This is actually true. And I have a picture to prove it with.

Sandflies are such lovely friendly creatures.. I’m sure their bites are just playful ones. The important thing is not to scratch when you get bitten. Also, and I dunno if this is truly true – but it certainly seems that the longer you are here the less they annoy you. Which is why it’s always good to travel with tourists.. they get munched :)

So today Laura and I had a trip on Doubtful Sound. It’s a beautiful place, and a lot less crowded than Milford. The weather was overcast and a little rainy. Not a particularly uncommon occurrence for a place that gets 6m or so of rain a year.

Back in 19somethingOrOther they wanted to build a power station on the lake. This meant they would have to raise the level of the lake by 30!m. There was political pressure brought – and they conceded to only a raise of 6m. More pressure came on – and it (very fortunately) became an election issue. The arrogant ;) government lost – and the hydro scheme was only permitted to go ahead if it would operate within the natural limits of the lake.

yay.

And it’s a pretty damn cool power plant – buried deep in the heart of a mountain. The water falls 170m or so down a hole they drilled in the mountain, powers the turbines, and then out a 10km long hole out to the sea.

Will be back that way again – I’d like to do the Dusky Walk at somepoint. 6-10 days (depending on weather) of hiking through mud. Sounds great eh?

This guy was pretty damn clever. There was some law which (they changed quickly) which disallowed building a structure which was built on the land. However, this guy built this structure on top of piles he drove into the lake bed. Quite Legal. DOC took him to court, lost, and has to leave the place here. Personally I think it’s quite nicely done – a nice quirky addition to the lake. He is not allowed to use it for accommodation, nor sell it – nor anything other than the stated purpose of crayfishing.

Incidentally – crayfish caught here are put on ice and wake up 12 hours later in Japan. Good for global warming.

In the middle of the left hand picture is a small white speck. It is in fact a Fiordland crested penguin which are now an endangered species.

Sometimes.. it’s things like this that make me feel like I need to get myself a digital SLR with a funky zoom.

So my friend Laura arrived in on the Sunday evening. Had a very nice (even if I do say so myself) dinner with Graham & Myra, Glynn & Jayne (who are now in Europe) and Mark and I. A good dinner chased down by a bottle of wine & whiskey aperitif – and Laura was quickly on her way to getting over jet lag!

Monday morning, locked the door and left the place under the constant protection of our Security Ducks. As other ppl in the house have been feeding the things they’ve taken to lurking outside hoping for a feed. I continually disappoint them in this – but it never stops them.

Anyway..started the long (9 hour) drive down to Te Anau. It really is a stunning drive. We didn’t have fantastic weather and so weren’t able to see Mt. Cook on the way past Lake Tekapo.

Arriving into the lake front backpackers down there at 9pm ish. Real shame the hot spa was closed – would have been most welcome.

I think the ducks must have got lonely without me – as there were more down in Te Anau..

… you suddenly find a blip. Doesn’t happen all the time.. but sometimes.

So Andrew.. my incredibly kind soon to be xish boss offered to have me come over today and look over the car – put a seat in the back etc. His seat didn’t fit so off we headed to see if we could get another…

On the way it seemed (ok, was) the clutch was slipping.. and most likely needs to be replaced. This is a shame

I really do not know what I have done to earn this.. but Andrew again offered me the use of his BMW for the upcoming road trip (starting Monday – my friend Laura from TCD days arrives tomorrow).. and he is also going to get the clutch fixed. Far too kind. Probably a blessing in disguise though – I was looking forward to campervanning around… but best to have it properly broken in first I suppose – and much better that it happened here rather than 1/2 way to Mt. Cook.

I am hoping that this is not going to be the start of a long list of issues. But I don’t think it will.

I am officially unemployed again. Happily so. And temporarily (I hope). I have applied for a new job within the Ministry. Hopefully doing similar tasks to what I have been doing for the last while – but for the wider ministry and not only the contact centre. It’s exciting.

