Leadership Matters: Leading Museums in an Age of Discord

by Anne W. Ackerson, Joan H. Baldwin

First published in 2013, this revision of Leadership Matters features nine new profiles and a new chapter of emerging museum leader voices, proving that leadership is as much about individuals as institutions. Using personal insights from the history museum field's most engaging, innovative and entrepreneurial leaders, these profiles focus not only on museum directors and CEOs, but also on the "leaders within"-deputies, department heads and team leaders -- and those demanding change from the community. Baldwin and Ackerson weave together the voices of 21st-century museum leadership at its best, creating a resource for graduate students, mid-career professionals, institutions, and boards of trustees to move from the status quo to being agile and influential, fostering leadership that will make a difference. Too many museums and heritage organizations still consider leadership development a 'nice-to-have', but not a necessary component for a successful executive director or department head. The field struggles to address a new round of cultural warfare fueled by widespread societal division and the overwhelming lack of diversity and equity in museum leadership at all levels, including boards of trustees. Additionally, the field continues to ignore the gender pay gap despite a workforce hovering at 50-percent female and with the potential to grow significantly over the next decade. More than ever, successful museum leadership isn't the result of longevity, scholarship or curatorial achievement. In fact, today's successful museum leaders bring myriad skills to the table, creating a style that works both personally and professionally. This snapshot of museum leadership focuses on history and cultural heritage organizations to help readers understand the power of individual leadership and its relationship to organizational strength. This book features: - 36 interviews - nine of them brand new to this edition -- with leaders in the field from a range of positions and institutions - 10 myths of museum leadership and why they're wrong - 10 simple truths of museum leadership - A leadership "agenda" with criteria and goals for individual and organizational development

Genres: School

282 pages, Paperback

Published August 21, 2019

About the author

Little did Anne know when she began her first museum job she would discover a passion that would fuel her work for a lifetime. Anne served as director of several historic house museums and historical societies in central and eastern New York, before becoming the director of the Museum Association of New York. She currently serves the Council of State Archivists as its executive director and is an independent consultant focusing on the organizational development issues of the smaller cultural institution.

Anne writes regularly about management and leadership issues for cultural institutions in her blog, Leading by Design (http://leadingbydesign.blogspot.com). Her article about the status of heritage organizations in New York State, “The History Museum in New York State: A Growing Sector Built on Scarcity Thinking”, was published in the Summer 2011 issue of the journal, Public Historian. A short essay, “Local Historical Societies and Core Purpose”, appears in the Encyclopedia of Local History, published by AltaMira Press and AASLH in 2013.