This post is by Jennifer DePrizio. Jenn has worked in art museums across the country for more than twenty years, leading audience-centered program development and interpretive strategies that are grounded in the belief that art helps people better understand themselves and others. She has held leadership positions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has recently shifted her career path to focus on executive coaching and leadership development, founding DePrizio Leadership Group in 2023. Committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, she brings her passion for art as a tool to build emotional intelligence, empathy, and leadership skills.
I am honored to be working with Jenn as part of a team of consultants focusing on organizational culture, and thinking about the support we can provide for museums in building their capacity to be great places to work.
The greatest issue facing museums is a leadership problem. Our field is built on a foundation of leadership myths. Until we debunk those myths and replace them with true leadership development, we will not realize the full potential of museums.
Myth #1: Content expertise, technical skills, or intellect qualify someone to be a leader
Research shows that 90 percent of the competencies that differentiate outstanding leaders and employees relate to the realm of emotional intelligence – for example, the ability to remain calm under pressure, resolve conflict effectively, or practice empathy. But because the museum field traditionally privileges knowledge and intellect above all else, these are not skills that most employees (our future leaders) are trained in or evaluated on.
Myth #2: Authority equals influence
While leaning on hierarchical power can achieve results in the short term, those results are rarely sustainable without the genuine faith of the people you work with. True influence is developed through trust, investment in relationships, respecting the unique contributions of others, building consensus for ideas, and positivity. To influence others effectively and sustainably, you must understand yourself, have empathy, and know how to genuinely engage with others.
The most essential leadership quality is self-awareness. According to research by organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich, only 10-15% of people are self-aware. The good news is that with intention and effort nearly everyone has the ability to build this essential skill. The first step is to understand and manage ourselves.
What is self-awareness?
“We cannot adjust the wind, but we can control the sails.” Dolly Parton
According to psychologist Daniel Goleman, there are four aspects of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (or social skill). The above quote by Dolly Parton illustrates a core tenet of emotional intelligence: We cannot change or control anyone else’s behavior. The only thing we can control is ourselves and how we respond to other people’s behavior. Self-awareness is elemental in embodying this concept.
Self-awareness is the ability to understand your own thoughts and feelings, consciousness of how they impact your behavior, and understanding the implication of those actions on others. It involves recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, and how your actions align with your values.
There are many factors to consider in relation to self-awareness:
- Your values and beliefs
- Your motivations and desires
- Your character traits
- Your sense of purpose
- Your strengths and weaknesses
A self-aware person owns their strengths and limitations; they are neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful. Rather, they are honest with themselves and with others.
Self-aware people can also recognize that how they see themselves may differ from how others see them. This can be illustrated by a tool known as the Johari Window.
As you can see in this diagram there are four aspects to our identity. Ideally, the open (known to self and known to others) area is the largest. Understanding yourself and being open with others is the best way to build productive, cooperative and trusting relationships.
A hallmark of self-aware people is that they are open to and able to incorporate both positive and negative feedback. This is essential in tending to our “blindspots,” aspects of ourselves that others see or perceive but that we are unaware of. Most often when we receive any critical feedback, our natural reaction is to become defensive. There are many individual reasons for this – I find that what makes me most defensive is being confronted with something about myself that I am not proud of. But all feedback can be helpful regardless of the source. Finding ways to learn how others perceive you is essential to building your self-awareness.
The impact of self-awareness on leadership characteristics
Self-awareness is to leadership as putting on your life vest is to assisting other passengers. We cannot truly be great leaders unless we are self-aware. To understand others and manage relationships, you must first understand and be able to manage yourself.
First and foremost, in order to operate with integrity and courage as a leader, you must be grounded in your own truth: What core values drive your behavior? How do you show up in the world? What unique worth do you bring to your position and organization?
Further, great leaders are able to develop a vision for the team’s direction and share with clear, direct communication. A recent survey by MuseumExpert.org about barriers to human-centered workplaces found a growing disconnect between leaders and the daily work within museums, particularly between leaders and front-line staff, suggesting a lack of shared vision and clear communication. The role of a leader is to bring a team along to enact an articulated vision through influence. In the context of good leadership, influence means persuading others through logical, emotional and cooperative means; without trust this is not possible.
And without a keen self-awareness, particularly about how their behavior and actions impact others, a leader cannot successfully build the rapport with their team needed to build trust. To build this rapport a leader must demonstrate genuine respect, compassion and gratitude. When a leader is clear about their strengths and limitations, they are more naturally able to see and value the skills and perspectives of others, thus strengthening their empathy for others and willingness to show appreciation.
Finally, self-awareness is essential in supporting a leader’s response to others, especially in times of stress. Understanding one’s self includes an acknowledgement that everyone’s perspective is unique. This mindset allows for curiosity and empathy, thus supporting collaboration. Further, a self-aware person embodies an appropriate level of self-confidence, especially in the face of stress or opposition. Self-confidence impacts one’s agility, or ability to think on one’s feet, and resilience which in a leadership context is more than the ability to bounce back from a tough situation. It is the ability to respond to challenges with a positive outlook in order to maintain the emotional health of the team.
How can you expand your self-awareness?
The best way to build one’s self-awareness is through intentional reflection and feedback. Here are some ways that you can strengthen your own self-awareness, which in turn will impact your leadership.
- For one week, take 5-10 minutes at the end of each day to write about situations throughout the day that brought you great joy, as well as situations that were challenging for you. At the end of that week, look back over your notes. What patterns can you find that may have impacted your feelings? Where do you see opportunity for adjustment?
- Reflect on your values, and how they align with your professional situation and aspirations. A misalignment of values and context can impact the way you show up in the world. There are many resources to support exploration of one’s values – this is one I particularly like.
- To better understand how you are perceived by others, find ways to gather feedback from those around you. True feedback is information about someone else’s reaction and response to your behavior. Unfortunately much of what is shared as “feedback” is in fact judgement. To receive genuine, helpful feedback, ask a trusted colleague to share their observations and reactions on something specific about your behavior. For example, if want to lead meetings with more confidence, create a list of what you want confidence to look like for you. Then in advance of the meeting, ask a colleague to look for and note if/when you show these signs. In this way, you are less likely to receive judgment. All constructive feedback is useful, regardless of the source. Listen to the feedback you receive with openness and humility. Pick one piece of feedback you’ve received to work on—what small changes can you implement?
- Prioritize training opportunities that explore skills beyond the typical content focus. Find workshops or resources that encourage emotional intelligence and leadership skills. For structured support, consider working with a leadership coach, who can support you in reflecting and creating a plan for intentional growth.
Leadership is not a promotion — it is a career change. It therefore naturally requires a different skill set, including some skills that may come naturally, and some that may require work. Beginning with focused attention on your own self-awareness sets you up for success in leading with integrity, empathy and compassion. This is the leadership model the museum field needs to live up to its potential for both its audience and staff.
Museum Questions 