The Cultural Leadership Handbook: How to Run a Creative Organization

Leadership has never been more important to the cultural industries. The arts, together with museums and heritage sites, play a vital part in keeping economies going, and, more importantly, in making life worth living. People in the sector face a constant challenge to find support for their organizations and to promote the value of culture. Leadership and management skills are needed to meet the mission of creative arts and cultural organizations, and to generate the income that underpins success. The problem is, where can you learn these essential skills? The Cultural Leadership Handbook written by Robert Hewison and John Holden, both prime movers in pioneering cultural leadership programmes, defines the specific challenges in the cultural sector and enables arts leaders to move from 'just' administration to becoming cultural entrepreneurs, turning good ideas into good business. This book is intended for anyone with a professional or academic interest anywhere in the cultural sector, anywhere in the world. It will give you the edge, enabling to you to show creative leadership at any level in a cultural organization, regardless of whether your particular interest is the performing arts, museums and art galleries, heritage, publishing, films, broadcasting or new media.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction; Challenge: context; Challenge: leadership; Challenge: values; Challenge: cultural value; Challenge: creativity; Challenge: resources; Challenge: skills; Challenge: taking the lead; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Robert Hewison is Professor of Cultural Policy and Leadership Studies at City University London and an Associate of the think tank Demos. As a cultural consultant he has worked with the South Bank Centre, the Greater London Authority, Arts Council England and the North West Cultural Consortium. John Holden is a visiting Professor at City University and an Associate at Demos. He was an investment banker before changing careers to run Business in the Arts South. He was Chair of the Anvil arts venue in Basingstoke, and now sits on the Board of the Hepworth, Wakefield and the Advisory Board of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Review :
'Cultural organisations are operating in an ever-changing environment. To be creative, fleet of foot and financially efficient, they will need, even more than in the past, highly effective leadership. John Holden and Robert Hewison have identified a set of challenges that leaders will face over the next few years. Drawing on practical examples, the book identifies the qualities and skills that leaders will need in order to build a vibrant and sustainable creative ecology.' Sue Hoyle, Director, Clore Leadership Programme 'Robert Hewison and John Holden have given such comprehensive coverage to every aspect of arts management that this should be seen as the authoritative handbook on the subject. But the value of this book is not solely instrumental: within the disciplined structure of a pragmatic ’How To’ book, the authors give a cogent exploration of the nature and value of creativity in its organizational and social contexts.' - Michael Boyd, Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company