By Grace Okereke
We have all come across someone whom we felt had an undeserved and sometimes delusional sense of entitlement.
If you are the one who must manage the other person’s exaggerated sense of self, it can be one of the most puzzling and frustrating interactions to navigate. When I am faced with what I associate with entitlement, I can never really tell if the person exhibiting the behaviour is doing so from a place of incredible self-confidence, ignorance, or is demonstrating the best blagging technique of the 2020s. If I am honest, I have mixed feelings about the notion of “entitlement”. The term is mostly used as a pejorative in reference to behaviour or attitude, but I feel that we all, at some point in our lives, have asserted our own sense of entitlement, and in some cases were right for doing so. But where is the line that takes you from deserving self-assured confidence to undeserving pushiness?
The biggest positive that I believe entitlement can give us is a sense of our own value. You set your standards, draw your non-negotiable lines, and ensure that you stick to them. Or at least that’s the intention. Over the years, I have had a mixed level of success in setting my boundaries, mainly because those lines can feel like self-sabotage if it means not taking an “opportunity”. But as time passes, I have come to realise that many of us accept situations that do not feel right, or at times work against our best interests, and at the end of the day, were not the “opportunity” that we really wanted or needed. So, if we value ourselves and understand our worth, we can, in theory, reduce the likelihood that we end up in stressed-out roles. However, understanding your worth can be subjective, and when not grounded in certain elements of reality, it can be conveyed negatively and often to the detriment of one’s reputation.
Shifting the focus, it would be negligent not to look at similar behaviour from organisations. Within my career, specifically the portion spent as an independent arts manager, I have worked on multiple projects that have been commissioned or supported by venues and organisations. In that time, I have witnessed a pattern of behaviour that, from some, I would class as entitled. Of course, an organisation is made up of many individuals and you cannot simply label an entity with a singular personality type. However, if certain sentiments and behaviours are regularly repeated and become embedded in the systematic mechanisms of working practice, then I would argue that you can feasibly describe the organisation as having an overarching attitude.
So, what does entitlement look like when displayed by organisations? I would say it takes the shape of arrogance, with many self-serving actions that often dismiss the sometimes-negative impact their decisions have on the independent artist or company they are meant to be “supporting”. Often, artists are made to feel as though they should be “grateful” for what they are being offered, meanwhile the organisation does the bare minimum and the (independent) artist or company works three times as hard, in what is classed as a partnership. This, alongside other similar behavioural patterns, demonstrates that those in positions of power can often get away with being entitled. With that being said, it is not all negative, as some organisations use entitlement in a positive way by channelling this attitude to advocate for the performing arts sector. They lobby governments and funders as they campaign for more money and highlight the value that we as a collective offer society.
I try to be careful about my judgement before I use the label entitled. I applaud the boldness some possess to state firmly that what exists is not good enough, or how they are treated is wrong. This is, of course, the foundation that my company, Uprise Rebel, is built upon. But the misstep I have seen occur is when the attitude presented seems to be caked in selfishness and the person (individual or representing an organisation) is unaware and/or uncaring about the negative impact that they caused. Realistically, no one can work in a silo. Yes, let us own our confidence and state our boundaries, but let us also acknowledge and accept that to have a healthy and successful ecosystem we must collaborate. So, if we want to shift from surviving to thriving, we must respect each other and value what we all bring to the table.