I’m location managing on the third series of “Between the Lines”, especially challenging because the lead characters are no longer in the police force, so they have no power, making the scripts much harder to write: they are all late. When I joined, there were just three weeks before a camera recce and 70 locations still to find. Finding locations that are right for the script, that a director would want? I find that easy. But once on location, the hours are brutal.
I am warned that one of the directors expects people to “give a good account of themselves” or else they assume incompetence and bully. On the camera recce, one location owner is late home, and this director starts kicking off. I ask them: “What do you expect me to do, produce them out of thin air? There is tea on the minibus. Have yourself a cup; I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” I don’t have a problem with that director again. Never forget the power of the bleeding obvious!
Warnings are critical. In her 2017 Newsnight interview, Zelda Perkins, one of Harvey Weinstein’s assistants, says, “Being warned is important because it arms you.” She was warned never to sit next to Weinstein, always to sit on a separate chair, and to “keep her puffer jacket on.” That warning meant she knew the behaviours had happened before, so she wasn’t as shocked or as frightened, enabling her to stand her ground, as the warning I got enabled me to stand mine.
The warning signs of a workplace bully can be read before they bully you. Empower yourself by attending my bully-proofing online workshop, where we’ll examine the warning signs and develop effective responses.
A warning turned a director who was about to bully me into a director who treated me with respect. The easiest time to change a bully is before they start bullying you. To find out how to spot them and how to stop them, come to my workshop at 2pm (BST) on Saturday 10th October: https://tinyurl.com/5yjnkjjp
#CriticalWarnings