Mr. Adam Fong

How does cultural identity impact arts leadership?

Posted by Mr. Adam Fong, Apr 25, 2016 0 comments


Mr. Adam Fong

How does cultural identity impact arts leadership?

“We really need someone who’s more out front, who relishes the spotlight, who can shake the hands and kiss the babies.” (A major donor)

Let us picture the figurehead of an organization. The lighting rod. The glad-handing executive, the creative dynamo, the visionary. The confident and outspoken advocate with the answers. Is that what we want from a leader? Can that be anyone, any gender, any age (within reason), any race? Can it be a senior black woman? A young disabled veteran? Can that be a third-generation Asian-American, like me?

Though I’m two to four layers of storytelling away from my family’s immigration stories, I do hold strong to certain values that are traditionally Chinese: respect for elders, humility, harmony. Though I’ve been called a “change maker,” I am not a brash and outspoken leader. I prefer to listen, to facilitate, to honor artists and their creativity, to build community through respectful presence and loyalty.

I don’t feel I’m alone in my attitudes towards work and leadership. But I have felt the disrespect, largely from older white men, that comes from their unmet leadership expectations. And I have plenty of colleagues who’ve experienced the same.

The quote at the top is from a major donor to an organization I co-founded. Our relationship, and my responses, are too deep to convey in this forum, but the basic premise reveals a common hurdle for minority leaders in the arts. In summary, it’s: “the board wants an outspoken leader, but that’s not who I am.”

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this “culture conflict” is that it runs counter to what is truly needed from a leader. Harvard Business Review’s poll of 195 global leaders shows us that atop the list of most important leadership competencies are “strong ethics and safety,” and “self-organizing skills.”

That list does include, “clearly communicates expectations.” It does not include “compels me through salesmanship.” HBR also shows that a degree of flexibility and willingness to change opinions is critical—another strike against the alpha-dog visionary as effective leader.

I'm hapa, and I have to say it was kinda cool to learn about this great new place, and then find out there's an Asian-American ED!”

(hapa = partially of Asian or Pacific Islander descent)

If resilience is the ability to recover quickly, it’s something I’ve gained in equal parts from my own determination and the support of my peers. In our niche of the nonprofit world, it’s still meaningful to see a minority face at the helm.

But if we are truly dedicated to equity in our “leadership pipeline,” I believe the inquiry we have to seriously undertake is: how does our nonprofit arts culture empower, or quash, a diversity of leadership styles? Do our philanthropic habits create opportunities, or obstacles? Does the governance of our institutions pre-determine the demographic of our leadership? Are the rewards for “innovation” benefiting only certain kinds of leaders?

I was raised in an environment of cultural freedom. Perhaps as a result, my work as an artist and arts leader has never been focused specifically on my own ethnic heritage. This is a choice, and to choose is a privilege. But given the demographic realities of the U.S.A, it seems clear that to fully embrace our collective leadership potential, we’ll need to empower that choice as much as possible. The arts can only thrive if our leadership pipeline can be shaped to fit as many people as prove worthy and capable.

In the meantime, I’ve been fortunate to have colleagues who can remind me that it is only a matter of time, a matter of another generation, a matter of dismantling western archetypes, of continued pressure, and enduring resilience, until we are free to be the leaders we inherently are.

This blog is part of the 2016 Emerging Arts Leader Blog Salon. We asked over a dozen emerging leaders to reflect and respond to this year’s Arts Leadership Preconference theme: “Impact Without Burnout: Resilient Arts Leadership from the Inside Out”.

Adam Fong is a member of Americans for the Arts. Learn more about membership.

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