For too long the creative sector has focused on the wellbeing of its audiences and artists at the expense of those who bring the work to life. Isn't it time we recognised that we need to focus on a full systemic restructure, rather than blaming burnout on a lack of individual resilience?
We know we need it, but we wish we didn’t...
I could be referring to insurance, but I’m not.
What I’m talking about is resilience.
It’s a word we throw out in various contexts without really interrogating what it means, and how it makes people feel. I’ve been having a lot of conversations about this concept recently, and I’ve realised I’m not the only one who has a real love/hate relationship with resilience.
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Back in early February 2020 I hosted a roundtable about workforce wellbeing in the cultural sector. Thanks to incredibly generous support from the amazing Fiona Bartels-Ellis (Head of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at British Council), I was able to take over a room at British Council’s London offices to bring together almost a dozen representatives from Arts Council England, London Arts in Health Forum, Arts & Health Hub, WOW Foundation, Alleyne&, China Plate Theatre and Royal Albert Hall. I wanted to explore how we could shift a workplace culture built around the unsustainable idea that ‘the show must go on’ towards one that recognised the need to put the wellbeing of its workforce centre stage. It was an exciting and thought-provoking conversation...
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Almost a decade and a half ago I used to work as a Legal PA for some of the largest law firms in the world. I had access to benefits like heavily subsidised canteens, in-house gyms, employee assistance programmes and discounted services. Even when I managed multiple diaries for demanding bosses, or had to work late to finish something urgent, I knew that as soon as I left the office my working day had come to an end.
I switched career to work in the arts because I totally stopped caring about the corporate world. I’d had enough of what had just come to feel like shuffling paper from one side of a desk to another. I wanted to do something I cared about. Like so many people in the cultural sector, I wanted to dedicate my time and skills to something where I could see the positive impact I was having in the world. Something I could feel genuinely passionate about. Thanks to having earned a pretty decent salary as a PA, I could afford to run away, retrain, and make the change.
But passion isn’t enough. Not when you’re tired.
Tired of seeing artists, producers, managers, fundraisers, and the like working ridiculously long hours for ridiculously low pay. Tired of the pressure to achieve more and more on less and less. Tired of the imperative to meet the agenda of whatever policy or priority the government decided was in vogue that season.
The people creating the magic that had such a positive impact on the wellbeing of others, were caving under the weight of bringing that magic to life. I was watching a gradual epidemic of burnout, overwhelm and disillusionment.
Something had to change.
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Resilience – a term used in countless business plans and funding proposals, at least as much as it is in relation to human beings – has almost become part of the problem. It's part of a discourse that to me feels unhealthy and unsustainable.
Instead of adapting systems to better suit individuals, organisations seem to place the onus on the individual, expecting staff to take responsibility for ‘building their resilience’. Yes, they might provide things like training courses or team awaydays, but really these were just a sticking plaster trying to cover up a massive systemic issue.
What organisations really seemed to be saying to their staff is: Things are going to be shit. Can you handle it?
And if, god forbid, a staff member leaves the organisation or the sector altogether? Well, perhaps they just weren’t resilient enough…
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The conversation I initiated at the British Council that February lunchtime was inspired by a long, (very early) morning conversation with Tracey Margieson from Arts Centre Melbourne’s Arts Wellbeing Collective. I wanted the organisations around that table to explore whatever best practice that already existed around wellbeing, and to look at how we could come together as a sector to apply it not just to audiences and artists, but to those who produced the work.
How could we slowly shift the culture towards one where organisations adapted their practices to suit the workforce, rather than the other way round?
How could we ensure that the producers putting in the work of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of artists were equally safe and well themselves?
How could we persuade a sector constantly expected to grow and innovate, that sometimes you just need to step back and reflect?
My intention was to continue that conversation, but of course, when the pandemic hit, the very structures I’d wanted to bring thosepeople together to interrogate no longer existed in quite the same way. Who knows if they ever will again.
Although my career has shifted over the past two years and I now support the sector in a slightly different way, at heart everything I do is still about shifting the culture towards one that more readily acknowledges the importance of wellbeing. One that is more compassionate, and that recognises the value of the individual within any collaborative and creative whole.
So that hopefully, one day, we no longer need to be so resilient after all.
So much of creating compassionate cultures comes down to creating more compassionate leadership. In a few weeks I’ll be relaunching the new and improved version of Leading on Purpose. It’s a small cohort, 8-week group coaching programme for values-centred women leaders ready to reconnect to their purpose, reimagine their future, and reframe their leadership. f you want to know more about Leading on Purpose and otherways to work with me, get in touch on hello@annettecorbett.com.
