Building resilience

As a long-standing arts marketer and more recently a coach, seeing the devastating impact of Covid on the arts I was curious to find out whether coaching could support and strengthen the sector.

In 2021, I set out to research the experience, perceptions and beliefs of arts leaders in the North East.* The study included five leaders representing 14 organisations from museums, heritage, galleries, music, festivals and dance. 

All interviewees had previously received some form of coaching, although this varied greatly. The leader with the least experience had had some coaching as part of a leadership programme and some career coaching as part of a postgraduate degree.

At the other end of the spectrum was an interviewee with extensive coaching knowledge and experience. Her first encounter with it was in a corporate sector organisation. She had since received more coaching in her current role and as part of a leadership programme. She actively seeks it out at times of need. She, uniquely, had commissioned a coaching programme for her team which included 1:1 coaching for managers during the pandemic.

Despite some interviewees having relatively low exposure to coaching, the study found that what little they did have positively impacted their leadership style and approach, suggesting a little can go a long way.

Perceptions of coaching in bolstering resilience

There was a strong appetite for coaching from everyone; it was favourably received. All agreed it could support organisational resilience, with resilient organisations perceived as having a positive organisational culture in keeping with core values.

These values included self-awareness, employee health and wellbeing, team cohesion, flexibility and adaptability, good financial health, good governance and the ability to see the bigger picture.

All saw coaching as an opportunity to process change, take stock and decide on next steps. Reflective thinking of the kind enabled through coaching was cited as key to adjusting during periods of change, as were working more effectively as a team and understanding one another better. 

Interviewees also thought it was important to support staff through change, looking after their wellbeing: 

“Without reflective thinking, from everybody from the foot soldiers to the strategic managers, without a kind of listening exercise, how will we be as relevant to people, as we were before [the pandemic] or ideally more relevant?”

“I think activities like coaching are a massive opportunity to help people reimagine what the core purpose of their organisation is, reimagine how teams work together.”

The overriding view was that resilient individuals support resilient organisations. 

Barriers to coaching 

If coaching has so much to offer the arts – as a unique opportunity to build organisational resilience and reimagine the future – why isn’t it more widely adopted?

There was a strong consensus about the barriers arts organisations face in accessing coaching. Unsurprisingly limited resources was cited, but also there was a lack of awareness of tangible impact and outcomes, of knowledge of good coaches and of understanding of its true value.

Beyond the very real barriers of lack of finances and time, it was suggested that if the value of coaching was better understood, other barriers would be reduced.

Recommendations from the study

1.    Greater advocacy and awareness
Greater advocacy for coaching would generate more awareness of its benefits. Arts funders, advocacy and training organisations could take a lead in enabling this.

2.    Coaching for sector leaders
Coached leaders are better able to understand and appreciate its benefits. Increased coaching for arts leaders would support not only their personal development and resilience but that of the organisations they lead. They would be more confident in investing in organisational coaching and better able to make the case to boards, funders, and other decision-makers.

3.    Funding for coaching
More funding for coaching could offer opportunities to build greater organisational resilience. Could arts funders, advocacy, and training organisations direct more funding into this area?

4.    Evidence of impact
Clearly articulated and evidenced benefits of coaching would give confidence to those with authority to commission it. This could be through further research with benefits communicated in an accessible and relevant way.

5.    High quality trusted coaches
Those who want to invest in coaching – individual or organisational – need help to find coaches with the relevant sector knowledge, qualifications, and experience. 

There are many high-quality, specialist arts coaching programmes and practitioners across the UK. But the arts leaders in my study had relatively ad-hoc coaching opportunities, despite their keen interest. 

Coaching is more available in corporate sector organisations than in the arts, but if it were to become widely available and accessible – perhaps through some form of framework – there would be an opportunity to create greater levels of sector resilience.

There is a natural synergy between coaching and the arts. Both allow us to reimagine the future and see the world in new and different ways. In this way coaching perhaps aligns better with the arts than with any other sector, and allows exciting possibilities open to being explored.

Nina Byrne is a coach and arts marketing consultant. 

 dandelion-coaching.co.uk 

*The research was developed at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, 2021.