Thoughts On Leadership

It has been inspiring to listen or read how leaders of all types, sizes of institutions react during these strange times.

As the Director of the VA Museum of Childhood, I sit in a relatively uncommon position. I lead a museum, with its own specificity and particular needs, while being part of a much larger organisation, able to access resources and expertise that a museum of my size would never have. This is a blessing, I am grateful for. It enables me to have access to top security networks and be confident that our collections and estate are safeguarded. I am also part of an organisation, which has existed for 168 years and will survive. This is very different to a number of small independent cultural organisations in the UK and overseas.

Despite those privileges, I, like most in leadership positions, have encountered new challenges in the past six weeks, and had to find diverse ways of overcoming them.

Communication

Clear communications are necessary at all times. They help morale, build trust and enhance productivity. Since the middle of March, communicating upwards, downwards and across has been even more crucial. I have needed to ensure that I heard messages correctly, that I understood the information and the intent and that I separated facts from feelings. More than before, I had to practise active listening, interrogating the evidence, identifying emotions (including mine) and being clear. All of the above with little time between receiving and sharing a message and in a constantly changing landscape.

Emotional Intelligence

Noticing and responding to emotions, having imaginative empathy , while being rational and practical, is a key leader s skill. While recognising emotional needs and being empathetic, I had to think and safeguard our business s needs. Addressing all of my teams together was both important but also challenging as I knew that each individual was in a different state of mind and dealing with the constant changes in their unique way.

Care Empowerment
At times of uncertainty, empowering others is often kinder than consoling them. Aiding my teams to be stronger, more resilient in taking decisions has been more necessary, rather than providing just comfort and solving their problems. Even when, an answer or a directive would have been so easy to give, I tried to emphasize the importance of choosing and owning one s actions. This, of course, alongside being genuinely around-the-clock available for all that needed to share and offload.

Touching Base

I have probably had more contact with colleagues remotely than I would have had before. Touching base, being present -often just to say hello , has been another way of reaching out. It is unlikely that I offer solutions to our security managers on my regular phone calls with them. These phone calls are the equivalent of popping my head through the door to smile and say good morning .

Taking Action

Closing our museum to visitors, preparing the teams to work from home and operating with a skeletal team meant that there have been decisions and practical steps I had to take - a number of them, without consultation. Balancing consulting with instructing and ensuring business continuity has been essential. Certain decisions displeased some. For example, I replaced my usual open to anyone in the museum weekly updating meeting with a departmental meeting, as my direct teams needed the space to share all kinds of issues. Sharing updates with other colleagues took place in different meeting.

Self-awareness

Uncertain times can bring out our best and our worst selves. Over the last weeks, I caught myself being my worst at two occasions. Once, I let my irritation show in an email, which of course has not done me any favours. Another time, I started feeling resentment. Thankfully, I realised the feeling as it was unfolding, and quickly talked myself out of it. Both incidents have alerted me into the importance of being vigilant of my emotional state and more controlling of my actions. They also made me realise that I have to look after myself.

Self-care

Noticing and discovering what energises us is important. Being realistic and disciplined helps. On weekdays, I do a daily walk in the park. On weekends, I walk to museums. This enables me to get fresh air, exercise and appreciate the city s nature and architecture. I also participate in a weekly ZOOM meeting, that feed my soul. I meet my Sunday School students online and I taught my beloved 92-year-old father-in-law to video call so I can take him along to some of my interesting walks.

Hope

As the lockdown progresses, I notice what I am missing most. First, was taking commun ion and being in a museum. Then the children, the joy of being surrounded by uninhibited intelligent humans that take over your personal space and defy all social rules. After that was the realisation that I cannot travel to Athens. I was surprised how much I long to hug family members, debate/argue with my friends from school, promenade by the Aegean Sea and be surrounded by the sights, sounds and scents of Greece. I used to take all of the above for granted. Not anymore.

I am optimistic that life after will be lived more consciously and acutely. The economic consequences are frightening, but I believe that if we put our creativity, imagination and resilience into practice, we can help build a better home, a better neighbourhood, a better workplace, a better society a better world.