Got a call earlier this week to say that I’ve just got my first Non-Executive Board job, on the board of my local NHS trust in Trafford.

I’m very pleased about this, for a number of reasons. First, because many people regard Trafford as the ‘birthplace’ of the NHS itself [see here for more info on that], and I think it’s somewhere that I can really make a difference too, and find a slightly different use for the skills I use in my coaching work.

Second, one of the main hospitals that are run by the trust is Trafford General, where my son was born. I was interviewed for the job on the day before his birthday at the trust HQ at that same hospital - and it was a great sensation to be driving there and remembering those other journeys four years ago. Very nice.

And some of my colleagues at the Institute of Directors would no doubt think I was bonkers to even consider taking it on. Non-Executve Directorships are hard work, carry wide-ranging responsibilities without all that much direct control and don’t really pay that well. And Trafford is in a tough position financially right now. Everybody who knows me can see me rubbing my hands with glee at the prospect of such a challange!

I have this strange sense today of wanting to get loads of stuff done and I’m buzzing with ideas at the moment and have a ton of things to do - and yet I really can’t get myself in gear. Maybe it’s the result of all this sunshine and bluesky. Feels like anything is possible but everything is just waaaay too much effort!

One of the problems with working for yourself like this, is that once you have it all up and running the way you want, the rest of the world stops deciding your priorities for you. Of course, on most days that’s great, just what I want and a big part of why I do what I do. But here I am, it’s about 3 in the afternoon, I’ve finished all my client calls for the day, answered the important emails and I should really be getting on to the ‘to do’ list.

And part of me wishes my boss would call and ask me to get my skates on to tackle some urgent problem (I don’t have a boss…) or that the office staff would ask me to help out with a client issue (I don’t have office staff - not really even an office…) or just that someone other than me would tell me what to do.

 Hold on, I’ve had an idea. I’m sending myself an email, here goes…

From:        Nick Robinson
To:           The Other  Nick Robinson
Sent:        24 July 2006 15:15
Subject:    How to Decide Your Own Priorities

Dear Nick,

Just a quick message to say what a great job you did last week, great stuff and I know you pulled all the stops out. It’s a pretty hot day here and I expect it’s the same where you are. Most of us in the office here are thinking of packing up early and popping into town for a skinny frappucino - suggest you do the same as there’s nothing urgent on now. Get a good rest and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. With best regards and thanks again for all your help,

Nick
================
Nick Robinson,
Head Honcho NickRobinson.org

PS.

All the people I work with have this great lively intelligence - what I refer to as “smart” in my tagline. And I really need that in order to do what I do and do it well.

And sometimes one of the downsides of that ’smartness’ is that it can get in the way of people having the life and work that they really want. It gets in the way, because we’re smart enough to see that there’s rarely just one option, rarely a clear, outright ‘best answer’ to the big questions, nearly always an “alternatively…” or an “on the other hand..” or even a “but…how…”.

Fortunately, even the smartest people are so much more than just their smartness!

Here’s a quote I often use  - when just thinking about something isn’t helping:

“You can’t think your way into the right actions, but you can act your way into the right thinking”

And how about for you?

What’s running around in your head without any clear, definitive answer?

If your feet were making the decisions, what river might you jump into now?

What action might you take, just to have some action?

What else?

Theme of the week seems to be ‘dolphins’ - I’m just noticing them everywhere, so there must be something in it. Here’s a great quote. And it’s a long time since I first heard this one (in the sixth form common room, listening to tapes of the BBC radio programme, I think…):

“… on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons.”

Douglas Adams

I’m laughing and clapping my flippers “ack, ack, ack, ack, ack”.

My usual mode of operating is so NOT dolphin - and it is definitely time for some!

How’s your dolphin-ness today?

Need to splash about a bit?

Time to jump out of the water for joy?

What else?

I’ve got a bit of wanderlust at the moment, yearning to be off with my son, tramping mountains and forging rivers.

And so that’s why you get this entry today. I got my ‘Explore’ catalogue out to see if there were any treks or routes suitable for just-turned-four-years olds. And it got me thinking about the leaders and fellow-trekkers I’d met on previous trips and the people I’ve come to know over the last few years in my coaching work - friends, clients and colleagues and how they show-up as leaders.

So here’s my guide to leadership on a hiking trip. Take a look at the archetypes I’ve invented and see if you recognise yourself or others?

• How does this inform your own leadership today?
• What camping or trekking leadership attributes have I missed?
• Which of the archetypes do you need to adopt a little pinch of to help with your next exploration?
• How would you need to be in order to be a succesful follower of any of these leaders?

