to delegate parts of the recruitment process but should have a genuine interest in helping to make the final personnel decision, taking into account their long-term goals and organisational strategies.

Employer Branding

For some time now, arts organisations have been experiencing that it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit qualified staff and managers. This can be seen, for example, in an analysis by Artnet News, according to which almost two dozen positions for the coveted position of museum director remained vacant in the US in 2021. The organisations looking for a leader ranged from larger to smaller institutions (Small 2021). The reasons for such vacancies are manifold. Small mentions, among others, the large number of recent retirements, as well as pandemic-related budget cuts and the high public pressure that make director positions challenging. In general, prospective museum directors are currently in a better negotiating position, or as one arts consultant aptly puts it: “It’s a job seeker’s market” (Hsu in an interview with Small 2021). An important approach to counteracting an impending shortage of skilled workers and attracting special talent to one’s own organisation is employer branding and developing and establishing an employer brand. This serves to position the arts organisation as an attractive employer on the labour market and supports both the acquisition of new personnel and the bonding of current staff. (continued)

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(continued)

The conception of an employer brand is a complex, participative and labour-intensive process for which an arts organisation should take sufficient time. Brands are only successful if they are authentic and coherent, which requires—often for the first time—an intensive examination of one’s own image as an employer, working conditions, etc. The employer brand therefore has to be developed by the organisation itself, whereby an external view is often helpful to offer a realistic picture. After successful branding, it is important to communicate this employer brand to those target groups that are to be recruited. Various instruments are suitable for this, such as the website and social media of the arts organisation, career networks and job advertisements. However, employees and potential applicants are also important brand ambassadors in the sense of employer branding—as they also pass on their experiences (from daily work or the application process) to others (e.g. in private networks, social media) (more detailed, e.g. Hausmann and Braun 2021; Taylor 2021). 3. Leadership and Onboarding One aspect often neglected is the induction—also known as onboarding—of new employees. Many arts organisations see the recruitment process as complete when the desired candidate has accepted and signed on. However, most organisations are less aware of the importance of onboarding as a fundamental part of the overall process, especially the importance of the superiors in this process. Onboarding already starts with the acceptance of the job offer and can last between 6 and 12 months. It ranges, broadly speaking, from the introduction to specific work tasks and the general way of working in the arts organisation (e.g. typical rituals and values), to the social integration into the immediate work environment or team. It is an important, non-delegable task of the executives to accompany this acclimatisation phase in such a way that the new members feel welcome, necessary learning and adaptation processes are supported and overall a quick integration into the work processes is made possible. This makes sense, not least from an economic point of view: on the one hand, extensive resources have already flowed into the selection process, which cannot be used elsewhere (“sunk costs”); on the other hand, it is in the

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interest of the leaders and the arts organisation as a whole that all positions are filled in such a way that performance is guaranteed in the long term. In addition, a curator gives another reason for arts manager to make the onboarding process professional: If you’re a leader, a new employee’s honeymoon period is also the moment to understand (again) how your staff works, individually and collectively (…). New employees sometimes bring a team’s strengths and weaknesses to the fore. So be alert. (…) Watch for all the values you want and believe your organization models: transparency, equity, imagination, self-awareness. Are your assistant directors or curators engaging the new employee in ways that are meaningful and helpful?. (Baldwin 2016)

However, the following also applies in this field of action: As important as the arts manager is in this process, he/she needs the support of capable staff. For example, in order to organise the onboarding process in the best possible way, it is advisable to use a checklist. This serves to define responsibilities, keep to the schedule and not forget any of the many different issues as well as to standardise the onboarding process to some extent (see Fig. 4.1). The creation and regular review of such a checklist is delegated to other members of the organisation and later approved by the arts manager. Welcome of the new employee by his/her manager and introduction of to the team Welcome gift (e.g. flowers, invitation to a personal look behind the scenes, personal invitation to the exhibition opening) and welcome folder (e.g. organisational charts, employee handbook, vision, mission, values statements) Completion of HR documents, handover of office keys, ID cards, parking card, lift card, etc. Guided tour of the arts and culture organisation Introduction to the new workplace Handing over passwords, telephone numbers, work equipment, etc. Explaining work policies, codes of conduct, safety and protection guidelines, etc. Explanation of the induction plan Discussion of mutual expectations, organisational culture Discussing the first work assignments, setting the first goals and drafting a development plan Joint team lunch or coffee break Start of a Mentor/Buddy Programme Final discussion at the end of the first working day

Fig. 4.1  Onboarding checklist for the first working day

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In addition to the onboarding checklist for the first day, pre-boarding checklists (e.g. workplace equipment, information emails to existing employees and the new employee) as well as checklists for the first 90 days can be used to ensure that the new employee is continuously supported during the first—often very formative—period. 4. Leadership and Staff Training/Development The work environment is changing so rapidly that it is necessary to regularly update and expand the skills of existing staff. However, in the practice of arts organisations, the implementation of staff development and training faces a variety of challenges. On the one hand, the importance of further training measures is frequently underestimated, often coupled with a lack of understanding of why money should be spent on it. On the other hand, systematic staff development in the arts and culture sector is often not perceived as a management task, but is left to dedicated staff members who seek offers and funding themselves. In this way, however, arts managers do not do justice to their non-delegable responsibility to evaluate the skills of their staff and to promote their strengths, but also to reduce possible qualification deficits. What can be delegated is the task of implementing suitable measures and mechanisms in the arts organisation to regularly assess strengths and weaknesses (e.g. performance review meetings, staff surveys). More information on this topic is provided in Sects. 6.4.1 and 8.1). 5. Leadership and Separation Management With employee separation, the end of an employee’s employment relationship with an arts organisation is managed. The employment relationship can be terminated by both the employee and the employer. There are different types of employee separation, which can be –– voluntary at the employee’s own request (e.g. termination, retirement) or –– involuntary, i.e. at the instigation of the organisation (e.g. dismissal, layoffs, retrenchments). Whether voluntary or not, the final separation of employee and organisation is a fundamentally sensitive matter and therefore requires a high degree of empathy and discretion as well as legal cover and careful planning.

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If the separation is involuntary, this is a particularly difficult task for arts managers in the context of HRM: The hardest part is always the financial area, making financial decisions that affect people. I always have problems with that. At the end of the day, it’s the greater good and all the rest of it, but decisions that would result in restructuring, for instance, or allowing people to go from an organization, I’ve found very, very hard. You’re dealing with people and their lives and their families and their hopes and their expectations, and all of a sudden you’re saying, ‘Well, there’s no place for you here’. (Woodcock in an interview with Madden 2022b)

Many different factors (quality of past collaboration, nature of those involved, etc.) determine whether a fair separation is possible, allowing a conciliatory look back at the time spent together at the end of the working relationship, or whether a dismissal is made by exhausting all legal means. These decisions—which are often difficult and emotionally charged for all involved—are usually prepared by others but ultimately can only be made by the supervisor—with the involvement of relevant third parties (board, legal advisors, etc.).

4.4  Framework Conditions for Motivation and Responsibility To conclude our discussion on the tasks and responsibilities of arts leaders, in this section we would like to address employee motivation, which is explicitly discussed as a leadership task in parts of the management literature (e.g. Kotter 2012; Hollifield et al. 2016). Some authors even describe it as one of the most difficult and important tasks of managers (e.g. Franken 2019). However, a closer look reveals small differences in the wording, which, as will become clear in the following, are very relevant. Two quotes from the management literature will illustrate this: While Ricketts/Ricketts (2017, p. 129) think that leaders “(…) must be able to motivate or inspire others”, Espinoza/Ukleja (2016, p.  57) stress that leaders should “(…) create an environment in which a person becomes self-motivated or intrinsically motivated”. So what is the difference? First, it should be noted that employee motivation can be understood as “the force that energizes, directs and sustains behaviour” (Armstrong and Taylor 2020, p. 247). A distinction is typically made between

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–– intrinsic motivation, i.e. “motivation by the work itself” and –– extrinsic motivation, which “occurs when things are done to or for people in order to motivate them” (Armstrong and Taylor 2020, p. 248). However, the second type of (extrinsic) motivation is increasingly seen as controversial (e.g. Sprenger 2014), not least because it is often based on monetary incentives, that usually quickly fizzle out and, moreover, are usually not the main driver of passion and commitment at work, especially in the arts. The distinction mentioned above can be traced back to findings from motivation theories, in which attempts are made to explain why people are motivated and satisfied with a certain (work) activity (detailed in Gagné 2014). However, like leadership theories, motivation theories also have weaknesses that become virulent when confronted with practice. In the following, attention will therefore be drawn to approaches from management practice that can also offer orientation in the arts and cultural sectors—and that involve an important change of perspective. This will be illustrated by an example: In a consulting project with a renowned festival, employees told us  in various ways how much of a problem the current leaders were. If, as parts of the staff were convinced, these managers were only more on the site, communicated more (and better), planned better, etc., then the employees could and would want to be more motivated. However, like that, they simply could not and would not want to. What had happened here? Over the years, some of the employees had taken it upon themselves to look for and find a culprit or “responsible party”. Here, as in other arts organisations, it is primarily the managers, but downstream, it is also often the colleagues from other departments and/or the lack of resources. In the logic of causal relations, the following applies: The employees behave in this way (and not differently) because the arts leader is the way he/she is. As a consequence, this also means for the employees: If the leader was (only) different, then they would be different too. This leads to a lack of realism and responsibility in assessing the current situation, and the whole organisation remains below its potential. For this unfortunate situation—both for the arts organisation and its people—acclaimed authors with extensive practical experience propose the principle of self-responsibility as a solution (e.g. Sprenger 2000; Malik 2015). While responsibility is the responsibility that someone has for something or to someone else, self-responsibility is a responsibility for or

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to oneself. Self-responsibility can thus be understood as a voluntary willingness (i.e. to choose and to want) and at the same time as a duty to take responsibility for one’s own actions at work (i.e. for actions and omissions)—and thus to bear the consequences. This results in several interesting recommendations for those involved in the leadership process in arts organisations, as the following examples show: –– Motivation is something intrinsic that cannot be supplied from the outside; it rather reflects an inner individual value of what should or should not be done at work: It is therefore crucially important to assume responsibility yourself for the energy and the satisfaction you bring to your work, and not let yourself be ʻmotivatedʼ. (Sprenger 2000, p. 80)

–– Self-responsibility and motivation are therefore a matter of attitude. It helps those involved to remember that the professional situation or workplace was usually originally freely chosen: Any motivation other than performing whole-heartedly what you have chosen, lands with mechanical certainty in frustration, discouragement (…) (Sprenger 2000, p. 80)

–– Therefore, arts leaders should support their employees in developing and nurturing their own intrinsic motivation, e.g. by creating appropriate working conditions, as we explain in detail below. –– Furthermore, those being led should be supported and encouraged in taking responsibility. In particular, arts managers should not take on anything that employees could actually take on themselves, such as developing possible solutions to a problem or completing an assigned task (instead of handing it over unfinished, e.g. with the remark “there might still be something to be done”). In this context, Sprenger (2000) aptly points out in this context that every piece of work is a self-portrait signed by the employee who is responsible for it. Self-responsibility and motivation, however, requires appropriate framework conditions. Creating these is the original task and responsibility of arts leaders (see also Sect. 4.2), as the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art emphasises:

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I have to first and foremost be an enabler, someone who (…) helps curatorial and education staff do their best work by coaching them, encouraging them, and leading them. (Hollein in an interview with Goldstein 2018)

Instead of trying (in vain) to motivate others, the arts manager should use his/her scarce resources to create a framework in which employees can carry out their tasks independently and nurture their self-motivation. As Fig. 4.2 shows, this includes, for example, –– Work content: Assignment of tasks according to the skills of the employees (i.e. neither over- nor underdemanding) and at the same time an integration or contextualisation of the assigned tasks in the overall organisational context: It is very important to give an artistic concept and vision. People need to know why they have been chosen for a work and what is expected of them. (Opera director Berman in an interview with Moghimi 2018; translated by the authors)

–– Structures: This includes, first, the creation of hierarchical working structures that are appropriate for a respective arts organisation, as an opera director illustrates:

Workplace Facilities

Work Content

Respect

Structures Resources ≥ Objectives

Support

Commitment

Trust

Dialogue

Fig. 4.2  Framework conditions for individual responsibility and motivation

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I myself do not like hierarchical structures and need the feeling that I can move freely. I therefore try to create a relatively flat hierarchy with a high degree of transparency, which enables employees to take responsibility and participate in the process and gives them the feeling of having plenty of room. (Berman in an interview with Moghimi 2018; translated by the authors)

–– Furthermore, the same opera director also addresses a clear structuring of responsibilities: One problem in the theatre business is the unclear distribution of competences. This often leads to rivalries and power struggles. In my opinion, it is better to distribute responsibilities very clearly and to act fairly, transparently and consistently in this area as well. (Berman in an interview with Moghimi 2018; translated by the authors)

–– Trust: Trust is an essential foundation for successful leadership relationships, as the founder and CEO of Creative UK has experienced in her own leadership practice: I have found that trusting people and expecting them to act decently; delegating authority and decision-making; and creating a climate where initiative is rewarded, does produce more motivated employees and better results. It also develops the intangible assets that leadership models often overlook: goodwill; a strong sense of commitment from followers; and a loyalty, not just to the leader, but to the organisation and its values. (Norbury 2014, p. 54)

–– Trust should always be mutual. For example, while the arts leader is willing to trust in the commitment of his/her people to fulfil their individual tasks and take responsibility, the employees are willing to trust in the arts managers’s general commitment to take leadership responsibility. However, to prevent the trust from being used up or withdrawn, those involved in the leadership process must be willing to accept and live up to their responsibilities. –– Dialogue: Communication is the central instrument of leadership (see Sect. 6.2). Successful communication is not a one-way street but requires a willingness of all involved to engage in dialogue about the organisational rules of working together; this also implies listening to each other:

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Because in the end, if you want people to get behind you, you have to understand them and you have to make sure that their opinion is valued. The only way to do that is to listen to them. (Cole in an interview with Madden 2022a)

–– Commitment: This refers to mutual, consistent adherence to agreements, e.g. with regard to the timely completion of tasks. In view of the central importance of commitment for successful leadership relationships in organisations, the pointed recommendations of Sprenger will be quoted here: 1. Never enter a commitment if you are not certain you can keep it. 2. Only commit yourself to agreements which are important to you. 3. Write down your commitments. (2000, p. 222)

–– In this regard, renegotiating deadlines should be an exception to the rule for everyone involved in the leadership process—and not the other way round, as often seems to be the case in the collaboration of certain departments in our experience. –– Support: Refers to the willingness to help each other cope with the joint task or problems that arise, regardless of the respective role and without this being seen in the organisation as an expression of personal failure (the keyword here is error culture, for more on this see Sect. 7.2). An arts leader confirms this from his perspective: When we evaluate them, there needs to be a supportive approach. It’s like, ‘This is great.‘ Or, ‘It seems like you’re having a problem here. What else can we do that could help that situation? What other resources are needed?’ Understanding the situation, a supportive approach as opposed to a checklist. Not that everything always works out, but I think it’s the leader’s job to put everybody in the position to do their best work. (Cole in an interview with Madden 2022a)

–– Respect: On the one hand, this refers to the individual differences of others, e.g. with regard to the way they process a task, set priorities or assess situations, and on the other hand to the different values and goals of entire organisational units. (Lack of) respect has a direct impact on the working atmosphere, for which the managers in arts organisations, although not alone, are responsible in an exemplary manner, as the example of the director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., shows:

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(…) I was interviewing somebody I thought would be a great curator for an open position that we had, and I actually went to his museum and walked through the galleries with him. I noticed that this person ignored every security guard. The guards were used to being ignored by this person and they made no contact. I decided not to hire the person. (Feldman in an interview with Shapiro 2016, p. 42)

–– Workspace Facilities: This includes, for example, the (spatial) condition of the workspace and, in particular, adequate hardware and software equipment. This is a major challenge for arts organisations operating in older, historic buildings that cannot easily be converted into modern workspaces. Nevertheless, there are also examples in the arts and culture sectors that have begun to experiment in this area. One example is the Natural History Museum in Berlin, where part of the exhibition team moved from their traditional offices into an open planning laboratory in an empty exhibition hall. They mainly used flexible furniture such as movable tables or isolation fleeces (privacy screen and pin board at the same time). The shared large space enabled the team not only to communicate faster and more closely with each other but also to be more visible to the public and colleagues from other departments and to facilitate encounters with them in a variety of ways (Rössig and Jahn 2019). What applies to the physical workspace also applies to the digital workspace. Here, too, arts organisations must find and provide appropriate solutions, equipment and tools for the best possible work. –– Resources ≥ Objectives: We see resources in arts organisations as the central framework condition and have therefore placed them at the centre of Fig. 4.2. The ‘greater than equal’ or ‘equal to’ sign aims at an arts leader’s ability to keep an eye on whether organisational and departmental goals can actually be achieved with the available resources. If this is not the case in the medium to long term, it is the original, non-delegable responsibility of arts leaders to redress this imbalance. A number of options are available for this, such as restructuring of tasks, identification and analysis of resource wasters, qualification of existing staff, hiring additional staff and/or (temporary) adjustment of targets to resources. At least one of these alternative actions must be chosen if the arts organisation, its managers and those led do not want to work permanently in an imbalance that is not conducive to motivation.

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Sprenger, Reinhard K. 2014. Mythos motivation. Wege aus einer Sackgasse. Frankfurt: Campus. ———. 2000. The principle of responsibility. Pathways towards motivation. Frankfurt/Main: Campus. Taylor, Stephen. 2021. Resourcing and talent management. The theory and practice of recruiting and developing a workforce. London/New York: Kogan Page. Van Wart, Montgomery. 2017. Leadership in public organizations. An introduction. New York: Routledge. Wall-Andrews, Charlie, Rochelle Wijesingha, Wendy Cukier, and Owais Lightwala. 2022. The state of diversity among leadership roles within Canada’s largest arts and cultural institutions. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 41: 30–46. https:// doi.org/10.1108/EDI-­02-­2021-­0054. Yukl, Gary, and William L. Gardner. 2019. Leadership in organizations. Harlow: Pearson Education. Zaccaro, Stephen J., and Richard J. Klimoski. 2001. The nature of organizational leadership. An introduction. In The nature of organizational leadership. Understanding the performance imperatives confronting Today’s leaders, ed. Stephen J. Zaccaro and Richard J. Klimoski, 3–41. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

CHAPTER 5

Elements of Leadership Behaviour in Arts Organisations

Abstract  This chapter first looks at the impact of individual leadership styles and principles on the relationship between arts leaders and employees. Here, not only the traditional perspectives are considered, but it is also explained what influence the digital transformation has on leadership. The (delicate) role of power in the context of leadership is then discussed. All three elements form the basis for leadership behaviour and influence the selection and individual use of leadership tools, which we will discuss in Chaps. 6, 7 and 8. Keywords  Leadership Styles • Remote Leadership • Remote Work • Leadership Principles • Leadership Attitude • Power

5.1   Leadership Styles 5.1.1   Traditional Perspectives A leadership style is a pattern of behaviour that is stable in the long term, variable within a narrow range, and characterised by the –– leader (personality, professional/leadership experience, general assumptions about the human nature, etc.), as well as

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–– specific leadership situation (resources, especially time, information/ knowledge and budget, importance and complexity of a decision, characteristics and type of those being led, organisational culture, etc.). The leadership style marks the boundaries within which individual leadership behaviour takes place. The relative stability of leadership styles has advantages and disadvantages: –– On the one hand, it offers orientation, reliability and reduction of complexity for employees who can thus anticipate how a supervisor is likely to react or decide. Especially in arts and cultural sectors, this can be worthwhile as an opera director underlines: We already have enough to deal with unpredictability and surprises. I believe employees need leadership that is clearly structured and transparent. In many situations, my staff in Basel know exactly what my opinion is, what decision I will make—and that before I even approach them. (Berman in an interview with Moghimi 2018, translated by the authors)

–– On the other hand, this can lead to employees (too) schematically anticipating a leadership style and possibly trying to avoid certain reaction patterns of their superiors that they experience as unpleasant (e.g. incomprehension, indecisiveness, anger, rejection). For example, if a supervisor frequently changes his/her mind about decisions (and thus makes the work of his/her staff more difficult), employees will try to work in a way that involves their supervisor as little as possible. This simple example already illustrates that organisational and individual development is slowed down or made impossible if (unfavourable) stable leadership patterns are not dissolved but are bypassed by those being led. In the management literature, a variety of leadership styles are discussed (in detail, e.g. Northouse 2021). Given the goals of the pivot series to present knowledge in a compact, concise and practice-oriented way, we will in the following consider two leadership style models that are particularly popular in practice and used for training supervisors, the leadership continuum (Tannenbaum and Schmidt 1958) and the managerial grid

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(Blake and Mouton 1964). Although both are simplified approaches, they can nevertheless provide a helpful orientation for possible leadership behaviour in the complex setting of arts organisations. 1. Leadership Continuum In this approach, leadership styles are distinguished on the basis of the degree of participation, i.e. the extent to which those led participate in decisions. At one pole of the continuum, one finds –– the authoritarian style of leadership, where the decision-making and decision-making power lies solely with the leader and on the other –– the democratic style of leadership, in which the leader acts as a coordinator of group decisions. Between these two poles lie five other leadership styles with gradual differences in decision participation. Most managers in arts organisations, at least in the administrative area, will settle somewhere between the two poles. Depending on their personality and the decision-making situation (e.g. deadline pressure, complexity of decisions, need for security of those being led), they will take the preparation and/or implementation of decisions sometimes more and sometimes less into their own hands or leave it to their staff to a certain extent. However, the situation is somewhat different in the artistic work areas: Here, studies in the past have shown that a comparatively authoritarian and charismatic leadership style of artistic directors, conductors, etc., with a high reputation and competence can be conducive to achieving creative performance and joint “flow” on stage or in the orchestra pit (e.g. Rowold and Rohmann 2009; Petricic 2011). However, as discussed in Sect. 5.1, such a leadership style also harbours considerable risks. It is therefore the responsibility of the respective arts organisations to check whether there are more compatible, modern alternatives in the meantime (a first step in this direction could be the Values-based Code of Conduct of the German Theatre and Orchestra Association; see info box below).

