Sean's Blog

The local wild garlic patch is flourishing… Most years we make wild garlic pesto; a simple and effective way of using the herb. (I actually prefer it to the more traditional basil pesto).

Ingredients to fill a 300 g Jar (e.g. a sterilised jam jar)

• 80 g wild garlic leaves
• 50 g parmesan cheese
• 50 g pine nuts
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 100 ml olive oil + some more for topping up the jar

Method
1. Wash the wild garlic leaves and dry them carefully (a salad spinner is a great help!)

2. Grate the cheese (We sometimes cheat and buy it already grated)

3. Grind the pine nuts in a food processor and add cheese, salt and pepper

4. Add about 1/2 of the wild garlic leaves and blend

5. Repeat with the remaining leaves

6. Add the olive oil and blend

7. Put in sterilised jar and top up with oil so that the pesto is covered and close lid.

This week I was proud to accept the Best Employers Eastern Region, Most Improved award on behalf of Hundred Houses Society. This recognises our “phenomenal” (their words) improvement in employee engagement since 2016. The award is based on results from ananonymous employee surveys.

Our employees regularly go “above and beyond” what is expected of them to help our customers so ensuring that we support them is really important so inevitably I’ve been reflecting on all the things that we have done and wondering what had the most impact in delivering this improvement. In 2016 we were still in the middle of a large change programme, some of which had been forced upon us. We didn’t have a lot of spare resource, but we knew the support of our employees was critical to achieving all that was planned. We therefore, had to look for a few key things that we could do that would have maximum impact. The areas we focussed on were:

• Supporting our Managers. We started by agreeing what we meant by management so that we all had clear expectations. Inevitably there was a fair amount of agreement but there were a few areas, such a risk management, where we had to take some time to clarify to reach agreement. At the end of this we came up with a simple statement of what was expected of a manager at Hundred Houses. Our managers then identified the areas where they wanted support. Most of this we were able to deliver ourselves, usually over lunchtime by sharing experiences. It seemed there was always someone who was good in the particular area and was happy to share their approach and learning with us. These sessions have now developed into more of a regular management team meeting, where managers provide updates and share information, but they still retain the ethos of learning together.
• Improving Communication. Despite being a relatively small team and all based in one office, we realised that communication was not consistent or comprehensive for everyone. So we introduced an “All Team Briefing” session each month. We delivered this twice so that we didn’t have to close the office and it covered what was going on internally and externally. It gave us the chance to consult on our plans and provide briefings on issues. It also enabled us to get feedback on any issues and concerns, which helped us address these promptly. Our Chief Executive also hosted a few open door sessions to enable people to come and chat about anything they wanted to with her.
• Introducing Coaching.  Our People Strategy included the development of coaching skills, so we started this process with everyone having a half day of training. This helps us all to understand the basics of coaching and how coaching skills could be used by all of us. With this common understanding established some of our team voluntarily took their learning further and then shared this with their teams and colleagues.  which kept a momentum going and started to establish coaching as our preferred way of working. Whilst we still have a way to go, the skills of active listening and asking insightful questions have improved our meetings and communications already.

Although we did several other things, these are the ones that I believe had the most impact for us. It will be interesting to hear what my colleagues, and you, think. Do let me know.

I think many of us would agree that 2016 has been quite an odd year. Mine was no exception so I wanted to take the time to capture what I have learnt. This has been a year for me when I have had more opportunity to stop and reflect. This has been helped by times with caring and insightful friends plus some professional support too.

