Here you'll find some readings forwarded by Joan Kanigan, the session leader for the Oct 24 meeting of HamEd.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Developing Your Leadership Capacity at Your Museum/Gallery
Pre-discussion Material
Remarkable leadership starts with a belief that leadership skills are learnable and learned. #leadership (Kevin Eikenberry)You can do exceptional work. Or make excuses. But you can't do both. #leadership (Robin Sharma)
Prior to our session, please take a few minutes to read the following article and check out these You-tube videos.
What’s Your Leadership Mindset by John R. Ryan (pdf attached)
Imagine Leadership: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuuTlQ0FzEU
First Follower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ
Qualities of Leadership: Leadership Quotes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhxINyIZ454
Questions for consideration include:
1. What is leadership?
2. What does good leadership look like?
3. What happens in a museum/gallery when good leadership is present? When it is absent?
4. What is, or could be, your leadership role within your museum/gallery?
Prepared by: Joan Kanigan (Brant Historical Society / Focal Point Resources)
CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: JOHN R. RYAN June 19, 2009, 11:52AM EST
What's Your Leadership Mindset?
Do you have a "growth mindset?" Or a "fixed mindset?" Here are three questions to askourselves to help us grasp the difference
By John R. Ryan
During my term as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, I enjoyed dropping in on classes from time to
time to learn from our world-class faculty and to chat with students. Whenever I asked, "How many of you want
to be leaders?" everyone in the room instantly raised their hands.
A few years later, as an administrator at a large state university, I frequently asked students the same question.
But usually fewer than half of those in the room put up their hands.
What explains the difference? Talent wasn't the issue. Both institutions are blessed with bright, hard-working
young men and women. Nor was instruction a problem. Both institutions employ top-notch faculty. The
difference, I'm convinced, was rooted in mindset.
At the Naval Academy—and I speak from experience as an alumnus—you learn from the very first day that
leadership is a journey, and it's to be undertaken by everyone. Leadership is not the province of the select few;
you can work at it, and you can get better. While you're not expected to take charge when you first set foot on
campus, the expectation is you will become an effective leader—and your entire four years at the Academy are
designed to develop you, step by step, into one.
CULTURAL ASSUMPTIONS
The state university I served, like most universities and colleges in the U.S., invests heavily in equipping
students with the knowledge and practical skills they need to succeed in the workplace. And indeed, it does a
very good job of that. Less emphasis, however, is placed on developing leadership skills across the entire
student body.
Looked at from that perspective, the divergent ways in which students reacted to my question becomes more
understandable. If you live in a culture where your colleagues believe you can be a leader and help you develop
the skills you need, you will enthusiastically embrace the mantle of leadership. It might not be your goal to
become a CEO or a top politician. But, regardless of your occupation, you will view yourself as a leader at home,
at work, and in your community. But if you live in a culture that assumes leadership is not for everyone, is
dependent on whether you have innate leadership skills, and that leadership is defined by your job title rather
than your actions, you will have an entirely different view.
Unfortunately, that's the culture that most of us live in, not just in the U.S. but around the world.
HELPFUL DISTINCTION
Recently I've enjoyed reading about the work of Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck, author
of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Her research explores and explains questions that have interested
What's Your Leadership Mindset? - BusinessWeek Page 1 of 2
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jun2009/ca20090619_819188.htm?cha... 14/03/2011
me for years as a leader. Essentially, she has found that people generally exhibit what she calls either "growth
mindsets" or "fixed mindsets." Those with growth mindsets believe they can get better at what they do, that they
have reservoirs of untapped potential. They realize that promise by working hard and making incremental
improvements over time, whether they are athletes, or writers, or surgeons.
Those with fixed mindsets, however, believe they can only go as far as their natural abilities will take them. They
think talent, rather than hard work, is the fundamental component of success. They are often scared to challenge
themselves because they are terribly afraid of failure—which, in their minds, is an indictment of their abilities
rather than an opportunity to learn and do better next time.
This notion of fixed and growth mindsets, which I've seen on display not only in universities but in virtually every
social and professional setting in my 40-year career, has crucial implications for leaders. There are three
questions, in particular, we must ask ourselves:
First, how effectively are you managing your organization's talent? In the rush to get things done,
especially during a severe recession, it's tempting to single out your top 10% for development and forget about
everyone else. But from the standpoint of a growth mindset, you're letting a lot of potential throughout your
organization go untouched.
Obviously, that's not good for those men and women, many of whom probably crave opportunities to develop but
are languishing instead. In the long run, it won't be good for your organization's leadership pipeline or your
bottom line either.
Second, does your organizational culture permit risk taking and mistakes? We of course don't want the
kind of egregious mistakes and completely irresponsible gambles that helped lead to our current economic crisis.
But innovation does require making some strategic bets, some of which will pay off and some of which will fail. A
growth mindset sees those failures as great opportunities to learn. When resources are tight, it's natural to
conserve them. But taking a defensive stance now might short-circuit your long-term efforts to move into new
markets and develop new products. Many influential organizations, from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to CNN,
flourished because of bold moves made during tough times.
Finally, are you resting on your laurels as a leader? It can be hard to stay hungry over time. The more
experience you gain and the more successes you have, the more likely you are to believe there's not much left
to learn.
A growth mindset, of course, calls for exactly the opposite. Arizona State University invited President Obama to
deliver its commencement address last month. But it declined to give him an honorary degree, noting that his
professional body of work is not yet extensive enough to merit one. A media flap predictably followed. Obama
handled the situation skillfully, however, acknowledging the hard work that still lies ahead of him and
encouraging the graduating class always to focus on "the daily labor, the many individual acts, the choices large
and small that add up over time, over a lifetime, to a lasting legacy."
It's incumbent upon all of us as leaders to do the same.
John R. Ryan is president of the Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked, global provider of executive education. He
previously served as chancellor of the State University of New York and superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy at
Annapolis, Md. He was a pilot during a 35-year in the Navy, retiring as a vice-admiral.
What's Your Leadership Mindset? - BusinessWeek Page 2 of 2
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jun2009/ca20090619_819188.htm?cha... 14/03/2011
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