Is that finishing already? Feels like only yesterday that people starting banging on about it.
BBC still incapable of doing a full length series I'm guessing?
Philip we get your view of the BBC but that doesn't mean everything it produces is no good. Around an unprecedented 11m people will be tuning in tonight including yours truly. Just accept that people believe the BBC offers good quality programming and move on.
Oh I have no doubt that the BBC is capable of making about 4 hours of what people consider to be good TV a year.
I just don't think that's good value for money at all.
Which TV station is better value for money?
Any of the streaming sites because hey look I dont have to put up with stupid adverts and eventually those that make them will hopefully meet the same fate as the buggy whip manufacturers
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Sounds like Robin Lane Fox’s job - tutor at New College and gardening correspondent for the FT…
I once babysat Martha Lane Fox.
To be honest the quality of most of the writing in national newspapers is not better than what we get on here - and often very much worse. I do like Matthew Syed though. And Jonathan Harris. But the rest - bah!
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
I would agree with that. I did a respiratory job where someone died every day, but the boss was great and I learned a lot. My worst job was in renal medicine, because of a completely toxic boss, despite the interesting work.
The greatest pleasure of being a senior team leader is as @Cyclefree says, getting the youngsters off to a good start and see them making something of their opportunities.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
My first HoD said, ‘it isn’t the good ones who get promoted, it’s the ambitious ones.’
Albeit he had been passed over for promotion several times and was rather annoyed about it.
Wasn’t the best boss either. He kept nicking everyone else’s ideas and passing them off as his own.
Sounds like he was both a bad boss, and bad at being ambitious
Freedom of movement... Excl: Britain to welcome thousands more Indian students to UK, in exchange for India agreeing to take back illegal migrants, @Telegraph has learned.
London & New Delhi are on the cusp of signing new “migration and mobility partnership”.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
My first HoD said, ‘it isn’t the good ones who get promoted, it’s the ambitious ones.’
Albeit he had been passed over for promotion several times and was rather annoyed about it.
Wasn’t the best boss either. He kept nicking everyone else’s ideas and passing them off as his own.
Sounds like he was both a bad boss, and bad at being ambitious
He had his good points. He did a lot of work helping me develop my A-level teaching. And he was himself an outstanding teacher.
But equally, he flaunted his anarchist and hippy credentials and was then surprised when the rather staid hierarchy above him didn’t feel the need to promote somebody who turned up in jeans and a T-shirt every day sporting a ponytail.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Sounds like Robin Lane Fox’s job - tutor at New College and gardening correspondent for the FT…
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
I would agree with that. I did a respiratory job where someone died every day, but the boss was great and I learned a lot. My worst job was in renal medicine, because of a completely toxic boss, despite the interesting work.
The greatest pleasure of being a senior team leader is as @Cyclefree says, getting the youngsters off to a good start and see them making something of their opportunities.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
Is that finishing already? Feels like only yesterday that people starting banging on about it.
BBC still incapable of doing a full length series I'm guessing?
Philip we get your view of the BBC but that doesn't mean everything it produces is no good. Around an unprecedented 11m people will be tuning in tonight including yours truly. Just accept that people believe the BBC offers good quality programming and move on.
Oh I have no doubt that the BBC is capable of making about 4 hours of what people consider to be good TV a year.
I just don't think that's good value for money at all.
Which TV station is better value for money?
Any of the streaming sites because hey look I dont have to put up with stupid adverts and eventually those that make them will hopefully meet the same fate as the buggy whip manufacturers
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
All my jobs have been dreary and tedious (not that I have had a great variety of them).
At a couple of years older than I am now, my late Dad retired. After he retired, he played golf 9 to 5, five days a week.
I couldn't wait to retire, and then came Covid lockdown. I saw the future! I now plan on working 'til I drop! Work isn't so bad after all.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
In my experience of leaders - of which I would not regard myself as one, being a natural follower - a major issue is people try to make management too complicated and, as you say, measurable. A whole industry exists which often ultimately boils down to treating management like its simply behavioural manipulation by sociopaths.
