We Can Never Have Too Many Leaders: The Case for Growing Grassroots Media Arts Leadership
Why is leadership development a central concern for the media arts? For organizations involved in media production, education, exhibition or distribution, leadership development is key to adapting and thriving in the midst of constant change. It is also a means of creating more democratic organizations that are able to effectively tap the wisdom and skills of all their members.
Change takes many forms. It includes the unrelenting commodification of culture and the privatization of many realms that were once public - bitter fruits of the globalizing economy. Other kinds of change that are familiar to most media arts organizations include changes in technology as we transition to the digital era, and changes in funding patterns that require us to continually innovate and find support in new ways.
When we commit to the path of leadership development, we commit to developing the potential of every person within our organizations. In doing so, we greatly increase the pool of perspectives and talents available to solve organizational problems, build relationships, and enact our missions. Based on the levels of change and complexity in our environment, we can afford to do no less.
A commitment to leadership development - within ourselves and others - also translates into more democratic organizations. In settings where leadership is widely encouraged and supported, people are more open to learning, expressing their creativity and contributing their best thinking. In such environments, we not only espouse values such as empowerment and diversity, we put these values into action on a daily basis. This means greater job satisfaction, less burnout, and greater effectiveness in achieving organizational goals.
If leadership development can help us address change, and create organizations that are more democratic and effective, why isn't it at the forefront of our agendas and work plans? At the risk of oversimplifying a complex subject, I believe our basic assumptions about leaders and leadership often get in the way.
The changing face of "leadership"
What is a leader? If we conducted a person-on-the-street poll, we would be likely to hear responses such as: "the top decision maker," "the person who shows the way," and "the person who is in charge." Recent decades have seen the emergence of teamwork and many other vehicles for broadening participation and decision-making within our organizations. Still, entrenched attitudes about the singular, top down leader linger.
My own leadership journey, which I look back on with some trepidation, illustrates the kind of confusion around leadership that many media arts practitioners experience. Twenty years ago in Austin, Texas, I began producing social issue documentaries. In the process, I developed leadership skills in bringing people together to tell stories, share visions, and develop the confidence to create change. However, in my first official leadership position, as program director for Austin Community Television, I gave orders, rarely asked questions, and often overlooked the potential contributions of those I supervised.
In reflecting back on that time, I realized that I was unconsciously modeling the leadership expectations of the dominant culture and an early role model - my father. Although I had the ability to work in a more collaborative style (influenced by another early role model - my mother), my concept of leadership involved an individual leader telling people what to do, solving problems and generally "doing all the thinking" for the group.
Today, even as we understand that centralized, authoritarian leadership does not work, our culturally ingrained assumptions about leadership remain. Our persistent tendency to think of leaders as singular and all-powerful (or heroic) undermines a fundamental truth about leadership: It can and should be learned and practiced by each of us. Leadership is not contingent upon our job titles. It is contingent upon our willingness to take part in envisioning and enacting the future we want to create.
Roots of Leadership Development
Leadership by the many, instead of the few, has a rich and varied history. Models for inclusive, collaborative leadership can be found throughout U.S. social change movements, tribal societies, and religious-spiritual traditions, to name but a few sources. For those of us working with film, video and multimedia to foster artistic expression and cultural exchange that is outside the mainstream, these leadership models provide particularly useful frames of reference.
In their recent book, A Tradition That Has No Name, authors and educators Mary Belenky, Lynne Bond and Jacqueline Weinstock share women's leadership stories from what has been called a developmental leadership tradition. Key concerns within this tradition are "raising up" and bringing excluded groups "to voice" around a common vision. At the same time, developmental leaders are concerned with democratizing the larger society.
The roots of the developmental leadership tradition can be traced to African tribal societies organized around democratic, consensus-building processes, according to educator and activist Barbara Omolade. She notes that women's leadership in drawing out the voices of the silenced has been a survival strategy of people throughout the African Diaspora. Omolade points to Ella Baker, the adult advisor to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), as an exemplary leader in the developmental tradition. Baker's quiet influence on a generation of young people contributed not only to the Civil Rights movement, but also to a wave of other national movements including the New Left and second-wave feminism.
During the 1970s, highly collaborative and participatory leadership practices were codified by peace, anti-nuclear and women's groups throughout the country. Influenced by Quaker traditions, these social movements refined a variety of group process models designed to promote shared responsibility for decision-making and action. A classic text of that era, Resource Manual for a Living Revolution, defined leadership as "a composite of learnable skills through which the efforts of individuals are coordinated to accomplish specific group goals."
The skills and abilities required to practice leadership, as outlined in the Manual, are still relevant:
accepting and clarifying the feelings of another without threat;
stating all sides of a controversy fairly; summarizing discussion;
recognizing and interpreting the forces operating in the group;
recognizing and articulating discussion themes;
coordinating the questions and steps a group needs to consider to reach a decision;
collecting and restating group thinking for acceptanc and action; and
encouraging others to gain experience in and learn leadership skills.
