The Executive Director is driving this place into the ground. It’s a shame, because it should be such a wonderful environment, but the ED and those that enable him are uninterested in the Lied being bettered – they are only concerned with their egos and ambition.
Let’s talk about the ED. We tried to fix things from the inside while I worked there, but now I’m convinced the only solution is his departure – either by his choice or his being forced out (which will never happen, see below). Gender discrimination, racism, ableism, you name it. UNL HR, IEC, DEI, and Chancellor’s offices have ignored complaints against him for over a DECADE, and they ignored ours as well despite having a huge percentage of current and former full-time staff signed on to it. Anyone who’s worked with UNL’s HR departments knows that exists solely to protect the university’s reputation, and they are uninterested in helping any employees with their YEARS of valid complaints against the ED. They will retaliate too, and will fire you if you speak up too much. Then they will turn around, investigate themselves, and find themselves not guilty of retaliation. UNL HR is a complete joke.
Not only that, the dude’s terrible at his job. Seasons are booked MONTHS late (and lower-level staff will get blamed for it, thrown in front of the bus in front of major national booking agencies) because he never checks his email, has no organizational skills, and takes week-long vacations at least once a month when the rest of the staff is so overworked some of them haven’t taken more than a day off in literal years. Booking agents are so frustrated at his unprofessionalism they are less and less willing to work with us. Community partners can’t stand him (and word of the HR complaints has spread across the city) to the point where some organizations have it as a matter of policy not to work with the Lied until he departs.
Finally, he has no long-term vision. There are so many things that need to change about the Lied: outdated accessibility, vague mission statement, terrible DEI practices, and much more – but he’s more interested in buying fancy toys and getting national press attention than fixing things.
You will be paid nothing and never get a raise (unless you’re a man, then there’s a chance if you throw a big enough fit and threaten to quit, you might get a very small raise). Staff turns over or is forced out every two years. When I quit, I was one of six (with maybe four more coming soon) that quit in the space of the Spring, out of what was already a pretty small team.
The thing that’s most shocking to me, is that upper management could ask around and easily get an idea of the reputation the ED the Lied has in the community. I barely knew anybody in Lincoln but still knew of his terrible reputation before I took the job. ALL of the employees who quit say the exact same thing in their exit interview: they almost always leave because of him, though sometimes money and DEI play a factor. It’s not some big secret that he’s driving the place into the ground.
AND YET – they are completely unconcerned. I would be losing my mind if I was them, watching an organization this large crash and burn in front of them, with hard-to-replace staff members quitting each week. But they don’t even seem to care even a little bit. He has even said “what’s the worst they could do, quit?” when an employee expresses a frustration. I have no doubt that he will never change. I hold out hope for some other members of upper management, who are good people at heart, but they remain way more interested in their own career advancement than in helping their employees.
I would only recommend working here to someone who knew what they were getting into and planned on quitting in 1-2 years to go onto bigger and better things. Use the Lied as a stepping stone if you must, but do not apply thinking it will be a dream job or lead to a long term career – you will be miserable.
Run, don’t walk, away from any job openings at this place until the current Executive Director is no longer Executive Director.
