Leadership

How to: core approaches

The ‘multiplying leadership’ approach most useful in delivering the aims of Creative People and Places can be summarised as being rooted in activities which:

• Connect people and ideas to each other
• Collaborate and co-create with people through exploration of shared purpose
• Multiply the visibility and awareness of the effect, range and diversity of people involved, and also the collective learning from experience
• Know the community and the context and Ask useful questions
• Hold open spaces for others whilst developing and delivering strategic plans
• Develop collective capacity

Trusting relationships with people in communities that have been let down or neglected before are vital but take time.

Create a ‘positive error culture’ that embraces learning from unpredicted results, including failure, to build trust and confidence. 

Connect potential leaders, artists and community activists in clear, productive structures so everyone involved can contribute. 

Make sure your approach to leadership runs through team and the governance of your project, involving independent community members where possible, and by building relationships with previously marginalised groups. Formal ‘Advisory Boards’ can be helpful, for particular communities of place, characteristics or interest.

If you start to work in new areas (as several Places have) make sure you approach each community quite specifically and are ready to adapt your approach to meet the various needs of different places and communities. 

Dig Deeper

• Multiplying Leadership in Creative Communities by Mark Robinson looks in depth at leadership within Creative People And Places.
• How Diverse are We Really? Dawn Cameron includes observations about how leadership can be more inclusive, and some of the demographic patterns within Creative People and Places workforces and audiences.
• Failspace offers some tools to help everyone in the cultural sector instigate more honest and open conversations about failure between colleagues, artists, funders, participants, participants and board members. It was developed by Leila Jancovich (University of Leeds), with David Stevenson (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh), Lucy Wright and Malaika Cunningham.