There are too many theories and methods and techniques which complicate something which, to me, just doesn't seem that complicated. Treat people with respect, earn their respect through example, and much of the rest is just about harnassing your strengths to develop the style of management, rather than if you are good at it or not.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Sounds like Robin Lane Fox’s job - tutor at New College and gardening correspondent for the FT…
I once babysat Martha Lane Fox.
So it’s all your fault…
Her cousin Charlie is a mate
Of course he is .......
You are friends with or related to lots of people in the City or public life.
Whereas my Bingo card involves me checking off all the people I have investigated or interviewed. You have drinks with them. I have their secrets.
I think I have two of the characters in the drama. 😀
Actually I already have the name of the main character and a working title and plot lines.
But screen-writing..... eesh! Where's @SeanT when you need him?
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Best job I ever had didn't feel like work. It felt like meeting your best mates every day and working out how much mischief you could get up to...
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
In my experience of leaders - of which I would not regard myself as one, being a natural follower - a major issue is people try to make management too complicated and, as you say, measurable. A whole industry exists which often ultimately boils down to treating management like its simply behavioural manipulation by sociopaths.
There are too many theories and methods and techniques which complicate something which, to me, just doesn't seem that complicated. Treat people with respect, earn their respect through example, and much of the rest is just about harnassing your strengths to develop the style of management, rather than if you are good at it or not.
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
I’ve worked in both. It isn’t exactly problem bosses in this case. More, that the system is run by a series of people wholly unsuited to it and self-perpetuating their inadequacy.
What’s needed is a total reset, but they will never see that.
Therefore, better to get out and leave them to it.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
The one thing I am proudest of is building my team, who stayed with me for years, got promoted and have all gone on to be bloody good investigators. I created those jobs and that team and made a difference to them and their careers. They have all been kind enough to say that I was a good manager. I always felt about them that they were my work family and that I would do anything to make them thrive, to protect them, to push them, to teach them, to have their back and to leave them with happy memories.
If I've done even a fraction of that, I've achieved something.
But, yes, you're right: a bad manager is awful whereas a good manager - like a good teacher - makes all the difference.
I still remember my teachers: Mrs Phillips, my Latin teacher; Mrs Woodings - history; Mrs Audigier - maths; Miss Beynon - Biology; Miss Piachaud; etc etc. And my English teacher - who didn't like me - and who left me with a lifelong lack of confidence in my ability in English. So my writing now is me proving to myself that she was wrong and that I can write - and write well.
Anyone who takes this as cue to be unkind ..... just don't.
I had three politics teachers (modern studies, actually) during my secondary school years. Two were old school Scottish Labour, Mrs Tunmore and Mr Brown. The last a wet europhile Tory, Mr. Peters.
None of them ever pushed their views on me - not once - but encouraged my interest in politics, to learn as much as I could and to test my views from every angle.
Yo @ydoethur and Topping, why don't you like each other? You both seem reasonable to me. Or don't I want to know?
Roughly, when I said I wouldn’t be forced to give up my summer holdiays to run catch up classes for no extra pay, he accused me of selfishness. When I criticised him for this and pointed out it rested on mistaken assumptions, he said any child who had me for a teacher was unlucky. When I criticised him for this, suggesting - perhaps acidly - that such a person would not be a suitable army officer - he made a malicious accusation of criminality against me, a post I had to ask the mods to delete.
He now seems to be obsessed with the idea I am a bad teacher and must be driven out of the profession, despite the fact his knowledge of teaching is non-existent and his ideas of what I am or am not capable of or good at are seemingly based largely on spite. Even his ridiculous non-apology didn’t apologise for his lies - merely for ‘upsetting’ me. Perhaps it hasn’t occurred to him that if he wasn’t a liar and bully he wouldn’t upset people.
But truthfully, that seems to be the way he treats most posters. Richard Tyndall, Pagan2 and several others have come in for his ire for no obvious reason. Look at the way he’s now talking to Foxy. I’m guessing he dislikes me particularly because on the rare occasions I don’t ignore him I eviscerate him.
But like I say, such conversations are boring for everyone else (look at the way Horse and BigG react to each other) so generally I’m just ignoring him. This evening, he was so vile I felt I had to respond.
