The 7th Priority of an Artistic Director
This November, I’m launching a two-day programme of Coaching and Training that guides aspiring Artistic Directors through everything they need to know in their first year in the job, built around 7 priorities. I’ll be posting about one priority each day this week to give you a flavour of what we’ll cover in the Programme. Yesterday was Priority 6 - Productivity. Today is Priority 7 - Progress.
Tracking progress is the key to sustaining motivation, re-evaluating plans and growing support for your cause. Having translated your vision in to goals and empowered your team to take ownership and accountability (Priority 2, Purpose), you need tangible metrics that enable you to reward how far you have come and renew your ambition to push on to realise your goals.
Sometime these will be quantitative (e.g. 5,000 more audience members than last year or hitting our £20,000 fundraising target) and sometimes qualitative (e.g. Over half of participants reported a ‘Very Good’ experience of our workshops). Either way, giving your teams a tool to measure their progress is one of the most powerful methods of keeping them committed to the cause.
Of course, sometimes things don’t go to plan. If the last few years have taught us anything it’s that change is constant and inevitable. A Risk Register is a good place to prepare avoidance and mitigation strategies for change, but a deeper organisational and individual resilience is the difference between surviving and thriving in uncertain times. As an Artistic Director you’ll need to acknowledge the fear that change can provoke and be vulnerable yet courageous in leading your team through its different stages. Meet denial with perspective (Priority 1), resistance with empathy (Priority 3), exploration with possibility (Priority 5), commitment with purpose and inspiration (Priorities 2 and 4); and progress with empowerment (Priority 6). In this way you will work together to navigate and adapt to transitions.
Which is why it is essential you make time to celebrate when things do go right, when the plan works and when you find moments of success, however small. As diligent, deprecating and humble artists, it can be a challenge to allow ourselves and our colleagues to indulge in self-congratulation. But as Artistic Directors and leaders it is both our responsibility and in our own interests to encourage and reward with praise where and when praise is due.
As we talked about under Priority 3 (People), in organisations we work with other people to progress towards a common goal. Articulating the common goal (Priorities 2 and 4) and working with other people (Priorities 3, 5 and 6) are only two thirds of the job; we also need to see that progress made real by engaging in these three key activities:
Measure progress: vision and goals only work as unifying motivators if you know you are moving towards them. Measuring progress towards your priorities with evaluation, metrics and feedback keeps you motivated and evidences to stakeholders that your vision and plans are credible. Individual goals are crucial in effective self-assessment performance reviews - something as an Artistic Director you should be encouraging at every level of the organisation to ensure you and your teams are equipped, coping and motivated to do your best work.
Navigate change: Change is constant. It can bring you new opportunities or make challenging demands. As the Artistic Director you will need to support your team to gain perspective, imagine possibilities and adapt to transitions. At times of uncertainty, they will look to you to be open, courageous and consistent. Understanding the phases of change and what different people at different levels of seniority will need from you in each phase as well as involving them in finding a solution will build resilience and cultivate a solutions focussed culture.
Celebrate success: we often forget we live life not in a continuum but as a series of moments. Mostly they are unremarkable so we forget them. But occasionally they are elevated and we live with them much longer. Try looking to create such moments for your organisation on a weekly basis. Where could you elevate an experience like a first day at work? How could you share valuable insight with each other? When are the moments to generate pride through recognition? What could engineering moments of connection do for your team? If you can authentically elevate the positives by celebrating success you’ll foster a loyalty that can’t be bought.
If you’d like to learn how to hone these three key Progress skills and more, Sign Up now to my upcoming 7 Priorities Programme for Aspiring Artistic Directors.
