The Importance of Vision

The introductory note from my most recent newsletter. See the full newsletter archive here.

As you may have heard, I took over as director of the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling at the end of September.  It’s an incredible opportunity to lead this six-year-old museum into its next phase.  I’m grateful not only for the experiences that brought me here, but also for the incredible community of people who’ve been cheering me on.

It’s gratifying to no longer be a first-time executive director.  But the challenges I navigated at Weeksville prepared me for this current role and enabled me to step into it with a whole other level of confidence. I’m new to a team, but not new to the game like I was in 2017.     

One thing I’ve taken to heart is the importance of articulating a vision for the institution.  And a vision, I’ve come to understand, is something that you just can’t say once and hope people remember.  No, you’ve got to find new ways to say it over and over again with variations on a theme as compelling as the first time folks heard it.  It’s about inspiring people to willingly accompany you on this journey you’re leading.  That’s something I didn’t really think about at Weeksville, and I know my leadership wasn’t as effective as it could’ve been because of it.

Here’s some of what I’ve been telling folks about my vision for the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum:

My vision is to make sure that this museum cements its place as a real cultural hub in the neighborhood. I want us to be the place that people come to for great intergenerational art making and storytelling experiences. I believe that you should be able to see great art in your neighborhood, and not be forced to travel far just to experience artistic creativity. And in taking stock of where we sit in the context of a work of the museum’s parent company, Broadway Housing Communities, I think we’ve got a really unique opportunity to do something that’s near and dear to my heart. That is, to prove beyond a doubt that art is an essential piece of community development. And more importantly, it’s art that helps us build stronger communities and better citizens. And we’re going to start with our youngest citizens and their families. 

So far, this seems to be resonating with folks, especially internally.  Even if we all don’t yet know how we’re getting there (that’s what strategic planning’s for!), I’ve at least given everyone a sense of where I want to take them.  And that’s the most important thing: A vision spells out the why, i.e., why are people doing their particular jobs?  When people understand where you’re trying to lead them, they can see how their contributions fit in the big picture. 

Bottom line: A clear vision enables people to create their own narratives about how their efforts move the organization towards a place you’ve all agreed you want it to go.

More to come, y’all.  Now, onward!