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German Theatre and Orchestra Association: Values-based Code of Conduct

It is our responsibility as employers to actively protect our permanent and freelance employees and working partners from all forms of discrimination, sexual assault, abuse of power, bullying and degrading behaviour. We do not tolerate any discrimination on the grounds of national or ethnic origin, gender, religion, ideology, political conviction, disability, age, marital status, sexual identity, sexual orientation or social background. (…) A positive working environment requires ongoing organisational and personnel development and the active involvement of all employees in theatres, orchestras and festivals. We undertake to reflect constantly on our own actions and attitudes and to engage in ongoing training and education. Only in this way are improvements possible. As directors of theatres, orchestras and festivals, we ensure that internal structures, processes, corporate culture and leadership models are designed accordingly. As responsible bodies, it is our responsibility to ensure that the operational and artistic directors of theatres, orchestras and festivals adhere to this values-based Code of Conduct and to assist them in doing so. (German Theatre and Orchestra Association 2021)

2. Managerial Grid This approach assumes that a leadership style can be characterised by the following two dimensions: –– Task or factual orientation (“Concern for production”): In a strongly task oriented leadership style, the arts leader is more concerned with the tasks than with the people he/she is leading. Consequently, getting the job done, e.g. realising an artistic vision, comes to the fore. In its extreme form (also known as “authority-obedience”), the employees are under constant pressure, and there is no constructive error culture, appreciative climate etc., as a former bassoonist reports:

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There’s a definite psychology to whether a conductor inspires you to play better or whether he frightens you into playing better out of fear of losing your job. Depending on the kind of conductor you have to deal with, your life can be very stressful. (…) I remember, when years ago a very famous one of the big, big five orchestras came down, they were telling stories what it was like during those years with this legendary conductor. People would still have nervous twitches when they come to certain passages because this conductor was such a tyrant and so meanspirited. (Arbiter in the documentary Composed 2016)

–– Employee or relationship orientation (“Concern for people”): This style of leadership focuses on the well-being of the employees. Supervisors strive to maintain a good relationship with those they lead, support them (even when they make mistakes) and stand up for them. In its extreme form—also known as “country club management”—managers are very concerned about the well-being of employees and less focused on performance and results (Marcus and van Dam 2019). In an arts organisation this can lead, for example, to ideas and projects not being tried out and implemented because they have to be discussed until everyone feels “comfortable” with them. The combination of different forms of task and people orientation (each low, medium, high) results in a behavioural grid with nine combinations. Ideally, the following applies: A leadership style is most successful when a high level of task orientation of the manager is accompanied by a high level of relationship orientation.In summary, the following can be deduced for arts organisations from this approach: –– A separation of task and relationship orientation is not possible, and both artistic and administrative superiors should be able to set priorities in one direction or the other, taking into account the system and the situation. –– Neither too strong a relationship orientation, as can easily develop in arts organisations with sometimes almost family-like structures and high personal dependencies, nor too strong a task orientation, which is exclusively and uncompromisingly focused on the realisation of artistic visions, is to be recommended with regard to a resourceoriented achievement of goals.

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5.1.2   Leading in a Digital Work Environment Having discussed leadership styles from a more traditional perspective, we now take a closer look at the leadership of arts organisations under today’s working conditions. There are a large number of books and articles on this topic that try to explain what is important in so-called modern leadership and what needs to change (e.g. Lurie/Tegelberg 2019; Tarallo 2021). In this chapter, we want to present some insights on the topic and use the phenomenon of digital transformation to explore how arts leaders need to adapt. To do this, we first define the term digital transformation and then analyse the impact on leadership, management and staff in arts organisations based on a –– larger general change (leading in a VUCA environment), –– particular change that nowadays affects every arts organisation (working and leading remotely). 1. Defining Digital Transformation in Arts Organisations In the literature, many different definitions of the term digital transformation exist, but a uniform understanding is still missing (Wirtz 2021). In a holistic sense, we understand digital transformation as the fundamental and ongoing process of change in our society and economy through the use of digital technologies. In the business context, digital transformation affects organisations and influences (or changes) products and services, organisational structures and processes and organisational cultures (e.g. Matt et al. 2015). In arts organisations, this has become visible in many areas in recent years. For example, –– artists and directors produce hybrid or digital products, e.g. virtual reality theatre and or exhibitions in the digital space. –– new positions have been created that deal mainly with digital topics, such as digital marketing manager or digital product manager. –– digital strategies (strategic plans for all digital assets, resources, actions, competencies, etc., to best achieve the goals of the arts organisation) are increasingly being developed and used.

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However, the digital transformation does not only affect products and marketing, but also collaboration and leadership. The global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this change. This creates many challenges for arts organisations, their leaders and staff, some of which we explain in more detail below. 2. Leading in a VUCA Environment The environment in which arts organisations operate today, transformed by digital technologies, is often referred to as a VUCA environment (Petry 2018). This acronym describes the conditions in and with which arts leaders have to work these days: –– Volatility: frequent and major changes to which organisations and their members have to adapt and adjust. –– Uncertainty: future situations are increasingly difficult to predict, and it becomes ever more challenging for arts managers to plan and make decisions in the long term. –– Complexity: a growing number of factors depend on each other; it is becoming more difficult for arts leaders to trace cause and effect. –– Ambiguity: the environment is inconsistent and contradictory, there are a multitude of alternative courses of action. These environmental changes also affect arts organisations and their leaders: I remember back at the start of my career you could genuinely craft a five-­ year plan, having maybe to update it moderately after three years. In our current time it is increasingly difficult. In terms of actual planning, you must keep so much of your five or more-year vision loosely framed to be more flexible and adaptive. Actually, at the end of five years your plan could bear only a mild resemblance to what it started out as. Cultural leaders have nowadays this sense of being more adaptive, having to be responsive to external changes. You can sometimes feel that you are less in control of your environment. There’s certainly less that you can predict and control. (Carty, Director of Clore Leadership in an interview with Ponte 2019)

It becomes clear that today’s arts organisations are required to (re)act fast and to be able to adapt flexibly. In this context, according to Petry, the tasks of arts leaders are

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(…) to define a (rough) direction, think in different scenarios, maintain several options, realize weak signals, experiment with ideas and learn very fast from success and failure. (2018, p. 212)

This can be a major challenge for arts managers but also for their staff, especially in publicly funded organisations that are usually further away from the market and (supposedly) less dependent on its demands. In such organisations, agility, flexibility and the courage to try out new things often have to be learned and promoted through appropriate measures. Adding to the overall complexity, “traditional” (management) structures are still very important and always will be, as the example of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam shows: In Dutch, we say, ‘Let everybody fly.’ But as leaders, we also have to let our teams know where they are flying to; otherwise there’s a risk they will become frustrated and deflated. I think agile leaders need to understand that for teams to self-organize and self-direct, they also need to have a very clear and thoughtfully constrained task. (Dibbits in an interview with Aghina and Webb 2018)

In summary, the digital transformation is strongly influencing the environment of arts organisations and changing the setting in which leadership takes place. Thus, leaders in the arts are faced with many new challenges. These can be of a general nature, such as dealing with uncertainty, or very specific, such as dealing with employees who work from home, which we will discuss in the next section. 3. Working and Leading Remotely Remote work—also called work from home, distance work or mobile work—is a way of working in which employees (and managers) work partially or completely at a location outside the arts organisation (e.g. at home). This is made possible by the use of digital technologies and applications, such as smartphones, laptops or cloud computing, which enable people to work independently of time and place. As shown in Table  5.1., mobile working offers both benefits and challenges for arts organisations and their employees (e.g. Fialho 2022). Notwithstanding the many advantages, the table also shows that the personal disadvantages, which always depend on the individual personality and its individual framework conditions (home

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Table 5.1  Benefits and challenges of remote work

Possible benefits

Possible challenges

For the arts organisation

For the individual employee

− Increasing employer attractiveness (employer branding) − Increased job satisfaction (e.g. through better work-life balance) − Lower staff turnover, retention of employees − Increased productivity (through fewer disruptions, e.g. noise in open-plan offices) − As not all employees can work remotely, designing new working structures can be complex − Difficulties in monitoring and evaluating staff and performance/ output − Costs of enabling remote working (adequate software hardware, technical support, etc.) − Formal agreements must be negotiated

− More flexibility and opportunities to organise one’s own working day − Better work-life balance − Higher motivation and greater sense of responsibility − Lower travel and other costs (clothing, meals, etc.) − Less time spent travelling − No clear separation of professional and personal life (possible extra hours/constant accessibility) − Lack of contact with colleagues (feeling of isolation, not belonging to a team, difficult communication) − Stress due to information and communication technology (e.g. too many communication platforms) − Overload (due to lack of selforganisation, discipline and structure) − Distractions at home/no adequate workspace at home − No adequate technology at home (no access to reliable WiFi) − Not every professional group in arts organisations (e.g. security guards, box office, cleaning) can work remotely, which can lead to jealousy between staff members (“two class society”)

with or without a study, living together with others or alone, etc.), can be considerable. From a psychological point of view, the feeling of isolation and the lack of (organisational/group) belonging should not be underestimated, especially for the success of collaboration in arts organisations. It is obvious that remote work is not a one-size-fits-all concept. Theatres, for example, have to consider different framework conditions

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than museums, larger institutions different ones than smaller institutions. The possibilities and limits of using mobile work must be clarified individually for each arts organisation. Basically, however, it is important to design the conditions of remote work in a way that creates added value for both the staff and the organisation. Not surprisingly, arts managers play a special role here; remote work requires them to lead from a distance, also called remote leadership. The fundamental task of arts leaders is to create such conditions in which the above-mentioned benefits can be promoted and the challenges reduced. Below are some suggestions on how to achieve this: –– Before introducing a remote working model in an arts organisation, employees need to understand the purpose of this and everyone’s responsibility for success in its implementation (Flood 2019). –– Equipping staff with the appropriate infrastructure and technology for remote work. Outdated equipment or unsuitable software, for example, leads to employee demotivation and low performance. –– Provision of training and technical support to empower and develop staff for remote work. –– Use of contractual agreements that regulate in what form mobile work is allowed. –– Development of clear guidelines on how to communicate and what tools to use. Examples include not using emails for discussions, not replying to messages after office hours or always turning on the camera for video calls. –– Promoting exchange and interaction within the team to strengthen group cohesion despite physical distance. Formats such as virtual coffee breaks can encourage informal and spontaneous exchange and provide emotional support to staff. –– Building mutual trust between arts leaders and their remotely working employees is crucial for success (Hughes and Saunders 2021). This is of course also true for teams working on-site, but developing trust is often more difficult in the virtual space (e.g. leaders cannot supervise their employees’ work in the usual way, there are fewer trust-building elements, such as private conversations or joint lunch breaks). In summary, the digital transformation is having a major impact on the way we work and communicate. Leaders in the arts face a variety of challenges and need to acquire new skills and competencies to lead

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appropriately under the changing conditions (e.g. understanding and dealing with technology, understanding the psychological impact of remote work, etc.). At the same time, we would like to emphasise that the heart of leadership, namely building and maintaining working relationships, remains relevant and even becomes more important than ever in the context of digital transformation. Communication and exchange, empowerment and support of employees, trust and awareness are more important than ever in times of change. What does change over time, however, are the framework conditions of leadership. In our work with arts organisations, we have observed in this regard that these changing framework conditions are often understood as a call to pursue (supposedly) “new” leadership concepts. Sometimes, however, behind such trends and their promises of success are ultimately only the interests of consulting firms. Ultimately, we believe, effective leadership is based on a few key factors at all times. The Head of Research and Collections of the Military History Museum Berlin takes a similar view: I think that a good digital leader has to be the same as a good leader anytime. (Behrendt in an interview with Gandhi 2020)

5.2  Personal Leadership Principles Generally, principles are understood to be moral rules or strong beliefs by which people are influenced in their actions. Accordingly, leadership principles are considered to be –– highly individual, bindingly defined or unwritten norms, basic values and beliefs, –– to which an arts leader orientates him−/herself in a self-­determined way, –– which are ideally resilient, non-overlapping and designed for the long term, –– shape the leadership style or behaviour, and –– influence the selection and individual design of leadership tools. A look at the general management literature shows that leadership principles are usually assigned to the group of leadership tools aimed at coordination. In such cases, principles are seen as organisational (standardised) guidelines for leadership behaviour, which (should) apply organisation-­ wide and independently of a particular arts manager (we will address this

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category of leadership principles in Sect. 7.4). In this section, however, we look at leadership principles at the level of the individual arts leader. Echter (2011), for example, is one of the management experts who takes a practical approach that is particularly interesting for arts organisations. The sociologist and consultant to top executives understands leadership principles as rituals, i.e. as a sequence of recurring symbolic or visual actions, which have long been of interest in anthropology and psychology because of their behaviour-controlling, complexity-reducing qualities (e.g. Turner 1970; van der Hart 1983). Rituals are often reflected in small, at first glance rather unspectacular gestures and attentions, e.g. through –– greeting and farewell rituals (now a sensitive issue, as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to people no longer greeting each other by hand, while at the same time—possible virus transmission or not—a very important first contact is missing, because at least in Western countries, shaking hands is one of the ways we communicate and interact with each other), –– communication rituals (e.g. leaving the office door open, joint lunch or coffee break), –– information and communication rituals (e.g. weekly meetings, general assemblies), –– birthday and holiday rituals. However, these rituals only work or have an effect if there is a corresponding basic attitude of the arts leader behind them: i.e. the desire for genuine encounter and bonding at the level of the working relationship. The artistic director and CEO of a German concert hall remarks in this context: Good leadership has a lot to do with the attitude in which I meet my colleagues: positive, listening, interested, trusting and appreciative; or from the top down, criticising and playing with power. The former takes time but pays off and is self-reinforcing. (von Hoensbroech in an interview with Oswald 2018; translated by the authors)

Such an attitude promotes ritual behaviour—ritual behaviour in turn strengthens the attitude. Based on the basic considerations of Echter (2011), we have further developed the model with a view to the context of arts

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Table 5.2  Attitudes and ritual behaviour of leaders Position

Theoretical classification

Practical ritual rehaviour (ex.)

Openness and Trust is understood here as a leap of trust faith by the arts leader in the ability and willingness of the members of the organisation to perform and cooperate.

The arts leader admits own mistakes and reacts as calmly as possible to unintentional mistakes made by other members of the organisation.

Respect

Respect as a non-negotiable prerequisite for shaping leadership relationships and as a framework for self-responsibility and motivation.

The arts manager meets divergent assessments and points of view with respectful and attentive questions.

Culture of learning from mistakes

Mistakes are understood as inevitable parts of human decisions; a futureoriented “why” analysis is more important than a past-oriented “who” analysis.

The arts leader deals with mistakes in a transparent and appreciative way and sees them as a good opportunity for learning. He/she sets up regular meetings and processes to evaluate work and reflect on failures (this trains employees to speak openly and deal constructively with mistakes).

Appreciation and commitment

Appreciation is an attitude of respect and recognition towards others (regardless of special characteristics, achievements or occasions). Appreciation is a situationindependent, permanent attitude in which a culture of dialogue and constructive collaboration is possible.

The arts leader highlights the achievements of organisational members who have accomplished something, e.g. in team meetings; all organisational members collectively commit to honouring agreements, punctuality, etc.

Gratitude

Gratitude is fed, among other things, by the understanding that (also) other members of the organisation repeatedly use their scarce resources to support decision-making processes of the arts manager.

The arts manager regularly looks for and finds an opportunity to say thank you (for documents, information, tips, invitations, contacts, attention, etc.).

organisations (see Table 5.2). Most of the behaviours and recommendations mentioned in Table 5.2 will be taken up again by us in later chapters. Finally, it should be noted that leadership principles can, in principle, be acquired by studying books, training, mentoring and observing others. However, only practice will show to what extent the “should” and the “is” can be reconciled. Not every leadership principle is resilient in every

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situation, and often leadership principles refer to how the arts leader deals with him-/herself. Moreover, adjustments typically occur in the course of a professional career, e.g. due to (leadership) experiences and personal maturity, but also with regard to already achieved or changed career goals.

5.3   Use of Power in Leadership Power describes the potential of individuals to influence the behaviour of other members of the organisation (Van Wart 2017). Power is an absolutely necessary resource for taking on leadership tasks and successfully mastering them. Without power, for example, no task can be assigned, and no consequences can be drawn if employees do not follow instructions and rules. However, as discussed in Chap. 3, it is important to keep in mind that power can have both positive and negative effects, which in turn have consequences for the organisation and the individual: –– On the one hand, power can have a positive effect, for example, when things get done in the arts organisation and goals are achieved. –– On the other hand, power can be misused to pursue unilaterally defined goals (e.g. career goals of an arts leader) without having to consider the needs of other organisational members. Power is thus a double-edged sword: –– On the one side, an effective arts leader must be able to assert him-/ herself even in the face of the doubts and resistance from others and thus use the position of power; otherwise, unpopular decisions would never be made, and (more far-reaching) changes in the organisation would rarely be achieved. –– On the other side, power all too easily leads to abuse: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac” (Kissinger quoted in The New York Times 1973, p. 337). Unfortunately, this is still far too often the case, especially in arts organisations, as we illustrated at the beginning of this pivot. Typically, power relations in leadership are two-way (Collinson 2011), i.e. the employees also have—to a certain extent—room for action and sanctions, such as (not) preparing documents, (not) meeting deadlines or (not) listening to instructions. However, despite this counterpower, a certain asymmetry of power relations in favour of arts leaders is necessary to

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carry out leadership tasks such as, for example, resource allocation, conflict solving and decision making. This is also emphasised by an arts manager: For me, good leadership also means to determine responsibilities who need to be accepted by all and mandated formally. I am therefore not the boss who commands but rather the team leader who supports others or encourages them to take responsibility themselves. Nevertheless, the final responsibility always lies with the person in charge, and he or she has a duty to decide in case of doubt. (Pallas in an interview with Oswald 2018; translated by the authors)

However, as we emphasised before, the asymmetry of power between arts leaders and employees should also be viewed critically, as it offers potential for abuse of power. It is therefore important to use power properly, to share it and to limit it institutionally. Whether power is used successfully or abused depends on various organisational and individual factors: –– Organisational factors: On the one hand, power must be given to an arts leader, structurally and formally (e.g. through hierarchical position, allocation of resources, decision-making power), in such a way that the arts manager is actually legitimised to use power and induce others to take certain actions (authority to give instructions and make decisions, house rules, etc.). On the other hand, institutional security mechanisms should be created to prevent or at least limit the abuse of power (e.g. works/staff council, ombudsperson). In principle, the arts organisation as a whole has a great influence on the way in which power is exercised: if good work relationships and mutual trust are the priority instead of a one-­sided exercise of power, a corresponding organisational culture must be created (see Sect. 7.2). –– Individual factors: It is important that the power position is actually wanted by an arts leader. In addition to the willingness to assume responsibility that this power entails, the effect that a position of power can have depends above all on the personality and competencies of the individual arts manager. Employees will accept an arts manager’s attempts to influence and lead, especially if she/he is both professionally and socially competent. As already mentioned, the motives of the power holders also play a decisive role: Whenever power is used exclusively to serve one’s own interests or to secure one’s own position and is not set in a social context, an abuse of power is most likely.