• Trust is easily misplaced. Some people abused my trust during the year and some people earned it. Some people are not honest to your face – but as I don’t want to live in a world where I fear to trust people I will continue to do so. This means that I will get hurt but I will accept that as the price for living the way that I want to.
• Friends come and go. When things change in your life some friends will offer you support, others may not be able to do so. If your friendship is built on working in the same place it may not survive when one of you moves on. Some acquaintances will become friends and some friends will become acquaintances. Some old friends will reappear when you need them and some won’t. Some friendships are temporary and some are not.
• Resilience grows through adversity. I have survived things I never thought I would have. They have been hard to the extent that I seriously considered committing suicide. I feel stronger now as a result of what I have experienced and I am grateful for what I have experienced.
• Change is inevitable. The Buddhist philosophy of impermanence has resonated with me a lot during this year. I realise how what I thought was good – I didn’t really enjoy at the time because I was frightened of losing it. I have seen that when things are bad they get better.
• Worry is a waste of time. This year has been one of surprises. Not all of them good. Many of the things I worried about, never happened and many of the things that did happen I could not foresee. I am trying to waste less energy worrying in the future and enjoy what I can in the present.
• Work is just a job. Work is important and many of us put a lot of ourselves into our work because we want or have to do so. But it does not define us and jobs can be replaced. Sometimes what we put into our work is not appreciated. Sometimes others take the credit for what you do. Sometimes our best intentions are not acceptable. Sometimes our objectives are not in alignment with others. Sometimes it is easy to find work and sometimes it isn’t. Some work is valued more than other. Some work is paid more than other. These last two especially may bear no correlation to each other.
• Contentment can be found in unusual places. I realised that in rushing around I was not enjoying the good things around me. I appreciate my friends and family more now than at the start of the year. I also find more contentment in daily activities such as driving, shaving and dog walking now. In fact shaving has become a daily delight for me, when previously it was a complete chore. I’ve been able to get a selection of old razors and new soaps. I’ve acquired a skill in using these old razors and get a much better shave now too.
• Truth seems to be irrelevant. I came across the phrase “post-truth politics” during this year. Since understanding what it means I’ve become more aware of it in other areas of my life. I see it on social media and in the work place – people jumping to conclusions or making arguments with little factual basis.  I am trying to keep a more open mind and check my own assumptions before reaching conclusions.
• Compassion is not newsworthy. There is a lot of compassion in our world but it doesn’t seem to get the recognition that it deserves. It is very easy to feel that all around us is going wrong and that as a society we are less caring. But every day there are lots of small kindnesses that make a difference to people on a small scale. It is a shame that collectively we don’t celebrate this more but we should not let that stop us from doing so individually. As the Queen said in her Christmas speech “On our own, we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice, but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine.” – my aim for 2017 is to do more small acts of goodness than I did in 2016.
• Politics is personal. This was the year that I learnt that LGBT people were also sent to concentration camps during the holocaust – as a gay man how could I not have know this before. Possibly because so few LGBT people told their story as they were re-imprisoned after the end of the WWII. Although I was reminded that the animosity towards LGBT people from politicians and religious leaders is political in nature and should not be taken personally – it still hurts me. Maybe it shouldn’t but it does and I hope that inspires me to speak up against hatred when I need to.

So after reflecting on these I do wish you and those you care for a happy and loving new year.

After extolling the virtues of double edged (DE) safety razors a while back I though it was time to give an update on how my new skill is developing. I’m still very much committed to using a DE razor and am still getting a much closer shave than I did with cartridge razors. I get the occasional nick but no more than I did with cartridges and I think they are much finer cuts and therefore seem to heal much faster. I have only had one ingrowing hair and that was after I used my old electric razor for a quick clean up before going out one evening for dinner. When using cartridges ingrowing hairs were a real issues f or me with a couple most months, so this is a major improvement for me.

Time wise I am getting faster, this morning I timed my shave and it took 7 minutes for three passes and a clean up around the chin after not shaving for a couple of days. The resulting shave was excellent. I don’t really know how long I used to take with a cartridge razor and I don’t really want to go back to using one and finding out, but I don’t think it is now taking me much more than three to four minutes longer than it used to.

I treated myself to a Feather “AS-D2” All Stainless DE Safety Razor, a few months ago.
This is made in Japan from 100% stainless steel. It is allegedly like no other safety razor with the craftsmanship and quality of finish being second to none. I use this with Feather blades, which are reputed to be some of the sharpest blades that you can get and I have to admit that the resulting shave is excellent. The razor just glides over my skin and sometime the sound of the hairs being cut is the only sense that I have of the shave. I still use my iKon ShaveCraft 101 Dual Head DE Safety Razor, which I got for Christmas as well. This is particularly useful if I haven’t shaved for a day or so, as the open combed side doesn’t clog up on the first pass. I am currently using this with Personna Platinum Chrome blades. Both of these razors are more expensive than the razors that are usually recommended for men first starting to use DE razors, but the extra costs is easily justified. The handles are much better and less prone to slipping when you hand gets wet and the head covers the whole blade without leaving the ends sticking out. This later is an issues as I have occasionally caught myself on the bits that stick out on the cheaper razors. The whole feel of these razors is my solid and substantial, which I like.

