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Leader Profiles
David Dombrosky
Program Director for Contemporary Arts & New Initiatives
Southern Arts Federation
Altanta, Georgia
David, congratulations on being elected chair of the Emerging Leaders Council. What does it take to be an effective leader in the arts field today?
Thanks, Eric. We have an amazing group of people on the Council dedicated to realizing the goals of the emerging leaders program, and I am honored to be working with all of you. To be a truly effective leader in the arts today takes three important traits—inquisitiveness, discernment, and stamina.
All three are vital, but not necessarily the top three under some more traditional attitudes on leadership.
We live in a world of constant change. In order for arts organizations to not only survive but to thrive in this environment, our leaders must cultivate a voracious inquisitiveness that consistently questions and considers not only how our individual organizations may be impacted by current trends, but also how the arts as a field can positively and uniquely contribute to the trajectory of change both today and tomorrow.
Change can be a scary thing. How can an arts leader keep up and do what’s right for his or her community?
There is a great deal of dialogue taking place around issues of change—technology, politics, organizational structures, content creation, the consumption of culture, etc. I believe that the arts leaders we will revere in the future as particularly effective are those who are asking the difficult questions and exploring new possibilities for the field today.
Possibilities or potential pitfalls?
Every possibility has a potential pitfall. Effective leaders are those with a keen ability to discern the right course of action at a given point in time. In addition to timing, effective arts leaders must also discern which partnerships will foster the integrity of their organizations’ missions and which collaborations may undermine their missions or drain their resources. Discerning leaders recognize when a proposed plan is chasing the mission, when it is chasing the money, and when it is chasing their tails. From a managerial standpoint, truly effective leaders are able to discern the strengths of their staff members as well as needed areas for professional development in order to fortify competent leadership throughout their organizations.
You mention stamina as a key trait. Numerous surveys are pointing to the limited lifespan of the current arts leadership. How do emerging leaders fit into the mix?
We’ve all heard and read about burnout in the nonprofit sector. When you add in the political landmines surrounding the arts, the post-9/11 funding fluctuations, and the need to constantly prove and defend the public value of the arts, that potential for burnout increases exponentially. We can speak in terms of commitment and dedication, but it really comes down to sheer stamina—the refusal to burn out.
With emerging leaders, we are seeing an increased concern for work-life balance. Finding and maintaining this balance is perhaps the most important tool in heading off professional burnout. For years, I worked and worked while taking very little of my accumulated vacation time. I was looking at my work with tunnel vision and had no work-life balance whatsoever. I had to take a month off from work recently to realize just how important finding work-life balance is for maintaining my professional stamina.
