Bad bosses!

I am committed to the work of the cic I formed in 2012, but two jobs for organisations I have worked with before and where feel I could do well happen to be being advertised at the moment, it would be foolish not to apply. They pay well but although I would be happy to land either of them, I will be just as content to continue what I am doing now. My main problem is knowing whether I could actually work for those people.

I have had such bad luck with bosses! The LLGC fools turned down an opportunity that was "licensed to print cash" as one of my friends described it at the time, in favour of trying to gentrify the centre which alienated its core users (as I told them it would), ended the only period of profitability the organisation had ever experienced and caused its closure three years later. I had predicted everything that happened accurately except I thought it would take 18 months for them collapse, they borrowed against their houses to extend the farce for an extra act.

Then there was The Actors Centre board who turned out to be a group of exasperating luvvies who refused to understand any of the business issues  we faced. At least I managed to realise their long term dream of owning their own building (now worth £2.1m). Then I worked for the intellectual pygmies of the Black Theatre Forum, who walked away from an opportunity to build a multi million pound centre for minority ethnic arts on London's South Bank, because they were afraid it might not work. Then I was head-hunted by Talawa Theatre. I refused at first and made it clear I was sick and tired of making other people look good I demanded to know when the Artistic Director was leaving and said that when that time came I wanted the chance to be considered for the job. The liar agreed but once I had got the job and sorted out the mess left by my predecessor who had been driven to a nervous breakdown, it was made clear that the things agreed at interview would not happen so at the end of the probation period (on the day that Blair became prime minister), I left.

After a stint running a nightclub and some freelance fund-raising I landed my best paid job as a CEO, but, despite 11 hours of interviews over three different meetings, once I got the job, the board wouldn't actually let me DO any of the things discussed in those interviews. I began to feel like a well paid ornament to their principles of "Diversity".

My only public sector stint was enough to put me off doing another one! Everything depended on procedure. It did not matter WHAT you were doing, so long as it was done in a prescribed way. I found this very frustrating. It was the least creative thing I have ever done. There was a lot of talk about talking but very little listening. I remember meeting a manager to discuss an idea I had, I got nowhere. That same evening the same manager was in a pub in the city and I engaged him again on the issue at work. This time he was entirely understanding, but told me it would not happen in the agency, so there was no point in discussing it.

I had a hard time in probably my most successful job turning an irrelevant talking shop into a dynamic agency in support of minority ethnic creative professionals living in North East England. The board there were a cosy bunch who were happy to swan about and soak in the kudos of their role, but when it came to making a commitment and actually doing some work, not only did they fall short but they began to actively inhibit me from doing what i knew needed to be done. They did not listen but I did get an apology from the former Chair when the cuts I predicted in 2011 happened and they hadn't done anything to prepare for it- even stopping me from doing stuff. It was as if they were in cahoots with the funders who felt threatened by what we were doing.

Then, most recently: my time in Blyth, working for people who have created their own reality and refuse to let that reality be troubled by things like "development" and broader engagement. That was strange, because I had a strong feeling from the beginning that something was not right- they were all so NICE! What lay beneath those smiles and pleasantries was truly vile: full of back stabbing gossip and dirty tricks, undermining each other privately whilst presenting a sharp, brittle public face.

But this is an employer's market. Employers can replace people in a day if they need to, so it is very hard to find out enough about an organisation to know whether or not it will be a good fit. I do try to interview my interviewers when I get the chance, but there is a limit to what you can find out with a couple of questions at the end. If I had £1m I would still buy the City Temple and open it as a venue and arts development centre. I would surround myself with dynamic, challenging creative professionals, light the blue touch paper and wait for the fireworks... Where's that lottery ticket?