11 November 2015
Bahrain National Museum Hosts a lecture on ‘Every Leader is an Artist’ By Dr. William Baker
Bahrain National Museum held a reception last night in honor of renowned US television pioneer Dr William Baker, who is in Bahrain for a series of lectures and workshops. A lecture about his book, Every Leader is an Artist, was held prior to the reception yesterday and aimed to highlight the similarities between leaders in the worlds of business and arts.
He was welcomed by Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities president Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa and US Ambassador William Roebuck during a reception held at the Bahrain National Museum.
H.E Ambassador William Roebuck commended Bahrain's cultural activities, expressing admiration for the wonderful work undergone by Bahrain’s Authority for Culture & Archaeology.
Dr William Baker started the lecture by welcoming the attendees, expressing his admiration with the artistic level seen in Bahrain and the richness of the cultural scene in the kingdom. Dr Baker added that he accepted a request to visit Bahrain after hearing good news about the cultural infrastructure projects heralded by Bahrain’s Culture Authority led by H.E Shaikha Mai.
‘Every Leader Is an Artist’ is a lecture based on Dr. Baker's acclaimed book; Every Leader is an Artist, which explores the deep connections between creative vision in business and art. By looking at the revolutionary principles behind some of the world's greatest artworks, Dr. Baker reveals how both artists and business leaders are really practitioners of the same craft, which can bring challenge and a deep sense of purpose to any career and workplace.
Dr. Baker stressed the importance of culture and art in positive change and development of societies around the world saying, “Every day I can see this huge change in the world.” Dr. Baker spoke also about the series of meetings and interviews he made with famous artists in New York City, who inspired him about the world of art and business.
The book explains how artists put their work on display for everyone to judge, accepting a position of vulnerability for want of something important to say and in the service of contributing to the common good. Artists bring people closer together by providing a forum for shared experiences. Artists challenge, excite, comfort, and motivate people, and they don’t learn their craft by reading about it in a book; they practice, push themselves and their means of expression, and execute, execute, execute.
These are exactly the same things effective business leaders do day in and day out.
In Every Leader Is an Artist, leadership experts O’Malley and Baker employ the “leadership as an art” metaphor to its conceptual limits: leadership is an art, literally, and leaders are artists; they just happen to work in a different medium.
This groundbreaking look at leadership offers a completely new perspective on the age-old question: What separates the effective leader from the ineffective leader? O’Malley and Baker reveal 12 key characteristics shared by great artists and leaders. Providing the tools and techniques for developing these qualities, the authors provide vignettes that draw parallels between the personal qualities of famous artists and effective leaders.
Every Leader Is an Artist will make you see your own leadership characteristics with newfound clarity and help you build upon them to be the best leader you can be. After reading this book, you will never think about leadership and your responsibilities as a leader in quite the same way again.
Dr Baker is the director of The Bernard L Schwartz Centre for Media, Public Policy and Education at Fordham University and is a seven-time Emmy Award winner. Known for introducing The Oprah Winfrey Show and Charlie Rose talk show, Dr Baker has had a distinguished career in cable television and has helped launch the Discovery Channel and the Disney Channel. He is also a Journalist in Residence at Fordham University and the Claudio Acquaviva Chair at the Graduate School of Education, and President Emeritus of Educational Broadcasting Corporation, parent company of WNET-TV (Channel Thirteen) and WLIW-TV (Channel 21), where he served for 20 years as Chief Executive Officer. Among numerous honors, he has won seven Emmys and two Columbia Dupont Journalism awards, and was named to the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Management Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was appointed as a senior research fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University.