I think there is something deeply structurally wrong with education in the UK, as the attrition rate in your profession seems very high. I believe around half of teachers last 3 years, is that about correct? Sure, there will always be some who who have made the wrong career choice, but that seems very high.
One problem with junior hospital doctors is aiui they need to choose their specialised training a year in advance. Surely in the age of computers that is absurd.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
Yes, the people are more important than the job content as regards being happy at work.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
I would agree with that. I did a respiratory job where someone died every day, but the boss was great and I learned a lot. My worst job was in renal medicine, because of a completely toxic boss, despite the interesting work.
The greatest pleasure of being a senior team leader is as @Cyclefree says, getting the youngsters off to a good start and see them making something of their opportunities.
Agreed, one of my earliest mentees has now started his own business.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
Emotional intelligence is the last thing you need to get ahead in most firms. Knowing where the bodies are buried and / or how to bury them is way more important.
My god, that’s just reminded me of the atrocious ending to game of thrones. I remember reading the leaked ending on Twitter and thinking “na,this is a wind up”
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
The one thing I am proudest of is building my team, who stayed with me for years, got promoted and have all gone on to be bloody good investigators. I created those jobs and that team and made a difference to them and their careers. They have all been kind enough to say that I was a good manager. I always felt about them that they were my work family and that I would do anything to make them thrive, to protect them, to push them, to teach them, to have their back and to leave them with happy memories.
If I've done even a fraction of that, I've achieved something.
But, yes, you're right: a bad manager is awful whereas a good manager - like a good teacher - makes all the difference.
I still remember my teachers: Mrs Phillips, my Latin teacher; Mrs Woodings - history; Mrs Audigier - maths; Miss Beynon - Biology; Miss Piachaud; etc etc. And my English teacher - who didn't like me - and who left me with a lifelong lack of confidence in my ability in English. So my writing now is me proving to myself that she was wrong and that I can write - and write well.
Anyone who takes this as cue to be unkind ..... just don't.
I had three politics teachers (modern studies, actually) during my secondary school years. Two were old school Scottish Labour, Mrs Tunmore and Mr Brown. The last a wet europhile Tory, Mr. Peters.
None of them ever pushed their views on me - not once - but encouraged my interest in politics, to learn as much as I could and to test my views from every angle.
I will always be grateful to them for that.
I'm sure teachers really appreciate when their influence is remembered in such ways.
My father says he is confident his period as a teacher will be remembered by his students, which is good.
Granted, they'd remember it because he collapsed in the classroom and had to be wheeled out to an ambulance for life saving surgery that day, but it's being remembered all the same.
My god, that’s just reminded me of the atrocious ending to game of thrones. I remember reading the leaked ending on Twitter and thinking “na,this is a wind up”
I thought it was sub-optimal and the last season rushed, but the main points (Bran aside) seemed to fit to me.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
My worst job was in renal medicine, because of a completely toxic boss, despite the interesting work.
I missed the obvious joke here: you were working for an asshole whilst working on assholes.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
Emotional intelligence is the last thing you need to get ahead in most firms. Knowing where the bodies are buried and / or how to bury them is way more important.
And that is exactly why so much management is so utterly crap.
Real anti climax. A few loose ends not tied up,too.
I'll watch it tomorrow, but that actually sounds not too bad - though I like the show the need to connect everything to everything aka Star Wars Prequel Syndrome, seemed to be affecting it.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
My worst job was in renal medicine, because of a completely toxic boss, despite the interesting work.
I missed the obvious joke here: you were working for an asshole whilst working on assholes.
Edit: shit, that's kidneys not rectums. Whatever.
Now you’re being anal.
But then, I always thought renal surgeons were just taking the piss.
My god, that’s just reminded me of the atrocious ending to game of thrones. I remember reading the leaked ending on Twitter and thinking “na,this is a wind up”
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
I’ve worked in both. It isn’t exactly problem bosses in this case. More, that the system is run by a series of people wholly unsuited to it and self-perpetuating their inadequacy.
What’s needed is a total reset, but they will never see that.
Therefore, better to get out and leave them to it.
