When I think about leadership, I think about Moses.
As the story goes, Moses led his people out of Egypt, wandered 40 years in the desert, and eventually made it to the promised land. But he and his generation did not enter it.
Instead, Moses had to pass the baton to Joshua to lead the people.
A similar moment has been happening over the last 10 years in the American theater. The Moses generation of leaders are passing the baton and a new generation of artistic and managing leaders are coming to the forefront. These leaders will shape the regional theater for the next 20 -30 years. In the Moses story, I felt frustrated for him because he had done so much work only to reach the promised land and not be able to enter. That’s the price of leadership though - you will see some things through to the end. And other issues you have to give over to the next group of people to find their own way.
What makes our work distinct at Evolution Management Consultants is an unwavering belief that we are looking for leaders to take us to the future and not rely on a yearning for nostalgia or even knowledge of how the field operated 20 years ago. Most search firms see their work as placing a candidate for a client. That’s the main responsibility of any search project. But our work at EMC is not only about placing a candidate. It is about helping organizations find their north star moving forward and match that vision with a candidate who can deliver for them.
I’ve engaged hundreds of candidates of this next generation. Some who are already artistic and managing leaders in their own right. Some who are up and coming, ready when they are called to service. I’m proud that between the two search firms I run that most of the leaders we have placed are new to leadership. That’s a big gamble for any organization.
So what are the characteristics of this next generation of leaders?
Vision First
Just because one generation steps down, does not mean that their values leave those who come after them. This group of leaders have a new vision for a company’s art and programming - that it is excellent, bold, transformative, and engages audiences in a visceral way. The new generation rejects ideological stances in favor of pursuing the original tenets of the regional theater movement. Every community deserves great theater, great actors, and great programs for young and old alike. They aim to build a broad tent while also stating their beliefs and values through the work that is produced and programs launched.
That’s a return to something the Moses generation knew and the field partly mislaid: institutions are built and sustained on vision, and the vision has to be about the art.
Pragmatic
These new leaders recognize that while vision is important, they can’t rely on it to get audiences in the door or for artists to sign contracts. The next generation combines vision with pragmatism about what is ahead and how to get there. This means sometimes embracing a heterodoxical approach to leadership and management. It is building something one brick at a time and create a larger coalition of people between staff, board, audiences, donors, and community to keep the theater going and relevant. This also means the end of “happy talk” where leaders say what others want to hear or shout out the good news, only to avoid the bad. Instead, these leaders see the challenges head on and propose practical, if daunting, solutions to immediate and structural issues.
Vision doesn’t sell a ticket or get an actor to sign. This generation knows it, and the combination is what makes them different: they hold a real artistic idea and a spreadsheet at the same time, without treating either as the compromise.
These leaders name the problem in the room, including to their boards, including when they don’t have the solution yet. They propose things that are practical and unwelcome.
Some of it will work. Some of it won’t. What matters is that these are people building one brick at a time rather than waiting for the field to be handed back to them in better condition.
Charting A New Course
While these leaders have a reverence for the past, they are not bound by it. These leaders see that there is something to be learned from the struggles of previous leaders. Costs continue to rise, the boom and bust cycle of markets, and changes in audience taste remain constant even in a new era of theater making. There is a populism that these leaders. They try attract as many people as possible. Theater is meant for the people. For us, by us, about us, and near us.
What does this look like? It means embracing new ideas like sustainability funds and arts as healthcare. Rather than a rigid five-play subscription season, more theaters are offering add on programming of shows that might play for a weekend or limited engagement. Some companies have not just one artistic director, but two or three artistic leaders at the helm each taking on a specific aspect of the job. Some boards are purposely restructuring themselves. Other theaters have considered sharing back office work.
All of these are ideas that may bear fruit. And they may not. But it is a new generation trying to build something new off of a solid foundation.