Page 61 - APAP - Inside Arts - Conference 2020

hen APAP launched the Leadership Fellows Program in 2015, I remember being struck by the intentional rethinking around leaders in the arts. Ken Foster said that the field was
“awash with leadership programs” in the arts. So why do another? Foster said the idea was to make this one an “applied leadership program.” “We want them to be shaken out of their usual way of thinking and doing,” said Foster, “and then reassess that and apply it to their work.”
I recently asked Foster how the first 100 LFP leaders have worked out.
“Great!” he said. “We have uncovered so many really strong mid-career leaders who are eager and willing to think differently about 21st century leadership. They have taught me a lot.”
The format of the program is that five group leaders work with 25 fellows over a 20-month period. It targets professionals who seek to transform the world through their work as arts leaders, and each one engages in
an Action Learning Project to put their ideas into production.
In partnership with Foster at the Arts Leadership Program at the University of Southern California, APAP developed the LFP, founded under former director of programs and resources Scott Stoner at APAP and now headed by Krista Bradley, current director of programs and resources at APAP, to seek long-term impact on professionals in the field. LFP works to create a dynamic knowledge network that enables APAP members to exchange information and ideas across sectors, cultivating more effective leaders in the performing arts presenting industry.
“There are many, many good people out there right now who are transforming the world,” said Foster. “They need the APAP platform so that their voices can be heard.”
Four voices – from each of the four cohorts – are represented below. They provide a window into the program and its impact, and they put a voice to the leadership and Active Learning Project that are central to their 20 months of the LFP experience. Each fellow is also a window into a thoughtful, evolving and provocative approach to leadership in action. At the end of each series of comments, our contributors offer their take on leadership, and name leaders who have influenced them.
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