united we stand

December 14, 2015 Darren Caveney

Managing a team can be a tricky business. Balancing egos, personalities, ideas, grafters, blockers and dodgers. The best teams usually boast a natural leader. Or two.

by Phil Jewitt

There’s a film called The Damned United which tells the story of the managerial partnership of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. Together, they successfully led Derby County and Nottingham Forest to football glory in the 1970s but not so successfully* after they went their separate ways. For those too young to remember or not remotely interested in football, you can replace Brian and Peter with Ant and Dec, The Hairy Bikers or any other successful partners.

It’s probably fair to say none of them would have achieved the success they jointly have without the relationship they created and maintained and their understanding of each other and their teams.

Recent posts by Darren, Paul and Simon explained similar experiences of being a Head of Comms. Relevantly, they all talk about relationships, supporting and being supported by their teams.

journeyman

October 23, 2012 Darren Caveney

When does a journeyman become a master, and does it actually matter? Achieving 25-year's service is a pretty good position from which to call it.

by Phil Jewitt

Last Friday I received the above tokens in recognition of 25 years local government service. I’ll fess up; I was just a bit proud as I was called to receive them at our staff achievement awards. And yes, there was a clock, only a small one but quite heavy, which is my standard measure of quality, mostly used when assessing cakes and puddings! It’s never been about milestones or glory for me though; it’s been about the difference that can be made. So this isn’t a post about the last 25 years, more my reflection on what next; where my public role and public sector service provision is probably heading....what’s on and over that horizon.

because i'm a person

August 23, 2012 Darren Caveney

Like a good chef’s stock, this post has been on the go for a while, but until now it just didn’t have the final finishing touch to roll it out as a menu dish. I’ll come back to this.

by Phil Jewitt

If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know that I’ve been on a journey of discovery, learning by doing; blogging; getting involved with things going on in my city; going where the conversations are; and generally exploring the boundaries of flexible working. It helps being a bit of a nosey bu**er and also being proud of my city.

putting your ear in

June 14, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Phil Jewitt

One of my early posts suggested that to be truly influential, you need to be effective, in both word and deed. I suggested that merely being popular doesn’t necessarily mean you are effective or influential.

I’d also suggest that to be constructively influential you need to have the respect of and respect for others and be trusted to say and do the right thing. On occasions, and as recently highlighted, this also means to not do or say things that don’t help. And we‘ve all done that and regretted it to some extent, haven’t we?

once upon a time...

April 23, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Phil Jewitt

About 18 months ago I was invited to a meeting (and I have a history with meeting invites!) Just a little project to replace Leeds City Council’s intranet and website! There were over 20 people sat round a conference table. We all gave our names and roles and then I thought I heard someone say “and I’m the Scrum master”

“Course you are pal” I thought, “and I’m the Gate Keeper and this is Ghostbusters 4, now let’s crack on cos I’m a busy man”.