New Stuff!

I first heard about TED this summer from my friend and colleague Micki Hobson, and just a week or so ago another friend and colleague Ken Cole of the National Guild said he was attending TED’s national conference in Florida. TED’s a portal to a pretty amazing array of really insightful people who expound on technology, entertainment, and design (that’s where the TED comes from) and other topics. The videos are generally 20 or so minutes and are for the most part worth a look. Take a look at Itay Talgam as he talks about how leaders achieve harmony within their organizations. You can access all the videos at ted.com.

“Microsoft has become a clumsy, uncompetitive innovator.” Even with huge profits and perpetual earnings growth, former Microsoft Vice President Dick Brass tells in this NYTimes op-ed piece, how this once market leader gave away the iPad tablet to Apple. Read how, “Despite having one of the largest and best corporate laboratories in the world, and the luxury of not one but three chief technology officers, the company routinely manages to frustrate the efforts of its visionary thinkers.” A fascinating story about how the inability to develop an effective cross functional, cross constituent culture is why, “America’s most famous and most prosperous company no longer brings us the future.” A lesson for arts organizations as the culture become more institutionalized??

Check out these three new articles on how leaders influence the culture of their organizations!

Our Work Around the Country

We’re just back from facilitating the National Dance Heritage Leadership Forum for the Dance Heritage Coalition. This exciting retreat of national leaders in the areas of dance preservation and access was held at the University of Maryland University College Conference Center near Washington, DC. Partners in Performance designed and facilitated this meeting to help DHC develop goals for the ten-year plan which addresses sustaining and developing access to and the preservation of dance materials. In February, the Firm will assist DHC in crafting this ten-year plan to provide direction to the field. Partners in Performance and DHC have a long working history. To look at Sustaining America's Dance Legacy, which Dance Heritage Coalition developed with our assistance in 2000, click here.

Community Arts Education Leadership Institute

We're very excited to be partnering with the the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts in designing the Community Arts Education Leadership Institute! Scheduled for 2010, CAELI will be a comprehensive leadership development program for executives in the community arts field and hosted at Drexel University in Philadelphia. CAELI provides an intensive, transformative experience through which current and aspiring leaders advance their skills by engaging with top leadership trainers and nationally-renowned practitioners. The program includes a five-day seminar at Drexel University, advanced assignments, pre- and post-360-degree feedback processes, and follow-up coaching.

Helpful Resources

Back in June, we facilitated a discussion among key arts funders and that was co-hosted by the NEA and Grantmakers in the Arts. An excellent summary of those discussion is available here.

Getting through tough times is never easy. Back in April, we moderated a national discussion where three seasoned leaders engaged with some 100 of their peers in a 90 minute discussion about handling the current financial downturn---while remaining committed to mission and vision. Follow the link to access Hard Choices in Tough Times: Making Decisions That Can Sustain Your Organization through the Recession.

The recent edition of the international Arts Management Newsletter features John’s article "Development: Leadership As Creativity. Finding the Opportunity Hidden Within Decision Making and Dialogue."

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Our Work

For two decades, Partners in Performance has provided guidance to the arts and cultural community in the areas of visioning, planning, and development. As a full services professional services firm, we are committed to three core values:

Our Values

Recognizing the unique nature of each organization's culture, history, and aspiration
Delivering high quality service in support of artistic expression and community impact
Building the collective knowledge base within the arts and culture field

Our Results

We focus our work on helping organizations and their leaders achieve both artistic vitality and institutional sustainability. We have learned that when we engage the tough questions the most workable solutions emerge. We are profoundly indebted to our clients for the lessons they have taught us. Our goal is to share those lessons, and learn many, many more.

"John McCann was a remarkable mentor in our strategic planning process at Orchestra of St. Luke's Arts Education Program. His thinking is rigorous, his engagement is challenging, and his personal rapport is intuitive and supportive. We are well on our way to fulfilling our goals due to John's facilitation of our process."

Liz Norman, Vice President, Arts Education, Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York, NY