My latest contribution to replacing the non-standard sized fence around my back garden has been to make a new backgate - from scratch.

I had to do this, because after several months of searching I still couldn’t find one in the right size and style to fit. Part of me thinks that the several thousand pounds I was quoted to replace the whole fence in the style of the old one would have been pretty good value for money - and a slightly bigger part of me (most of the time, anyway) is enjoying the challenge of figuring out how to do it myself!

I designed the new gate to be a basic rectangular frame, made square by diagonal cross-braces, and fronted with inset featherboard pales to match the fencing. The hardest part was deciding how to join the 3 horizontal parts of the frame to the two long planks that form the uprights on either side. Mortice and tenon joints or drill and dowel? In the end I went for dowel joints as these should be strong enough to take the up and down, backwards and forwards stresses - but I can’t help feeling it needs something else, so may also screw some steel plates across the critical joints.

If you click the picture, you’ll get a larger version in a new window, with the critical joints highlighted.

Oh, and the odd “splooges” here and there on the wood are where I’ve touched-up the exposed parts of the pressure-treated timber with a water-proofing agent - that’ll fade over time.

It’s Power Ranger fever time in the Robinson household, as my son celebrates his 5th birthday by becoming the Red Ranger.

And his eager adoption of the whole superhero genre has been fascinating for me. When I was 7 years old, I was convinced I was going to become a superhero and I can remember quite clearly lying on my back in the park, staring up at a blue and white summer sky and seriously wondering about what my superpowers would be when they arrived.

I began researching for a book about this a couple of years ago - and stopped when my son, unprompted by me (well, at least consciously) began expressing superhero preferences himself. I could explain some of what it all meant for me; but why would he be also making those choices? It was clear I had more to learn.

Without setting out the whole thing here (that’d be the book, wouldn’t it), here’s some of the “themes” I thought I found that explain why superheroes have such resonance for me:

Avoidance of being controlled and experiencing pain
This is personality trait for me, just something that goes with my basic personality type. And so superheroes are a compelling role-model because they’re too strong to be controlled and are impervious to pain

Taking the Lead Because Someone Has To
There’s been some recent research which suggests that about 60% of senior leaders are people who were the oldest child in their family and/or who experienced the loss or absence of a parent. And most of the superhero myths make this quite explicit in their stories.

Service
There’s a great line in the Spiderman movie (II, I think):

“With great power comes great responsibility”

It’s probably a quote from Roosevelt or Churchill, but I know it from Spiderman. What he’s saying is that the more power you have, the greater your duty to use it in service of others.

And how about you?

What meaning, substance or even irritation is there for you in the superhero mythology?

Beause it’s an area where I’m really getting loads of personal learning at the moment, I wanted to write something about what it means to be part of a leadership team. Especially, I wanted to explore how to behave in a way which provides the right direction and leadership for the organisation, contributes to that leadership team itself, supports the team leader and gets me what I need from it - all at the same time!

And I say “wanted”, because when I sat down to write about what I felt might be the key points and how-to’s, what actually came up were all the doubts and fears I’d experienced. And that’s maybe a good place to start, because those doubts and fears are the things that will get in the way of the right behaviours, that will derail my best intentions and cloud my view of what’s best for all those involved, including me.

In no particular order then, here’s most of my own doubts and fears that I’ve noticed at board meetings and workgroups etc in various places over the last few months and which have definitely made it harder for me to be an effective member of what might otherwise be a great leadership team:

• there’s not enough time to get this done
• I’ll be blamed when it goes wrong
• everybody else understands something about this that I don’t get
• I haven’t got what it takes to deliver my part of this
• He (she) has got his own agenda - so he’ll never actually do what he said he’ll do
• Everybody else is late/hasn’t prepared/etc - why should I be the only one to be on-time/prepared/etc
• They must be stupid - haven’t they seen what’s going-on/how this worked out before
• I’ve got other commitments and this is just taking up too much of my time and effort
• It’d be more efficient if I took this away and just did it myself
• Nobody here really likes me
• I don’t really like them
• What on earth is she talking about and how can that possibly be relevant
• What will people think of me for doing this
• What’s in it for me again
• They don’t understand the pressures I’m under
• Head Office will slay us all for even thinking this
• Ouch - I just made a brilliant suggestion, why is nobody getting it
• If he says that again for no reason other than to hear his own voice, I’ll go postal
• We’ve all got other stuff we’d rather be doing mate
• How much more than me is this joker getting paid

I’m sure that list is far from complete.

How about you - what gets in the way of you being an effective player on your leadership team?