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The willingness or readiness for power is a question that many aspiring arts leaders hardly consciously ask themselves (especially also, according to our experience from many coaching sessions, for female candidates). Too often, one’s own attitude towards it remains vague, although a more intensive examination of this sensitive issue would be purposeful in the run-up to taking on a leadership position: On the one hand, to clarify the formal prerequisites in the respective organisation, and on the other hand, to put one’s own attitude to the topic to the test. The decision for a leadership position—and thus the acceptance and exercise of power—is wellfounded if the (personal) consequences have been carefully weighed up. An increase in power can be a great personal challenge—even for people who originally wanted it. This is especially noticeable when a leadership position is taken up for the first time or a new level of hierarchy is reached, e.g. through internal promotion. Quite a few newly appointed arts managers are surprised how quickly former colleagues become followers of another hierarchical level and how, as the new leader, they are no longer an integral part of the former team, nor can they be. Table 5.3 sums up the different effects of taking on a leadership position. With regard to Sect. 3.3 and the discussion on self-leadership it is necessary to consider all consequences, i.e. benefits and costs: It is essential to realistically assess whether accepting a leadership position—and thus assuming power—actually makes sense against the background of one’s own personality, competencies and motives. It is legitimate and self-­ responsible to decide against it (for the time being) in case of doubt.

Table 5.3  Gains and sacrifices of assuming a leadership/power position Gains

Sacrifices

− Leads to more and different areas of responsibility (usually higher share of strategic activities, less operational work) −  Upgrading of the new leader − Awakens new or untapped skills − Leads to indirect satisfaction in instructing others to do something − Has a financial impact (e.g. salary increase)

− Burdensome (blame lies usually with the superior; feeling of being criticised, feared, challenged, etc.) − Leads to a less immediate sense of achievement (in operational work) as these are the very tasks that are delegated − Overwork and overload (skills may need to be developed and tested, etc.) − Can make one lonely (perceived or actual lack of eye-level exchange, possible loss of trusting and open relationships in the team)

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References Aghina, Wouter, and Allen Webb. 2018. Accidentally agile. An interview with the Rijksmuseum’s Taco Dibbits. McKinsey Quarterly 4: 94–105. https://www. mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-­a nd-­o rganizational-­p erformance/our-­ insights/accidentally-­agile-­an-­interview-­with-­the-­rijksmuseums-­taco-­dibbits. Accessed 13 Oct 2022. Blake, Robert R., and Jane S. Mouton. 1964. The new managerial grid. Key orientations for achieving production through people. Houston: Gulf Publishing. Collinson, David L. 2011. Critical leadership studies. In The sage handbook of leadership, ed. Alan Bryman, David Collinson, Keith Grint, Brad Jackson, and Mary Uhl-Bien, 179–192. London: Sage. Composed. 2016. Composed extras. Conductors. Youtube.com. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=VGSTUMInWzU. Accessed 28 Oct 2022. Echter, Dorothee. 2011. Führung braucht Rituale. So sichern Sie nachhaltig den Erfolg Ihres Unternehmens. Wiesbaden: Vahlen. Fialho, Joana. 2022. Benefits and challenges of remote work. In Digital technologies and transformation in business, industry and organizations, ed. Ruben Pereira, Isaias Bianchi, and Álvaro Rocha, 1–17. Cham: Springer Nature. Flood, Francesca. 2019. Leadership in the remote, freelance, and virtual workforce era. In Global encyclopedia of public administration, public policy, and governance, ed. Ali Farazmand, 1–5. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-­3-­31931816-­5_3825-­1. Gandhi, Medhavi. 2020. Decoding digital leadership. The Heritage Lab. https:// www.theheritagelab.in/digital-­leadership-­museums/. Accessed 26 Oct 2022. German Theatre and Orchestra Association. 2021. Values-based code of conduct. Deutscher Bühnenverein. Bundesverband der Theater und Orchester. https:// www.buehnenverein.de/de/publikationen-­und-­statistiken/kulturpolitische-­ statements/statements.html?det=621. Accessed 12 Oct 2022. Hughes, Colin, and Mark N.K. Saunders. 2021. Building and maintaining trust in virtual teams. In Handbook of research on remote work and well-being in the postCOVID-19 era, ed. Daniel Wheatley, Irene Hardill, and Sarah Buglass, 264–285. Hershey: IGI Global. Lurie, Michael, and Laura Tegelberg. 2019. The new roles of leaders in 21st century organizations. McKinsey. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-­ and-­organizational-­performance/our-­insights/the-­organization-­blog/the-­ new-­roles-­of-­leaders-­in-­21st-­century-­organizations. Accessed 09 Nov 2022. Marcus, Jos, and Nick van Dam. 2019. Handbook organisation and management. A practical approach. Groningen/Utrecht: Noordhoff Uigevers. Matt, Christian, Thomas Hess, and Alexander Benlian. 2015. Digital transformation strategies. Business & Information Systems Engineering 57: 339–343.

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Moghimi, Juliane. 2018. Es gibt keine Diven. Interview über Führung im Opernbereich. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www.kulturmanagement.net/ Themen/Inter view-­u eber-­F uehrung-­i m-­O pernbereich-­E s-­g ibt-­k eine-­ Diven,2310. Accessed 09 Nov 2022. New York Times. 1973. https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/28/archives/the-­ sayings-­of-­secretary-­henry-­language-­negotiation-­humility-­the.html. Accessed 13 Oct 2022. Northouse, Peter G. 2021. Leadership. Theory & Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Oswald, Kristin. 2018. Vom Menschen aus Denken Teil I. Führung in der Kulturmanagement-Praxis. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www.kulturmanagement.net/Themen/Fuehrung-­i n-­d er-­Kulturmanagement-­P raxis-­Vom-­ Menschen-­aus-­Denken-­Teil-­I,2314. Accessed 28 Oct 2022. Petricic, Sanja. 2011. Artistic quality as leadership success. The conductor’s leadership role in the act of music making. ENCATC Journal of Cultural Management and Policy 1: 12–19. Petry, Thorsten. 2018. Digital leadership. In Knowledge management in digital change. New findings and practical cases, ed. Klaus North, Ronald Maier, and Oliver Haas, 209–218. Cham: Springer Nature. Ponte, Beth. 2019. Cultural leadership now and then. Artsmanagement.net. https://www.artsmanagement.net/Articles/Cultural-­leadership-­change-­and-­ diversity-­Cultural-­leadership-­now-­and-­then,4060. Accessed 28 Oct 2022. Rowold, Jens, and Anette Rohmann. 2009. Transformational and transactional leadership styles, followers’ positive and negative emotions, and performance in German nonprofit orchestras. Nonprofit Management and Leadership 16: 209–220. Tannenbaum, Robert, and Warren H. Schmidt. 1958. How to choose a leadership pattern. Harvard Business Review 36: 95–101. Tarallo, Mark. 2021. Modern management and leadership. Best practice essentials with CISO/CSO applications. Boca Raton/London/New York: CRC Press. Turner, Victor. 1970. The Forest of symbols. Aspects of Ndembu ritual. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Van der Hart, Onno. 1983. Rituals in psychotherapy. New York: Irvington. Van Wart, Montgomery. 2017. Leadership in public organizations. An introduction. New York: Routledge. Wirtz, Bernd W. 2021. Digital business and electronic commerce. Strategy, business models and technology. Cham: Springer Nature.

CHAPTER 6

Leadership Tools for Communication

Abstract  Leadership tools are used both to influence individual behaviour and actions and to shape the overall framework of leadership. Against this background, we distinguish in this pivot between leadership instruments aimed at communication and those focused on coordination and evaluation. The first group of tools, which will be discussed in this chapter, works in concrete leadership situations. The arts leader actively uses instruments such as informal feedback, team meetings or conflict management and shapes them largely individually. Keywords  Communication • Feedback • Performance Review Meeting • Team Meeting • Conflict Management

6.1   Introductory Overview Leadership tools are used on the one hand to influence the behaviour of organisational members (individuals and teams) and on the other hand to shape the overall framework of the organisation or leadership situations. In order to structure the many leadership instruments available, we choose the following approach (see also Fig. 6.1):

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hausmann, L. Zischler, Leadership in Arts Organisations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6_6

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Leadership tools

Focus on Communication   

Informal Feedback Formal Feedback Conflict Management

Focus on Coordination         

Organisational Charts Job Descriptions Organisational Culture Vision, Mission and Values Statements Organisational Leadership Principles Target Agreements Budgets Training and Development Organisation Development

Focus on Evaluation  

Employee Surveys 360-Degree Feedback

Fig. 6.1  Categories and types of leadership tools for arts organisations

–– Instruments focused on communication: These tools work in individual leadership situations, and the arts leader uses them actively and at his/her own discretion. –– Instruments focused on coordination and evaluation: This group of tools exists in the arts organisation in a general and mostly standardised form and all organisation members are affected by it regardless of specific leadership situations. The categorisation made in Fig.  6.1 helps to structure the following sections but does not claim to be free of overlaps. Also, it will become clear in the following that the instruments of the leadership “toolbox” are not only manifold but also sometimes challenging in their implementation—especially for arts managers, who sometimes enter their leadership position without further training in management and leadership. For this reason, we recommend that arts leaders use fewer instruments when in doubt but use them with care and competence. This also supports the acceptance of interventions on the part of those being led.

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6.2  Communication as a Leadership Challenge Before discussing specific tools from this first category of leadership instruments, a cursory introduction to the theoretical context of communication will be given. This seems to be useful because communication is (or should be) one of the activities of arts leaders that takes up the most time. In addition, in arts organisations, which usually have few other (monetary) incentives to offer, communication is the instrument to support the motivation of employees who often (have to) cope with permanently challenging projects despite limited resources. In general, the following applies: The higher the hierarchical position, the higher the amount of direct, personal communication with those being led should be. Leadership is first and foremost about communicating, as this is the only way to identify, analyse and address problems, make decisions and shape relationships. The success of leadership therefore depends, above all, on how well an arts leader succeeds in sending, receiving, processing, understanding and distributing information. In the context of leadership, communication is primarily concerned with the exchange of relevant, task-related information between arts leaders and staff members; not only verbal but also nonverbal signals and symbols are used. This exchange takes place between at least two people, i.e. a sender and a receiver. During the exchange and the statements that are made and heard, there is a constant adaptation between the parties involved: The senders speak or encode a message, which in turn is decoded and—hopefully—correctly understood by the receivers. Ideally, the receivers give feedback on what they have understood, creating a feedback process in which coding and decoding of messages takes place again. It is obvious that the coding and decoding of information leaves much room for misunderstanding. It is therefore not surprising that a typical sentence that we hear in our work with arts organisations is: “We have a communication problem in our organisation!” The numerous comments in this regard which can be found, for example, on employer review platforms such as Kununu underline that there are indeed recurring communication problems and disruptive factors in all arts organisations and at all levels (i.e. between and within departments, between jobs, between different hierarchical levels, etc.). What is mentioned most often in the comments regardless of type, size or other features of an arts organisation are the following aspects:

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–– communication that is too little appreciative, not transparent enough and too hierarchical, –– the lack of regularity and/or effectiveness of institutionalised communication (e.g. in the context of weekly/periodically held and well-managed meetings), –– the high importance of informal communication or “hearsay” and –– an often insufficient task orientation in discussions (instead: emotional/personal attacks), –– a lack of commitment (in the sense of adherence to agreements made between colleagues or with superiors) –– and a lack of conflict management skills and constructive conflict resolution. To illustrate why communication often fails and what can be done to make communication work better, the explanatory model of Schulz von Thun (2008), which has proven its worth in many organisations, is a good example. At the core of this model is the Square of Communication (also known as the message square or four-sides model). The underlying assumption is that everyone who communicates is effective in four ways and that each message—whether intended or not—has four sides (aspects) (Schulz von Thun 2008). This complexity of messages inevitably leads to a variety of problems in interpersonal communication, especially in the context of leadership. This will be illustrated by a simple but typical example: The director of a performing arts organisation, who has just returned from a two-week holiday, hurries past the office of her programme and marketing staff, takes a quick look inside and then says, almost in passing, “Hello Mr. Henley, would you please remember to give us a brief overview of the main results of our visitor survey for the sponsors’ meeting this afternoon?” How Mr. Henley responds depends, among other things, on how strongly he hears each of the following four messages: –– Objective Content: What is the information about? The above-­ mentioned message from the manager to her employee contains factual information: a task is to be completed, and “key facts” are to be prepared. However, this is only one part of what happens between the sender and the recipient of the message. –– Self-Disclosure: What does the director reveal about herself? Each statement contains information about the person speaking, both in

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terms of intentional self-portrayal (e.g. “I think of everything”) and possibly involuntary self-disclosure (inner state of mind, such as “I’m worried that the overview is not ready yet and that the sponsors think we are badly prepared for the meeting”). In differentiation to the next aspect, it should be emphasised that the I-message of the sender dominates here, while in the following, both a you-message and a we-message are involved. –– Relationship: What does the sender think of the receiver, or what is her attitude towards him? Clues to this can often be found in the way the sender phrases the message (polite, distant, colloquial, etc.), in the tone of voice and in other nonverbal signals (i.e. body language). It should be emphasised that for this side of the message, the recipient has a particularly sensitive ear; for here, he feels treated well or badly as a person in a certain way (Schulz von Thun 2008). This can lead to a situation where the objective content of a message (“the completion of the work”) is not rejected, but the relationship message is received (or better: heard). –– Appeal: What does the sender want the receiver to do? Almost every message has a function, i.e. the receiver is to be motivated to do or not to do something, independently of the relational message. Whether this appeal aspect of a message succeeds also has to do with the relationship message sent (or heard) at the same time. Again, this means that even an objectively reasonable appeal can fail because of an (actual or supposed) relational message. The people involved—i.e. their personality, their self-esteem, their current working situation, etc.—play a central role in the success or failure of communication. The statement (or rather: the accusation) “But you said…”, which is often heard in exchanges between arts leaders and staff, is therefore to be seen very critically and should be avoided as a matter of principle. The benefit of the communication model is—especially in difficult communication situations—to trace the different dimensions of a statement and, in case of doubt, to ask the sender for clarification to achieve “square clarity” (Schulz von Thun 2008, p. 12). In addition to discrepancies resulting from a mismatch of sending and/ or receiving a message (or an overemphasis on one or more of the four aspects of a message), there are other disruptive factors in communication, such as the

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–– Spatial situation: The communication situation does not allow for concentration on the content (e.g. noise at the workplace, distractions by colleagues present, etc.). –– Time situation: Communication does not take place within the framework of an agreed appointment, but unannounced in between or on the fringes of other appointments—and thus unexpected for the receiver (e.g. in the office kitchen, at the photocopier, at the end of a meeting on other topics). –– Individual factors: These include, for example, discrepancies between verbal and nonverbal expressions, different cultures or communication patterns and resulting misunderstandings, stereotyping of a leader’s statements (“bossing around”, “typically administrative thinking”) or the person being led (“typically artist, technician, etc.”) and thus “not listening properly”, projections of one’s own feelings, assumptions, etc., onto the communication partner. –– Methodological factors: The choice of communication channel is not well suited to the content of the communication (e.g. a message is delivered by e-mail or the intranet, which would have been better communicated in a face-to-face meeting). Regarding the communication channels mentioned above, it must be noted that communication takes place both formally and informally. In fact, quite a few important decisions are prepared or even made during informal communication. –– Channels of formal communication: e-mails, memos, internal newsletter, intranet, performance reviews, team meetings, general assemblies, etc. –– Channels of informal communication: lunch break, coffee break, waiting at the elevator/in the office kitchen, etc. As already mentioned, communication is of course not only verbal. Even when the arts manager does not comment, at least not verbally, he/ she is communicating as “one cannot not communicate” (Watzlawick et al. 1967, p. 51). It has been empirically proven that more than 50% of our communication is nonverbal (in addition, there are paraverbal signals through voice pitch, volume, speaking rate etc.). Important elements are:

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–– Kinesics: facial expressions, gestures, posture and movements, other body language –– Haptics: type and intensity of body contact –– Eye contact: takes place/does not take place, duration –– Spatial language and behaviour: compliance/non-compliance with intimacy zones, welcoming rituals On the one hand, nonverbal communication accompanies verbal communication; on the other hand, it can also stand alone: –– It complements verbal communication (gestures underline a verbal comment), –– it replaces verbal communication (a disapproving look or an averted posture replaces a negative comment), –– it contradicts verbal communication (while the tone of voice is friendly, kinetic features suggest otherwise). In summary, it has been shown that communication is not only one of the most important but also one of the most demanding responsibilities of arts leaders. The time factor for implementing appropriate communication tools is probably the biggest challenge in arts organisations. This challenge can only be mastered if arts leaders ritualise their communication efforts; otherwise, there will never be “enough time” and much frustration on both sides. In the following section, different options of creating communicative situations between arts managers and individual employees/teams are explained. Considering Fig. 6.1, a distinction is made between more informal and more formal instruments.

6.3   Informal Feedback Informal feedback is understood here as ongoing, work-related feedback to staff, which refers to work results and/or the behaviour along the way and is usually given ad hoc. Compared to formal feedback (see Sect. 6.4), informal feedback has more temporal proximity to specific events, i.e. the knowledge and/or steering effect is more immediate. Modern leaders do not only give feedback, but also regularly ask for feedback on their role, instructions, etc., to (better) understand the reasons for a possibly unsuccessful leadership action.

