How Does the Show Go On?

In live entertainment there are many management, directing, and supervising positions: director, director of production, production manager, project manager, stage manager, technical manager, choreographer, coach, and conductor, just to name a few.

The nature of the industry is collaborative and our individual work only makes sense in the broader context of a show or a production. Bringing people together to deliver a creative product requires a defined goal and objectives; and a skilled and knowledgeable team, ideally working under the right leadership and environment. A combination of technical, creative, and leadership skills would be best to lead these groups and processes, but how often does this really happen?

When I look back at my own personal experiences and when I hear stories of other people from diverse backgrounds working in entertainment it is clear to me that we need to reassess the way we lead our teams to produce the best possible work.

I believe, as Anna Kuk says in her Women Emerging from Isolation video (follow Women Emerging on Linkedin), that we need art to maintain humanity. This also means we need more humane places where the work and the people reflect the diversity of our species.

Women Emerging – The Expedition Podcast has helped me to reflect on the effects that good and bad leadership have had on me throughout my career and what good leadership can look like (May 3rd Episode), the importance of working within the system to change the system (April 20th) because systems don’t always work in our favor. Perhaps it is not us, individuals, not us women, not us people of color, not us non-conforming, who are wrong and don’t thrive in the system, perhaps it is the system that is excluding us (May 20th).

So I ask, what do we want our industry to look like?

And what underlying values and character do we want our collaborations and interactions to have? What about diverse and inclusive orchestras and choirs; diverse dance, theatre, and circus companies; diverse technical teams? What about leadership that enables a process that helps us bring out the best in us?

What makes an ideal leader? What kind of leader would you want to have? What kind of leader would you want to become?

I am following the expedition because more people can ask more questions than I would do by myself. Hoping to get at least some ideas to start looking for answers because I know that western-testosterone-driven leadership models haven’t worked for me. On the other hand, projects where we have focused on the well-being of the members of the team, and the team itself with a clear goal and a clear path to reach the objectives have been the most successful endeavors I have been part of.