DR. ISMAIL MAHOMED CULTURAL CORNER: 10 Ways Of Staying In Leadership Positions

Day 88 of 100 of the Siphindile Nuh Chelsea Hlongwa challenge that I should write down my thoughts / experiences about how I survived four decades in cultural leadership positions. In this post I write about my ten ways of staying in leadership positions:

1. I acknowledge what I don’t know and I surround myself with people who know. As a manager I don’t need to know everything. My responsibility is to harness the knowledge and expertise of the team to lead the organisation forward. A team of champions is better than a leader who drags the cart on his own and breaks his back trying to do so. 

Illustrated Portrait of Dr Ismail Mahomed. Photo Courtesy of Facebook. 

2. I don’t take anything for granted. I always question assumptions. If it can’t be backed up with a portfolio evidence it is immaterial to me. 

3. If I decide to make something work I don’t give up. I devise a plan and appoint the right people to take us in the desired direction to achieve the desired objectives. 

4. I enjoy confronting assholes. It give me an opportunity to speak on behalf of others who might not have a voice. It also lets assholes know that the buck stops with me. 

5. I enjoy building up people from the ground who have ambition. My job then becomes about offering them inspiration, introducing them to networks and letting them see opportunity. Hence, I am a firm believer in internship programmes. When interns grow they become my source of inspiration. 

6. As a manager my responsibility is to help staff navigate around the shit they don’t like. My responsibility is not to clean the shit for them. In every job there is some shit. It doesn’t go away; so it’s a choice of letting people live with the shit in the foreground or giving them the skills to turn shit into fertile soil for better productivity. I guide people to choose the latter. 

7. I recognise and reward ambition when it is coupled with responsibility, commitment and accountability. Whilst it’s not possible to adjust people’s salaries in a bureaucratic work environment the most enjoyable rewards that employees can have is to go on funded cultural exchange programmes where they can learn, be re-inspired, grow and come back even more motivated. It’s a reward that becomes a re-investment in the organisation. 

8. I constantly explore new ways to surprise and delight the audiences we build with every new engagement. There is no template for cultural programming. Culture and creativity are dynamic forces that change every day; and artists and audiences want to always be at the cutting edge of experiencing that change. 

9. I am not afraid to say no to a proposal or a plan. In an arts leadership position you can’t be a “yes man” to every plan, project or proposal. Plans can only be realised within given frameworks. Saying no to a plan / proposal is not rejecting it. It is about directing people back to the drawing board to devise the proposal within the prescribed framework. 

10. I allow for mistakes to happen as long as those who make the mistakes can own up to it and be accountable for their mistakes; and work towards fixing it up. I don’t tolerate dishonesty. I simply marginalise dishonest folks out of my space. They’ll read the room and will find their own exit.

Dr Ismail Mahomed is the Director for the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is a multi-award winning and multi-published arts management strategist and playwright with more than 35 years’ experience in cultural leadership positions.