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In the context of informal feedback, which is inevitably sometimes good and sometimes not so good, the management literature also speaks of praise and criticism. It is assumed that employees can be motivated by both (e.g. Eskreis-Winkler and Fishbach 2020). However, in other parts of the management literature there are well-founded objections to this causal relationship, especially with regard to the motivational function of criticism. And indeed, in common language criticism is often not understood as constructive, but rather has negative connotations. This is also reflected in the definition of the Oxford dictionary (2015), which describes criticism as “the act of expressing disapproval of sb/sth and opinions about their faults or bad qualities; a statement showing disapproval”. This is probably what prompts the leadership expert Sprenger, among others, to stress that “criticism does not work” (2000, p. 205). To justify this, he cites arguments that arts managers are likely to confirm from their own experience: –– Criticism invites justification. Often, (too) much time is spent on explaining and justifying a certain behaviour or work result (instead of jointly and constructively looking for solutions on how things can be done better in the future). –– Criticism is a blow to self-esteem; it makes the person being assessed a “loser”. He/she will typically try to restore the scratched self-­ esteem. Moreover, the attempt to defend oneself against criticism often leads to only seeing the problem but not seeking a solution. –– Criticism reflects the perception and evaluation pattern of the person expressing it. Thus, it always falls back on the sender and contains (self-)biographical references. –– Typical categories of criticism, such as “right” or “wrong”, are inevitably subjective. Against the background of one’s own experience, assumptions, etc., everyone involved in a leadership situation is initially “right”. Echter (2011) also emphasises the social message sent out by criticism. It is perceived by the recipients (unconsciously) as alarming and divisive. She argues that the person criticising is perceived as irritating and negative, and she is convinced that those being criticised tend to turn away and do not accept the suggestions for change from the arts leader by whom they have just been devalued in their actions and behaviour. She therefore suggests that the ritual of criticism, as most arts managers know it and use

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it as a leadership tool, should be replaced by rituals of attention and appreciation (see Sect. 5.2). Arts leaders who can talk about their strong desires, about positive things they want to bring into the (working) world, and who do this without devaluing other positions have a higher probability of followership than those who do not (Echter 2011). The (few) positive comments on the employer review platform Kununu, in which managers are described as team-oriented, respectful, appreciative, fair and inspiring, regardless of the arts sector, prove that this is a sensible approach, especially for arts organisations—with their often-limited possibilities to set incentives (career advancement, salary, etc.) and the resulting importance of communication as a leadership tool, as we have pointed out before. Finally, reference should be made to the findings in Sect. 5.2 and the attitude of an arts leader towards his/her employees. Because an unreflective adoption of the numerous recommendations for action in popular management literature (such as the sandwich method, in which critical feedback is always “wrapped” between two friendly messages), can lead to those being led not feeling taken seriously—and to feedback being devalued altogether. In this context, cultural manager and researcher Zierold (2018) emphasises that an effective feedback culture requires an appropriate attitude of the arts leader: To give feedback constructively, one does not necessarily need schematic rules, as helpful as these can be as an orientation. What is needed first is attitude. This leads (almost) automatically to constructive feedback: If I am convinced that my employees are basically trying to fulfil their role to the best of their knowledge and belief and are also basically capable of doing so; if I also consider them capable and willing to learn and grant them the right to be treated respectfully, then from this attitude follows a feedback culture that can make use of the aforementioned rules (but does not have to be schematically). However, if I am convinced that my employees are lazy and unwilling to learn, that they want to maximise their personal benefit at the expense of the organisation and are mostly not qualified for their tasks, then I can follow the feedback rules as much as I want, my attitude will still be expressed at least nonverbally. The I-message then comes across as memorised, impassive, strained. One notices the intention and is annoyed. (translated by the authors)

However, such an attitude and coherence in the overall appearance of the arts managers cannot be achieved independently of the prevailing organisational culture (see Sect. 7.2). Rather, it requires a constellation of

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double coherence that should exist between an arts leader’s actions and his/her attitude on the one hand and between his/her attitude and the organisational culture on the other. This shows how the instruments in the leadership toolbox are intertwined.

6.4  Formal Feedback Formal feedback, understood here in the sense of a planned, structured exchange with an agenda, refers to a meeting with an individual employee (performance review meeting) or with a group (team meeting). For both leadership tools, we will explain the most important aspects in the following. 6.4.1   Performance Review Meeting The performance review meeting (also known as appraisal meeting) is very different from the ongoing, informal exchange between arts leaders and employees described above. This meeting is a formal exchange between the individual and his/her supervisor about the employee’s performance during the review period (Rooney 2020). Performance review meetings can serve many purposes (Armstrong 2017): –– Assessment: checking how the individual employee has fulfilled his/ her tasks. –– Objective setting: reviewing and adjusting goals and setting new goals. –– Development planning: supervising personal performance and development plans. –– Motivation: giving positive feedback and recognition (and, where necessary, suggestions for better performance). –– Communication: communicating expectations, aspirations, work problems, etc. –– Reward: making decisions about payment (e.g. based on assessed performance). –– Talent management: identifying the potential of the employee. Clearly, these many purposes cannot be fulfilled all at once or even in one meeting. Rather, we recommend to focus on just a few specific goals to be achieved through the performance review meeting.

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Despite the important role of the arts leader in preparing and leading the conversation, performance review meetings should not be a one-way, top-down process. Since the arts manager is responsible for structures and other framework conditions, it makes sense that he/she also receives feedback. A modern understanding of the performance review meeting aims at a collegial, partnership-based exchange. An opera director emphasises: I also think it is important to have appraisal meetings with employees in which people give feedback mutually. (Berman in an interview with Moghimi 2018; translated by the authors)

The latter, however, requires that not only the arts leader but also the employees prepare carefully for the meeting. However, especially in the arts sector, people often shy away from the organisational and mental effort and the time required for such a performance review. However, those who are already using the tool successfully emphasise that it is worth investing resources in it. This is, for example, the case at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, a renowned German theatre, where the artistic director has taken up the good experiences from her previous job: Concerning that, I brought a lot with me from Rotterdam, too. There, for example, we had a stringent system for staff review meetings twice a year. The principle of talking to the staff about where things should go, what their wishes are and what could be better was new at the HAU but is now common practice here as well. (Vanackere in an interview with Oswald 2018; translated by the authors)

In addition to the opportunities, however, the tool also presents challenges for arts organisations and their employees, as listed in Table 6.1. It is important that arts organisations bear in mind that performance review interviews have opportunity costs: The meeting ties up scarce resources, other tasks are left undone, the meeting can be emotionally challenging and preoccupy everyone involved for a long time, etc. Review meetings should therefore not be an institutionalised end in themselves, as seems to be the case, at least according to our conversations with practitioners, in not so few arts institutions. Performance reviews should have a real added value, which requires a high level of professionalism—i.e. good preparation, structured implementation and systematic follow-up. In this sense, we recommend a phase-oriented approach, which is briefly outlined below (in detail, e.g. Armstrong 2017; Mentzel 2020).

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Table 6.1  Opportunities and challenges of performance review meetings Opportunities

Challenges

− An open and transparent dialogue can − Conducting and participating in promote trust between arts leader and performance review meetings requires employee. certain communication skills—resources − Misunderstandings can be clarified and thus are needed to learn and train for these conflicts reduced. competencies. − Collaboration between arts manager and − Preparing and following up on the employee can be improved through mutual review also requires resources (both on feedback. the part of the arts manager and the − The conversation can contribute to an employee). affirmation of one’s role and to an increase − Employees are afraid to speak openly in job satisfaction on both sides. because of existing power and hierarchy relations, or superiors hold monologues and do not allow a real exchange of views. − It must be ensured that the arts manager and the employee review the agreed goals in the future.

1. Preparing for the Performance Review Meeting This phase includes decisions on –– making an appointment (choosing a time that is convenient for all those involved in the review), –– the location of the review (open, undisturbed atmosphere, choice of room, seating arrangements, etc.), –– the duration of the meeting (situationally flexible within an appropriate, previously communicated framework of approximately 60 minutes), –– the objectives and content of the performance review meeting. In addition, it is useful to draw up a guideline for the discussion, which helps to keep the goal of the review and the issues to be discussed in mind, especially in more difficult conversations. Both the supervisor and the employee should receive the interview guide in advance. This way, both participants know what to expect from the conversation and have the opportunity to prepare accordingly. For example, a guideline for a performance review meeting could be roughly structured as follows:

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1. Conversation starter: Why are we here? (Explanation of the purpose of the interview and the procedure, setting the expectations) 2. Review: What happened? (e.g. conversation about past performance, projects, tasks, goals) 3. Current situation: Where does the reviewed person stand and why? (This involves both performance and other issues, such as the internal situation) 4. Outlook: What should be? (e.g. discussion about current and future tasks, individual development needs) 5. Goal setting: What will be done? (e.g. agreement on common goals, development needs; making an action plan) 6. Closing of the meeting (a friendly parting of the ways, if necessary, an agreement to revisit certain topics) 2. Conducting the Performance Review Meeting The success of the review will also depend on the chosen style of discussion, i.e. on how strongly or weakly the executive steers the conversation and to what extent he/she includes the perspective of the employee being assessed. The arts manager should feel responsible for ensuring that the conversation shares are evenly distributed so that the discussion is at eye level. At the same time, all participants in the conversation are responsible for actively listening, asking questions when in doubt and making their own contribution to a successful, respectful exchange of information. This is a major challenge for arts leaders and employees alike and one that should not be underestimated. Both parties involved, arts managers and employees, are responsible for complying with, reviewing, etc., the agreements made. We therefore recommend to document what was discussed in the form of a short meeting minutes and to initiate any necessary measures promptly. At the end of the conversation, it is important that the employee knows what he/she agreed on with the arts leader and what the next steps and follow-up actions are. At best, the employee leaves the meeting feeling committed to the arts organisation and confident he/she can achieve the goals set and will be supported to do so (Ashdown 2018). Follow-up measures should be taken promptly after a performance review meeting. Failing to do so can lead to dissatisfaction and a loss of confidence on the part of the employee. Here, too, the responsibility does not lie solely with

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the supervisor, but also with higher levels of the hierarchy (top management, boards) and the HR department of the arts organisation (e.g. by making the final decisions, providing resources, etc.). 6.4.2   Teams and Team Meetings Most work in arts organisations is teamwork—whether it is curating an exhibition in a museum, conducting a visitor study in a library or rehearsing an orchestra. Generally, a work team is a group of persons who wish (or simply have) to achieve one or more organisational objective(s) and need to cooperate in this respect. According to research (e.g. Alderfer 1977; see also Thompson 2017), teams have five key characteristics: 1. Teams exist to achieve a common goal. 2. Team members depend on each other to achieve the common goal. 3. Teams have an identifiable membership and usually work together for a limited period. 4. Team members are authorised to manage their own work and processes to a certain extent. 5. Teams are usually part of a larger organisational context and often work together with other teams (other divisions, departments, project groups). Teamwork offers major gains for an arts organisation and its employees but can also lead to losses. Table 6.2 explains both effects from the perspective of the organisation and of the individual. To make the most out of teamwork in arts organisations and to reduce process losses, certain prerequisites for team building have to be met. One of the most important duties of arts leaders to promote team building and communication is to meet regularly. Team meetings are scheduled meetings of staff members with the aim of a targeted exchange of relevant information about the tasks and challenges of the team and, if applicable, on the day-to-day running of the arts organisation as a whole. These meetings serve, for example, to –– –– –– ––

create transparency, jointly analyse developments, understand contexts and reasons for certain circumstances, prepare or take decisions.

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Table 6.2  Gains and losses through teamwork For the arts organisation Gains of teamwork

Losses of teamwork

For the individual

− The group can perform/ deliver an output that individuals cannot achieve alone − Better quality of decisions due to different perspectives and knowledge/skills − Easier implementation of decisions by consideration/integration of different interests in the decisionmaking process

− Higher motivation through solidarity, social contacts, recognition, group affiliation − Higher identification with the arts organisation as a whole − Synergy effects: common goals and actions release additional forces/energy − Faster learning curve through information exchange and mutual support (for new staff, members in a new role, etc.) − Lower quality of decisions − “Social strolling”: nobody in the through peer pressure (i.e. older team (or always the same person) staff members, works council does the work members, etc.) − “Free riders”: individuals shirk − Increased coordination efforts (i.e. efforts at the expense of others by bringing together individual − “Sucker effect”: to not be the fool performances) who does it alone, all reduce their − Resistance to organisational efforts change (e.g., due to the − No performance credit for the development of a conservative individual → possible loss of group subculture) motivation − Pressure from individual members, conformity pressure, etc.

However, the purpose of team meetings goes far beyond this exchange of information. For example, team meetings provide important opportunities to also –– strengthen the sense of belonging to a group and the “we-feeling” (in distinction to other groups, e.g. to other departments within the arts organisation but also to competitors on the arts and leisure market, etc.) and to maintain regular contact/exchange with each other (which is why such meetings should never be cancelled, even if there are—supposedly—only a few topics on the agenda).

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–– highlight and enjoy collective and individual successes. The team meeting offers a rare opportunity to celebrate achievements together, e.g. successfully completed projects, achieved goals, awards, positive feedback from stakeholders, etc. –– strengthen the roles of individual team members. Ideally, the various and necessary roles of moderator, idea finder, provocateur, visionary, admonisher, mediator, etc., fit together. –– maintain and cultivate rituals and routines that provide predictability, orientation and security and strengthen the bond within the team. This includes, for example, adherence to punctuality, shaking hands or other forms of greeting, offering each other food and drink, words of thanks from the chair of the meeting and other participants, etc. One reason why the efficiency and effectiveness of team meetings are often compromised in practice is, as we know from our work with arts organisations, the frequently unstructured nature of such meetings (see also the reviews on employer review platforms as described in the next subsection). However, the general management literature emphasises how important it is to systematically prepare and conduct the different phases of such meetings (in detail, e.g. Parker and Hoffmann 2006): 1. Preparing for the Meeting In the preparation phase, topics are collected which—as far as the arts leader and staff members consider them to be relevant to the meeting— are put together in a way that the meeting runs smoothly and professionally, i.e. –– –– –– ––

does not drag on unnecessarily, addresses all aspects of the agenda, relays all information effectively and accomplishes the goals set for it.

The invitation, in addition to the agenda, contains information on the location, the participants and the duration, i.e. the beginning and, of course, the end of the team meeting. This is a recommendation that some arts leaders still do not follow—with predictable consequences for the discipline in terms of length of contributions and finding results.

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2. Conducting and Moderating the Meeting This phase contains further pitfalls to be avoided. First, responsibilities are to be distributed: Who takes the minutes of the meeting, which should always be a record of the results (in the case of extensive, controversial discussions, the way to the result is also of interest)? Who chairs or moderates the meeting? The person chairing the meeting has a great deal of influence on the success of it; he/she –– asks for approval for (or additions to) the minutes of the last team meeting, –– leads through the agenda, i.e. makes sure all topics are discussed, –– ensures that the time is kept and that scarce resources (of all members, arts managers and staff alike) are carefully used in the meeting, –– ensures that there is a decision for all agenda items where a solution needs to be found, –– pays attention to good and appreciative communication and ensures that all staff can speak (and the quieter members are encouraged to do so) but also that all keep their contributions concise. It is striking that team meetings are an instrument that is regularly mentioned (negatively) by employees when evaluating employers in the arts sector. On the employer review platform Kununu, staff members repeatedly complain, for example, –– that such meetings do not take place or take place irregularly/ too rarely, –– that meetings that have already been scheduled are cancelled at short notice, –– that the discussion is steered too one-sidedly by management or that the employees are not involved enough or that the discussion culture is not very appreciative, –– about the waste of (valuable) time of team members (the principle of opportunity costs also applies to team meetings), –– that an important problem is addressed in the meeting, but in the end no solution (e.g. an action plan) is found despite extensive and exhaustive discussions.

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The latter can be prevented if, for example, –– the topic is explicitly on the agenda, –– the person responsible for the topic prepares a brief problem analysis, including first suggestions for a possible solution or decision, –– the other team members engage in a constructive discussion to find solutions on the basis of these suggestions, –– a binding decision is made as to whether the solution found is finally viable or whether further information needs to be gathered, i.e. whether the decision should be postponed until the next meeting, –– conflicts that arise in the course of problem-solving, e.g. through the redistribution of tasks between team members, are disclosed in the meeting but are not further discussed within this setting. Instead, individual or group discussions are held afterwards and the conflict solution found there is communicated to the other team members in one of the next meetings. 3. Closing and Following up on the Meeting It is important to close the meeting professionally and in an encouraging way. A solid conclusion –– gives participants a sense of accomplishment and motivates them to continue working on the team goals, –– creates clarity about decisions and agreements and consolidates the resolutions and decisions, –– helps the team members communicate clearly with their respective stakeholders afterwards. Usually, the date, time and place of the next team meeting will be set towards the end of the meeting. As said above, an important tool of team meetings is the minutes, which must be prepared (either by the same person each time or alternating between team members) and approved by the chair/arts leader. The most important decisions and agreements (deadlines, responsibilities, etc.) should be recorded in writing. It should also be bindingly defined as to what happens if staff members want to change or add to the minutes (as a rule, the proposed changes are presented and reviewed at the beginning of the next team meeting).

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6.5  Conflict Management Due to the framework conditions described in Chap. 3, there is a high potential for conflicts in arts organisations. Dealing with conflicts is therefore an important issue for arts leaders. We include conflict management among the tools with a focus on communication because leaders need strong communication skills and techniques to work on and deal with conflicts (Cahn and Abigail 2013). The topic of conflicts and conflict management is very extensive and can therefore only be touched upon here (more detailed e.g. Proksch 2016; Raines 2019). Our aim is to give the reader some idea about what is particularly important in this topic. 6.5.1   Definition, Types and Phases of Conflicts 1. Definition Both in common language and in management literature, there are different understandings of what exactly is meant by the term conflict. Basically, a conflict can be understood as a process that begins when –– two people or more identify differences and contradictions in personal goals, needs, values and interests that are important to them (De Dreu and Gelfand 2013) –– and when, at the same time, they are dependent on each other for the fulfilment of their respective tasks. In contrast to a mere divergence of opinions, conflicts are accompanied by persistent dissatisfaction and often also by a long-lasting emotional burden on at least one of the two conflict parties (Glasl 2013). First of all, conflicts in the workplace are quite normal, in fact the rule rather than the exception. The way they affect the arts organisation and its staff depends on whether and how well they are managed. If conflicts are ignored, not resolved or escalated, this can have a very negative effect both on the organisation and the individual, e.g.: –– stress and pressure on employees, –– loss of productivity, performance and effectiveness for the arts organisation,

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–– improper use of scarce resources, –– high absenteeism and turnover of staff, –– mistrust, misconduct and even sabotage. Nevertheless, it is important to be aware of the positive aspects and many chances of conflicts. Arts organisations can benefit from working on conflicts. Positive effects occur when conflicts –– make fundamental problems in an arts organisation evident (e.g. dysfunctional organisational structure), –– trigger change, thus preventing stagnation and ideally securing future viability, –– stimulate new, creative solutions and innovations, –– strengthen relationships by having employees work together to resolve differences, –– strengthen group cohesion by fostering collaboration and interest in the challenges and problems of other organisational members (Proksch 2016). 2. Types of Conflicts Conflicts usually have one or more specific cause(s). To successfully resolve a conflict, it is therefore important for arts leaders to know the cause(s) and get to the core of the conflict. In principle, every conflict is unique in its own way, but three typical types of conflict, which often occur in combination, can be observed in arts organisations and their working groups (e.g. Behfar et al. 2010). –– Task conflicts refer to disputes related to a work task. These can be, for example, disagreements about the task resources, content and goal. –– Process conflicts are disagreements about how a project should be done, e.g. delegation of tasks, sharing of information, communication and taking responsibility. –– Relationship conflicts are disputes resulting from different personality traits amongst organisational members. In contrast to the other two types, they are not (only) about work but more about personal issues (e.g. different values and priorities, personal dislike).

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Typical Areas of Conflict in the Arts

In our work with arts organisations, we have found that whether it is a museum, theatre or any other arts institutions, the same conflicts arise time and time again. These include –– Conflicts between artistic/scientific and administrative departments: e.g. over basic goals and orientation, the way of working, distribution of resources, relevance and role of the administrative department within the arts organisation, mutual lack of understanding and appreciation (see also Sect. 3.2). –– Conflicts between co-leaders: e.g. about power and roles, vision, authority and responsibilities, tasks, ways of working, communication and information exchange (see also Sect. 3.1). –– Conflicts between staff and top management: e.g. abuse of power, lack of communication, lack of vision, poor leadership style, mutual lack of appreciation, unclear responsibilities. –– Conflicts between top management and works council: e.g. scope of participation, difficult communication, distrust on both sides (see also Sect. 3.1). –– Conflicts between top management and board: e.g. different interests and goals, unclear roles and responsibilities (see also Sect. 3.1).