The cult of elite management consultancy, as I've talked about before, has a lot to do with this. Both the fixation with the mathematically measurable, rather than the much more challenging, full emotional spectrum of leadership, and the cult of the indispensable strong leader and dispensable middle layers, are traceable directly to its development at the turn of the 1970's, coming into its fullest bloom and cultural favour in the 1980s. Much private and public sector leadership was also poor before then, ofcouurse, but in the last three to four decades poor management is much more often poor because of the clumsy application of these kind of principles.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
Emotional intelligence is the last thing you need to get ahead in most firms. Knowing where the bodies are buried and / or how to bury them is way more important.
And that is exactly why so much management is so utterly crap.
Another, for me, is lack of self awareness leading to organisational dissonance. By which I mean a lot of leaders say they want an organisation that is X, and they may think they mean it, but all their actions indicate they want Y as that is how they act and the culture they foster.
Rather than pretend to have or want a culture that your actions do not match, which is just frustrating for regular staff, know what sort you want and just go for it.
The classic example is to disavow centralised cultures, as it is the goto 'positive' approach, when all actions indicate centralisation is what is aimed for. Centralisation can work, so go for it if you want it, don't deny the truth.
My philosophy for work was to work hard until the age of 21. Then, as a result of getting good A Levels and a good degree, hopefully not have to work too hard thereafter. By and large, that strategy has paid off.
I'm fortunate in not having to do the elements of the job I least like, and find most of what I do interesting. But would I quit tomorrow if someone dropped a million in my bank account? Too right I would.
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
Throughout my private sector career, I have had some horrendous bosses. Coming initially from a sales driven background, some were absolute psychos. One wore a tee shirt at social events stating "if pigs could fly I would be the squadron leader", and he wasn't joking.
I have been self employed for the last twenty years, and I still find I have an unreasonable boss.
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
I’ve worked in both. It isn’t exactly problem bosses in this case. More, that the system is run by a series of people wholly unsuited to it and self-perpetuating their inadequacy.
What’s needed is a total reset, but they will never see that.
Therefore, better to get out and leave them to it.
The cult of elite management consultancy, as I've talked about before, has a lot to do with this. Both the fixation with the mathematically measurable, rather than the much more challenging, full emotional spectrum of leadership, and the cult of the indispensable strong leader and dispensable middle layers, date to its development at the turn of the 1970's. Much private and public sector leadership was also poor before then, ofcouurse, but now poor management is much more often poor because of the clumsy application of these kinds of principles.
I love how you can tell when someone has just been on some kind of management or presentation course, and clumsily adopts specific tics or techniques they've just been told about with the subtlety of a walrus, in a manner usually reserved for the parroting of required messages from the very senior management.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
Emotional intelligence is the last thing you need to get ahead in most firms. Knowing where the bodies are buried and / or how to bury them is way more important.
And that is exactly why so much management is so utterly crap.
Another, for me, is lack of self awareness leading to organisational dissonance. By which I mean a lot of leaders say they want an organisation that is X, and they may think they mean it, but all their actions indicate they want Y as that is how they act and the culture they foster.
Rather than pretend to have or want a culture that your actions do not match, which is just frustrating for regular staff, know what sort you want and just go for it.
The classic example is to disavow centralised cultures, as it is the goto 'positive' approach, when all actions indicate centralisation is what is aimed for. Centralisation can work, so go for it if you want it, don't deny the truth.
If you say you want "X" but reward "Y", "Y" is what you will get, no matter how much you say you want "X".
Too many firms wittering on about culture and values and all the rest of it are doing exactly this. Until what you say and do match, you'll get nowhere and have lots of cynical staff who simply ignore whatever garbage senior management comes out with.
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
I’ve worked in both. It isn’t exactly problem bosses in this case. More, that the system is run by a series of people wholly unsuited to it and self-perpetuating their inadequacy.
What’s needed is a total reset, but they will never see that.
Therefore, better to get out and leave them to it.
The cult of elite management consultancy, as I've talked about before, has a lot to do with this. Both the fixation with the mathematically measurable, rather than the much more challenging, full emotional spectrum of leadership, and the cult of the indispensable strong leader and dispensable middle layers, date to its development at the turn of the 1970's. Much private and public sector leadership was also poor before then, ofcouurse, but now poor management is much more often poor because of the clumsy application of these kinds of principles.
