5 Ways Arts Leaders Can Model Balance So the Mission Doesn’t Burn Out
“An artist must have downtime, time to do nothing. Defending our right to such time takes courage, conviction, and resiliency.”
- Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Félix Vallotton, Laid-Down Woman, Sleeping (1899).
I’m a broken record: Everything your arts organization does must be in support of your mission. That includes your branding and messaging, programs, audience development, and even disciplines like finance, HR, operations, and housekeeping. All of it needs to advance the mission. Everything. Todo. Tout. Alles. すべて.
And yes, that includes culture. Most of us who work in the arts aren’t in it for the money. We do it out of passion. And, it’s easy to let that passion take over our lives. But, even in the jobs we love the most, burnout is possible, leading to low productivity, decreased morale, reductions in creativity, and turnover. All of those things damage advancing the mission. A strong organizational culture depends on a healthy work/life balance in its staff, and that culture is set by leadership.
My father’s parenting technique consisted of “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.” (Honestly, in that case, solid advice.) If you are a leader in your organization, your staff will almost always mirror your behaviors as a way to gain favor. It’s not intentional, either, we just do it instinctively. If you want a healthy, creative, innovative, and sustainable staff, you have to lead by example.
Here are 5 ways you can set the tone:
1. Make Working Long Hours the Exception, Not the Rule
In the Arts, there are always times when working long hours at odd times is necessary. 12 hour days during tech week in the theatre to make sure the actors are in sync with the lights, sound, sets, props, and costumes. Needed. Setting up a new exhibition in a museum after hours so it doesn’t disrupt normal business and the show opens on time and looks great. There are many more examples where those came from. With these times a requirement, making sure your teams have lives outside of work is even more necessary. Most of us aren’t punching a clock, so it’s up to the leaders to both demonstrate leaving at a reasonable hour, and making clear to staff that you want them to go home to their families/dogs/books/video games or whatever you do to live your life and forget about work for a while.
2. Don’t Send Emails After Hours
You know what it feels like to wake up in the morning with a dozen emails from your boss that were sent while you were sound asleep, don’t you? I sure do. This does a couple of things. First, it robs your employees of their morning. They’ve now kicked in to work mode before they’ve finished their first cup of coffee, extending the work day and stress beyond business hours. But, it also sends a signal that working late at night or early in the morning is how we do things. And, whether you mean it to or not, your staff gets the message that they should check email in the off hours, or even feel like they should be working when you are too.
I realize there are sometimes good reasons to send emails at odd hours. Maybe parenting responsibilities eat in to your full work day, and you’ve planned to compensate in the off hours. Or, you just have a really good idea that you want to share before you forget. There’s an app for that! Most email applications allow you to schedule your emails to send at a later date and time. If you’re writing late at night or early in the morning, don’t hit send. Schedule it for the next workday. Most email apps make that easy.
3. Take Your PTO and Mean It
You offer your staff paid time off for a reason. You want them to come back refreshed, energized, and ready to tackle the challenges ahead. They need it. You also need it. Encourage your staff to take vacation and use their paid time off. Show that, even with all of your responsibility and stress, you take that time too. And, when you’re off, disconnect and let them know you are unavailable. This not only sends a signal to the staff that you expect them to take real time off too, it also shows them that you trust them to handle any crisis that comes up while you’re away. (And, if you don’t trust them to handle it, then that’s a whole other issue).
4. Don’t Police Fun
I worked at an arts nonprofit, leading the marketing department. And, we had fun. Lots of fun. All day, every day. Leaders from other departments would often make comments like, “Every time I walk by your department, all I hear is laughter. I don’t know how you guys get anything done!” But, here’s the thing. We weren’t just getting things done. We were prolific. And the work was really great; creative, innovative, exciting, and thorough. And the other departments knew it. We weren’t so productive in spite of the fun. We were cranking out high quality work because we had so much fun. Having a good time does not equal slacking. Don’t let your staff think it does.
5. Include Work/Life Balance in Performance Reviews
Performance reviews let your employees know how they are doing relative to your expectations. If you want them to have a good work/life balance and not burnout (see above), they need to know it. Include it in their goals, and when you do their performance review, let them know how you feel about whether they are meeting that expectation.
If they are not taking their allowed time off or demonstrating a healthy balance, work with them to make sure they meet your expectation in the future. On the other hand, if someone is going too far in the other direction, ignoring work responsibilities and not achieving their goals due to being distracted by life outside the office (virtually or otherwise), don’t make it about too much life over work. That is a time management issue and can be handled by providing guidance and/or professional development in time management.
Leaders, keep these things in mind as you model good behaviors for your staff. They will do as you do, not as you say. And, you will find that, not only is your staff happier, more creative, more productive, and healthier, but you will be too. And, your mission will thrive.
Balance isn’t just a perk — it’s mission critical.
Jeff Goodman is a nonprofit consultant specializing in helping arts organizations clarify their mission and amplify their impact. A former professional actor, he brings a creative approach to his consulting, enabling organizations to tell compelling stories that resonate with audiences and build lasting support. His signature program, Mission Critical, emphasizes collaboration and is dedicated to making the arts accessible, engaging, and exciting for all.