3. Bullying in Arts Organisations A particularly challenging way of acting out conflicts is bullying which also occurs in arts organisations. Bullying describes continuous negative and hostile behaviour by which a person, a group or an organisation as a whole constantly oppresses one or more other people (Quigg 2017). Bullying manifests itself, for example, through intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, or isolation of the individuals involved. These actions can lead to grave and long-term psychological and physical damage. Studies confirm that bullying, unfortunately, also happens in arts organisations (e.g. Quigg 2007; Schmidt 2019). They show, among other findings, that work in the arts can often be emotionally and physically exhausting and that there is a lot of pressure to perform at one’s best. This emotionally and physically stressful environment is more conducive to bullying than a calm and relaxed one. Case studies in

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the arts have also revealed that the bullies often win and that the victims and, sometimes also witnesses, leave the organisation, while management prefers to handle the situation discreetly (Quigg 2011). To ensure that bullying does not occur, arts leaders must consciously and systematically prevent it. They should see and establish themselves as a person of trust and protection—or, if they are unable to do so, establish an arbitration board. Furthermore, clear guidelines and rules in dealing with bullying are important. If bullying or mobbing occur nevertheless, it is important to act immediately and protect the victim. As bullying is a very complex conflict, it is important to seek external help for advice and support (e.g. counselling services, trade unions). 4. Phases of Conflicts Conflicts are very dynamic. They tend to escalate if no action is taken. There are several explanatory models in the literature, which differ in the number of phases and stages. These models help to understand at which stage a conflict is. From this, conclusions can be drawn for appropriate conflict management measures, in each case. The model presented below is a very well-known approach by Glasl, who divides the escalation of a conflict into nine stages within three main phases (Glasl 1982; Glasl 2013). In the first main phase, it is still possible for both parties to win (win-win). In the second phase, one of the parties loses and the other wins (win-lose) and in the third phase, both parties lose (lose-­ lose) (see Table 6.3 for more information). 6.5.2   Conflict Prevention and Conflict Management Methods To deal with conflicts in working life professionally, systematic conflict management is needed. It aims at preventing, guiding or effectively resolving conflicts. We first examine the prevention of conflicts and then discuss methods to manage conflicts. 1. Conflict Prevention According to Proksch (2016), conflict prevention can take place at three different levels: on a communicative, a structural and a personal level. These three levels contain many topics which we have already explained in more detail in previous chapters or will explain in later chapters and which we will therefore only briefly discuss here:

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Table 6.3  Glasl’s model of conflict escalation 1st Main phase (win–win)

2nd Main phase (win–lose)

3rd Main phase (lose–lose)

• Stage 1 (Attempts to cooperate and incidental slips into tensions and frictions): The conflict starts when the parties realise that they have different positions and they begin to insist on their ideas and opinions. • Stage 2 (Polarisation and debating style): If it is not possible to resolve the hardened positions, more rigorous attitudes are adopted. Those involved do not shy away from verbal confrontation. • Stage 3 (Deeds, not words): The parties act more decisively and less insecurely as in the first two phases. They begin to dominate and thwart each other. They see verbal communication as no longer sufficient. • Stage 4 (Concern for reputation and coalition): If the conflict escalates further in the second stage, the parties are no longer thinking about the matter. They want their victory or the defeat of the other party. • Stage 5 (Loss of face): Therefore, their next step is to try to make the other party lose face and publicly damage its image. A compromise no longer seems acceptable. • Stage 6 (Dominance of threat strategies): This leads to the parties having thoughts of violence and becoming more and more radical. The parties use blackmail and threat strategies. • Stage 7 (Systematic destructive campaigns against the sanction potential of the other party): At the previous stage, the parties still believed in “win or lose”. From the seventh level onwards, they are convinced that there is nothing left to win. The parties no longer trust each other with anything, each party is only concerned with securing its own survival. • Stage 8 (Attacks against the power base of the enemy): The parties try to destroy the opponent’s basis of power and existence. They try to crush the opposing party. • Stage 9 (Total destruction and suicide): In the final phase, the parties are willing to use any means possible to destroy the other party, even if they destroy themselves in the process.

–– Communicative level: At the first level, an arts manager can prevent conflict by creating appropriate formal and informal communication structures. As we have already discussed in this chapter, regular team meetings, appraisal reviews and regular informal feedback are necessary for effective leadership. An adequate flow of information should be ensured in all directions; this will reduce information gaps and misunderstandings and, thus, prevent conflicts (Proksch 2016). –– Structural level: In addition to communication structures, there are other tools that an arts leader can use for conflict prevention. Specifically, these are the structure of the organisation, the organisational policy and the corporate culture. In Chap. 6, we address this

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level in detail and describe suitable tools such as organisational charts and job descriptions, organisational culture and mission, vision and values statements and leadership principles in detail. Used properly, these tools, which are focused on coordination, help to create clear structures, provide security and orientation for employees and, thus, reduce conflicts caused by structural/organisational ambiguities. –– Personal level: Conflicts also arise at the personal level, e.g. through inner tensions, individual dissatisfaction or frustration (Proksch 2016). At this level, everyone—whether employee or arts leader— can prevent conflicts arising from these feelings. Here, too, there are tools such as training and development activities, coaching, etc., that help to reflect on one’s own feelings and behaviour and to find possibilities for action. We also describe these tools in detail in Chap. 6. 2. Conflict Management Methods Conflict management includes many different strategies and techniques. Conflict management procedures can be informal or formal and involve only the parties to the conflict or a third, possibly external party (manager, consultant, mediator, etc.). According to Glasl (2013), in stage 1–3 conflicts, the parties still have a good chance of managing the conflict on their own or with the help of an internal facilitator. From stage 3–4 onwards, an external trained process moderator should be involved, and from stage 5 onwards, structured mediation should be initiated.  Managers in arts organisations rarely have professional training in mediation, etc. For this reason, they should try to intervene only in the very early stages of a conflict. If the conflict is advanced, a professional external party should be brought in. If arts managers themselves are in any way involved or biased in the conflict, expert help should also always be sought. Since every conflict is unique, conflict management methods should always be individually adapted to the respective conflict and the persons involved. For this reason, we do not want to present specific methods in detail in the following but rather the advantages and disadvantages of basic forms of conflict management methods. Moreover, only active, action-oriented methods are considered, and passive “methods”, such as denial, delegating, sitting out, etc., are not considered. Like Proksch (2016), we distinguish between more traditional methods and more contemporary, holistic approaches. Traditional methods can be further divided into separative measures and issue-related measures:

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–– Separative measures have the aim of separating the conflict parties, e.g. by dismissing or transferring to another organisational unit at least one of the conflict parties. –– Issue-related measures seek an organisational or technical solution to the problem, independent of the people involved. Often these are new or changed regulations, guidelines or standards to prevent the conflict from occurring again. Traditional methods usually do not involve the parties concerned. An attempt is made to change the circumstances so that the conflict disappears. In some cases, this can lead to a quicker and more effective resolution. However, it is problematic if only the symptoms and not the cause of the conflict is treated; it is not uncommon that the conflicts then resurface elsewhere and lead to even greater problems. Furthermore, Proksch emphasises that quick solutions can be very expensive in the long term (e.g. dismissals often lead to protracted legal disputes) and that nothing is learned from the conflict (Proksch 2016). While traditional methods often avoid direct personal engagement with the conflict, newer, more holistic approaches try to get to the bottom of the dispute. In the best case, it is possible to find a solution with all conflict parties by trying to reconcile and integrate the different positions with each other. These approaches can also be differentiated once again: –– Individual-related measures are used to find a solution at the level of the individual. For example, personal talks are held to understand the conflict situation and to give those affected the opportunity to express their own needs, expectations and anxieties. Or individual coaching is offered to improve the personal handling of the conflict situation. –– Integrative measures are aimed at having both parties deal with the problem together. Examples of this can be a clarifying c­ onversation, team development, mediation, or supervision. Overarching goals can be set, forcing the parties to the conflict to work together, as their own success is tied to the joint achievement of the goals. Regardless of whether traditional or newer approaches are used, the following applies: conflict management is a leadership responsibility in arts organisations. While arts leaders do not have to solve the conflicts themselves, they are responsible for selecting the optimal approach to resolving them and providing the necessary resources to do so.

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References Alderfer, Clayton P. 1977. Group and intergroup relations. In Improving life at work. Behavioral science approaches to organizational change, ed. J.  Richard Hackman and J. Lloyd Suttle, 227–296. Santa Monica: Goodyear. Armstrong, Michael. 2017. Armstrong’s handbook of performance management. An evidence-based guide to delivering high performance. London/New York: Kogan Page. Ashdown, Linda. 2018. Performance management. A practical introduction. London/New York: Kogan Page. Behfar, Kristin J., Elizabeth A.  Mannix, Randall S.  Peterson, and William M. Trochim. 2010. Conflict in small groups. The meaning and consequences of process conflict. Small Group Research 42: 127–176. https://doi. org/10.1177/1046496410389194. Cahn, Dudley D., and Ruth Anna Abigail. 2013. Managing conflict through communication. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. De Dreu, Carsten K.W., and Michele J. Gelfand. 2013. Conflict in the workplace. Sources, functions, and dynamics across multiple levels of analysis. In The psychology of conflict and conflict Management in Organizations, ed. Carsten K.W.  De Dreu and Michele J.  Gelfand, 3–54. New  York/East Sussex: Psychology Press. Echter, Dorothee. 2011. Führung braucht Rituale. So sichern Sie nachhaltig den Erfolg Ihres Unternehmens. Wiesbaden: Vahlen. Eskreis-Winkler, Lauren, and Ayelet Fishbach. 2020. When praise–Versus criticism–Motivates goal pursuit. In Psychological perspectives on praise, ed. Eddie Brummelman, 47–54. Abingdon/New York: Routledge. Glasl, Friedrich. 2013. Konfliktmanagement. Ein Handbuch für Führungskräfte, Beraterinnen und Berater. Bern: Haupt. ———. 1982. The process of conflict escalation and roles of third parties. In Conflict management and industrial relations, ed. Gerard B.J.  Bomers and Richard B. Peterson. Dordrecht: Springer. Mentzel, Wolfgang. 2020. Mitarbeitergespräche. Freiburg: Haufe-Lexware. Moghimi, Juliane. 2018. Es gibt keine Diven. Interview über Führung im Opernbereich. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www.kulturmanagement.net/ Themen/Inter view-­u eber-­F uehrung-­i m-­O pernbereich-­E s-­g ibt-­k eine-­ Diven,2310. Accessed 04 Nov 2022. Oswald, Kristin. 2018. Vom Menschen aus denken Teil II.  Führung in der Kulturmanagement-Praxis. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www.kulturmanagement.net/Themen/Fuehrung-­i n-­d er-­Kulturmanagement-­P raxis-­Vom-­ Menschen-­aus-­Denken-­Teil-­II,2316. Accessed 04 Nov 2022. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. 2015. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Parker, Glenn M., and Robert Hoffmann. 2006. Meeting excellence. 33 tools to lead meetings that get results. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Proksch, Stephan. 2016. Conflict management. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Quigg, Anne-Marie. 2017. Bullying in the arts. Vocation, exploitation and abuse of power. London: Routledge. ———. 2011. The problem of bullying in the arts. Is coaching an effective intervention? Jahrbuch Kulturmanagement 3: 307–334. https://doi.org/10.14361/ transcript.9783839419632.307. ———. 2007. Workplace Bullying in the arts. When creative becomes coercive. PhD Thesis, Department of Arts Policy and Management. London: City University. Raines, Susan S. 2019. Conflict Management for Managers. Resolving workplace, client, and policy disputes. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Rooney, Jim. 2020. Performance appraisal and management. In Managing employee performance and reward. Systems, practices and prospects, ed. John Shield, Jim Rooney, Michelle Brown, and Sarah Kaine, 94–151. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schmidt, Thomas. 2019. Macht und Struktur im Theater. Asymmetrien der Macht. Wiesbaden: Springer. Schulz von Thun, Friedemann. 2008. Six tools for clear communication. The Hamburg approach in English language. Hamburg: Schulz von Thun Institut für Kommunikation. Sprenger, Reinhard K. 2000. The principle of responsibility. Pathways towards motivation. Frankfurt/Main: Campus. Thompson, Leigh L. 2017. Making the team. A guide for managers. New York: Pearson. Watzlawick, Paul, Janet Helmick Beavin, and Don D. Jackson. 1967. Pragmatics of human communication. A study of interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Zierold, Martin. 2018. Führungsstile in Kultureinrichtungen. Eine Frage der Haltung und der Stimmigkeit. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www.kulturmanagement.net/Themen/Fuehrungsstile-­i n-­K ultureinrichtungen-­E ine-­ Frage-­der-­Haltung-­und-­der-­Stimmigkeit,2325. Accessed 31 Oct 2022.

CHAPTER 7

Leadership Tools for Coordination

Abstract  The effectiveness of the tools described in the previous chapter remains limited if they are not complemented by leadership tools for coordination. Of these, some of the most important are presented in this chapter. The order of discussion follows a certain logic, i.e., it is based on what we think should be implemented first—what should be part of the basic equipment in the toolbox of arts leaders, so to speak, before more complex instruments are used. In other words, a task-oriented organisational structure and a relationship-oriented organisational culture form the basis for e.g. successful individual target agreements. Keywords  Organisational Charts • Job Descriptions • Organisational Culture • Mission • Target Agreements • Training

7.1   Organisational Charts and Job Descriptions Organisational charts, also called organigrams, depict the structure of an arts organisation. The organisational structure answers the question of how the complex overall task of an organisation can be broken down as effectively as possible into manageable subtasks that can be worked on independently. On the one hand, the organisational structure creates an architecture from which individual tasks and responsibilities can be assigned. On the other hand, it promotes the interaction of the individual © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hausmann, L. Zischler, Leadership in Arts Organisations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6_7

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structural elements in such a way that the overall task—despite the division of labour generally necessary in organisations—can actually be fulfilled. In this context, the organisational chart of an arts organisation illustrates –– in a rough outline, which functional areas or departments and (leadership) positions basically exist (see, e.g. the organisational chart of the National Museum of Ireland; as of September 2023). –– in a more detailed description, the specific designation, hierarchical classification and allocation of organisational units (see, e.g. the organisational chart of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo; as of September 2023), so that information on the authority to issue directives or on the communication and decision-making channels can also be derived from them. –– in an even more detailed description, who actually holds which position (name, extension, etc.) and for which areas or tasks this person is responsible within which organisational unit (e.g. department) (see, e.g. the organisational charts of the Australian Museum or the Goethe Institute; as of September 2023). Typically, organisational charts are visualised as a hierarchical pyramid, i.e. the top management (e.g. the museum director) is at the top, the second and all other management levels (e.g. department or team leaders) are below. However, there are also arts organisations that try to break new ground with their organisational charts. One example is the German Museum of Technology (as of September 2023), which has published both a hierarchical and a circle-shaped organigram. When looking at both organisational charts, it becomes clear that the circular organisational chart tries to break up the traditional structures, appears more dynamic and names projects as connecting elements of all departments. In the end, however, it is not the graphic representation that determines good coordination in an arts organisation, but capable minds that do not understand the organisational structure as a rigid construct but rather fill it with life and adapt it to changes as necessary. Organisational charts are not a panacea, e.g. because they easily become confusing with increasing organisational size, do not take into account cross-hierarchical committees, project groups, etc., or because informal structures differ greatly from the formal organisation (Cross et al. 2002). Nevertheless, these charts generally allow a first assessment of where

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tensions and frictions might be, as the following examples from our work with arts organisations illustrate: –– Inconsistencies in the design of departments: In line with the prevailing opinion in marketing literature, marketing here is understood as an overarching, strategic management concept to which the task areas of communication (including public relations) and sales are subsumed as instruments of the marketing mix (in detail Hausmann 2019; Kotler et al. 2021). If, as is often the case in arts organisations, marketing is assigned to the communications or public relations department and is thus subordinate and on the same hierarchical level as, for example, sales or service, this can lead to leadership problems and/or to the (strategic) potential of marketing remaining unused. –– Inconsistencies after the merger of departments: After the merger of two formerly independent units, a former head of department becomes suddenly subordinate to the other head of department. This is a big challenge in itself, but it becomes even more problematic when this new subordination relationship is not clearly reflected in the organisational chart, e.g. because the former head of department is “pushed” into the line, but his/her position in the organisational chart continues to be colour-coded from the other line staff. In practice, this inevitably leads to highly conflicting leadership situations, especially if the people remain the same. –– Inconsistencies in the structure of the departments (job titles, superordination/subordination): It has already been mentioned in Sect. 3.3 that there are departments in arts organisations that are exclusively staffed with “leader” positions, but de facto the jobholders have no staff to whom they give instructions. Therefore, the head of the department in question is the only person with managerial responsibilities. This inconsistency can also lead to misunderstandings, conflicts and frustrations. Moreover, in arts management practice, it is not uncommon for employees with equivalent tasks and comparable salaries to be given the title of leader in one department and not in another. This also regularly leads to a high level of dissatisfaction among staff. –– Incompleteness of the organisational chart: We know of cases where individual positions remain without ties to other departments or the organisation as a whole (these positions emerged, for example, from former third-party funded projects and were later taken over on a

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permanent basis). In such cases, it is not surprising if the job holders feel isolated and complain about a lack of connection and appreciation of their work. Moreover, they feel they are not part of the leadership situation—and often behave accordingly. Overall, it has been shown that the organisational chart is an important leadership tool, the design of which significantly influences both strategic decision-making processes and the success of day-to-day business. However, an organisational chart alone is not sufficient to define the tasks, decision-making powers and communication processes down to the smallest unit of an arts organisation. This requires job descriptions that define the positions shown in the organigram in more detail. Such a description contains the written, factual definition of a position, independent of a current jobholder. Table 7.1 contains the most important aspects and illustrates them with excerpts from a job description of a Digital Media Content Manager of the National Museums Scotland from 2021. In addition to the organisational chart, the job description is therefore also an important indirect leadership instrument that is part of the basic equipment in the toolbox of arts leaders. Both tools support arts managers in a variety of decision-making situations, for example –– finding and hiring the right candidates for a vacant position, –– introducing new employees to their area of responsibility and to the structure of the arts organisation, –– identifying skill gaps of current job holders, –– evaluating or classifying jobs, –– analysing and resolving competence disputes among different parties, i.e. department heads. However, organigrams and job descriptions can only fulfil these important tasks if they are continuously adapted to the changes in an arts organisation and are regularly reviewed and updated.

7.2   Organisational Culture Organisational charts and job descriptions are closely linked to organisational culture. The latter is a generic term and refers to the “DNA” of an arts organisation, i.e. those traditions, norms and values that shape the actions of the organisation’s members and constitute a kind of unwritten

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Table 7.1  Aspects of a job description for a digital media content manager Contents Classification in This includes, for example, the job the organisational title, the hierarchical rank and thus structure the hierarchical relationship to other positions (superordination/ subordination or authority to issue instructions), passive and active substitution arrangements (who represents or is represented by whom).

Task profile

Includes, e.g. the objectives of the position, its ongoing tasks (and, if applicable, special tasks), its competencies or powers in internal relations (e.g. budget allocation, decision-making powers, rights of influence) and, if applicable, special powers in external relations as well as its responsibilities/obligations.

Example Post title: Digital Media Content Manager Department: Digital Media Directorate: External Relations Reports To: Head of Digital Media Staff Managed: 2 Digital Media Content Creators Other: Coordination of volunteers and work placements in the department. Management of external contractors, suppliers and partners. Purpose of position: − To lead an ongoing programme of informative, engaging and user-focused content for multiple audiences across National Museums Scotland’s digital media channels (…) Key responsibilities: − Plan, co-ordinate and lead the development of online content for the National Museums Scotland website and other digital media channels to ensure increased engagement with museums, events, collections and campaigns (…) Expected outcomes: − Accessible and engaging online content, which meets user needs and which produces increased engagement from more people across Scotland and beyond (…) (continued)

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Table 7.1 (continued) Contents Information, Refers, for example, to reporting communication channels, information obligations, and collaboration coordination or collaboration with bodies/other departments.

Requirements for These include not only technical job holders qualifications (education, certifications, licences, work experience, knowledge of the industry, etc.) but also social skills (ability to work in a team, ability to work under pressure, etc.).

