Expertise driven thought partnership for leaders taking on new roles.

Among the many challenges facing the professional, nonprofit performing arts field is a severe shortage of experienced leaders. Since 2020 there has been a significant migration of leaders. For example, in the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) half the managing directors/executive directors have departed with the vast majority of them leaving the field entirely. We believe there are several reasons for this trend including: exhaustion from the constant chaos caused by the pandemic, the retirement of baby boomers, and the change in roles and responsibilities of a leader. The good news is that leadership in the field is changing to better represent the demographics of the country. However, many new leaders are struggling with an unprecedented number of strategic issues, prompting some to leave their positions after a short tenure. 

While there is a large pool of qualified applicants to fill these positions, in many cases the next generation of performing arts leaders may lack the experience that is needed to immediately and successfully manage a performing arts organization. In addition, no leader, even one with years of experience, comes fully formed into a new job. 

The role of Arts Management Counsel (AMC) is to help a new leader fill the experience gap as well as support their assimilation into a new organization, so that newly hired leaders can use their creative and strategic gifts to create value for the organization as fast as possible.

The advisors at AMC comprise a distinguished team of performing arts leaders with more than 70 years of combined experience and expertise in the field. We are subject matter experts who have encountered many of the administrative challenges faced by today’s leaders. David Schmitz, for instance, has held the position of executive director at both the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Our team has also been actively involved with organizations such as the Theater Communications Group, LORT, the Professional Nonprofit Theater Coalition, the League of Chicago Theaters, and we have served as panelists for the National Endowment for the Arts.

We are cisgender white males of a certain age who exuberantly embrace and support the diversification of the performing arts sector, and have worked proactively towards that inevitable and just conclusion for at least the last decade. We have individually received significant training in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging and served as administrative partners with BIPOC and women artistic directors. (For a list of organizations and leaders we have worked with, please inquire). 

A key goal of AMC is to support BIPOC, LGTBQ+ and disabled leaders as they take on their first organizational leadership role. Click here to learn more about our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB).

Our role is to serve as thought partners and advisors to leaders in new positions. We are not coaches - coaches help a person understand themselves and how to perform better given their strengths and weaknesses. Advisors provide expertise and experience in a specific area which in our case is performing arts management. This encompasses many areas including: the role of the board of trustees, fundraising, marketing, advocacy, HR, EDIB work in historically white organizations, finances, union agreements, staff management and culture, community and national relations, and the relationship with other leaders in the organization. Our work can support onboarding, beginning before the new leader begins (or as they begin), or we can step in a few months into their transition for a four to twelve-month relationship. We realize every leadership transition is different and are very flexible in structuring the relationship. Most engagements start with a four month commitment, and expand from there as needed.

When you hire Arts Management Counsel the work begins with two of our advisors spending onsite time at the client organization, getting to know you / the new leader and the organization, including understanding the staff and board culture, the challenges and opportunities faced by you/the new leader, the community’s expectations of the next six to twelve months and the organizational structure. We then work with you / the new leader directly to set goals for our work, which would proceed in weekly Zoom sessions. These sessions would have topics developed from the goals we establish during the site visit, as well as areas of interest or need for you / the new leader. We also prioritize time each week for you / the new leader to ask questions and engage in active dialogue on immediate issues. Our service is flexible and dynamic based on the needs of you / the new leader and the organization. 

The one constant in our work is our overarching goal to set up the leader for success
and to extend their tenure at the organization.

We are immensely grateful to those who spent time giving us feedback on this idea and information about their personal experience as leaders in a new role. Our service to the field is enhanced by your generosity and input. Specifically, we would like to thank: Emika Abe, Ben Cameron, Maria Manuela Goyanes, Tom Hall, David Hawkanson, Al Heartley, Linette Hwu, Marissa Lynn Ford, David Mallette, Jill Robinson, Michael Ross, Tiffany Vega-Gibson, Sarah Williams and Leandro Zaneti.

Lets talk about your unique needs and about how Arts Management Counsel can help ensure your success / the success of the new leader!