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Case Analysis: Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art
Jill Medvedow was employed as the director of the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in 1998. The ICA had been serving as the only outlet that displayed contemporary art in Boston. The main reason as to why Medvedow was hired was that the ICA wanted her to reinvent the museum (Reavis, 2010). However, there were steps that the ICA had to take to convince her that her ultimate assignment was to reinvent the museum. First, because it is a contemporary institute of art, it should have freedom. It should also ensure that it has some power, and make sure that it has the ability to take risks to bring contemporary issues into the light. The institute should ensure that it revisits its ways of doing things to avoid mixing up methods of operation, old with contemporary. For Medvedow to perform well in her role as the director of the ICA, the ICA should be ready to bear all the risks associated with the shift from the old ways of doing things to the contemporary ways. The ICA should also identify a strong donor base that will help address emergency issues associated with the reinvention of the museum. It should also search for components that satisfy a critical mass of contemporary art (DePree, 2011). The museum should be relocated to an area where there is reasonable support for the arts, creativity, and collaboration.
Before her appointment as the director of Boston ICA, the museum had been facing several management issues. The main challenge that the museum faced was funding. It did not have enough funds to sustain its operations. Membership was another issue with the museum. It had only a few members. The museum did not receive a sustainable number of visitors in a good year, but a maximum of only 25000 (Reavis, 2010). Unlike other contemporary museums, Boston’s ICA did not have a permanent collection. At that time, the museum was operating from a converted police station on the streets of Boylston that had been bought at $328000 from donations. The place was not appealing and did not qualify to be called a contemporary museum.
The leadership that was there in Boston’s ICA was powerless. Leaders should have influencing and effective power for them to motivate their followers. The leaders of the ICA were not able to convince the local community and make them interested in contemporary art that the ICA showcased and its environment (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017). Therefore, only a few donors, investors, and patrons funded the ICA and came to see the exhibits presented in the old police station converted into a museum.
Medvedow was hired as the director of the ICA because she was believed to be highly productive in her leadership approaches as she looked centered from the first day she prospected (DePree, 2011). She had great hopes in her mission and vision and was driven by what she wished for Boston’s ICA. She was involved in each process of change that occurred at the ICA. She had a lot of confidence in her abilities. She did not pretend or force; neither was she afraid of change. Medvedow was a perfect definition of a transformative leader.
The skills that Medvedow showed were not usually conventional, but she found an opportunity in change. She was a risk-taker, self-disciplined as most of her colleagues were. She succeeded in making people understand and believe in the ICA’s vision both in and out of the organization. That quality is not common to all leaders. She made the best connections from a person while showing her emotional intelligence (Reavis, 2010). She also possessed the qualities of charisma; she inspired others and offered individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation. Overall, she possessed transformational and charismatic leadership styles. Medvedow fitted the first and second management theories, systems theory, and principles of administration management. She had large followership and formed the culture of the organization that she wished the ICA to have despite her gender.
This case shows how organizations that are struggling with management or performance issues can reinvent and rebuild them through installing proper leadership. Through the leadership that Medvedow brought to the Boston’s ICA, we have been able to see the resiliency of the organization and its ability to succeed in practices that are risky (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017). We can also see how Medvedow used her abilities, knowledge, skills, and her natural leadership qualities to attract followers who believed in her decisions and ideas. Medvedow can be recognized as a leader who transformed an organization from being powerless to being powerful. Medvedow is a leader who deserves credits for strategically repositioning Boston’s ICA both nationally and locally, and bringing contemporary art into a wider perspective (Reavis, 2010). As a transformational leader, she made strong connections and placed the right people in their respective places with the aim of advancing the ICA’s agenda. She transformed the ICA and took it to a location that has been a discussion topic for previous leaders of the ICA. His leadership will be recognized by all stakeholders of the organization in the future, including workers, leaders, and customers (DePree, 2011).
References
Reavis, C. (2010). Turnaround and transformation: Leadership and risk at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art.
DePree, M. (2011). Leadership is an art. Currency.
Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2017). Leadership on the line, with a new preface: Staying alive through the dangers of change. Harvard Business Press.