Anna Moreau chats with Paul Bodlovich, West Australian Music Industry Association CEO (6.5 years)
WABN: Describe a day at work.
PB: "Emails, phone calls, meetings - lots of writing and talking, and making decisions. I've come to realise that the thing that is actually tiring as a CEO is the constant decision making. Decisions are like cliffs - once you've gone over the edge there's no going back, and every time you come to the edge of a cliff there's a mental cost involved in steeling yourself to make the leap."
WABN: What is the best piece of advice you can give someone to motivate a team?
PB: "It's really important to have an environment where people's strengths are able to be something that they can use and develop. The corollary is ensuring that their weaknesses are articulated, and that it's made clear that they have the chance to develop skills they need but may struggle with. Being motivated as the manager is critical as well, and letting people be people."
WABN: What's best measurement of your performance, and can you name a highlight in your career?
PB: "I don't think that my career as a thing in and of itself means enough to me personally for me to really bother with thinking about highlights. There's work to do, get on and do it, and then get onto the next thing. It's called having a job.
"In terms of self measuring my performance, I think the simple key is to make sure that most of the decisions you make are right, and to make sure that if you get something wrong you don't let the same thing happen again."
WABN: How do you deal with egos in your workplace?
PB: "When they [egos] do swell up a bit it's pretty obvious to everyone and a lot of times it's a matter of the team overall bringing things down a peg. If that doesn't happen then, well, I guess that's when people start shouting at each other."
WABN: What frustrates you the most about your sector and what would you do to change it?
PB: "There are two things that frustrate me. One is dealing with so many areas of government that are all on different pages - if they could only work towards some sort of degree of communication that enabled organisations like ours to deliver the sort of outcomes we can deliver across a whole range of portfolio areas, then life would be a whole lot easier.
"The other thing is people not accepting that operating in the not-for-profit sector involves as a matter of course a whole range of challenges that are actually inherent, and not to be whinged about."
WABN: What specific hurdles do you meet on a daily basis in your sector?
PB: "Survival. Growth. And survival."
WABN: Who is someone you dream to work with?
PB: "Kevin Sheedy"
WABN: What are your hobbies?
PB: "Shouting at the Freo Dockers, surfing (a very rare pleasure), and daydreaming about one day being a muso again."
WABN: Which personality has inspired you the most throughout your career?
PB: "I'm really stumped by this question. I'm not particularly inspired by personalities and get very turned off by the egos that usually accompany strong personalities."
WABN: Who has influenced you personally?
PB: "My wife has been biggest influence and inspiration in my life so far. I have no doubt that I'd be a very different person without her in my life.
"When I ponder that other person I could have been, I can't say that it's someone I would like very much. And my kids; I know it's a cliché, but they change your life and make it immeasurably better."
WABN: Who has influenced you professionally?
PB: "I can't pin one person down. I'm constantly learning from the people around me at WAM, as well as the myriad of folks I deal with, whether they're in the music industry, government or from the corporate world. You can learn from anyone and should always be ready to do so."
WABN: What were you doing before your current position?
PB: "I had been working in the arts for about five years in a number of organisations - Artrage Festival, FTI and The Blueroom Theatre - in a variety of roles at quite different levels.
"I was very focused on being a musician through a lot of that as well as producing music for short films, so I wasn't always working full time."