The work of anthropologist and educator Angeles Arrien provides another useful lens for considering leadership. At its core, leadership is a spiritual practice that evolves as we each become increasingly aware of ourselves and others. In her studies of diverse shamanic traditions, Arrien has found that all are based on four universal experiences: those of the warrior, healer, visionary and teacher. The way of the warrior involves tapping into our power through choosing to be present and knowing what we stand for. Paying attention to what has heart and meaning - including being open to love, gratitude and acknowledgment - is the way of the healer. The way of the visionary involves telling the truth without blame or judgment. Maintaining openness, rather than attachment to specific outcomes, is the way of the teacher.
We all provide leadership in some aspects of our life - on the job, at home, or through our participation in various communities. The ways of the warrior, healer, visionary and teacher remind us that leadership begins in the hearts and minds of each one of us, and that there are many ways to lead.
Organizations as seedbeds
Leadership begins with each individual, but it is developed through working in groups. Our organizations are seedbeds that nurture our growth as leaders. In the give and take of organizational life we often find opportunities to test our ideas, reflect on experiences, and learn from our successes and failures. Through these exchanges, we expand our thinking, clarify and reaffirm our values, and develop the fullness of our own voice; we also come to understand our limitations, and more fully appreciate what others have to offer.
An effective organization is one in which people can lead from any place within it, according to leadership author and educator Warren Bennis. For Bennis, such organizations embody three basic characteristics: alignment, empowerment and a learning culture. By alignment, he means a common vision and goals that inspire people to commit to the organization's purpose. His test for empowerment means that everyone has meaningful work and the ability to contribute to the organization's success. Finally, Bennis believes a learning culture is inquiry-based; it is possible only in an environment in which ideas and information can be shared openly.
As we work to create more effective organizations, what leadership capacities do we need to cultivate within ourselves and others? In the past three years, my colleagues in The Learning Commons and I have explored this theme in workshops with numerous individuals and diverse media arts and community television organizations around the country. Although we do not claim to have all the answers (leadership development is always work in progress), we have identified several valuable leadership qualities and behaviors.
Leadership Qualities and Behaviors
Serve as a model
Effective leadership requires that we walk our talk - that our speech is congruent with our deeds. Actions do speak louder than words. That includes actions such as taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from our failures as well as our successes. As leaders we model our values through both words and actions.
Generate trust
A key function of leadership is to generate and sustain trust. Trust is the social glue that binds people together and makes collective action possible. As leaders we foster trust - the social capital that fuels commitment.
Build shared vision and united action
Part of being a leader involves synthesizing multiple perspectives and holding a shared picture of the future a group wants to create; leadership also involves facilitating collective action toward achieving that future. As leaders we help people envision and enact shared visions, including recognizing and celebrating milestones along the path.
Facilitate learning - within ourselves and others
Leaders are facilitators who actively promote a culture of openness and inquiry - a learning environment that encourages free flowing communication and the absence of fear. In such a setting, people are able to develop their own abilities and deepen their understanding of others. As leaders we promote learning and remain open to feedback and new ideas.
Think and act based on a systems perspective
Leadership involves thinking and acting strategically based on an understanding of the environment and the underlying forces that shape our current reality. This means becoming aware of the whole system as a context for decision-making and action. When we lead based on a systems perspective, we are more likely to select the best course of action.
Inspire confidence and promote empowerment
A leader is optimistic and holds the perspective that situations can be improved. Leadership involves inspiring, informing, and reassuring people that it is possible to make change. As leaders we help people recognize their own power and the possibilities for individual and collective action.
Tell the truth
Leaders have a commitment to tell the truth, not as an absolute final word, but as a constant willingness to root out the ways we all limit or deceive ourselves. This includes asking hard questions, telling others what they don't necessarily want to hear, and opening ourselves up for criticism. As leaders we seek to continually broaden our understanding and tell the truth as we understand it.
Encourage others to develop as leaders
There are never enough leaders. A key function of being a leader is to encourage and train others. Every group is held back or slowed by lack of enough leadership. As leaders we encourage others to lead.
Tending Our Gardens
We all have some opportunities to exercise leadership through our work as media educators, producers, distributors, exhibitors and administrators. Our media arts centers - with their focus on artistic creation, cultural exchange and meaning making - are gardens in which we have many opportunities to cultivate our own leadership skills and help other leaders grow. Through developing the talents of multiple leaders involved in all aspects of our organizations, we can strengthen the independent media field.
Editor's Note: This article was adapted based on an article that appeared in the Community Media Review, Vol. 21, No. 1.
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PAULA MANLEY is a co-founder of The Learning Commons, a nonprofit organization devoted to nurturing public spaces and community-based leadership. The Learning Commons is NAMAC's partner in presenting the Media Arts Leadership Institute. Manley is an organizational development consultant who been involved in community-based media making as an administrator, documentary maker, and communications policy advisor
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