Example Communication and Contact: Internal: − Range of stakeholders across National Museums Scotland, including Learning & Programmes, Development, Partnerships and Curatorial staff − Digital media team members − (…) External: − Digital Media teams (or equivalent) in other cultural institutions in UK and overseas − (…) Knowledge − Relevant degree, or equivalent relevant work experience − Good understanding of trends in digital content and online user behaviour, particularly around social media (…) Skills − High level of copywriting and editing skills with close attention to detail − Ability to manage and motivate a team of staff (…) Experience − Extensive experience of planning, managing and/or editing content for large, public-­facing website supported by a range of internal and/or external contributors − Experience of writing original, story led features for a public audience and of editing copy originated by others (…)

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code of conduct (Schein/Schein 2016). Organisational culture can be summed up in a concise and practical way with the following words: “This is how we work here”. Schein and Schein differentiate three levels of culture in this context (2016): –– On the surface, there are visible and tangible products and structures, so-called artifacts. These can be, for example, formal descriptions of how the organisation works and organisational charts but also dress codes, interior concepts and practised rituals (e.g. how to greet in the morning or that lunch is taken together). –– One level down are espoused beliefs and values. They explain why something is done the way it is done. Examples are goals, values and visions. They are often explicitly articulated or written down but this says nothing about whether they are actually lived in the organisation. –– At the core of organisational culture are the basic underlying assumptions that influence, for example, how people in a particular arts organisation interpret things and how they (feel they should) behave in different work situations. These are unconscious, often taken-forgranted beliefs and values that are rarely questioned (but shape, for example, the organisational climate). In Sect. 3.1, we have already pointed out that an organisational culture can also be fundamentally unhealthy or even harmful to its members. At the same time, newly hired leaders in particular, who are usually full of energy and new ideas, should be aware that the organisational culture of an arts organisation –– has been developed and consolidated over many years, –– may have been permanently shaped by personalities who are no longer part of the arts organisation, and –– can be changed more quickly through the recruitment of new organisational members with a different mindset and attitude (or, in some cases, by ongoing training of present staff). Perhaps the most lasting impact on organisational culture, however, comes from the arts manager themselves, who—whether consciously or unconsciously—have a decisive influence. Through their appearance, decisions and reactions, they implicitly and explicitly communicate beliefs, values and assumptions (Schein/Schein 2016) to which other organisational

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members—consciously or unconsciously—orient themselves constantly. However, to really change and improve the organisational culture of an arts organisation, it takes a lot of time, many discussions, usually some tough decisions (disempowerment, transfer, dismissal of certain people, etc.) and continuous exemplary behaviour of one’s own until this indirect leadership tool can work in the background in the way an arts leader wants it to support his other leadership activities. An organisational culture that promotes successful leadership relationships includes creating a framework in which those being led feel respected and supported. This includes a culture of error, i.e. an environment where staff feel safe to try something new or different. Mistakes will be inevitably made, but they are used to learn from them for the future (and no time is wasted looking for someone to blame). However, this is not yet well developed in many arts organisations, as the artistic director of a German State Theatre confirms: Here we are on a subject which is particularly important to me and which is still far too little talked about in the cultural sector: a healthy culture of error. Processes, structures and collaboration can only become better if you recognise mistakes, accept them as such and learn from them. In the course of my professional years, I have had the situation infinitely often that a lot of energy is invested in explaining that one has not made a mistake or that the mistake was not even a mistake. If there is no recognition here, it will happen again and again, that is obvious. (Wiegand in an interview with Schütz 2018; translated by the authors)

To ensure that scarce resources are not used to justify mistakes at length but to correct them swiftly and to avoid them in the future, an organisational culture is needed in which arts leaders and those they lead feel “safe” and are trained to deal with mistakes: (…) we do not want to see or hear about failure stories and downfalls— especially when they were a leader’s fault. The celebration of success and ridiculing of failure has created a fear of failure, which has stopped or reduced the attempt and experimentation with great ideas. (…) But failure is part of the everyday life of every leader in the arts sector. (…) Based on this experience, I think that leadership should be trained to face failure as the most powerful source for know-how and understanding. It teaches survival, renewal and reinvention of yourself and the organization you are leading, but this learning about failure should be built in education. (Pillai 2019, pp. 24-26)

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7.3   Vision, Mission and Values Statements Other important leadership tools that indirectly affect the leadership situation and relations are statements of vision, mission and values. These help a (new) leader not only to understand the existing culture of an arts organisation, but also to influence and guide it. The three tools should always be thought of together so that they support each other and do not contradict each other. In the following, we briefly discuss the most important aspects of the three instruments. Furthermore, we would like to show how they are formulated in practice and what major differences there can be. To better illustrate this, we have selected the vision, mission and values statements of three American opera houses (Opera Memphis 2022, San Diego Opera 2022 and San Francisco Opera 2022), which are presented below (see Tables 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4). First, however, let us explain the three instruments in more detail. Table 7.2  Vision statements of three opera houses Opera Memphis

San Diego Opera

San Francisco Opera

Our vision is to be a model of artistic integrity, musical excellence, and community involvement.

San Diego Opera will be recognized globally as a leading example of adaptability, innovation and sustainability, promoting diversity on stage, in our repertoire, and in our staff and leadership, with a commitment to world-class and emerging talent, and innovative use of technology.

To crack the code on producing big art in the twenty-first century.

Table 7.3  Mission statements of three opera houses Opera Memphis

San Diego Opera

San Francisco Opera

Our mission is to entertain and inspire the people of Memphis and the MidSouth through the art of opera.

The mission of San Diego Opera is to deliver exceptional performances and exciting, accessible programs to diverse audiences, focusing on community partnerships, and the transformative and expressive power of the human voice.

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. Our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera’s transformative power.

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Table 7.4  Values statements of three opera houses Opera Memphis

San Diego Opera

San Francisco Opera

Respect the music. Respect the story. Respect the artists. Respect the audience.

Through excellence in innovative programming and education and a commitment to equity, San Diego Opera provides a lasting cultural service to our diverse community. − Our tradition of exceptional productions of grand opera is augmented with new expressions of opera in diverse settings. − Our deep commitment to our community propels us to embrace inclusivity, accessibility and affordability. − Through fiscal responsibility and nimble adaptation to changing environments, we ensure the future of San Diego Opera for our community.

We commit to: − Pioneering new approaches to producing large-scale opera − Striving for the highest standards of artistic integrity and excellence − Fostering a positive, collaborative, diverse, inclusive organization − Developing new audiences and creating dynamic audience relationships − Creating impactful reciprocal connections with the community through education and engagement − Upholding fiscal rigor and sound management as prerequisites for creativity

The vision statement is an inspiring and positive description of a future ideal state of the arts organisation but one that is realistically achievable. The purpose of the vision statement is to provide orientation. It is a broad direction rather than a complex plan with quantitative targets or detailed steps (Yukl and Gardner 2019). At the same time, it should be phrased clearly enough so that decisions and actions can be derived from it but still leave room for creativity and leeway in achieving the vision. It should also be concise and simple; most often the vision is presented in a one-line statement (Bowen 2018). From this brief description alone, the complexity of the tool becomes evident—it is challenging to develop a powerful vision that inspires the whole arts organisation. Yukl and Gardner emphasise that there is no standardised formula but that judgement, analytical ability, intuition and creativity are important (Yukl and Gardner 2019). Furthermore, a high level of organisational knowledge is important as well as knowledge of what employees need and want. A vision rarely emerges as a revelation or in an

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hour; rather, top management is well advised to engage in a process that takes time, and in which the many ideas, wishes and visions from different organisational members are taken up and specified. It is sensible to get input and feedback from all members of the arts organisation because this can have a positive impact on the acceptance of the vision by the different groups of employees. Vision to Lead Change

According to Yukl and Gardner (2019), success in leading an organisation to change is greater when the leader articulates a compelling, attractive vision of a better future. In the often hectic and confusing processes of change, a clear vision has the following functions: –– Providing a sense of continuity by linking past results and a future ideal state. –– Fostering hope in a better future and belief that it can be achieved. –– Guidance and coordination of resources, decisions and actions. Table 7.2 shows the vision statements of Opera Memphis, San Francisco Opera and San Diego Opera (all as of January 2023). The three examples illustrate how differently visions can be phrased to convey clues about the approach, the self-image and the style of the respective arts institutions. As different (unique) as the arts organisations are, so different (unique) are their vision statements. While the vision is directed towards the future, the mission statement describes the purpose of the arts organisation, the reason for its existence, its essence and unique characteristics (Varbanova 2012). While the vision statement is important but can be considered optional depending on the organisational maturity of an arts organisation, mission statements are an absolute necessity (Bowen 2018). We agree with Bowen that it is imperative for every organisation, regardless of size or sector, to “develop, codify, and institutionalize a strategic mission statement” (2018, p. 8.). We consider it crucial that all staff members of the arts organisation are involved in some way (e.g. interviews, focus groups, workshops, open space methods) in the development or updating of a mission statement. The journey here is often already the destination: The final written version is usually

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preceded by a long process of up to a year, sometimes fraught with friction or conflict, in which the members of the arts organisation (have to) negotiate priorities, values and goals with each other. In our experience, this process, if well moderated, can develop a dynamic that has a lasting positive impact on organisational culture and goes far beyond the written word and has inwards effects in many ways (Hausmann 2021): –– Orientation: framework for action for the use of resources, guideline for decisions (e.g. budget allocation) and quality assurance. –– Team building and conflict reduction: through participation in the process and active use of the mission statement, intensive exchange of interests, more cross-departmental understanding for the “others” and their expectations. –– Integrative character: individual organisational members/units recognise themselves as part of the whole (common interests dominate over particular interests). –– Motivational function: atmosphere of a new beginning, dynamism/ readiness for change. Table 7.3 provides examples, using the three American opera houses already presented above. Even though all organisations emphasise their art form and audience, there are different nuances. Values statements are a list of the most important values and key questions that an arts organisation considers important (Yukl and Gardner 2019). They are intended to serve as a moral compass for the organisation and its members and can be used as a foundation for decision-making. Values refer, among other things, to the organisation’s behaviour (e.g. conduct towards employees and visitors) or its performance (quality standards for services and artistic products, contribution to social issues, etc.). Values can be listed or described in complete sentences. The listing of values such as diversity, excellence, curiosity, and integrity does not usually indicate what priorities are set or how they are linked or achieved. This is where the vision can come in, describing an ideal state in which all important values can be realised (Yukl and Gardner 2019). The phrasing of values is a complex task; here, too, the employees should be involved as they were with the mission statement. Snider (2022) also recommends not only writing down the identified values but also testing them in practice to determine if they are meaningful and feasible.

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Table 7.4 now compares the values statements of the three operas. As with the vision and mission statements, it becomes apparent how differently the values can be phrased. However, it is crucial that the respective arts organisation is actually reflected in the statement made—fine words alone are not enough to bring about real change among the organisational members. Limited Half-Life Period for Vision, Mission and Values Statements

Even if the vision, mission and values statements seem suitable after a long and sometimes laborious process, they are not made to last forever—the environment of arts organisations changes too dynamically for that. The written statements must therefore be regularly checked to ensure that they are up to date and fit—at the latest, however, when there is a change in crucial leadership positions (e.g. new director).

7.4   Organisational Leadership Principles Working on the values and mission statements will often stimulate further change processes. Sometimes it will be necessary to explore certain topics in separate working groups. Especially in larger arts organisations, it is often useful to complement the mission statement and values with overarching leadership principles developed jointly in workshops with the management. As outlined before, there are two different types of leadership principles. While Sect. 5.2 dealt with personal leadership principles that an arts leader applies in his/her daily leadership situations, we focus in this section on principles that (should) apply to a cultural or arts organisation as a whole. Organisational leadership principles are defined here as established, written guidelines that describe and define the way of leading in an organisation. They outline, for example, –– the type of leadership in an arts organisation, –– the role, tasks and self-image of arts leaders and –– basic behavioural guidelines for arts leaders.

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Sound organisational leadership principles serve to regulate and standardise leadership in the arts organisation. Ideally, this also prevents abuse of power and provides guidance to other organisational members. With regard to Sect. 5.2, ideally, the personal and organisational leadership principles match or complement each other. Leaders who find that their own ideas on good leadership do not match the organisational leadership principles can either leave the arts organisation and look for a more suitable employer or they can gather fellow campaigners and try to initiate organisational change in terms of good leadership. In the following, the reader will find some selected organisational leadership principles of a renowned European Opera and Ballet Theatre (taken from an internal paper available to the authors).

Organisational Leadership Principles of an Opera and Ballet Theatre –– Managers act as role models: they keep appointments, do what they say and are reliable. They thus behave consistently and authentically. –– Managers lead consistently. They ensure clear goals, tasks and responsibilities. They review the completion of assignments and use their powers of intervention. –– Managers know their employees, their potentials and development needs and feel responsible for their employees. They give them appropriate support and scope for action. –– Managers prioritise and delegate. They involve the next management levels and protect themselves from the danger of permanent work overload. –– Managers intervene in conflicts in good time and resolve them constructively. –– Managers observe, review and improve their own actions. They seek feedback from outside—e.g. colleagues, superiors and employees. –– (…)

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7.5  Target Agreements and Budgets Target agreements—also known as “management by objectives”—are an indirectly effective leadership tool that has been discussed in the arts management literature for some time. In this context, objectives are to be understood as concrete, job- or task-related target states in a defined future. The term agreement refers to the (early) involvement of employees in the process of goal setting. A positive effect of target agreements on the leadership relation and those involved explicitly requires a joint exchange and consensus on target states that are worth striving for and are realistic under the given conditions of an arts organisation. Positive effects of target agreements include –– for the employees, e.g. better orientation with regard to setting priorities when using scarce resources and a strengthening of their responsibility for decisions in day-to-day business. –– for the arts leaders, above all, a reduction in workload (e.g. less control of individual work steps) and a delegation of responsibility to the employees, who (should) feel more responsible for their output as a result of the target agreements. However, these positive effects can only occur if the people being led are involved in the process of setting goals at an early stage. An innovative example of such an approach is the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where the board of directors sets the vision and priorities of the museum, which are then translated into team goals for the year by the department managers. From then on, each individual staff member decides how they will contribute to the achievement of these goals. The head of the publishing department describes the motivational advantages of the newly introduced model: Questioning their own ambitions and aims and being presented with the vision and goals of the museum as a whole triggered a feeling of belonging. A true team mentality. Also, my team came up with additional ideas and started taking on extra responsibilities because they felt they could contribute to the bigger picture. (Van Kooij 2019)

In view of the performance- and orientation-enhancing characteristics of objectives, this leadership tool seems particularly suitable for the arts

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sector. However, before taking an instrument out of the leadership toolbox, it should first be examined whether it can actually be used effectively under the conditions of a specific arts organisation. After many conversations with practitioners on this topic, we have come to the conclusion that in quite a few arts organisations, target agreements are more of a standardised, typically formally-bound tool. As such, they are an end in themselves and an often unpopular time waster—and thus unfortunately less of an instrument for actively shaping working relationships. Accordingly, every arts organisation should carefully consider how to use this instrument—especially in view of typical problems such as the very heterogeneous employment relationships and the limited possibilities to design performance-based pay systems. Either way, target agreements—or performance review meetings in which such agreements are typically made (see Sect. 6.4.1)—are challenging for everyone involved in the process: –– Leaders must ensure that the agreed goals are directed towards the overall purpose of an arts organisation and that they can actually be achieved by staff with the resources allocated to them. In addition, they must also check whether the goals have been achieved (and if not, take appropriate action). All these activities need to be well prepared and use up scares (time) resources. –– Those who are led, on the other hand, are obliged to speak up in good time if there is reason to believe that the originally agreed goals cannot be achieved after all—and to disclose the reasons why. –– Both have to agree on common goals despite often differing priorities and ensure that the goals (formulated as clearly and coherently as possible) are challenging on the one hand and remain achievable on the other. –– Both have to react flexibly when conditions that were thought to be reliable no longer exist, e.g. due to new decisions by funding agencies or responsible bodies. In summary, it is the responsibility of each arts manager to individually weigh up whether he/she wants to face the challenges that this leadership instrument poses to all involved when applied professionally, or whether he/she wants to allocate him/her scarce resources to other leadership tools (for the time being)—or whether there are alternative ways of setting goals (see info box below).

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Team Workshops for Goal-Setting

If it is not possible or not wanted in an arts organisation to hold target agreement meetings for individual staff members, we suggest that at least each organisational unit (e.g. departments) holds annual reflection and goal-setting workshops. The advantages of these workshops would be, for example, the following: –– –– –– –– ––

Saving time resources and reducing opportunity costs, reducing the workload of managers, less hierarchical approach, strengthening team cohesion in the respective unit, improving internal communication and collaboration in the unit in the long-term.

Closely related to the agreement of objectives is the definition and, moreover, the distribution of budgets, i.e. plans aiming at a specific period (quarter, season, etc.), which contain value-based figures. According to Malik, budgets are also one the “most demanding” (2015, p. 307) instruments in the toolbox. This is especially true for the many arts organisations, which struggle with their chronically scarce resources. Additionally, they might be even reluctant to deal with budgets in a concrete way outside of controlling or perhaps even have a “disturbed relationship with numbers” (Malik 2015, p. 307). In this context, we emphasised in Sect. 4.3 that successful work relations in arts organisations require that resources match goals, at least in the medium to long term. If budgets are understood as a leadership tool focused on coordination, then the arts leaders use these plans not only to control “actual” and “target”. Rather, they also use the budgets for continuous orientation about the framework for action and as a sound basis for discussing decisions and dealing with the future. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasise that the allocation of budgets always sends a message to employees and departments, e.g. about recognition, priority setting, etc. This is pointed out by the artistic director of a German State Theatre in the context of developing a qualification programme in his theatre (which itself, as will become clear in the following Sect. 7.6, is a leadership instrument):

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The budget available for this programme has had to be increased considerably over the years. It will also have to be increased further, although we are operating within a very tight financial framework. However, this also shows our employees that we take their development opportunities very seriously. (Wiegand in an interview with Schütz 2018; translated by the authors)

7.6  Training and Development HR or staff development is an effective leadership tool that it is carried out with the aim of improving the performance and competencies of those involved in the leadership relation. We understand staff development as the sum of all systematically planned activities to develop the work-related skills and abilities of employees to meet current and future work demands (e.g. Saks and Haccoun 2015). As mentioned in Sect. 4.3, staff development is an important area of HRM activity and leadership task and will become even more important in the future. The increasingly complex, volatile and constantly changing environment in arts and cultural sectors requires that employees in all organisational units (administration, artistic and technical areas, service) continuously develop their skills. To ensure that staff are able to cope with change, two important areas of HR development need to be addressed: training and development: –– Training refers to formal and planned activities to help employees acquire job-related knowledge, skills or behaviours to improve their daily work. –– Development is similar to training but more focused on the future. It includes all activities that support employees to fulfil their future tasks and to achieve individual career goals and organisational goals in the long term (Saks and Haccoun 2015; Noe 2019). Successful staff development measures address both fields of action. Table 7.5 shows the goals that can be achieved for an arts organisation and its employees through development. Arts organisations can choose from a wide range of possible personnel development measures. These can basically be divided into

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Table 7.5  Goals of staff development for arts organisations and employees Goals for the arts organisation

Goals for the employees

− Increasing the performance and commitment of employees − Increasing the employees’ adaptability and openness to change −  Discovering and training of future leaders − Strengthening the identification of employees with the organisation and its goals − Increasing the attractiveness of the organisation as an employer (employer branding)

− Expansion of personal and professional knowledge −  Increasing motivation and satisfaction − Achieving career and promotion opportunities − Increasing individual attractiveness for the (internal and external) labour market

1. off-the-job training and development measures (e.g. seminars, workshops, conferences, case studies, role play) and 2. on-the-job training and development measures (e.g. job instruction training, job rotation, coaching, mentoring, feedback meetings). In practice, a method is rarely used on its own. Instead, a successful training programme involves a mix, combination and interweaving of methods to maximise learning, processing and application in the workplace (Saks and Haccoun 2015). To select the right method, it is very important to carry out a need analysis in advance. This involves determining the difference between current performance and desired performance on the organisational, task and individual levels (e.g. with the help of interviews, group discussions, surveys, tests). In addition, it is necessary to determine the concrete goals of training and development. Only then can appropriate measures be designed and implemented. The training programme should be followed by an evaluation to check how efficient and effective the measures were and whether they need to be further improved. It is also crucial to evaluate whether what has been learned is also implemented in everyday work, i.e. whether there is actually a transfer from the training measure into practice. A particularly important factor for the success of training and development are the leaders of arts organisations. They should be committed to staff development and create an environment that supports learning and personal growth.

