Leadership

How Complexity Theory Can Help Decision-Making in Chaotic Times

By Jennifer Martin

You wouldn’t be wrong to call these times chaotic. But chaos, though not always life-threatening in the way of COVID-19, is not uncommon in our work. In November of 2011, I was a CEO leading the opening of a brand-new science center—new …
One Museum’s Plan to Keep Its Full Staff During COVID-19

By Joseph O'Neill

Like most sectors of the economy, the museum field is facing sharp losses in revenue and uncertainty about when they will be reversed. Many institutions have decided to lay off, furlough, or otherwise reduce the employment or pay of staff …
In Times Like These: Managing Museums Through Crises

By Christy S. Coleman

On March 23, I sent out a tweet thread to encourage museum peers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little did I know those simple tweets would resonate with so many. I wrote: Having led museums during significant national crises (9/11, Great …
Museums and Equity in Times of Crisis

By Andrew Plumley

Just weeks ago, many of us in the museum field were in our offices, in the halls of our institutions, outside on our grounds, or observing nature at our zoos or aquariums. Now we are in a new place. We are in an unprecedented time in our …
What It Means to Be a University Museum in the Twenty-First Century

By Amy Gilman

These days, when I stop by the café at the Chazen Museum of Art, I often find myself in conversation with my University of Wisconsin–Madison colleagues—students, staff, and professors from across the campus. I know that these informal …
Toxic Philanthropy

By Elizabeth Merritt

We live in a time in which the public is hyper sensitive to the ethics of where money comes from, and where it goes. As I observed in TrendsWatch 2015, nonprofits don’t get a free pass in this era of soul-searching. Now the ethical …
You’re Doing What?!: Becoming “The Founder”

By Elizabeth Williams

Museum professionals have creative aging journeys of their own, which might mean figuring out how best to cap off a career in the field. But in today’s world, with more people enjoying active and engaged lifestyles later into life, …
Inspiring Success: Why and how The Henry Ford developed its leadership program

By Tim Johnson, Mike Moseley, and Jim VanBochove

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2019 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. How do you retain talented staff? How do you develop their skills, talents, and knowledge? How can you get the most from …
The Self-Care Ritual of Retreats

By Michelle Dezember

One reason I love museum people is that they work so hard to make the world a better place. But all too often, I see colleagues burn out and leave our field because they did not make time to care for themselves. Hence my recent dive into …
A Place at the Table: Developing diversity and next-generation leaders

By Lynn Miller

In 2018, the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) in Ohio named Asmaa Walton, a Detroit native with a master’s degree from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, its first KeyBank Museum Fellow. The announcement brought a four-year process of development, …