I love how you can tell when someone has just been on some kind of management or presentation course, and clumsily adopts specific tics or techniques they've just been told about with the subtlety of a walrus, in a manner usually reserved for the parroting of required messages from the very senior management.
It's great fun taking the piss out of them though .......
I feel like the people who are not leaders and are content with that - not everyone yearns for it, preferring to focus on other things (personally I'd like to be one, one day) - could probably serve up some useful leadership insight to prospective managers better than consultants.
"Remember your staff are people, not algorithms to be manipulated" would be a good starting point.
Best boss I ever had, kindest chap I knew, who you'd assume (wrongly) to be a pushover, and he really listened even to the most junior of people, sought their views if it was relevant even if he took a different approach, which he'd explain. It made people feel special and want to be better than they perhaps thought they could be, without pressure to do so (eg the nagging 'So how can we help you advance, where do you see yourself in X years, approach')
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
Emotional intelligence is the last thing you need to get ahead in most firms. Knowing where the bodies are buried and / or how to bury them is way more important.
And that is exactly why so much management is so utterly crap.
I think the problem is that we don't value expertise highly enough, and tie managerial skills to this. In some workplaces I have worked you could only get paid more by managing a team, and anyone working above a team had to be paid more than everyone in that team. This leads often to managers who whilst technically gifted are managerially incompetent leading then to being detrimental to morale and staff retention.
Sorry to hear that you are leaving the profession. Best wishes for the future.
In my profession too often the best ones want to leave, precisely because they care. The lazy, the greedy, the arrogant and the sociopaths never have the insight to have crises of faith. Indeed one of the best doctors that I know quit for a year, and did casual work on building sites, mostly as a roofer. One day, while they were all on a break, the others talked him into going back. The consensus was that the world needed doctors like him.
Thanks for the pep talk.
I haven’t finally decided yet. It’s possible I may instead go part time. Or go into tutoring. But truthfully, I just cannot deal with all the abuse I’m getting from all quarters for trying to do my job under the impossible circumstances demanded by the current government. Especially as I don’t actually need the money. I can earn more than enough from music and writing to survive. I teach because I enjoy it, both for itself and because I’m very good at it and like most of us I enjoy things I’m good at. But if I’m not enjoying it - then why bother?
At least you guys have people cheering you on. We get abused for pointing out the strain we’re under. (Edited edit - I may have to withdraw that part...)
Edit - I’d add that huge numbers of teachers at this moment is dreaming of getting out, but for most it’s much harder. If you have a family, a mortgage and no savings, you can’t just walk away from a job no matter what it’s doing to you. You have to something to go to.
I've only ever worked in the private sector. If you think problem bosses are confined to the public sector, you are sorely mistaken. Good luck in what you decide but [insert proverb here].
I’ve worked in both. It isn’t exactly problem bosses in this case. More, that the system is run by a series of people wholly unsuited to it and self-perpetuating their inadequacy.
What’s needed is a total reset, but they will never see that.
Therefore, better to get out and leave them to it.
The cult of elite management consultancy, as I've talked about before, has a lot to do with this. Both the fixation with the mathematically measurable, rather than the much more challenging, full emotional spectrum of leadership, and the cult of the indispensable strong leader and dispensable middle layers, date to its development at the turn of the 1970's. Much private and public sector leadership was also poor before then, ofcouurse, but now poor management is much more often poor because of the clumsy application of these kinds of principles.
I love how you can tell when someone has just been on some kind of management or presentation course, and clumsily adopts specific tics or techniques they've just been told about with the subtlety of a walrus, in a manner usually reserved for the parroting of required messages from the very senior management.
It's great fun taking the piss out of them though .......
Oh yes indeed. Could make it a drinking game in home working times. Ah, see how they've deliberately used everyone's name when replying to them, and clunkily thanked them for their comments no matter how banal? Ah, and now they've made sure to remind us 4 times that what we say matters, and the more you mention it the more you must mean it!
It's the good middle managers I feel sorry for, who have to deal with the cynical staff moaning to them about things they'd never dare say to a senior manager (whatever they might say they do NOT want to hear such things), acknowledging frustrations, whilst still trying to deliver the potentially impossible requests of senior management.
