What makes a leader?

The ATG Graduate Scheme provides intensive training in arts management and administration. But as the two trainees on the brink of completing this pioneering programme’s first ever cycle, we’ve come to realise that it is leadership, not management, that steals the limelight.

The scheme intends to create the next generation of arts industry leaders over two years, through venue placements and project secondments. Each new placement or project brought with it a fresh opportunity to experience an array of expert leadership styles, not just within ATG, but throughout the arts sector. The scheme coincides with the launch of ‘Rising Stars’, the company’s internal leadership development programme, and the newly re-launched ‘Be A Star’ training framework, which includes recruitment, induction, management and development.

We believe that the most important choice a leader can make is to personally invest in those they work with

In an industry devoted to cutting-edge creativity, it would seem that leadership itself is an art. We’ve identified certain characteristics common amongst the very best leaders.

They influence their audience

Just like an actor’s words or an artist’s masterpiece, a great leader influences their ‘audience’. In the workplace that audience can be made up of employees, board directors or external stake holders.

Appreciating the different needs and expectations of each audience member and adapting that style when necessary enables that leader to be influential. It is down to much more than simply programming a jazzy animation on a PowerPoint slide or writing a lengthy email. Influential leaders understand the different targets and pressures within an organisation and draw together the range of opinions sensitively and effectively.

Any leader who merits respect never underestimates the importance of developing their own authentic style to influence different groups of people.

They value their team

The leaders who we have found to be the most effective role models make decisions that reflect their priorities in the workplace. For instance, keeping their office door open is a simple yet clear indicator that they want to communicate with their team freely and regularly. It is an invitation for their team to do the same too. Once you have crossed the threshold into their office, these leaders create no sense of you wasting their time or adding to their workload.

They also increase their ability to support you with small concerns before they develop into large, quite risky dilemmas. In clicking the ‘X’ at the corner of their inbox as they turn away from the computer screen to instead look at and listen to you, they are building a sustainable atmosphere of empowerment and signalling that you are of value.

They show personal investment

We believe that the most important choice a leader can make is to personally invest in those they work with. During the scheme, we have been acutely aware of how the best leaders recognise the specific talents and interests of their colleagues. They carve out time to get to know each person so that relationships are built on much more than achieving targets or analysing performance.

The tendency is for a team to seek permission from their leader as to whether acknowledging life beyond the workplace is professionally acceptable. We have found that when a leader sets an example of encouraging colleagues to blend both their worlds inside and outside of work, they motivate their team as individuals and, consequently, as a collective.

They’re creative collaborators

The best leaders we have encountered have not necessarily always had the word ‘manager’ in their job title. Individuals who truly inspire us do so through demonstrating certain common approaches: being conscientious; promoting an atmosphere of learning for themselves and their team; and encouraging each person to take pride in their own talents and those of each other.

They are open about their current projects instead of shrouding them in mystery and a sense that they are ‘too important’ for their team to know about. This transparency stirs each team member to share their professional progress more freely, thriving on collaborative practice. 

Particularly in a large company such as ATG, moments of brilliance occur when someone is bold enough to reach out to another department or another venue, build bridges and make the most of the expertise housed within the organisation. Leading by example when encouraging an exchange of knowledge enables creativity. 

Looking ahead

September will mark the end of our participation in the ATG Graduate Scheme. We have been very fortunate throughout the two years to be presented daily with chances to discover new careers whilst repeatedly being encouraged to remain open-minded and enjoy each project and team. Rather than identifying entire professional pathways to tread or specific rungs to ascend, the scheme has trained us to think in terms of the skills we strive for and the individuals we admire.

In turn, as we approach the end of the programme, we ask ourselves what kind of leaders we aim to be. It was only the other day when an ATG company director mused: “Managing is getting people to do, whilst leading is getting people to want to do.” This skill can be mastered through harnessing the traits we have identified, taking care to re-evaluate and hone it constantly. This is the true art of leadership.

Rachel Lane and Jamie Budgett are Graduate Trainees at the Ambassador Theatre Group. They will finish their placements in September 2016.
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More information on the ATG Graduate Scheme can be found at www.atgtickets.com/graduatescheme, or by contacting [email protected].