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Recommendations for the Practice

In 2016, a study looked at what attitudes, behaviours and skills will be needed in British museums over the next 10 years and how staff can be supported to develop them (BOP Consulting 2016). We would like to share some of the recommendations of the study here because we think they are very relevant and transferable to other arts and cultural sectors. –– Subject Specialist Networks are essential for knowledge exchange and should be provided with more resources and a clear mandate. –– Through funding, responsible bodies should support the development of skills and knowledge across the sector. Important key areas are the development and application of digital skills and training further business, management and leadership skills. –– Organisations should commit to offering all staff and volunteers a certain quota of days per year for training activities. –– Mentoring between younger and older, less trained and more trained staff is very important. Where possible, employees should work with a mentor or be trained to become a mentor. Arts organisations should support this. –– There is a need to develop more programmes (both by responsible bodies and the respective organisations) to support leaders in their development. –– It is not only the organisations and the responsible bodies that are called upon but also each individual employee who is asked and is responsible for proactively seeking new learning and development opportunities.

Development refers not only to the employees but also to the arts leaders themselves, who should regularly reflect on their own behaviour and their role in the working relationship. We understand leadership development as the systematic and goal-oriented advancement of (upcoming) arts leaders to enable them for their current and future leadership tasks. Leadership development is particularly important, because—as we have pointed out several times in this pivot—leaders have a major impact (both

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positive and negative) on their employees and their performance. Furthermore, arts leaders are usually also responsible for staff development in their organisation and are directly involved in it (e.g. in analysing training needs, as mentors). In addition, the qualification of (potential) arts leaders is gaining in importance due to demographic change (in the sense of strategic talent management). As a replacement for the retiring baby boomer generation, it is necessary to look for new (potential) managers and to develop and qualify them in time. In principle, arts leaders have all the development measures at their disposal that their employees also use. However, in the case of arts leaders, it is usually less about acquiring basic leadership knowledge but more about practising skills in topics such as communication, interaction, psychology, etc. Therefore, arts leaders usually need a special mix of tools and methods and intensive support in a qualification programme that runs over a longer period of time. To conclude this section, we briefly describe some tools that arts managers can use in practice to advance their own qualification: –– Mentoring is suitable both for the integration of new managers into the arts organisation and, for example, for the development of junior leaders. It requires an experienced person (mentor) who is willing and able to support another person (mentee) in job-­related issues. The mentor has experience that he/she can make available to the mentee. Usually, the mentor also benefits from the exchange of experience and ideas of younger colleagues (e.g. with regard to new opportunities for HRM and leadership through digital applications), so that there is a double added value for the arts organisation. –– As with mentoring, coaching is about a person acting as an advisor and guide for an arts leader. In coaching, however, this task is usually not taken on by an experienced manager from a respective arts organisation but by a neutral, external expert who is trained and qualified to work as a coach. This person supports in an objective, confidential and solution- and goal-oriented way with questions and problems related to the challenging tasks as an arts leader. –– Seminars, workshops and training programmes are a good way to acquire knowledge outside a respective arts organisation in a protected setting. The exchange with other participants/leaders from the arts sector is particularly important to learn from their experiences and to build valuable leadership networks.

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–– In 360-degree feedback, the behaviour and competencies of an arts leader are assessed by different people (e.g. employees, colleagues, superior bodies) as well as by the leader him-/herself. By analysing and comparing the self-perception and the perception of others, the strengths and weaknesses of the arts manager can be identified and approaches for further development can be identified (see Sect. 8.2 for more details).

Prerequisite for Successful Training and Development

Much has happened in the Anglo-American region in the last 10  years in terms of leadership training and development in arts organisations. The increasing awareness of the relevance of leadership is slowly being reflected in the funding of programmes and their growing numbers. One example is the Arts Council England, which announced in 2019 that it would invest £7.1 million in 18 leadership development projects in museums, libraries and the arts (Patten 2019). The provision of services and programmes and their funding by responsible bodies is an important step. However, structures need to be put in place within the arts organisations to match this. The best leadership training is of little use if top management does not support its employees to participate in it, does not give them time to do so and does not provide opportunities to practise the learned skills and knowledge after the programme. Consequently, an important prerequisite for success is that top management must be convinced of the positive impact of development and training, must be willing to try out new ideas and must allow for change.

7.7   Organisation Development Just as important as the development of individual employees and arts leaders is to regularly take a look at the arts organisation as a whole and develop it further. Following Cummings and Worley, we understand organisation development as a behavioural science-based approach for the systematic improvement and development of an organisation (2019). The organisation development process should be long-term, goal-driven and sustainable and actively involve employees at all levels of the hierarchy.

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Like training and development, we see organisation development explicitly as a leadership tool, since it can be used to influence both the behaviour of those being led as well as the framework conditions of the leadership situation. This is also reflected in the general goals of organisation development projects, which are initiated in order to –– learn more about the arts organisation and its members, to identify strengths and weaknesses, –– change organisational culture where necessary, to promote creativity and versatility, –– improve organisational performance to achieve strategic goals, and –– improve the quality of working life for employees and arts leaders. Organisation development offers arts organisations, which are often primarily concerned with external stakeholders, e.g. visitors, expert audiences, media, politics, the opportunity to focus more on the “inside”, on the organisation and its members. Organisation development projects are often triggered by new leaders at top management level, the merger of different locations, divisions, etc., or by the desire to break up encrusted structures. Especially when the project is started at the request of a new top manager, the aim usually is also to get to know the arts organisation and its individual employees better with the help of systematic tools. 1. Ideal Process, Topics and Tools As every organisation is different, there is no patent recipe for the success of organisation development processes. Nevertheless, there are typical phases or steps that should be followed which we briefly outline in the following. It is important to recognise that the phases influence each other and that the dynamic nature of such a process means that steps backwards and reconfigurations may be necessary at any time. –– Problem definition, goal setting and project assignment: Organisation development processes begin with the analysis and definition of the organisational problem(s). Based on this, initial development goals are defined. This leads to clarification of the overall project goals and facilitates the awarding of contracts to external project partners (e.g. for conducting workshops).

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–– Analysis of the current situation: The next step is to take stock and analyse the current situation. For this purpose, relevant information is evaluated, e.g. mission statements and leadership principles. It is advisable to involve all staff and hierarchical levels from the beginning. Typically, interviews are conducted and focus groups held, possibly complemented by workshops. In addition, an employee survey can be executed (more on this in Sect. 8.1). All of the abovementioned tools help to understand where the arts organisation currently stands and provide a sound basis for developing suitable actions to address the problems.

Typical Strengths and Weaknesses in the Practice of Arts Organisations

In our development projects with arts organisations, it has been repeatedly shown that the strengths are seen by organisational members above all in –– the high level of commitment of the staff, –– the high level of skills in all departments, –– the fundamental willingness/openness to engage creatively with new topics and developments, –– the diverse competencies resulting from the many different tasks and areas of work. In contrast, the following weaknesses are frequently mentioned by the members: –– lack of structure in work organisation, –– deficits in communication and information flow, –– lack of internal collaboration/internal customer-supplier relationship, –– lack of systematic staff training and organisation development, –– great scepticism (sometimes even reluctance and resistance) towards management tools.

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–– Diagnostics, data feedback, action planning: In the next step, the results of the as-is analysis are presented to the arts leaders and staff and discussed with them. The aim is to clarify whether the inventory of the external consultants paints a realistic picture of the current situation or whether significant aspects still need to be considered. Furthermore, an action plan is developed taking into account the available resources (staff, time, budget). Here, too, the employees can and should be involved through workshops or other formats (e.g. open space method) and should be invited to contribute ideas and suggestions. On the one hand, it is important to use the “wisdom of the crowd”, and, on the other hand, it should be ensured that no one can say afterwards that they could not have actively participated in the process (and would therefore not agree with the results). –– Implementation: Measures suitable for organisation development and performance improvement are implemented. These must be tailored to the specific needs of the arts organisation. There are a variety of interventions that can be used in organisation development processes. We consider the following to be particularly suitable: • leadership circles and trainings, • workshops at all organisational levels, • coaching of the most relevant persons in the process, • information events (general meetings, etc.), • team-building measures (including a summer party, etc.), • method trainings.

Implementing Improvement Measures

In view of the weaknesses mentioned in the info box above, the following recommendations for action and improvements can be given: 1. develop or update a mission statement (or any other document that contains statements of purpose and vision), 2. develop professional leadership principles and guidelines, 3. revise the organisational structure (e.g. critical review of hierarchy levels, department or team sizes and adaptation to the current needs and objectives of the organisation), (continued)

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(continued)

4. develop how (appreciative, regular, etc.) and through which channels the organisation communicates (e.g. introduction of regular staff appraisals, team meetings), 5. professionalise process flows (e.g. recruiting processes—from staff planning to applicant rejection management) and eliminate interface problems (within a department or between different departments), 6. implement needs- and potential-oriented training measures (e.g. setting up a qualified program in collaboration with other arts organisations) and talent management activities (e.g. interim leadership of departments, job share, internal filling of vacancies) (see also Sect. 7.6).

–– Regular feedback loops and final evaluation: As organisation development processes usually take place over a longer period of time (between 12 to 18 months or longer; depending on the size and organisational readiness of the arts organisation), regular feedback should be sought from all members involved. At the end of the process, it is important to evaluate not only the effectiveness of individual measures but also the process as a whole. In the best case, suggestions are made for tools or measures that are suitable for continuous development and can be used by the organisation and its staff even after the external consultants have left. 2. Success Factors and Obstacles of Organisation Development Projects –– Staff involvement: As mentioned above, it is particularly important that all employees participate in organisation development as much as possible. Their knowledge and experience are valuable and should be brought into the project. Active (voluntary) participation also increases their willingness to engage in the organisation development process and to accept and implement changes. However, arts organisations need to consider that their staff is a heterogeneous group with different professional backgrounds, mindsets, etc., which affects the way they perceive and participate in the process.

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–– External support: Furthermore, it can be decisive for success whether scientific support/external moderation accompanies the process. These experts bring a know-how in terms of organisation development that is rarely available among the staff of arts organisations. In addition, they can moderate the process with a neutral and professional view and act as a confidant for the staff. The external experts must have knowledge in the areas of project, communication and conflict management. –– Optimisation and modernisation overkill: Organisation development projects must be carried out with care. Not everything that is put to the test has to be changed. Some valuable practices and traditions should and may remain. Employees regularly react with little enthusiasm if external consultants recommend standardised management measures without these being situationally embedded and “fitting” to the arts organisation under review. –– Time management, ongoing operation and change fatigue: As mentioned above, a development process typically takes between 12 to 18 months or longer—depending on, for example, the size of the arts organisation, its predisposition to conflict or external parameters (such as the COVID-19 pandemic). The larger an arts organisation is, the slower its reactions and changes. The implementation of new processes and structures therefore takes time. Regardless of the organisational size, the process is generally time-consuming, and all related activities have to be managed alongside regular work. Even if participation in workshops is counted as working time, other urgent tasks of the participants remain undone in the meantime—opportunity costs of organisation development are therefore high. Two things are important in this context. First, it should be communicated to the staff early on how long the process is expected to take. Second, it should also be mentioned that every process oscillates between a spirit of optimism and signs of fatigue/wear out—and that this is normal for organisational development. –– Quick wins, milestones and the communication of change: In view of the above, it is particularly important to achieve “quick wins” and celebrate milestones (e.g. the introduction of annual appraisals or further training measures, the revision of the organisational chart and thus the improvement of collaboration within and between departments). To keep staff enthusiastic about the project over a

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longer period of time, extensive communication must take place before, during and after the project. Communication must not only be transparent and open but also reduce fears and resistance and build the necessary trust in the success of the project. 3. The Role of Leaders in the Organisation Development Process Leaders in arts organisations are essentially responsible for the success of organisation development processes. Top management not only commissions the development project but must show a high level of commitment and support throughout its duration. It is important that top management believes in the project and its benefits and is willing to truly embrace change. However, just as important as the strong support of top management is the willingness of second- and third-level managers to participate in and support the process. It should not be underestimated that department and team heads have a significant influence on their staff through their own behaviour. Organisation development is a strategic leadership tool for steering transformation processes. As the environment of arts organisations is changing dynamically and work processes are becoming increasingly complex, organisation development becomes de facto a permanent responsibility for arts leaders (Schiersmann and Thiel 2018). For this reason, it is important that they acquire skills in this area to professionally lead their staff through times of change. It becomes clear that staff development, leader development and organisation development are interdependent. Often in the context of organisation development processes, training is implemented to prepare and empower staff for the changes. In addition, staff development often contributes to organisation development as the newly acquired skills lead to new ways of working and collaborating. From these interdependencies we conclude that arts managers should skilfully combine the three instruments mentioned above and use them in such a way that they reinforce each other’s positive effects.

References BOP Consulting, and The Museum Consultancy. 2016. Character matters. Attitudes, behaviours and skills in the UK Museum workforce. Arts Council England. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-­file/ Character_Matters_UK_Museum_Workforce_full_report.pdf. Accessed 3 Nov 2022.

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Bowen, Shannon A. 2018. Mission and vision. In The international encyclopedia of strategic communication, ed. Robert L. Heath and Winni Johansen. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119010722.iesc0111. Cross, Rob, Stephen P. Borgatti, and Andrew Parker. 2002. Making invisible work visible. Using social network analysis to support strategic collaboration. California Management Review 42 (2): 25–46. https://doi.org/10. 2307/41166121. Cummings, Thomas G., and Christopher G. Worley. 2019. Organization development & change. Andover: Cengage Learning. Hausmann, Andrea. 2021. Wirkungsvolle Organisations- und Leitbildentwicklung in Kulturbetrieben. Wiesbaden: Springer. ———. 2019. Kunst- und Kulturmanagement. Kompaktwissen für Studium und Praxis. Wiesbaden: Springer. Kotler, Philip, Kevin Lane Keller, and Alexander Chernev. 2021. Marketing management. Harlow: Pearson Education. Malik, Fredmund. 2015. Managing, performing, living. Effective management for a new world. Frankfurt am Main: Campus. Noe, Raymond A. 2019. Employee training and development. New York: McGraw Hill Education. Opera Memphis. 2022. Mission & values. https://www.operamemphis.org/ misson-­values. Accessed 15 Jan 2023. Patten, Mags. 2019. Making time to think. Arts Council England. https://www. artscouncil.org.uk/blog/making-­time-­think. Accessed 3 Nov 2022. Pillai, Madhavan. 2019. Walking the failure. On being an unsuccessful cultural leader. Arts Management Quarterly 130: 24–27. Saks, Alan M., and Robert R.  Haccoun. 2015. Managing performance through training and development. Toronto: Nelson Education. San Diego Opera. 2022. Our company. https://www.sdopera.org/about/. Accessed 15 Jan 2023. San Francisco Opera. 2022. San Francisco Opera mission and vision. https://www. sfopera.com/about-­us/mission-­and-­vision/. Accessed 15 January 2023. Schein, Edgar H., and Peter Schein. 2016. Organizational culture and leadership. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Schiersmann, Christiane, and Heinz-Ulrich Thiel. 2018. Organisationsentwicklung. Prinzipien und Strategien von Veränderungsprozessen. Wiesbaden: Springer. Schütz, Dirk. 2018. Wie das Staatstheater Darmstadt Entwicklungen ermöglicht. Personalentwicklung im Kulturbetrieb. Kulturmanagement.net. https://www. kulturmanagement.net/Themen/Personalentwicklung-­im-­Kulturbereich-­ Wie-­das-­Staatstheater-­Darmstadt-­Entwicklungen-­ermoeglicht,2321. Accessed 03 Feb 2019. Snider, David Andrew. 2022. Managing arts organizations. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

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Van Kooij, Barbera. 2019. How Rijksmuseum drastically changed its performance management system. VIEPeople. https://www.viepeople.com/inspiration/ how-­rijksmuseum-­drastically-­changed-­its-­performance-­management-­system. Accessed 17 May 2022. Varbanova, Lidia. 2012. Strategic Management in the Arts. New York: Routledge. Yukl, Gary, and William L. Gardner. 2019. Leadership in organizations. Harlow: Pearson Education.

CHAPTER 8

Leadership Tools for Evaluation

Abstract  Once the leadership tools aimed at communication and coordination have been implemented, it is important to regularly check and review how successful and effective the efforts have been. In addition to the leadership tools that we have already described in Sect. 6.4.1 (performance review meetings) and in Sect. 7.5 (target agreements), two other important tools can be used for this purpose, which we explain below. We start with a widely used quantitative research tool, the employee survey, which can be used to collect feedback from all members of the arts organisation. We then focus on the qualitative research tool 360-degree feedback, which collects feedback from a smaller number of people. Finally, we will explore whether and how effective leadership in arts organisations can be observed and measured. Keywords  Evaluation • Feedback • Employee Survey • 360-Degree Feedback • Effective Arts Leadership

8.1   Employee Surveys 1. Phases, Steps and Methods Employee surveys aim to ask employees about specific issues relevant to the organisation. The employee survey is an effective tool for participative © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hausmann, L. Zischler, Leadership in Arts Organisations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40191-6_8

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leadership and collaboration that is also becoming increasingly popular in arts organisations as topics such as employee participation, job satisfaction and employer branding are gaining importance in this sector. The general objectives of employee surveys are to –– conduct an inventory to identify potential for organisational improvement, –– implement an early warning/control system to identify negative developments at an early stage and to monitor the impact of implemented measures, –– clarify the causes of possible deficits in a dialogue between management, executives and employees and to jointly develop appropriate measures to change/develop the organisation (i.e. its processes, workflows and culture), –– strengthen employee participation, loyalty, and satisfaction. Especially in arts organisations, which are usually particularly personnel intensive and where employees have a direct influence on performance and products, this instrument offers many opportunities. However, to achieve these positive effects, employee surveys must be carefully planned and professionally conducted. Various models are discussed in the literature, each with different survey phases. (e.g. Borg 2008; Batinic and Kovacs 2017). Based on our experience with such surveys in arts management practice, we have chosen a three-stage model that describes the general course of employee surveys (see Table 8.1). The literature discusses a variety of different types and methods that can be used to conduct an employee survey (e.g. Macey and Fink 2020). In principle, the employees of an arts organisation can be surveyed orally (interviews or focus groups) or in writing (via paper or online questionnaires). In practice, the written survey has prevailed for reasons such as –– –– –– –– –– ––

lower costs, less time needed, more data can be collected, easier standardisation, better comparability of data, better protection of anonymity.

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Table 8.1  Main phases and activities of an employee survey

Continuous communication and information

Phase Main activities Preparatory Definition of objectives, project and time phase planning, preparatory work such as interviews and/or workshops to identify topics, coordination with important committees (e.g. management and works council), preparation of the questionnaire, pretest. Implemen­ Activation of the questionnaire (online tation phase survey) or mailing/distribution of the questionnaire (paper-pencil survey). After about two weeks the online questionnaire is deactivated/paper questionnaire is collected and the evaluation begins, i.e. the analysis of the data with suitable statistical methods. In a further step, the data are processed and presented to specific target groups about eight weeks after the start of the survey (results report and/or results workshop). Follow-up In this phase, all activities take place that phase serve to address the results of the employee survey and initiate changes in the organisation. This includes coaching, workshops, project groups, etc., and— hopefully—a success control.

Duration 3 to 5 months

2 to 3 months

3 to 6 months (or ongoing process)

The written survey can be conducted both off- and online. Both variants have advantages and disadvantages, which are summarised below in Table 8.2. In practice, (partially) standardised online surveys are now predominantly used and full studies, i.e. surveys of all employees of an arts organisation, are mainly carried out. However, this does not mean that this form of survey is the most suitable for every organisation. Ultimately, the concrete form of the employee survey should always be chosen depending on the specific structures and processes, the resources, the know-how and the individual goals of an arts organisation.