If someone was asking me for advice on starting to use a DE razor now I would suggest that if they could afford it that they started with the iKon, but if they weren’t sure then a cheaper option would be the Muhle R89 DE Safety Razor which I still use from time to time, but just doesn’t give as good results as either the iKon or Feather. I hesitate to recommend the Feather as a starter razor for those for whom money is no object as it does give a much closer shave than the iKon and I wonder whether it might just put someone off if they haven’t learnt how to use a DE razor.

I still recommend checking www.shavelounge.co.uk for any purchases, as not only is the pricing competitive and their service good but they also provide free postage and cash back  too. I you do decide to have a go with a DE razor then I’d love to hear how you get on.

The thinking behind this post began a few weeks ago when someone referred to one of their colleagues as an Human Resources (HR) Advisor. Whilst I understood the sentiment behind this job title, that the majority of HR management should be the responsibility of line managers, it did feel like a bit of abdication to the wider support role we need from our HR colleagues. Initially my thoughts were focussed on their role in ensuring compliance with HR policies and procedures, which led me to think about the monitoring information that I have had about the people who have worked for me in the various organisations that I have worked in. I realised that what information I had received was high level and often only received following a request from me.

For some reason I then started to compare this with the role we expect from our Finance teams in organisations and the contrast seemed quite pronounced. The expectation of advising is clearly there, as was the policing role too. It was around information that they provide to their colleagues when the differences started to become more apparent. Most organisations would expect monthly management accounts, showing the financial performance of the whole organisation and then each constituent part and individual budget holders. Budget holders would expect to be be able to access the detail behind this financial performance and see the transactions making it up. This seemed in stark contrast to the reactive total organisation reporting that I have usually experienced.

What made me more uncomfortable was whether this signifies the relative importance that most organisations place upon the people and their money. I sincerely hope that it is more to do with our expectations and therefore it is up to us to start asking for this information to be provided routinely to help us spot issues before their arise and access to the underlying HR systems. Perhaps this is available in other organisations and I am just behind the times. If so do let me know, otherwise I’d appreciate your thoughts on this.

This week has been simply amazing and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by it still. However I want to start collecting together some of my reflections so that I don’t lose them.

I was privileged to attend the Stonewall Leadership Programme from Wednesday to Friday evening. Thirty six leaders (that’s us in the photo, below with the Stonewall staff) from all walks of life spent this time exploring how to be more authentic and use this to promote more inclusion where we work. In the two and half days we covered so much and most of us found it extremely powerful. I left feeling more confident and energised, with a sense of renewed challenge.

One of my first reflections, however, is about how different it felt working in this group of LGBT leaders to any other group I have worked in. I am fortunate to work in a great team, but even so this felt better. I realised that despite not knowing any of these people before Wednesday I felt more relaxed and had more energy than I usually do. This helped me to work in the various groups with more clarity and increased energy. It helped me to engage more fully in some really challenging discussions, to support others better and enjoy myself more.

When I left the programme on Friday evening I had to quickly change into my dinner suit and drive 100 miles to attend the Norfolk & Suffolk Gay Police Association Winter Ball. This was a fabulous evening, where over 160 people from various police constabularies and other organisations met for dinner, entertainment and dancing. The atmosphere was incredibly relaxed and lots of fun. And despite a long and intense day I did not feel tired, even when leaving in the early hours of Saturday.

In both these environments being gay felt more than ok, it wasn’t just tolerated, it was celebrated. There was no risk of being judged for being gay. On the Stonewall Programme there were lots of intense conversations about other things but it was completely safe to reveal that the love of my life was another man. At the Winter Ball I could dance with husband without worrying whether it would offend anyone.  I felt more than just safe, I felt accepted. And I have been amazed at what a difference this made to. When I was walking the dog yesterday I wondered if this is was other people feel most of the time. If so I wondered if they realised how lucky they are not to constantly worry about what people’s reaction to an innocent revelation that indicates I live with and love another man. I wonder if women in the work place could relate to this at all. I wonder if this anxiety, and the constant monitoring that attends it, are justified or just in my head. I know my colleagues would try to reassure me that my concerns should not apply in our workplace. Maybe some of this relates to my past experiences of judgement and exclusion for being gay. Sadly even today I don’t think many environments are truly inclusive and accepting of the diversity of individuals in them. I still don’t think we have really worked out how to create synergy from diversity.

But I do think that this week I have had a glimpse of the personal impact of how much more I can achieve and how much better I feel them I am in one of those environments. I want to capture that and work out how to use it to explain to others the potential that this represents. Have I managed to give a sense of that here?