Just done a quick vaccine count calculation - by the end of May we'll reach 81-83% of adults with one dose and 50% of adults with two doses, that's with no increase in vaccine supply. Assuming the MHRA ever get around to approving Novavax that 81-83% becomes more like 87-89% leaving just 7-8% needing first doses (around one week of supply in June). By the time we hit June 21st everyone who wants a vaccine will have had a first dose and by the end of July every single person will have had both doses except a few unlucky people who get AZ in the next two to three weeks.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
In my experience, it's the character of the boss or client that makes all the difference. I've had excellent ones for whom I'd walk over broken glass because they respected me and had my back. We are still friends. I've also had the opposite, and it ended with high-blood pressure, me resigning from my position and a loss of confidence that took me almost 18 months to bounce back from.
What's truly shocking is how few seem to understand this.
That is because management is not valued because it cannot be measured. And it requires a level of emotional intelligence which is rarer than it should be amongst people in senior positions.
Emotional intelligence is the last thing you need to get ahead in most firms. Knowing where the bodies are buried and / or how to bury them is way more important.
And that is exactly why so much management is so utterly crap.
I think the problem is that we don't value expertise highly enough, and tie managerial skills to this. In some workplaces I have worked you could only get paid more by managing a team, and anyone working above a team had to be paid more than everyone in that team. This leads often to managers who whilst technically gifted are managerially incompetent leading then to being detrimental to morale and staff retention.
This again relates to ideological changes to management that became mainstream and de rigeur during the 1980s, having been begun and developed the decade before. Middle layers of expertise were dispensable, and huge concentrations of knowledge were lost at that time.
Just done a quick vaccine count calculation - by the end of May we'll reach 81-83% of adults with one dose and 50% of adults with two doses, that's with no increase in vaccine supply. Assuming the MHRA ever get around to approving Novavax that 81-83% becomes more like 87-89% leaving just 7-8% needing first doses (around one week of supply in June). By the time we hit June 21st everyone who wants a vaccine will have had a first dose and by the end of July every single person will have had both doses except a few unlucky people who get AZ in the next two to three weeks.
But we’ll still need masks and elements of social distancing... Data not dates, unless somehow the data is better than expected.
The origins of his problems lie in the not too distant past and his approach to teaching during lockdown.
Never have I come across someone with so much hatred for his chosen profession.
You've never met a lawyer or a banker then?
LOL. They might hate the profession but they love the money.
Ultimately, most work is unpleasant. That is why we have to be paid to do it. It is a rare pleasure to enjoy a job.
I am fortunate that way now, but it there have been times where my work was awful.
I have enjoyed my jobs. I absolutely loved the last one I did. Was in my element.
Of course there have been incredibly stressful times - and it played havoc with my health by the end - but I enjoyed it and working with my team and making, in a small way, a difference
It is important to enjoy what you do at some level. I had one job which was utterly miserable - crying in the toilets every day levels of misery - and you have to get out if it gets like that because it undermines you in ways you cannot imagine. Like wearing damp clothes all the time.
Mind you, if someone were to pay me to garden, write opinion columns and give entertaining talks about the City, I'd be delighted.
So, come on, chaps .......
Sounds like Robin Lane Fox’s job - tutor at New College and gardening correspondent for the FT…
I once babysat Martha Lane Fox.
So it’s all your fault…
Her cousin Charlie is a mate
Of course he is .......
You are friends with or related to lots of people in the City or public life.
Whereas my Bingo card involves me checking off all the people I have investigated or interviewed. You have drinks with them. I have their secrets.
I think I have two of the characters in the drama. 😀
Actually I already have the name of the main character and a working title and plot lines.
But screen-writing..... eesh! Where's @SeanT when you need him?
Drinks with people is a far quicker way of getting their secrets…
Hello Everyone and thank you TSE for this interesting article on Electoral Reform.
I voted Yes in AV referendum but perhaps mistakenly in the hope it was the first step towards PR.
As the No side won, they have unfairly used the result as validation against PR which it isn't as AV may be determined to be closer to FPTP than to PR.
