Thread by @The_Globe

Our first panel at the #GlobeWomenPower symposium is about #Women, #Culture and #Art 🎭

We are very lucky to have @soulsister8, @ClairevkVan, @mogster and @Winsome_Pinnock reflecting on themes of #leadership, guided by our chair Professor Charlotte Scott.

We first ask - what does #leadership mean to you?

See the responses from our panel below - and share your own answer too!

For @soulsister8 leadership is multilayered - it's a strong element of who we are as humans. It's more a human expression than a business term, although we bring who we are to the workplace...

That means allowing yourself to be a compassionate leader - in many ways the ability to empathise is a protest.

#GlobeWomenPower @soulsister8

For @ClairevkVan there was an absence of female role models growing up. She was given leadership roles early in her career, but was ill-equipped to navigateit alongside a wall of male aggression and dominance. There was no coaching at the time to help.

The stories we tell ourselves are important - there has been a negative reinforcement through fairytales where 'age brings not wisdom to women, but wrinkles'. You rarely hear about women as leaders, and when they are the queen or the mother, they are pitted against the heroes.

There has been no lexicon for women as leaders - but now we are lucky there are pioneering women who have paved the way and we can imagine ourselves as Nobel Prize winners, pilots and other jobs historically embodied by men.

@ClairevkVan #GlobeWomenPower

For @mogster questions whether leadership has to mean that there is one person to look up to. That structure needs to be dismantled and we need to think of a new way to create things. This is the process that informed the creation of #Emilia.

The word of playwrights is often held as the final piece, but for @mogster (who comes from a devising background where you create in a group and then write it down) this idea was uncomfortable. Even before the play was written, there was a creative team ready to work together.

Theatre should be as democratic as possible. Everyone should have a voice - but if you don’t have the time to listen, that puts pressure on a project and makes it hard. If we’re going to change things, we need to be given time and money to do this.

@mogster #GlobeWomenPower

For @Winsome_Pinnock the power of leadership lies in when women support each other. Women need to have these roles because they see things differently. Asking people to do us a favour is not what we need. We need people who live and breathe our work. That’s how you get change.

Time is important to leadership and writing. Writing is often about memory – the more experience you have, the more you can draw on. If you come from generation who had fewer opportunties, it will take longer to hone skills and take on leadership roles. @Winsome_Pinnock

Often young women are overlooked for their first play because it's not perfect - but young men have their potential seen and encouraged.

Create those networks for support where you can - pit yourself against other artists at your own peril.

@Winsome_Pinnock #GlobeWomenPower

Is there an alternative form of leadership we can employ?

@mogster has described a democratic process, and @soulsister8 questions if it is as simple as choosing between a single leader and a collectivist approach. Both options are problematic for their own reasons.

For @soulsister8 we need to address the different needs of everyone in the room. Look at the blocks you face as much as what you bring to the table. Look at what people need from you and what your voice looks like in different dynamics – one approach does not fit everyone.

Nobody has every really experienced true democracy, but we strive for it. We need to examine our own best intentions and break them down.

@soulsister8 #GlobeWomenPower

We are structurally programmed to believe one person needs to be in charge, how do we navigate when that’s been taken away? Some people like it and some people find it terrifying. Where we need to be mindful is when the room becomes imbalanced.

@mogster #GlobeWomenPower

How did you negotiate your sense of self in a male dominated industry? Do you copy or redefine?

@ClairevkVan took on a cloak of maleness in order to deal with the difficulties she had to face, but it didn't feel authentic. It took many years to find who she truly was as a leader

An experience that has come up often in the discussion is when people say an idea that goes unacknowledged, and then that idea is repeated by somebody else in the room and get recognition for it.

How to do you maintain your voice when this erasure happens?

Finally we ask our panel - how did they become leaders?

Being true to yourself is a key part of becoming a leader and writer. That play you don’t think they’ll put on? That’s the one you need to write. For young people – it’s your turn. Every single thing you do is preparing you for the work you have ahead of you.

@Winsome_Pinnock

I enjoyed being the first one, but I did have to face all the challenges. Ignore what people tell you you need to be – find your own. That way when the universe gives you any opportunity, you’ll be ready to take it whatever happens.

@ClairevkVan #GlobeWomenPower

Find your community. This industry is set up so that people who can afford it can do it, we are hemorrhaging talent as a result. Especially for people who are the first generation into the industry. Meet people who are a little bit ahead of you and build the future.

@mogster

Leading with heart, because other people are leading with figures. Finding the humanity of what we do, and I don’t mind if that expresses itself in the power points and the figures, but it needs to be there beneath it all.

@soulsister8 #GlobeWomenPower

.@soulsister8 also emphasises the need to be multifaceted. Although some people in the industry can have different jobs, often people fall into set roles in a room. She had to choose between being the creator of the work and being the custodian – challenge this divide, be both.

A question from the audience touched on the topic of fear.

From the panel, the overwhelming agreement is to feel the fear and do it anyway! @soulsister8 highlights that the adrenaline that comes with fear means your body is getting ready for something. #GlobeWomenPower

Another raises the question of how we prepare young people for a difficult industry. How do we take big progressive ideas – like intersectionality – and translate them to the real working world?

#GlobeWomenPower

For @Winsome_Pinnock this means being each other's witnesses when issues arise. Supporting and speaking up – for and with – and ultimately standing together to change the climate.

#GlobeWomenPower

.@ClairevkVan highlights that with the rise of empowerment, you will see a rise in intolerance and phobia. It’s a longer game, but compassion, empathy and education, is important for change.

#GlobeWomenPower

A big thank you to @soulsister8 @ClairevkVan @mogster @Winsome_Pinnock for a very powerful and thought-provoking discussion about #GlobeWomenPower in leadership in the arts 🎭