The Lines Were Led

At tonight's emerging museum professional event, "Lead Between the Lines" at the Tattered Cover Book Store, partygoers were charged with sharing thoughts on leadership from a book or song. The responses were as diverse as the crowd, which included those from all walks of the field.

The folks who stepped up to the open mic were inspired to lead by everything from Darwin to Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma to Where the Wild Things Are. AAM's Anne Goska applauded Wild Things hero Max for his fearlessness and urged those in the crowd to stand their ground. "Go out there and have no fear of those people gnashing their teeth at you," she said.

Denise Gray, one of the evening's emcees and an educator at the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art, went out on perhaps the biggest limb by suggesting that founding-father punk-rockers the Sex Pistols provided an example of how to lead. She quoted: "God save the queen; she ain't no human being. There is no future in England's dreaming. Don't be told what you want. Don't be told what you need. There's no future, no future, no future for you."

"Leadership equals risk-taking," Gray explained. "Challenge management. Be your own leader. If it makes sense, make trouble."