Uniformly in the TLC Toronto outcomes we observed that the roles, relationships and success of the professional arts leadership and the organization were inextricably linked. We know from years of experience that artists don’t need to be taught how to lead – mostly they need to be supported to apply what they already know as artists and directors to their organizations. As different leaders have different styles, each must concentrate on identifying and positioning her/himself to lead the organization in her/his own style. For some arts professionals, this simply confirms something they have always believed, so they quickly and confidently step into the leadership role. For others, fully assuming overt leadership requires time and reminders, sometimes permission and sometimes a process of changing behavior. But consistently we observed that the instinct and impulse to lead in individual and appropriate ways emerged throughout.

Everything we have observed indicates that, if we want to make real, sustainable and appropriate change on the sectorial level and beyond (re-connecting the arts meaningfully with the broader scope of human endeavor) we need to start by getting resources into the hands of our promising leaders and the organizations they need to sustain and grow their work. The idea that funders, policy makers, consultants and academics can effect sectorial change because they are able to see the bigger picture is simply wrong. The arts leaders that we have worked with are deeply invested, infinitely creative and driven to take their work to scale. They can absolutely dream big but first they must have the opportunity to create the ideas that work and build resilience for themselves and their organizations.

Let’s not create new ‘innovation initiatives’ or chase after the ‘new model’.   Rather let’s start making smart investments in the future by committing to the arts leaders who are best suited to innovate and create the change they need. Let’s get past our silos and open the conversations we need across disciplines, budget sizes and sectorial boundaries. The arts sector is more abundant than we know – there are amazingly complex and compelling outputs at all levels. We need to unlock the great potential that is untapped and we need real, arts-led leadership to do that.