One of the chapters in this year’s TrendsWatch is on the Looming Leadership Crisis. If you haven’t read it yet (which I highly encourage you do!), Founding Director of the Center for the Future of Museums and Vice President of Strategic Foresight, Elizabeth Merritt discusses mounting challenges and expectations for museum directors, which can make leadership positions seem unappealing for Gen Z and Millennials. A survey from Ranstad, a human resources consulting firm, featured in Yahoo Finance found that 42% of American workers aren’t interested in moving up the career ladder. Another study from Robert Walters, a recruitment firm, found 52% of Gen Z professionals in the UK don’t want to be middle managers. As someone in the Gen Z/Millennial category (born 1981 – 2012) who worked in museums before joining AAM, I wondered if the friends and colleagues I’ve crossed paths with in the field would share these sentiments.

Attitudes towards Being a Leader

For context, the people I spoke to were all in their 20s and 30s and currently work in museums ranging from natural history museums to historic sites to art museums. Through my interviews, I learned everyone I spoke to was potentially interested in C-Suite level roles with particular interest in leading their department, rather than a museum at large.

However, they all shared the same concern: that they would miss what they’re currently doing. One individual on a communications team said, “I love creating content and telling stories on a day-to-day basis and that’s just not possible at the C-Suite level.”

While someone in education stated, “I like the idea of having a seat at the table in terms of making the big decisions, but in my current position with public programs, I love how much interaction I get with the public on a regular basis. I feel the further up the ladder you go, the more you’re likely to lose that (depending on the institution).”

Both of these responses showcase a love of what they’re currently doing and the impossibility of continuing that work as they rise through the ranks. But is that true? Can someone interact closely with the public, while using those interactions to make decisions for their department or museum?

One person feels they can have the best of both worlds and are able to embrace both public-facing work and more behind the scenes duties. They stated, “I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot being in a director role where I can make changes or have a big voice in decisions, while also working with the public. But I think that’s only because I’m at a small to midsize institution.”

The people I spoke to showed an interest in potentially being museum leaders, but saw how becoming a leader would change their impact from granular connection with visitors and collections objects to making decisions and steering direction to better serve those visitors, collections, and institution.

Although not in the museum field, one Millennial I spoke to said that when they became a manager, they stopped doing the day-to-day work of keeping things running, but rather were asked for their opinion on the direction of projects based on their expertise, which was informed by years of on the ground experience. This didn’t diminish their impact, they were just contributing in a new way.

Legacy and Values

Learning about how museum people view their work, as well as their thoughts on museum leadership led me to wonder how we can use Gen Z and Millennials’ goals and values to better pitch being a museum director to these generations.

So, what are museum people’s values and what do they hope their legacy will be?

One person in visitor services at a newly opened museum wants to look back on his career and see that he influenced others positively, stating, “there are many ways to influence others, from positive interactions with volunteers, good learning moments on tours, and even influencing museum policy and operations, our decisions define our environment so I want every environment I am in to be better than where I started.”

Another person mentioned their ongoing thinking about public trust, saying “I want my work to be transparent and honest and ground[ed] in fact and trusted by the public. That already has and will continue to take different shapes, but the through line is people being able to trust what I’m telling them and rely on it and even seek it out.”

The interviewee already in a leadership position discussed how they hope they are able to create community. They want “to help people understand that museums are more than a home for old stuff or art, they are places to meet people and discover new things about the world you live in. We are constantly looking for ways for people to utilize our museum that aren’t just ‘look around’ or ‘sit and listen to a person talk’ [but] trying to fill in social gaps that are missing in our community.”

None of these goals are dependent on a specific role at a museum. For example, public trust is built and sustained through scholarship, education programs, and exhibitions that are well-researched and based in fact, but also through proper stewarding of philanthropic gifts and transparent financial reporting.

If Gen Z and Millennials can fulfill their goals and create the legacy they want no matter their position, perhaps the looming leadership crisis isn’t a crisis concerning lack of talent or desire, but more around PR. How are leadership roles viewed and how can we message the realities of these positions to better align to Gen Z and Millennials’ goals? In doing so, we can rethink the “crisis” as an opportunity to bolster younger professionals and ensure the longevity of our institutions.

What Museums and Museum Professionals Can Do

Borrowing from TrendsWatch, which always includes actionable tips for museums, here are a few things museums and museum professionals can do to help create a cadre of people ready, willing, and able to take the helm of museums for generations to come.

1. Rethink professional development funds. Some organizations segment professional development funds by department, which often means these funds are used to improve skills directly related to an employee’s current work, like attending a training for a software you utilize or speaking at a conference about a specific project. While these are valuable professional development activities, think about upskilling employees through leadership trainings, which can come from a centralized pool of money. Some people may not see their own leadership potential, so managers having the ability to recommend someone for training may be an opportunity to bolster someone’s confidence and belief in themself. Institutions with smaller budgets can look into lower cost options, like those through LinkedIn Learning.
2. Support budding managers and directors. Becoming a manager or director often means moving from a position utilizing more hard skills like teaching or grant writing to soft skills like managing teams and conflict resolution, while some of the skills they mastered in their previous role may cross over, others may need to be learned. To use an analogy, just because someone is great at cooking dinner for themself, doesn’t mean they could jump into catering a 200 person wedding. When new managers aren’t provided proper training, they can struggle with the realities of their new position and may seem like a low performer, which can cause tension and apathy towards the institution and field at large. Becoming a manager can be a tough transition, so providing management training is critical to ensuring their success.
3. Be an accessible leader. Some of the people I spoke to didn’t have great interactions with museum directors and in some cases did not trust their leadership. It’s difficult for people to aspire to be something that they don’t view in a positive light or in some cases seem far removed from the daily workings of the museum. If you’re at the director level, try to attend team meetings at least a few times a year, just to listen and understand what people are working on. If this is too much of a time commitment, ask people what they’re working on when you pass them in the halls or in the lunchroom. Explore what it’s like on the floor of your museum and speak with frontline staff like members of security and visitor services, who have deep insight into the daily workings of your institution. These strategies not only help staff see directors as people with attainable positions, but directors may also gain new ideas and better understand talent across the institution.
4. Create a network of local institutions. Lower-level employees may not have room to grow at your museum, as there are fewer positions the higher up in an organization someone wants to go. This is especially true for small institutions with only a few paid staff positions. To help support employees who are ready to take on additional responsibility, create a network with organizations in your geographical area to share talent and jobs. Although stellar employees may leave your museum for their professional growth, they will still be serving your community, and who knows they may make their way back to your museum in the future.
5. Participate in mentorship. No matter your level at an organization, mentorship serves as a great opportunity to connect with others who may aspire to your position or who want to learn more about different pathways within the museum field. This is especially great if you’re at a smaller institution and are the only person in your role or at a more rural area without a large museum community.