Page 32 - APAP - Inside Arts - Conference 2020

“BY HAVING A SET OF COMMON VALUES THAT
WE ARE TRYING TO HOLD UP TO BOTH APAP AND THE FIELD AS WE GATHER, WE'LL BE ABLE TO OPERATE AT
A LEVEL THAT
IS DEEPER
AND MORE MEANINGFUL.”
— Krista Bradley
30 INSIDE ARTS CONFERENCE 2020
navigate?” She added that risk- taking is another requirement
for leadership, “because it’s about looking beyond what is believable and seeing what's missing.”
As an equity consultant, Thomas, like her colleagues,
is shifting towards a type of leadership that facilitates the knowledge and expertise in the room – leadership that requires humility and that points toward a retooling of our cultural values.
“You don't have to have all the answers; you just have to lead people to get to the answers,” she said. “And that is going to take trust. What are we valuing in this American culture? Is it
so important that things have
to happen faster than that they happen compassionately? Is it so important that we make more than that the folks that are here are cared for and get what they need?”
EXTENDING THE POWER OF WE
Another of the palpable qualities of leadership shared among the group is the desire to give welcome: to see whose voices are not at the table and find ways to welcome them in, to create tangible ways to take care of each other. This quality of welcoming was demonstrated in the theme of this leadership’s first conference in 2019: The Power of WE.
“We believe that everyone has
a voice, we all have something to learn, we all have something to share,” Bradley said. “By having a set of common values that we are trying to hold up to both APAP and
the field as we gather, we'll be able to operate at a level that is deeper and more meaningful.”
Based on these values, and within the particular context of this moment, this year’s conference will focus around the topics of risk and resilience.
With the facilitative leadership model in mind, there will continue to be a greater emphasis on peer- to-peer learning, as exemplified by affinity groups: ways to connect which began organically and are now being institutionalized. “We have a field of incredibly smart, curious people,” Wollesen said. “We can shift the conversation, not create divides between ‘experts’ and ‘non-experts.’ Make sure that someone meets someone new that they’ve never met before.”
The group’s leadership
style also provides an ongoing focus on making space for the next generation of leaders,
as exemplified by the APAP Emerging Leadership Institute.
“I am obsessed with millennial leadership,” Thomas said. “I believe in the younger generation’s visioning ability.”
As part of prioritizing resilience, the element of taking care of ourselves and each other is being emphasized even more strongly
at APAP|NYC 2020. This is in
part a response to the escalating violence – verbal as well as physical – confronting more of us in our daily lives. “What does it look like if you are able to take care of yourself, your family and your neighbor, and do so while being brave and being able to take risks?” Thake said. “Those things ideally live hand in hand. What would this field look