Leading Roles: 50 Questions Every Arts Board Should Ask

by Michael M. Kaiser

Not-for-profit arts organizations struggled to survive the recent economic recession. In this increasingly hardscrabble environment, it is absolutely imperative that the boards of these organizations function as energetically, creatively, and efficiently as possible. Michael M. Kaiser’s personal history with boards of arts organizations began when he served on the board of the Washington Opera (now the Washington National Opera) in 1983. Today, in his capacity as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kaiser recently completed a 50-state, 69-city Arts in Crisis tour. Board issues came up repeatedly as central to the success or failure of the organization. Drawing on these and many other conversations, nationally and internationally, Kaiser’s book offers members of boards and staffs the information they need to create the healthy atmosphere necessary to thriving arts organizations. Organized in a clear, readable, question-and-answer format, Leading Roles covers every aspect of board participation in the life of the organization, including mission and governance; fundraising and marketing responsibilities; the relationship of the board to the artistic director, executive director, and staff; and its responsibilities for planning and budgeting. Kaiser addresses boards in crisis, international boards, and boards of arts organizations of color. Throughout, he emphasizes the importance of transparency and clarity in the board’s dealings with its own members and those of the arts community of which it is a part, showing how anything less results in contentiousness that can immobilize an arts organization, or even tear it apart.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2010

Reviews

[Dan Graser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic work on the world of arts management from Michael Kaiser. In this volume he centers in on how a board can contribute to the growth, artistic health, and financial health of an organization if there is a clear mission statement and if there is due diligence done when selecting members for the board. As has been said in reviews of his other works, it is obvious that his experience is with massive arts organizations and as such his notions of several subcommittees and gigantic boards will seem quite foreign to those working in moderate - smaller organizations. However, the value system he puts in place and the questions he asks, which frame the structure of this work, are mostly universally applicable and worthy of consideration by any arts organization. Though written way back in 2010 (sarcasm, I'm old) this is a work still worthy of contemporary artists wishing to understand the proper functioning of a board of directors.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Leading Roles" is an easy-to-read primer on the issues that face boards of directors of non-profits arts organization, and suggestions on how board members can address governance, fiscal, and marketing issues in order to help the organizations be vibrant members of a community's cultural life.

[Joseph Workman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully simple read that will open your eyes to the complex world of Board working in the Arts.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who serves on a non-profit board. While Michael Hizer's experience is in dance, the principles he lays out are relevant to all non-profit boards.