Leading Roles: 50 Questions Every Arts Board Should Ask

Epilogue

epilogue The past year has afforded me the opportunity to travel across the nation and the globe. I have met more arts managers and board members in this period than I have in the rest of my entire career. I have heard inspirational stories, sad stories, frustrating stories, and crazy stories. I have learned far more than I have taught. On every stop of my fifty-state, sixty-nine-city Arts in Crisis Tour—an attempt to help arts organizations cope with the current economic crisis —the issues most discussed were those relating to arts boards. My thinking has clearly been affected by what I heard. One board chair told me that the only thing that was important to his organization’s success was its board. To him, programming, staff, and marketing were of minor consequence . Other board members told me that they were miserable. I heard staff members criticize their boards, and board members criticize their staffs. It seems the only clear thing about boards and staffs is the lack of clarity. Perhaps the most liberating thing I said on my tour was that it was appropriate to ask unproductive board members to resign. This was a novel idea to many. And in the space of an hour-and-a-half presentation, board members and staff members took a journey from disbelief, to consideration , to excitement, to relief, as I discussed the topic. (I am sure many are still in the “disbelief” stage.) Writing this book and going on the tour was a powerful double whammy for me. I learned many things, but ten points stand out for me: 1. The mission is crucial. It measures success and should guide all decision-making. I knew this before the tour, but I learned that most boards don’t really buy into the missions of their organizations . They may “like” ballet, but they are not willing to accept that producing good ballet is more important to the organization than making money, or at least breaking even. This is perhaps the most crucial issue not-for-profit organizations must address. If the board of an arts organization does not truly buy into the mission, 128 epilogue it will be virtually impossible for the staff to make consistent artistic progress. 2. Organizations experience life cycles, and boards should reflect the changes in the development of the organization. Well-governed arts organizations have boards that evaluate whether the membership of the board is appropriate for the place of the organization on the life cycle. Board membership should change over time. Few people can ably serve an organization throughout its entire life cycle. The people who help start an organization are not often the same people who should govern the mature organization. A strong, sophisticated board will consistently monitor its own membership and make changes as necessary. But too often this is not the case, and a wrenching period of discontinuity is required when an ineffective board is discovered to be the cause of serious problems. 3. Unproductive board members hurt organizations more than most people realize. Board members who do not meet their obligations deflate the remainder of the board. They discourage productive board members from giving as generously as they might and from introducing their friends and associates to the organization . When a group of board members are not meeting their obligations , it causes dissent on the board. The board begins to focus on the inequity in participation, rather than on how it can support the mission of the organization. At its worst, this situation can substantially hamper the organization’s progress. 4. There is real expertise needed to run an arts organization. Board members must respect the expertise of the staff, but they must also evaluate objectively whether the staff possesses the requisite skills. Arts management is not a hobby. The best arts managers have knowledge and experience and an entrepreneurial bent. Very few board members, despite their own business acumen, have the knowledge to second-guess the best arts managers. The great artistic directors have both the vision to lead the audience and the creativity to produce surprising and excellent seasons. While most board members have their own levels of taste and artistic knowledge , few of them could produce a truly wonderful season. 5. Boards need to spend more time in their communities and less time in meetings. Mostboard members allocate a certainnumber of hours epilogue 129 a month...