Success Labs Leadership Coaching Series: Teams Brainstorm Ideas to Boost Attendance at LSU Museum of Art

Assembling a group of people who had never visited the LSU Museum of Art turned out to be just the secret for getting new perspectives and ideas on boosting the museum’s attendance and awareness. That’s the verdict from Success Labs’ latest Leadership Coaching Series. “This project was about building visitation and engaging new audiences, so this was the perfect group to work with,” says LSU Museum of Art Associate Director of Development Sarah Cortell Vandersypen.The Leadership Coaching Series is designed to challenge high-potential employees and new leaders to expand their leadership competencies as they offer innovative, strategic business solutions to a real-world problem. Participants are divided into two teams and must work together to identify strategies the organization can use to achieve its goal.This year’s participants came from a variety of industries: petrochemical, electric, pipeline, restoration, consulting and healthcare. Members of both teams saw their confidence grow as they found they were able to pull together ideas and recommendations quickly on a topic that was new to them.

Solutions for the Museum

The two groups had different approaches to boost attendance, Vandersypen says. One looked for ways to partner with three local parishes to put on a student art exhibition. “If it draws students, it draws parents and grandparents into the museum. That’s something we haven’t done on a large scale before.”The team researched the efforts of other regional art museums to compare with the LSU Museum of Art, just like they use benchmark data in their own companies.The other team took a more macro approach. Members of that group looked carefully at what brings people in the door, what the visitor experience is like, and so on. One member did an informal survey at his workplace, asking more than 140 people if they knew where the museum was. Only four raised their hands — but many more knew the location of Tsunami, the restaurant above the museum. This led to discussions of providing free admission to the museum if a party is waiting for a table at the restaurant, Vandersypen says. “It would be really inexpensive and would take almost no time to put in place — we could partner with the restaurant in a way that’s mutually beneficial.”

Boosting Leadership Skills

Stacy Hayes is senior accountant at Pinnacle Polymers. She’s training to take over a managerial position in the next year or two. She says the Leadership Coaching Series definitely helped her build self-confidence and taught her about the skills she’ll need as a manager.In addition, she said she appreciated the role playing portion of the series, when actors come in to help participants work through typical workplace conflicts.

A Clearer Path for Growth

Michelle Hyatt is the clinical oncology director of medical oncology at the Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center. She missed the series when she was first brought into her position two years ago, and was referred to it by the vice president of her department. She says her team took a family’s perspective to figure out how to get more people to the museum. “What drives our families? How do we choose what to do on weekends? It’s our kids!” she says. That knowledge led to the idea of a student art exhibition.Working through the Leadership Coaching Series helped her become more self-aware, Hyatt says. “We started off with a personality profile, and when I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses, it made my challenges in the workplace make sense. I had a clear idea of what I had to work on.”

Future Opportunities

To register your company’s leaders in an upcoming Leadership Coaching Series session, send their names and contact information to Shannon D’Gerolamo.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.