Current Issues in Cultural and Strategic Leadership

Leadership in the cultural sector involves negotiating changes that are taking place continually at three levels: 1. At the macro-level of society, where social attitudes constantly evolve, technology opens up new possibilities, and fluctuations in the economy present opportunities and constraints; 2. At the median level — that is to say the specific operating context — where the leader must take into account art form developments, shifts in arts practice, changes in law,policy, and funding; 3. At the micro-level of the organisation, where relationships, resources, energy, intelligence and emotions combine to produce organisational effectiveness. These are, of course,all interrelated. For example, when new technology enables arts and entertainment organisations to enter into a two-way relationship with audiences, the role of marketing changes. Instead of simply being about selling a predetermined product, marketing becomes a dialogue, with the audience helping to shape the direction, and sometimes the programming, of the organisation. In turn, the organisation will respond by changing its structure — in this case possibly by combining marketing and programming and appointing a webmaster — and that will inevitably affect the behaviour of people working there and bring into being a new set of relationships between them.