The leadership dance in a performing arts organization

The leadership structure of cultural organizations has been a central issue in cultural management studies for many years. However, extant research tends to characterize leadership structure either as unitary or dual, employing a static approach that fails to explain the process underlying its evolution when the cultural organization changes and develops. Drawing on these limitations, we aim to answer the following research question: how do leadership forms change over time in cultural organizations? We use a qualitative methodology based on an exploratory case study carried out between 2011 and 2018 on the Italian performing arts organization “Fondazione Nazionale della Danza Aterballetto”. Our findings show that different plural leadership forms may emerge during an organizational change. In addition, we show how various factors and dynamics at multiple levels (individual, organizational and environmental) come into play. Our study suggests that companies aimed at establishing a stable leadership structure should consider not only their internal strategic demands and organizational conditions but also external factors. In addition, our study demonstrates that both informal and formal rules influence leader’s expected behaviors.