Surely I am not the only to believe the way to achieve PR is for both 1&2 to happen. 1. Tories win GE 2024 with an overall majority. Most important meaning Labour then have lost 5 consecutive GEs. 2. Realizing they are likely to lose subsequent GE, Tories hang on till 2029 which results in no overall majority with Labour having most seats. Labour form either Coalition or Pact with Libdems who insist on PR preferably without referendum or grudgingly to having one first. Obviously this would depend on number of Labour MP supporters of PR at that time which I suspect could be a substantial number having lost 5 GEs. I suspect Labour would choose AMS as they did for Scotland and Wales 22 years ago.
In this scenario knowing they would have less seats in subsequent GE, Labour hang on till 2034 at which point we our first PR GE.
Kind regards
Pamela
Thank you for this very interesting analysis. Two comments if I may: I think it likely that the UK population will just hate the idea of PR and given a choice will vote against it - the AV referendum is some evidence for this. There is a high chance that people will believe simply that 'change means worse' and that a system slightly hard to understand is a system that will be manipulated. FWIW I take that view.
The sheer simplicity and ruthlessness of FPTP has much to commend it.
Secondly all analysis about future events of this sort - subject to human whim and so on - going up to 2034 is like trying to say where the chess pieces will be in 15 moves time. Endlessly interesting, as is your suggestion, but there is lots of water to flow under that particular bridge.
I voted against AV because it wasn't PR.
AV is NOT proportional.
Wasn’t there an argument put forward that it would actually be less proportional? Because it would amplify the dominance of the two major parties at the expense of the smaller ones, even if they got more headline votes on the first choice.
The reason is that, when there is a big swing from Tory to Labour, or vice versa, the later preference between these two , that voters for all the other parties have, tends to swing in the same direction, magnifying still further the swing in first preferences.
Just done a quick vaccine count calculation - by the end of May we'll reach 81-83% of adults with one dose and 50% of adults with two doses, that's with no increase in vaccine supply. Assuming the MHRA ever get around to approving Novavax that 81-83% becomes more like 87-89% leaving just 7-8% needing first doses (around one week of supply in June). By the time we hit June 21st everyone who wants a vaccine will have had a first dose and by the end of July every single person will have had both doses except a few unlucky people who get AZ in the next two to three weeks.
I don't know if I will be able to bring myself to vote for them on Thursday, though. I'll be like Jim Carrey in Liar Liar trying to write that the colour of the pen is red.
Maybe I'll tick the LD box and also write, USUALLY TORY - END COVID LAWS on my ballot.
If it's spoilt and doesn't count, I don't care. If it is at least they know why and hopefully it'll get the Tory agent talking.
Should work, actually - the returning officer will show it to the agents for their opinion, but the intention is clear and not contradicted by the commentary.
The issue is ‘wording sufficient to identify the voter’. In the old days almost any writing on a ballot paper got it rejected, the argument being that the test is whether it might be possible to identify the voter, not whether you actually could. Thus for example someone might recognise the handwriting or the wording used.
This - as does much of our election law - dates back to the original intention of the secret ballot, which was to stop candidates either bribing or threatening to get voters’ support, which had been common before then. Hence there is an obsession with maintaining the anonymity of the voter. Hypothetically, for example, an employer or landlord candidate could threaten their employee or tenant voter and tell him to write a particular phrase on their paper, telling the voter that he will be at the count and have his people watching for it.
It really is only in the last few years that returning officers have become more relaxed about writing on the ballot paper, only tending to rule out of order if the intention of the vote is made unclear or if the wording really might identify the voter.
Comments
To be honest the quality of most of the writing in national newspapers is not better than what we get on here - and often very much worse. I do like Matthew Syed though. And Jonathan Harris. But the rest - bah!
The greatest pleasure of being a senior team leader is as @Cyclefree says, getting the youngsters off to a good start and see them making something of their opportunities.
Excl: Britain to welcome thousands more Indian students to UK, in exchange for India agreeing to take back illegal migrants, @Telegraph has learned.
