Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre – Top Tips on Leadership
Jude Kelly was amongst a fantastic line-up of speakers that joined us at our ‘On Your Marks’ event, part of our Wavelength Connect 2012 programme. Here she shares her punchy and provocative tips on how to be a good leader. Drawing on her wealth of experience as Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre one thing she encourages leaders is to embrace dilema – art is full of dilema and nuance – don’t run from it.
What makes a good leader? A frequently asked question with a hundred different answers. Here’s what Jude Kelly thinks…
Embrace dilemmas and insecurities. Try not to look to certainty as the thing to hang onto. Have you ever met someone so full of certainty that you really liked?
Be comfortable in your own skin. Whatever you think you are communicating to people, they will also be making up their own minds about you and you can’t control that. So, stop worrying about everyone liking you – just be you because then at least they know who you are!
Don’t believe that men and women are the same. They’re not, but they are entitled to equality in the workplace. Leaders need to think about what sort of work environment they want their daughters or granddaughters to have. Don’t be afraid of talking about a different world. The work place should be much more egalitarian, it would be a lot more fun and would encourage work-life balance – men as much as women want this. In a nutshell – women leaders don’t pretend you’re not a woman. Man leaders – support women leaders!
Jude Kelly is part of the Wavelength Speakers Bureau. To view Jude’s full biography, find links to other videos and book Jude for a speaking engagement go to Jude Kelly.