I’ve been really touched by the comments I’ve had on LinkedIn about as well as the notes and messages from my staff I’ve been sent the result of announcing that I’ll be leaving Adur and Worthing in July to take up the post of Chief Executive of Dorset Council in August. Thank you.
As I have said a number of times now it was a bit of an irresistible opportunity for me and while I will hugely miss the team at Adur and Worthing, it feels like a brilliant opportunity to step into the next adventure.
I’m always conscious that what I write here as a process of ‘thinking out loud’ has some additional considerations as a chief executive. This post is a little bit of an introduction as I anticipate new people from Dorset wanting to get to know me a bit from here. I’ve got a lot that I’m thinking about in preparation for starting in Dorset which I want to share safely without people thinking I’m going turn up with a plan when in fact I’ve just got a load of questions I want to explore with the new team there.
For those of you haven’t come across me before might be worth having a look at my ‘why I blog’ blog (though it reads as if it needs a refresh which I will try and get round to between jobs). In short, I write primarily as a way of working through ideas and sharing what I’m thinking with a wider audience. I think was a habit formed during my Phd research and its continued to be invaluable in terms of processing things but also for the feedback that I get from people. Its not quite part of the week notes tradition as I’m not regular enough but close to it.
I feel that it’s an accountability mechanism and things that I write here are ideas that I intend to follow up on.
What’s important to be clear on is that these are my ideas before they’re fully formed and certainly before they’ve been through any kind of process to test them and stretch them in order to decide if it’s what we want to do as an organisation.
As I would imagine colleagues at Adur and Worthing will confirm, these are often the most idealistic versions of my thinking (and usually the most abstract). The reality of what gets decided and implemented is very different. However, what you read here will tend to be where my head is and will also tend to underpin a lot of my thinking and doing so I like to be clear that while I’m being open with my thinking here, I’m also being open to other peoples ideas and that’s this true for people within the organisation is for my wider network.
I believe that there is real power in sharing ideas before they become decisions and in taking the time to reflect when we are all so often on a hamster wheel of reactive action. This is a space where I can do that and I hugely recommend it.
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