It is also really quite scary. I have been unbelievably fortunate to have worked for the last 2 1/2 years with my boss Andrew. He’s a great guy. Quite maverick in a lot of things he does. Which I respect a lot. I suppose be bends rules a lot – but always delivers the results…

When I arrived in NZ 3 years (and 2 weeks) ago – it took me quite a few months to get this job. And it was luck – a lot of it. After laboring for a day.. and door to door sales followed by an admin job – I landed the job answering phones in the contact centre.

After a month or so of dropping hints – finally got to start work on their systems.. programming. I was lucky in that I got a lot of flexibility with my working life – and I like to think Andrew and the contact centre did well out of having their own helpful developer :)

Within reason I have been able to work very flexible working hours – as long as the work gets done. Sometimes I work late, sometimes early .. free to take off a little early for the weekends etc. Andrew has been really open to suggestions for improving the working environment. We have a pool table :) … stress relief massages.. fresh fruit around the office.

Actually the fresh fruit idea is a really good and easy one. I highly reccommend it. Twice (maybe three) times a week we send out for fruit – they even deliver. Keeps the workforce happy & heathier. If I move into a new work place I will definitely try to get that one going.

Andrew put me on the PRINCE2 project management course (still awaiting results).. and has always been keen to push me and expose me to different areas of the business – sitting on the management team for the contact centre. I dunno – physically I will just be moving about 30m further down the building.. but for all that I know it’s going to be different.

And.. for some still inexplicable reason to me, I decided to leave all that. What a frickin’ idiot I must be.

And, being honest, I am really pretty worried about my new position. Not because I don’t think I’ll be able to do it (though there will be stretch no doubt).. but because I think they’re going to try and make me wear a tie and be in the office 9-5. And.. truthfully.. I’ve become quite happy and accustomed to my relaxed flexible lifestyle.

I came here, and stay here for the lifestyle. If I wanted heaps of cash and career opportunities I’d move back to Dublin / London and go work in the city for some consultancy firm.

So… I’m not quite sure how this is all going to pan out. Especially the tie thing. I mean I just don’t get it?.. I’m going to be coding not meeting & greeting. While no doubt some ppl will think I’m being pathetic (and maybe I am a bit).. I just don’t see the point if I am not meeting customers. When I do – then I wear a suit .. no worries.

Maybe I’ll just have to get a doctors certificate explaining ties give me panic attacks if I wear them too often.

So, to ease myself into a more structured working life again.. (though I will fight that with everything I have) .. I am taking off 5 weeks holiday now.. then back working from Jan->March – and then off to Africa for a further 5 weeks.

I’ll be poor – but happy :)

I am very fortunate in where I work (I feel). There are quite a few perks which come along from time to time. One of which is that every month there’s an outfit here called the knowledge gym. Every month they run a morning (3 hour) seminar on a particular topic.. often quite interesting (which is a refreshing change from some corporate talks!)

Anyway – this month it was given by a guy called Colin James and the title of his presentation was ‘The 8 Powers of Leadership’

He’s a very interesting person – fled South Africa during the Apartheid regime (for rioting) and has had a pretty eventful life it must be said. Anyway, a year ago or so he was invited by the UN to India. There he met 10 other people (he didn’t really have a clue what it was all about) and the facilitator of the meeting basically said “and now you will discuss what makes effective leaders”

So they chose some roll models (Mandela, Churchill etc) and then for the following 4 days basically tried to work out what makes them tick. What they do differently from other people to make them effective.

After all, as Colin said, we’re in dire need of more effective leadership in the world.. not looking at anywhere in particUSlar…

I am going to give a brief description of the 8 powers he described. I am also going to waffle (more anecdotes etc.) in the podcast at the end of this posting. I hope you will enjoy – I know I did.

All these drawings were by Colin during the talk – reproduced here with his kind permission.

The Power to Withdraw

The Power to Withdraw is all about taking time out at somepoint during the day for reflection. It takes time and effort to know yourself – and only then I guess can you lead others. This will help you attain a position of responsiveness rather than reactiveness. Ghandi used to use his spinning wheel for an hour or so a day.

So, I am going to try (admittedly haven’t done this yet) to try and sit for half an hour or so when I come home after work.. and just try not to get distracted.

