My Day With The Boss
You know, when I moved to Inverness, I never imagined that the boss would follow me here. I don't mean my immediate boss, or even the two bosses above that, but the big boss. The Director General of the ´óÏó´«Ã½, Mark Thompson.
Yet this very morning who should turn up at our office on Culduthel Road but the man himself. The first time any DG had been to Inverness*, in fact. He'd flown in from Stornoway where he'd been on a similar flesh-pressing, fact-gathering mission with my colleagues in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s gaelic services.
Well, I didn't know where to put myself - literally. Should I sit casually in my office until reception called up to say that he had arrived? (Too laid-back.) Or should I hang about at the front door waiting to help him with his luggage as het got out of the taxi? (Too eager.) I decided on a compromise and waited for him inside the building, at the reception desk, but didn't try to grab the bags out of hand. I guided him upstairs, offered him a cup of tea and let him wander into one of the production offices to chat with the team
Later he had a meeting with all the staff and, later still, I joined him for lunch in a local hotel where we met representatives of various cultural organisations in the Highlands. Some criticised the changes we'd made on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Scotland, others said they enjoyed the programmes. I was keeping a mental tally on both so I could work out if I'd be out of a job before they served the coffee.
Mark is clearly a very good listener and, in both meetings, responded openly and honestly to a wide range of questions. He was quizzed about the salaries paid to
top television personalities, about the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s response to devolved government in Scotland and, at a more detailed level, about the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s procurement policies when it came to booking taxis and ordering sandwiches for meetings.
He left with a promise to return to Inverness next year when the ´óÏó´«Ã½ building here has been refurbished.
Next time I might wait for him in the car park.
*POSTSCRIPT
In the interests of accuracy my current boss Maggie Cunningham has e-mailed me to say that two former D.Gs (Alasdair Milne and John Birt) visted Inverness during their time in the job. So that's me told.
