Summary
In this episode of the Leadership Lab series, Susanna Kempe, CEO of the Laidlaw Foundation, speaks with Alison Buchanan, Artistic Director of Pegasus Opera, on confronting racism, speaking your truth, and making difficult leadership decisions–even when it means upsetting friends or colleagues.
As the only Black female Artistic Director of a European opera company, Buchanan brings a plethora of experience and unflinching honesty to the discussion. A celebrated soprano, she has won numerous prestigious awards, including the Pavarotti, Maggie Teyte, Washington International, and Kathleen Ferrier competitions. Through her leadership at Pegasus Opera, she has cultivated impactful partnerships with institutions such as Glyndebourne and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Reflecting on her leadership style, Buchanan shares: “Thinking about leadership, that's a leader making a decision that is for the best. It's not about pleasing you; it’s about asking, ‘What is the best for the situation that we are in at this time?’” She reflects on upsetting friends and colleagues by not hiring everyone, recognising that if someone were to walk in at any time, they had to see the best.
Buchanan also speaks to the deeply personal journey of discovering who she truly wanted to be as a leader. Navigating the tension between “playing the game” and being true to herself, she shares how she ultimately chose courage and authenticity: “These moments define you”.
This conversation explores the realities of inclusive leadership, the strength required to challenge the status quo, and the importance of creating space for underrepresented voices in the arts and beyond.
Time-codes
00:26 - We talk a lot with our scholars about leadership being a journey, not a destination. Can you share a little bit about where it all began for you?
4:17 - So, you're now the artistic director of Pegasus opera. How did that come about?
6:16 - What's been the hardest thing so far, moving into this leadership role, while still carrying on with your spectacular career?
11:20 - That sounds as if in the US, there is now enough representation that that momentum will continue. I was slightly worried that with everything that's happening around DEIin the US, that it might have a negative impact on the world of opera. But it doesn't sound like that?
13:16 - You mentioned Windrush, and I know one of the amazing things that Pegasus is doing is producing an opera about the Windrush story. Tell us a bit more about the inspiration for that and what you hope it will achieve.
16:57 - Sometimes organizations that are focused on giving underrepresented groups a voice and an opportunity are then accused by people of sacrificing quality in the interests of their purpose. Have you ever had to handle that sort of pushback?
29:46 - Do you think sometimes when people talk about leaders needing to be empathetic, they confuse empathy with being nice or soft? And forget that, a good leader is about helping
people to shine and to be all that they can be, and to do that you do sometimes need to say that's not good enough. You're capable of this.
32:29 - So you've met lots of incredible artistic leaders, women who are inspiring. You've mentioned Betty Allen before. Can you tell us more about her?
43:01 - Opera itself is full of emotional highs and lows and moral complexity and challenges to do the right thing and people being drawn to do the wrong thing, and the fallout from flawed leaders. What do you think our scholars and people generally can learn about leadership through some of the great operatic stories?
47:00 - How do we keep our kid's generation more optimistic about the world? You said, maybe they're right that the world is broken, but maybe it's just the negativity of social media which tends to disseminate critical, negative information about the state of the world. So how do we engender that optimism?
50:00 – What would you like to ask my next interviewee?