I am also thinking of maybe trying to get myself on a Vipassana course. Sounds pretty damn hard (and weird) but we’ll see. There’s a course after Christmas for 10 days. Not sure if there will be space left on it though.

Added (way late!) on 7-10-2008… While Vipassana does have benefits I am sure, it did trigger a manic/depressive episode for me… which has quite literally taken 2 years to get over!. There was *no* history of mental illness in my family so it came as a surprise.. not saying it’s not worth doing – but be aware that it is a serious strain and undertaking! You have been warned :)

The Power to Pack Up

It was found that people with good leadership skills have the ability to pack up and leave behind their past problems. Everyone has had bad times in the past. Even me ;) But the important thing is not to dwell on them. Not to (his words) justify your continued misery & inflicting yourself on others just because of past injustices. Not to become (again his words!) flesh coloured stockings full of puss. Harsh!

This is not to diminish past injustices – not to say they weren’t bad bad times – but to have the ability to draw a line underneath and move on. Not to turn into a ‘When We’ person. This I thought was a quite a nice idea – y’know (and we’ve all done it ;) ‘When we were on holiday’ … ‘when we got a car’.. ‘when we had a fight’… when we people :)

He made the point / suggestion that all culture is invented. For example, in some cultures they put plates in their lips. Is this a good thing? It is good to let go of past habits / ideas which inhibit choices for the future… this in turn can lead to new ways of thinking.

The Power to Face Up

This was one of my personal favourites – and I will tell the story of it in the podcast.

Basically this is about having the power to say & do what is necessary. How much do we compromise in our lives? In our business meetings?

And.. his suggestion ..

1. 1. Get your Go To Hell kit ready (enough money tucked away that
      you could loose your job tomorrow and be fine)

1. 1. Put $3 million imaginary dollars in your back pocket

The idea is simple. If we had 3 million in our back pocket we would be financially quite stable! (unless we were mugged of course)… and in turn this would mean that if we did speak up there would be no fear of economic career limiting consequences for these actions!. Currently I do not feel I need to compromise much at all in my current job – but I am going to try and keep this mentality. It doesn’t mean you have to be a belligerent muppet of course..

The Power to Merge

The idea here – well – the picture represents a polluted river flowing into the sea. If shit gets thrown at you during the day then you let it wash through you and disperse. Don’t dwell on the negative things. Move on :)

And never, ever, to take things personally (though I suppose again this is a hard thing to do..)

Also to have a healthy sense of humour about yourself.

The Power to Be Decisive

It was found that leaders had the ability not to have to wait for all the information on a particular topic before being able to make a decision. That is, they had the ability to distill information and then make a rational decision based on their assessment.

The counterpoint to being decisive is the effect of procrastination in our lives (I am extremely guilty of this one I feel.. quite happily drifting along at the moment!)

The Power of Tolerance

The picture here represents a stone being thrown at a mango tree. You have something nasty thrown at you – but give something sweet back.

He had quite a sad / beautiful story of a bum he met in downtown Sydney.. the guy had been a lawyer and one thing had led to another and he had fallen into bad times. and the bum asked him “Would he have walked on by if I had been a
wounded dog? – or called for help”

The default should be a culture of respect. Not the arrogant attitude that ‘respect needs to be earned’.. like we have a coveted bag of respect that we only hand out to certain people – who we like or who we can benefit from. Better to treat everyone with respect.

Do we have a public face and a private one? Do we say things behind eachothers’backs?

The Power to Discriminate

It was found that great leaders have a rich epistemology. That is – they have experienced a lot in their lives – often through great hardship I guess. It is through trying and experiencing many different things that we can learn to know ourselves well – and in turn make quality decisions.

Or something. I’m not sure I’ve explained this one too well!

The Power to Co-Operate

Fairly understandable this one I suppose. You’re not a leader if you ain’t got anyone following you!

There are different styles of leadership. People who work well on their own / way out in front of the group. People who are lead a team – and people who are led by the team. Different contexts will require different styles.

Anyway, I feel like I have waffled on enough. Apologies if you didn’t like it – but I thought there was some good stuff in there … so thought I would share (more stories etc. in the podcast)