Embracing the Unknown: A Call to Arms for Arts Leadership

Trisha Brown Dance Company pop-up performance in The Charles Engelhard Court, held in conjunction with the ISPA New York Congress 2015. All photos courtesy of Met Museum Presents

«On Tuesday, January 13, the International Society for the Performing Arts hosted their New York Congress here at the Met. ISPA is a global grid, linking hundreds of the most important cultural institutions, organizations, and arts leaders, and I was super honored when they asked me to be the guest performance curator for a second year. The theme for this year's Congress was "Leadership." As I pondered what to bring to my four hundred–plus colleagues from all corners of the globe, I thought a lot about the recipe for leadership. While I'm not sure I can definitively say what that recipe is, I am confident that curiosity, fearlessness, and a broad perspective all make the list. But I do think there's even more to it. . . .»

There's another prerequisite at hand: a high tolerance for failure. Leaders take risks, are seekers, are comfortable with discomfort, and are unfazed by the fear associated with potential failure. Leaders lead with vision. When we think about artists, we expect to encounter vision and the qualities that go with it, but how many of us embrace the qualities of leadership in our day-to-day work? What would it mean to look at the world from a "vision" perspective? I invite you, dear readers, to leap into the unknown, embrace that unknown—the yet-to-be-defined—and be not afraid of failure.

There's a story out there that once, after hearing an exquisite performance by Abby Lincoln, Thelonius Monk whispered to her: "Don't be so perfect." I think there's a lot of wisdom in this anecdote. In a way, if we're not making any mistakes, what does that say about us?

Just do it! Apply the creative practice and artistic outlook to your own life and work. Failure is an essential by-product of the creative process, but as a community that is passionate about the arts, the most dangerous thing we can do is to merely play it safe.