You Can’t Deliver Dynamic Models Without Dynamic Leadership
Arts Council England’s Investment Principle of Dynamism is all about adaptability. Evolving your business model. Keeping your offer relevant. Thinking on your feet while keeping both eyes on the horizon. All good stuff.
But let’s be honest -when was the last time your budget had space for that kind of thinking?
We all want to be more dynamic. But dynamic practice doesn’t come from thin air. It comes from leadership -and leadership needs investment, development and room to breathe.
Otherwise, we end up with strategy that sounds dynamic but feels... familiar.
We Can Say It. Can We Do It?
It’s not hard to write something that sounds dynamic. We know the keywords. Resilient. Agile. Future-facing. But behind the buzzwords, the truth is this: being genuinely dynamic takes confidence, capacity and creativity.
And when leaders are already stretched, juggling multiple roles or spinning funding plates, where exactly does that kind of thinking happen?
Dynamic business modelling isn’t a performance. It’s a practice.
No One is Born Knowing How to Reshape a Business Model
Let’s take the pressure off for a second: no one just knows how to do this stuff.
Strategic risk? Commercial modelling? Systems thinking? These aren’t personality traits. They’re skills -and they’re learnable.
But only if we actually support people to learn them.
Too many leaders (especially those newer to leadership or from underrepresented backgrounds) are being asked to be bold, brave and brilliant -without being given the time or tools to build those muscles. It’s a bit like asking someone to build a rocket but not letting them look at the instructions.
Boards and Freelancers Deserve Better, Too
Let’s not forget that the people we often expect to drive or support dynamism -trustees and freelancers -are rarely offered leadership development in any meaningful way.
Boards are expected to sign off strategies they haven’t had the space to interrogate. Freelancers are expected to magically flex between creativity, admin, finance and innovation -without ever being paid for the strategy bit.
If we want dynamism, we need to support everyone to grow into that space. Not just the salaried few.
Let’s Turn Policy Into Practice
ACE’s Investment Principles are ambitious. That’s a good thing. But ambition needs scaffolding.
If we’re asking organisations to evolve and transform, then let’s back them to do it properly. Let’s:
Make leadership development a standard part of every business plan
Create time for thinking, modelling and experimenting
Build the leadership capacity of trustees and boards
Invest in freelancers as strategic partners, not just deliverers
None of this is rocket science. But it does require a shift in what we value -and where we put our money.
Final Provocation
You can’t deliver dynamic models without dynamic leadership.
So let’s not fake it. Let’s fund it.
