That Fateful First Year
Editor’s Note:
This Chora Insight is unlike any other. It is the last piece written by my partner, Robert “Sully” Sullivan, before he passed away this past May. Sully devoted his career to guiding museums and cultural organizations with wisdom, clarity, and candor. His words here reflect that same spirit—practical, direct, and deeply caring about the leaders who carry our institutions forward.
— Maria Elena Gutierrez
In a previous Chora Insight: To-do List for Hiring a New Museum Director, we outlined the ten steps for successfully hiring a new Director. This one turns to what comes next: the key steps for navigating that first, fateful year.
Congratulations. You made it through the gauntlet of interviews, committee vetting, and Board deliberations. Now comes the harder part—settling into a new city, unpacking your home, building fresh friendships, and, most of all, stepping into a building full of staff and trustees eager, watchful, and often anxious about what your leadership will bring. Remember, their anxiety is equal to yours. Where do you begin? What moves will set the stage for success in that crucial first year?
Step 1. Establish Your Character
Charismatic leaders live their values out loud. Let your staff see where you stand. Respect and acknowledge the organization’s established beliefs and traditions and align your own to that foundation. Do not disparage the past as you add your voice to the present. Mutual respect, trust, and confidence are the pillars of good leadership. Your goal is not to be liked—it is to earn respect, trust, and confidence.
Step 2. Listen Before Talking
The temptation is strong to prove your intelligence and vision by laying out sweeping changes on day one. Resist it. Spend the first six months listening. Ask more than you tell. Learn the history and current reality of the institution from staff and trustees. Form task forces that involve colleagues in analyzing problems and shaping solutions—this reduces fear and builds trust. At the same time, cultivate support from above by engaging your Board and aligning agendas.
Step 3. Clarify Purpose
Revisit the fundamentals. Who are your primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences—defined as specifically as possible? What central questions will your programs answer for them? What problems will you solve for your community? What messages, changes, and learning outcomes define your purpose? In other words: why does your organization exist?
Step 4. Establish Core Strategic Priorities
Publish and focus on a handful of core priorities—no more than four or five. This gives staff clarity, direction, and relief from the pressure of trying to be all things to all people. Just as important, identify what is no longer relevant. What will you stop doing in order to concentrate on what truly matters? Tactfully let go of the “nice-to-do” so the must-do can succeed.
Step 5. Define Results and Measure Progress
For every initiative, establish specific, measurable outcomes. Staff need to know what success looks like and the targets they are aiming for. Measurable results allow you to recalibrate expectations, adjust course, and keep plans relevant. Share progress openly—with staff, trustees, and community—so success becomes collective, not private.
Step 6. Celebrate More, Complain Less
Great leaders absorb blame and distribute credit. If you do the opposite—claim credit and assign blame—you will erode trust. Staff will make mistakes. If those mistakes stem from staff taking risks, making decisions and setting priorities, use them as learning opportunities. What weakens an organization is the habit of ducking responsibility, avoiding decisions, or defaulting to easy but irrelevant tasks. Celebrate the risks that strengthen your institution.
If you follow these steps, your first year may end with a surprise party organized by your staff—a gesture of mutual respect and confidence earned. And if it does, enjoy it. You will have earned it.
