Inspiring and Motivating Arts and Culture Teams

Offered by the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in collaboration with National Arts Strategies , this course focuses on equipping leaders in the cultural sector with the critical skills for inspiring employee engagement and performance while motivating people to adjust behavior and embrace change.

You will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way that best enables your team to attain the shared vision. Finally, you will understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures, and will learn to align rewards with desired behaviors so that your teammates are motivated to attain the team’s objectives.

Motivation represents a crucial challenge for contemporary organizations. A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 13% of workers worldwide exhibit high levels of engagement and motivation. We will show you why these motivation problems are not simply due to a “bad” or “unmotivated” team member. Rather, motivation is very much driven by what work conditions we create for our teammates, how we structure goals and objectives, and how we reward people for the accomplishment of those goals. This course will help you diagnose and solve motivation problems so that you can bring out the best in your people.

This course features lessons from both University of Michigan, Ross School of Business faculty and practitioners in the arts and culture field. Leaders such as Franci Phelan (Kennedy Center), Aaron Dworkin (UM School of Music, Theatre and Dance) and Tim Cynova (Fractured Atlas) share their stories on effective leadership and HR practices in the cultural sector.

Weeks 1 & 2: Becoming a Visionary Leader
Every team needs a vision consisting of a shared purpose, core values and stretch goals. As a team leader, it is your responsibility to create and communicate this vision. In this module, you will learn how to become a visionary leader.

Week 3: Setting Effective Goals and Expectations
As a leader, one of your most important roles is to set clear goals and expectations. In this module, you will learn what makes for an effective goal, how to make goals meaningful and motivating, and the risks of setting goals that are too challenging or too specific.

Week 4: Understanding Human Needs and Drivers of Performance Across Cultures
To lead people, you must understand what motivates people to take action and contribute to the team. In this module, you will learn the fundamental needs that drive human behavior, and learn how to leverage these needs to enhance motivation in your team.

Week 5: Aligning Rewards and Behavior
One of the most common problems in organizations is that rewards are not aligned with desired behavior. Another common problem is ineffective feedback on performance. In this module, you will learn how to align rewards with behavior and deliver effective feedback to drive performance in your team.