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Table 8.2  Pros and cons of written survey methods

Paper-­ pencil

Online

Pros

Cons

– Employees can be reached easily – Low technical effort for implementation – No technical skills required on the part of the employees (can increase willingness to participate) – Easy reach for employees with PC workplace or business smartphone – Usually less resource-/ cost-intensive – Quicker (implementation, evaluation) – Concerns about anonymity can be better addressed – Participation reminder more effective

–  “Old-school” image –  Time-­consuming data input –  Risk of transmission errors –  More resource-/cost-intensive

– Higher technical efforts and technical skills necessary (can decrease willingness to participate) – Poor accessibility for employees without PC, workplace or business smartphone – Data protection guarantee challenging/concerns of the Data Protection Officer – Lower participation due to data safety concerns

2. Topics and Design of Employee Surveys Regardless of whether the study is conducted off- or online, a wide range of topics can be found that are worthy of consideration for a survey in arts organisations. Table 8.3 shows typical information categories and examples for each category. The questionnaire is the heart of the project. Its aim is to collect relevant information for the arts organisation with the help of questions and corresponding answer options (items). For this to succeed, the following aspects must be considered (for further information, see, e.g. Ingels et al. 2020): –– Length of the questionnaire: The questionnaire should be as short as possible and as long as necessary. Since the attention span of respondents usually decreases significantly after 30 minutes, the questionnaire should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. –– Structure of the questionnaire: The questions and answer options should be listed in a logical order in the questionnaire (e.g. intro, main part, final page; questions sorted by thematic blocks, introductory questions before more difficult questions, sensitive questions at the end to avoid questionnaire dropouts).

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Table 8.3  Suitable topics for employee survey questionnaires Categories

Examples

Working conditions (workplace/situation)

Space (size, noise, light, etc.), room equipment, software/ hardware equipment, IT support, availability of necessary work equipment, possibility of working from home/ mobile working, payment, social benefits, organisation of working time Workload (time pressure, stress in contact with visitors, etc.), too high/low work demands, physically/ psychologically demanding work, frequent overtime/lack of work-life balance, compatibility of work and family life Communication/information (frequency, transparency, channels) in own department, between departments, within the organisation; work processes, decision-making channels, responsibilities, task prioritisation, hierarchies, organisational structure Team spirit, appreciation, willingness to cooperate or support each other (direct colleagues, other departments, committees, external service providers, etc.), error culture, conflict culture General: leadership competence of superiors; concrete: recognition of achievements, openness to new ideas, error culture, fair distribution of tasks, goal/task orientation, support, regular feedback, appreciation, reliability, conflict handling Qualification and promotion opportunities/barriers, talent management Satisfaction with own work area/tasks, team, superiors or arts organisation as employer in general, commitment, identification, recommendation, loyalty Length of service, organisational unit/department, hierarchical level (position/managerial responsibility), age, gender, race

Work demands and health

Structures and processes

Working climate/teamwork

Leadership and superiors (leadership behaviour)

Development and further education Job satisfaction/motivation

Statistics/structure of the workforce

–– Layout of the questionnaire: Regardless of whether the survey is conducted online or by using a paper questionnaire, it is important to make it as visually appealing and user-friendly as possible for the participants. Short texts, clear demarcations of topic blocks (e.g. by numbering or headings) and colour gradations or graphics are helpful. –– Question type and wording: To reduce the complexity of the questionnaire and thus keep the survey time as short as possible, the questionnaire should use standardised answer scales or options.

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I would recommend the ABC Museum as an employer. Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree

Strongly agree











Fig. 8.1  Example of a question in an employee survey

When framing the questions and answers, some basic requirements must be observed (e.g. Ingels et al. 2020). The items should be formulated in a simple language that can be understood by all employees, be short, precise and unambiguous, not influence the participants and be formulated in a neutral and non-­judgmental way (for an example see Fig. 8.1). 3. Success Factors of Employee Surveys in Arts Organisations It is necessary to highlight and stress that employee surveys are a participative leadership tool to which managers and employees in arts organisations react equally sensitively. For this reason, we explain below some success factors that should be considered when carrying out such a project. • Employee Surveys Are a Top Management Issue: As with other instruments of organisation development and strategic HR management, the success of such a project always depends on the extent to which top management supports the survey process and takes the results seriously—regardless of how they turn out. This requires a general openness and willingness to initiate measures for change. • Knowing Staff’s Fears and Barriers to Their Participation: It is safe to assume that not every employee in an arts organisation will be excited by the prospect of a survey. In contrast, there are various reasons why staff and arts leaders have concerns about participation (see Table 8.4). To positively counteract the respective concerns, these must first be identified. Workshops or interviews that take place prior to the

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Table 8.4  Concerns of employees and arts leaders Possible concerns of employees

Possible concerns of leaders

− Doubts about the anonymity of the survey −  Fear of negative consequences − Concerns that new conflicts will arise or existing problems will become worse − Doubts that the survey will have any positive effect

− Fear of bad evaluation and its spread in the organisation −  Threat to own position of power − Fear of a lacking or unverifiable cost-benefit ratio − Fear that the survey project will tie up too much of one’s own capacity (and organisational resources) − Unease about one’s own role in the project and in the follow-up process

actual survey are suitable for this purpose. At the same time, it is also obvious that it is not possible to address each and every concern of the staff. For this reason, it is important to also appeal to the personal responsibility of each individual. • Continuous Communication and Information: Employees must be comprehensively informed in advance so that the majority of staff is willing to participate in the survey and the follow-up process. The main task of communication will be to build staff confidence in the process and to reduce their fears and resistance. • Involve and Activate Leaders: As with other participatory instruments of organisation development, typical coordination mechanisms are temporarily suspended by an employee survey. For leaders of arts organisations, this is often unfamiliar and possibly even threatening. Therefore, they should be made aware of the premises of such a project at the beginning and separately as a group, e.g. in workshops. They should be as united as possible behind the organisation development process in general and the employee survey in particular and thus positively influence their respective employees.

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• Involvement of Employees/Fair Conditions of Participation: It is important not to forget any person or employee group in the survey. If certain employees are not to be included in the survey or in certain project steps (e.g. in preliminary interviews, focus groups or workshops), this must always be justified methodically and communicated transparently. Especially in arts organisations, it is important to note that employees whose status is low in the hierarchy are often overlooked (e.g. ticket desk staff, café and shop staff, security staff). This can not only lead to new conflicts or exacerbate existing ones but can also harm the survey project as a whole. Furthermore, all employees should have the opportunity to participate in the survey within their working hours and should not be forced to answer the questionnaire during their break, for example. In arts organisations, however, the service staff mentioned above, due to fixed shifts, do not have the opportunity to participate during their regular working hours. In order to enable these employees to participate as well, appropriate opportunities should be created (e.g. the possibility to participate in the survey before or after regular working hours and to receive a working time credit for this).

8.2   360-Degree Feedback 1. Conceptual Understanding 360-degree feedback—also known as multirater feedback or multisource feedback–is a method of evaluating the work skills and behaviour of an individual employee (the so-called ratee). Unlike traditional performance feedback, the assessment is not just top-down. Rather, 360-degree feedback solicits perspectives from various people (so-called raters): –– –– –– ––

supervisors, colleagues, employees and customers/visitors.

The persons in focus also have their own chance to speak and evaluate themselves. In practice, the term 360-degree feedback is now used synonymously for feedback that comes from several sources (Lepsinger and Lucia 2009). The 360-degree feedback basically has two different purposes (Church et al. 2019):

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. individual development of employees and arts leaders, 1 2. staff performance assessment (e.g. succession planning, identification of high potentials, promotion decisions). Before using 360-degree feedback for staff and performance assessment, we recommend always using the instrument for staff development first (Lepsinger and Lucia 2009). Only when employees are familiar with and accept the tool and the process behind it should the performance assessment process be introduced. This should be tested with a pilot group, evaluated and then gradually rolled out to the organisation as a whole. 2. Advantages and Disadvantages Compared to traditional top-down feedback, where arts managers conduct an evaluation/development interview with an employee, 360-degree feedback has some particular advantages but also some serious disadvantages, which we would like to briefly discuss in the following. Advantages: –– Greater objectivity: 360-degree feedback not only considers the (subjective) individual opinion of the supervisor but also collects reviews from different feedback sources. This reduces the potential for bias (Fleenor et al. 2020), usually resulting in a more objective overall picture, and the data have more validity. –– Wider range of information: Due to the higher number of raters, the overall picture of the ratee becomes not only more objective but also wider ranging. Different people experience the ratee in different situations. This increases the likelihood that important aspects of his/her performance will not be overlooked (Lepsinger and Lucia 2009). Often, the raters each evaluate different, sometimes unexpected, facets of the ratee, thus providing a more comprehensive perspective. –– Better acceptance of feedback: Understandably, the validity of a single rater’s opinion is likely to be questioned by the ratees (Fleenor et al. 2020). However, when feedback comes from more than one person, it is usually easier (more necessary or more inevitable) to accept it and the ratee is more likely to follow recommendations.

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–– Comparison of self-perception and external perception: Another advantage of 360-degree feedback is that the evaluated person has the opportunity to compare his/her self-assessment with the external assessment. In this way, the ratee can determine whether his/her own assessment agrees with that of others and, if there are discrepancies, address and analyse the reasons. Disadvantages: –– Time-consuming and costly: 360-degree feedback is significantly more time-consuming and costly than traditional feedback interviews. To name just a few examples: Clearly, more people are involved (both in the planning and organisation as well as in the actual rating), and usually more data are collected that need to be evaluated and further processed. In addition, 360-degree processes are very complex and consist of many different steps. For this reason, it takes some time to establish a 360-degree process. Furthermore, the necessary knowledge is rarely available in arts organisations so that external experts have to be brought in. –– Questionable validity of data: In arts organisations, managers may have attended training on how to give constructive feedback but most likely not all employees will have the necessary skills. As a result, they may not be able to give accurate feedback and therefore assess, for example, a close colleague too positively (or, in some cases, too negatively). Additionally, with multiple sources of feedback, there is always a risk that the feedback will be contradictory. –– Degrading the organisational culture: 360-degree feedback is usually conducted anonymously so that participants respond as honestly as possible. However, this anonymity can also be abused, for example, when people give resentful evaluations and rate, for example, a supervisor very negatively. If people then start blaming others or are frustrated and confused by negative feedback, this can quickly lead to a toxic working environment. 3. Important Organisational Prerequisites Before a multisource feedback process can be introduced in the arts organisation, certain organisational prerequisites must be met in addition to the necessary time and financial resources. If these are not yet in place, we

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strongly recommend that they are created or built up first, as the tool cannot be successfully implemented otherwise: –– Organisational integration: 360-degree feedback is not a standalone tool that works independently from the rest of the organisation. In order for the feedback process to be meaningful, questions on competencies and behaviours must be in line with the goals, strategies and values of the arts organisation. If these are not or only vaguely defined, as is often the case in arts organisations, no meaningful questions for the 360-degree feedback can be derived from them. –– Clear objectives: It is also important for the success and acceptance of the 360-degree process that top management has a clear idea of what exactly is to be achieved with the tool. If the project is only implemented as a “nice thing to have”, no sustainable results can be expected. It is worth adding, that top management should not pursue hidden agendas, as this will lead to a great loss of trust within the workforce. –– Leaders’ support: For 360-degree feedback to be successful, it is essential that arts leaders accept and support the process. It is important that they see the feedback as chance and are willing to embrace it and initiate change. According to Lepsinger and Lucia (2009), support can best be achieved if, among other things, the costs and benefits for both the arts organisation and the individual employee are made clear. –– Communication and feedback culture: To ensure that constructive feedback is given, it is important that an appropriate appreciative communication culture already exists in the organisation. It can have serious consequences if the participants badmouth each other and explicitly look for mistakes. Even if the feedback culture within an arts organisation is already considered to be high, it is still important to inform the persons involved about the purpose and goal of the process and to train them for this particular situation. 4. Implementation and Execution When a 360-degree feedback process is to be introduced for the first time in an arts organisation, care and caution should be exercised. The tool

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should not be implemented in a rush or only in parts. It is very important to bring staff along and involve them in the design process. As said above, we recommend a pilot project before full implementation. This should first be done with a few staff members to better assess the feasibility and effectiveness as well as the possible consequences for the organisation as a whole. In this context, Fleenor et al. (2020) suggest that the 360-degree feedback process is best started with the top executives and then proceeds top down through the organisation. As with other change and leadership tools, the 360-degree process itself should be well planned and follow certain phases and steps to be successful. In Table 8.5, we outline the most important aspects and point out that many of the decisions need to be clarified on a case-by-case basis. For a more in-depth look at the individual steps, we recommend the publications of Lepsinger and Lucia (2009) and Fleenor et al. (2020). 360-degree feedback is a powerful leadership tool because its overarching purpose is to bring about sustainable individual, group and/or organisational change for the benefit of the organisation (Bracken et al. 2016). At the same time, we have pointed out above the challenges associated Table 8.5  Phases of a 360-degree feedback process Phase

Main activities

Conception and project planning

First, the objectives have to be defined and, based on this, the framework conditions have to be established: Selection of the method (online or offline; paper-pencil or interviews or both), selection of ratees and raters, measures to ensure anonymity. If there is a works council, it is important to involve this body at an early stage. When introducing the tool for the first time, a questionnaire needs to be developed with experts. The participants must be comprehensively informed (e.g. in a kick-off workshop) about the goals, procedure, data protection and follow-up measures. In addition, all participants must be trained for the process. Afterwards, the feedback data is collected. The data is then evaluated and usually reported back in a written report. The ratees should also discuss the results face-to-face with a neutral person (e.g. coach) in order to then plan the follow-up activities jointly (development plan). The 360-degree feedback should always be accompanied by follow-up measures (coaching, training, etc.). It is important to monitor their realisation and success, e.g. by repeating the 360-degree feedback process after 12 to 18 months.

Information and collection of feedback data Analysis and reporting

Follow-up

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with this tool. While there are studies that prove the effectiveness of 360-degree feedback, there are also studies that have not been able to measure positive effects and studies that have even found negative effects (Bracken and Rose 2011). 360-degree feedback processes are highly complex, costly, and many delicate decisions have to be made. Nevertheless, the tool is used in practice by some arts organisations (Johnson and Sobczak 2021); there are success stories (e.g. see info box below), and it is recommended by some associations (e.g. Museums Association 2020). 360-Degree Feedback in the Museum

One of the few published best practice examples of 360-degree processes in arts and organisations is the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 2001, the museum introduced a 360-degree feedback, and its HR director gave a positive assessment after 3 years of implementation: “The use of 360-degree feedback has made a significant impact on personal development and training opportunities” (Henchley in Thomas 2004, p. 10). To implement the 360-degree feedback, key events, situations and challenges were discussed with an external partner and a focus group of senior managers to identify critical attributes for an individual’s success. In this process, the museum identified 11 key competencies that are used in the feedback process (e.g. the ability to see the big picture, customer orientation, ideas and intuition and the ability to deal with complexity). After its implementation, the museum used 360-degree feedback exclusively for personal development. The tool had no impact on salary or promotion, which was seen as “key to ensuring honest and constructive feedback”. The individual results were discussed confidentially with an external coach. The overall pattern of feedback was used to target the training and development programmes (Thomas 2004).

8.3   Evidence of Effective Leadership In summarising what we have discussed so far in this pivot, the following can be said with regard to the effectiveness of leadership: If it is possible to distribute and use power responsibly, if the leadership tools aimed at communication, coordination and evaluation mesh well, if adequate structural framework conditions are created for the acceptance of responsibility, and

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if all those involved want to make their individual contribution to successful leadership relations, then the stage is set for leadership to have a positive effect. However, this effect is not easy to measure. To give a few examples: –– Just as there are many definitions of leadership, there are also many different definitions of what leadership effectiveness means. –– The different approaches are also reflected in the variety of criteria used to evaluate leadership. There is no common canon in leadership research. –– It is not possible to determine an exact point in time at which the effect of a leader’s influence on the behaviour of those led should become apparent. Rather, there are both immediate and delayed effects of leadership, which also makes it difficult to measure success. We start from our leadership definition given at the beginning of this pivot and assess the effectiveness of an arts leader—as most researchers do—by the impact of their actions (and also their non-actions) on their employees and the organisation (e.g. Yukl and Gardner 2019). As mentioned in Sect. 2.1, the aim of all leadership actions is to achieve organisational goals in the best possible way. What this entails can vary from country to country, from arts sector to arts sector and from arts organisation to arts organisation (Madanchian et al. 2017). For this reason, the results of studies measuring leadership effectiveness vary considerably. For arts organisations this means that they can use other studies for their purposes only to a limited extent. Rather, each arts organisation has to decide for itself what leadership effectiveness means exactly, and which methods and criteria are suitable for measuring it. Measuring leadership effectiveness can result in a time-consuming and costly process. It may also be necessary to seek external advice as leadership evaluation is a delicate issue and social science methods need to be used to obtain useful results. Two suitable tools to measure leadership effectiveness—employee surveys and 360-degree feedback—have been presented in Sects. 8.1 and 8.2 Regardless of the method, it is important to include a variety of criteria in the study and to examine these criteria over a longer period of time. According to Yukl  and  Gardner (2019, p. 29), this allows “(t)o cope with the problems of incompatible criteria, delayed effects, and the preferences of different stakeholders (…)”.

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Having outlined the challenges in measuring leadership effectiveness, we present below some indicators of successful leadership in arts organisations. This list is not exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the many ways in which the effectiveness of leadership can manifest itself. The indicators refer to the levels of the organisation, the arts leaders and the employees and can be measured using the evaluation tools presented (see Sects. 8.1 and 8.2). These three levels influence each other and have to be balanced time and again. 1. Evidence of Effectiveness with Regard to the Arts Organisation Building sustainable working relationships between arts leaders and employees is not an end in itself but is primarily aimed at achieving the purpose of the arts organisation. This should be done as. –– efficiently as possible, i.e. to achieve an appropriate ratio between input and output and generally to use scarce resources carefully. –– effectively as possible, i.e., with regard to the best possible performance and target achievement (of the overall organisational mission or, more specifically, the objectives derived from it). 2. Evidence of Effectiveness with Regard to the Arts Leader The arts leader takes responsibility for his/her role and encourages staff to also shape the leadership relationship and take personal responsibility for their actions (and non-actions). In addition, he/she ensures that work goals are achieved through responsible and sensible use of the available resources. The arts manager thus experiences him-/herself as effective and is also confirmed in this by others, e.g., through positive feedback from those led and a recognition of his/her performance as valuable for the entire arts organisation. Despite the many tasks and constant challenges, the arts leader is also able to reflect on his/her own (role) behaviour and to lead him-/herself in a balance of taking responsibility and delegating where necessary. 3. Evidence of Effectiveness with Regard to the Employees Although the intention of leadership is to pursue and, hopefully, achieve the mission of the arts organisation, the values, expectations and personal

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goals of those being led must be taken into account. This is because they inevitably have a major influence on the success of leadership. The evidence of effective leadership at this level can be, among other things, –– job satisfaction (with the work content, the framework conditions, etc.), –– the experience of one’s own effectiveness (e.g. with regard to the value and recognition of one’s own performance in relation to the “big picture”) or –– the possibility to realise personal (job-related) goals (such as feelings of cohesion, i.e., belonging to a team and solidarity among team members, opportunities for qualification and development or the realisation of new ideas). To conclude this topic, it is worth pointing out the many minor setbacks and major defeats that are an inherent part of leadership in arts organisations and that leaders (and their teams) have to deal with on a regular basis. It is therefore important to emphasise that the success or impact of leadership is not (and should not) be measured only by “good” results or achieved goals. This is because failures, or rather the way they are dealt with, are also an indicator of the distinction between an effective and a less effective leader. We follow the view of Schmidbauer (2009) here, that a successful arts manager is able to lead his/her employees in an equally appreciative and disciplined manner when things are going well— always making sure that scarce resources (of both the organisation and the people) are used responsibly. After a defeat, the same arts leader will tend to act mildly, spare the already battered self-confidence of the employees and try to win them over for an analysis of the failure and a joint, better solution to the problem in the future—instead of (further) devaluing them through reproaches. The arts leader who can hold his/her team together in defeat and makes the best out of a stressful situation is, in our opinion, just as effective a leader as the one who has (only) achievements to report.

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