In looking to take on a leadership role my experience has shown me that while the specific goals and actions are important. It is even more important to understand the philosophies that drive one. What ideals and philosophies does a leader hold close to them? The things that help them frame the unknown as they encounter it and the driving ideals that help set those goals and actions.
So I’d like to detail some of the philosophies and ideals that I have come to use to help me learn and make decisions for the future. None of these are absolutes and often require context to apply most effectively. But they represent the starting point of my learning and decision process. They influence and colour my views and choices knowingly.
At the top is the idea that no one should needlessly feel fear for themselves or others. This is one of those things that has been planted by my parents and society, and then refined by family, friends, education, and life experiences. I want to help create a world and a society where no one needs to fear for their safety. Where people are warm, safe, able to improve themselves. Where people feel safe to show vulnerability when they need help. This concept has driven me to help build teams where each person supports each other, lifting the whole higher than could be done individually.
If you’ve taken a look at my CV then the next will be familiar. Technology must be used to make our lives better. Our ability as humans and as a society to iteratively develop and improve tools has helped us change the world. However that same technology has been abused to needlessly destroy lives and environments. I want to develop and use existing and new technology to make our lives better. That can be as complex as traveling around the world without emitting pollution, or as small as installing barriers to create a protected pathway. We did not get to the world we have in one giant leap. And we will not make it better in one giant leap either.
The next is related to when things go wrong. It can be summed up as “It is almost never a single person’s fault.” My 30+ years of life and 10+ years of software development has shown me that when something fails or goes wrong, it can rarely be traced back to a single person making a decision without influence. When things go wrong we must explore the entire cause, especially the parts that will make us uncomfortable where we played a part. Whether that is because of a decision we made, or because we did nothing to push back when we could do. This philosophy has hurt me many times as I have reviewed my own mistakes or participated in root cause analysis efforts. It is not pleasant but it has always helped me become a better person and help build a better culture.
The last of my big philosophies is both disheartening and supportive. Lasting change is long hard work. No matter how obvious something is or how much buy in you get, my life experiences have shown me that large lasting change rarely happens quickly. And in many cases where it seemed to happen overnight, you can find in the history where it had built up and up until the pressure was just waiting for one last thing to give way. This philosophy has helped me keep my drive and mind on changing things even when it hasn’t had any short term improvements. By continually working at the changes that I have decided on I have been able to make small change after small change. And then suddenly I look back and see I’ve made a big overall change. I have used this philosophy at the individual level and the commercial level, implementing lasting changes that have made the life of others, and myself, better.
So over the next few weeks and months as I put up specifics about what I think we need to work on in Wellington City. I want you to take a moment to understand the context in which they were made. And I hope, to think about the philosophies that drive and guide yourself.