‘Out in Front’ – this is the person who leads from out there, hacking away at obstacles, majestically standing on the tops of hills and beckoning you to join them: “Come on, it’s this way – I’ll give you a hand up.”

‘A Chat on the Way’ – this person warmly engages you along the way, pointing out things of interest, leading by paying attention to you: “How’s your journey going today?”

‘Mapman’ – this person has the right OS maps and has researched everything else too. Their leadership shoulders the risks for the rest of the group, quietly relieving them of that burden.

‘Caretaker’ – this person makes sure the equipment gets packed, often hanging back to check that nobody and nothing is left behind. They have the stamina and leadership of a parent: “I’ll sort it out, you go on and I’ll catch you up.”

‘Trek Guide’ – this person sets the pace, holds the group to the route and juggles its objectives. Good all-rounder, watchful: “Has anyone seen Nick recently?” or “The beer’s in the cooler in the back of the van.”

‘Hey – Look at That!’ – this is the person who always sees the interesting things first, or finds something that’s worth leading you on a detour: “Who wants to get back to camp a little early so we can go out into town this evening?”

‘Do It Properly’ – this is the person whose leadership makes sure you see all the right sights and go right to the top/end/bottom/etc. Most likely to say: “We should stay here until sunset, that’s the best time to photograph the Taj.”

‘Passenger’ – this is the person who is along for the ride. Happy to wander, chilled-out and the one to sit next to at dinner. They lead just by being true to who they are: “Alright Nick? – it’s not bad this, is it?”

Yesterday was an interesting sports-related day.

I don’t mean the World Cup finals or Wimbledon men’s finals, or the 8th stage of the Tour-de-France etc, etc. I mean playing rounders with my extended family on the local rec. What a great game, and so cool to remember how competitive my younger sisters are, and to see my son having a go at batting.

It wasn’t until driving home that I remembered about those other sporting events taking place around the world. And it was a good feeling to realise I’d forgotten them.

I like that; not turning your back on ‘world’ or ‘large-scale’ events, but just having so much simple joy in the moment that they become irrelevant.

Sometimes it happens at work too. I recall in a previous job how all us managers were concerned about forthcoming changes to the industry. It’s right to have those ‘large-scale’ changes in mind, I guess. But on this occasion I remember how those concerns were really taking away from how well our company was doing. Like we never took the time just to enjoy the game we were playing, like friends and family on the rec.

I watched the parkour documentary Jump Britain on Channel 4 last night. I love how these young (mostly) men are integrating their bodies and environments – and even their philosophy – and turning them into a graceful athletic art-form.

It has elements of youthful challenge to authority, territorial command, testosterone- and adrenaline-fuelled-hurdling and going where nobody has gone before - and is a cool response to what might otherwise be hard, bleak, soulless urban environments.

I also loved how dedicated people are to parkour – hiring gyms and holding regular training sessions to practice.

I’ve put some links and info stuff below.

For me, the film brought home some really important lessons or maybe just thoughts that have been bubbling under for a while around this theme of grace:

• it requires work and dedication – you don’t just wake-up one morning and find yourself graceful and nor is it possible just from the wanting of it!
• risks and risk-taking are inherent in the process – if you want that sense of fluidity, ease and spiritual-connectedness in your work and life, then you gotta believe it’s true: “nothing ventured, nothing gained”!
• the goal is not grace itself, but the integration of mind, body, spirit and the stuff (landscape, environment, events) that exists around you – accept what’s there, give thanks for it, train yourself to jump over obstacles and duck under obstructions!

There’s maybe more - I’ll edit if something else comes up.

Links:

http://www.nickrobinson.org/what/grace.html

Google for any of the recent documentaries, Jump Britain, Jump London or the forthcoming Planet Parkour

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1854204693582154043

According to wikipedia, parkour is “an art form of human movement, focusing on uninterrupted, efficient forward motion over, under, around and through obstacles (both man-made and natural) in one’s environment. Such movement may come in the form of running, jumping, climbing and other more complex techniques. The goal of practicing parkour is to be able to adapt one’s movement to any given scenario so that any obstacle can be overcome with the human body’s abilities.”

Sebastion Foucan says this:

“The art of moving from one place to another with fluidity allows you to see your enviroment differently. The quest’s goal is to become a part of the enviroment in order to develop your mind and body.”

And it was a BBC trailer which made it famous – here’s a good article on their site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4954812.stm#top