Arts Intranet

Authentic. The meaning of my name. Were my parents stealthily yet brilliantly imbedding their values in the names of their offspring? Questions that need answers, I know. Lately the need to clarify my personal values is stuck to me like that lone square of tissue paper that’s impossible to shake loose from the bottom of your shoes. I could continue walking briskly, moving forward like a woman on a mission. Yet the need to get clear is screaming for attention and, like that tissue, won’t be resolved until I STOP and address it with intention or until someone intervenes and offers to help.

I am an artist and an arts administrator. If you had asked me a year ago how I go about the work of my institution, I would have rattled off our mission statement with pride and ease. Today’s response would be slightly more nuanced. I would still proudly recite the mission statement, but I would also say that we successfully carry out our mission because we employ our core values with intention. Simply stated, our mission is the vehicle that drives the impact, the means to get us from point “A” to the outcomes. But our core values are the engine and power that propel the vehicle forward. Institutionally, our core values are critical, the driving force to achievement from which all decisions are made. We hire, evaluate, select projects and programs based on our core values. So why the change in response?

It was about one year ago that I spoke with my CEO and our organization’s Board Chair requesting some professional development for my operations function. The CEO and I were connected with an operations guru (we’ll call him Ops-Yoda) who was engaged by our mission but wanted to dig deeper into the foundations of our organization and better understand why we exist, why he had never heard of us, and what was our purpose. His first directive got straight to the point: “Don’t waste my time.” Our follow up instructions were to read a book called Traction, and finally to revisit our organization’s core values—he stressed the importance of this step.

Among the many strong business practices shared in the book, supreme importance was placed on the identification of core values and their significance to business operations. Identification and understanding of our fundamental beliefs and unwavering guiding principles was paramount to being successful. Of course, we had values. We are a 105-year-old institution. But Ops-Yoda pushed us to get clear and make them so plain that everyone in the organization—board members to support staff—would know them and live by them, wear them with ease like a favorite comfy sweatshirt. You know the one: it’s well worn, made of the best cotton, and always within arm’s reach. That’s how baked-in our core values needed to be. For several weeks our leadership team wrestled with the values, and what resulted were six words that beautifully align to our vision and mission and even feel good when we speak them. Our work since that time has been making our core values the through line of our work—internally and externally. Staff can readily provide examples of putting the values to work and this collective intention connects us like the stickiest glue.

Whether or not we can name them, we all function from a set of values. From when we’re young they get passed down from our caretakers and life experiences. We sing them in songs like “Make new friends, but keep the old,” they get repeated to us like mantras when our behavior needs redirection (“what’s the golden rule?”), or we learn them through observation. However, as adults we can be more intentional. We are empowered to think about the person we aspire to be and align our values accordingly. If we’re smart, we choose wisely and hold tight to values that make us better people and better servants of the people. Clarity is my current work.

Like Ops-Yoda pushed for clarity of organizational values, so is my desire for my personal values. So plain that I wear them like my favorite comfy sweatshirt and reflect them in every decision and action. I want to approach my life’s work from a place of deep connection to my core values, which function like a compass to illuminate the path before me.

Our organizations operate from a core set of values. The meaningful activation of those values will cause elevation—personally, professionally, and everywhere in between. With strong values in place, we can lead with purpose and focus. As arts and culture leaders, this is our responsibility to the audiences and communities we serve. In times of uncertainty, like now, we find comfort in the strength of our foundation. Like the foundation of a home, our core values keep us resilient, stable, and steady.

When’s the last time you revisited your core values? There’s no better time than now to pull them out, dust them off, and try them on. Make them clear and plain. Post them where they can be seen every day and make them a part of your daily practice. Our core values should not be relegated to a page in a shelved binder or a forgotten annual report. Use them as a tool to navigate your leadership as an arts administrator during this pivotal moment in history. While we create new avenues for arts and culture engagement in this changing landscape, our individual and institutional core values will light our paths towards new solutions and new ways of being as arts practitioners, participants, and leaders.

Now, go be great! Ops-Yoda and I are rooting for you.

This blog is part of a series of reflections on the COVID-19 health crisis by Americans for the Arts’ Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship 2019 cohort.