London & New Delhi are on the cusp of signing new “migration and mobility partnership”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/02/indian-student-visa-deal-will-allow-uk-send-back-illegal-migrants/
But equally, he flaunted his anarchist and hippy credentials and was then surprised when the rather staid hierarchy above him didn’t feel the need to promote somebody who turned up in jeans and a T-shirt every day sporting a ponytail.
Her cousin Charlie is a mate
Sounds like perfect match!
At a couple of years older than I am now, my late Dad retired. After he retired, he played golf 9 to 5, five days a week.
I couldn't wait to retire, and then came Covid lockdown. I saw the future! I now plan on working 'til I drop! Work isn't so bad after all.
There are too many theories and methods and techniques which complicate something which, to me, just doesn't seem that complicated. Treat people with respect, earn their respect through example, and much of the rest is just about harnassing your strengths to develop the style of management, rather than if you are good at it or not.
You are friends with or related to lots of people in the City or public life.
Whereas my Bingo card involves me checking off all the people I have investigated or interviewed. You have drinks with them. I have their secrets.
I think I have two of the characters in the drama. 😀
Actually I already have the name of the main character and a working title and plot lines.
But screen-writing..... eesh! Where's @SeanT when you need him?
Also, two thoughts:
What on earth are those ridiculous hats the troops are wearing?
And people wore tartan trousers?
I cannot say I am surprised at this revelation.
IMO Leadership is about taking responsibility, enabling others to do their best and being a teacher.
https://barry-walsh.co.uk/light-of-knowledge/
What’s needed is a total reset, but they will never see that.
Therefore, better to get out and leave them to it.
None of them ever pushed their views on me - not once - but encouraged my interest in politics, to learn as much as I could and to test my views from every angle.
I will always be grateful to them for that.
It's very rewarding.
My father says he is confident his period as a teacher will be remembered by his students, which is good.
Granted, they'd remember it because he collapsed in the classroom and had to be wheeled out to an ambulance for life saving surgery that day, but it's being remembered all the same.
Edit: shit, that's kidneys not rectums. Whatever.
But then, I always thought renal surgeons were just taking the piss.
Rather than pretend to have or want a culture that your actions do not match, which is just frustrating for regular staff, know what sort you want and just go for it.
The classic example is to disavow centralised cultures, as it is the goto 'positive' approach, when all actions indicate centralisation is what is aimed for. Centralisation can work, so go for it if you want it, don't deny the truth.
I'm fortunate in not having to do the elements of the job I least like, and find most of what I do interesting. But would I quit tomorrow if someone dropped a million in my bank account? Too right I would.
I have been self employed for the last twenty years, and I still find I have an unreasonable boss.
Writers are crap at doing them.
One that wasn't bad (quite good, actually) was All Good Things for Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that's a very different sort of example.
Too many firms wittering on about culture and values and all the rest of it are doing exactly this. Until what you say and do match, you'll get nowhere and have lots of cynical staff who simply ignore whatever garbage senior management comes out with.
https://twitter.com/innealadair/status/1388968725760692226?s=21
"Remember your staff are people, not algorithms to be manipulated" would be a good starting point.
Best boss I ever had, kindest chap I knew, who you'd assume (wrongly) to be a pushover, and he really listened even to the most junior of people, sought their views if it was relevant even if he took a different approach, which he'd explain. It made people feel special and want to be better than they perhaps thought they could be, without pressure to do so (eg the nagging 'So how can we help you advance, where do you see yourself in X years, approach')
made a mid-life career change
It's the good middle managers I feel sorry for, who have to deal with the cynical staff moaning to them about things they'd never dare say to a senior manager (whatever they might say they do NOT want to hear such things), acknowledging frustrations, whilst still trying to deliver the potentially impossible requests of senior management.
This - as does much of our election law - dates back to the original intention of the secret ballot, which was to stop candidates either bribing or threatening to get voters’ support, which had been common before then. Hence there is an obsession with maintaining the anonymity of the voter. Hypothetically, for example, an employer or landlord candidate could threaten their employee or tenant voter and tell him to write a particular phrase on their paper, telling the voter that he will be at the count and have his people watching for it.
It really is only in the last few years that returning officers have become more relaxed about writing on the ballot paper, only tending to rule out of order if the intention of the vote is made unclear or if the wording really might identify the voter.