Name: Christopher Hayman

Title: Senior Social Worker

Organisation: Beaufort Skipton Health

Earlier parliamentary and social group research work, with occaisonal projects ongoing, academic activity and a focus on private + state sector vocational training, including an Australian Asian joint venture over ten years in the earlier 2000's.

Additionally I have had a parallel and personally rewarding set of roles/exoeriences on + off in counselling + social work + now combine this with fronting as overseas funding board Chair a small faith based locally emanating school planting, development NGO in Uganda while based in Australia, with links to UK + Denmark.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Christopher's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Juggling remaining effective as team or area leader of whatever transactional activity one has directly under ones responsibility WITH collegial relations with other senior managers. That is under that type of an overall titular "leader" who ' plays off' or has different approaches' ' shifts' 'nuances' for each senior manager under them. Insofar as that might see myself too often out in cold, last to know, guzumped, not invited to 'that particular party' ( when it seems everyone else got their invitation) Or at least was not told that I was not invited to be that much not, or involved at all, in ' that' particular project or operation or change.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

Almost always by being "annointed" by a charismatic leader who then began by using me as a researcher, confidant, associate then assigned other supervisory roles re to others undertaking transactional work in SMEs

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

When in management I'm afraid I often did work late and some/ many weekends / public holidays usually NOT Sundays though ensure I 'always' arrived earlier than most ( not all) . Always attend ONE water cooler opportunity usually avoiding lunches with clients, other managers, staff and if not in charge who was. Morning always in office till 10 and AIM to be in office hour before most people leave esp on Fridays when things ' always' crop up. Phones, video links covid notwithstanding tried to keep this up

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

NO leadership style, personality type, a person who uses well or ill the various experiences they have had, or possesser of innate or any particular set of a serendipitous collectivity of interior or exterior skills will EVER fit EVERY tactical issue they need to tackle NOR develop + follow through with every strategy or choose the right strategy every time. YET even today too many people ( Boards, regulatory framework writers, Consultants, HR ,head-hunters, seem to think they 'are' themselves or can 'build' for anyone else or any particular situation such a 'robot' to slot into place.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

W Edwards Deming ( as facilitator of The Ford Mazda Study ( + in terms of explaining / illustrating the various Deming points / cycle etc )

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Find a good leader to mentor you preferably employ you or find one at church, temple, stupa, Joss House, Mosque, voluntary, business or political or civic activity or LISTEN as many times and as possible over as many years as possible to any close relative who actually ( if they did) build any successful enterprise from.the ground up..

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

The time I got so annoyed at the previous manager for ' over complicating' the organisation of X process ( involving say 100 y sub processs) that when he left company I decided to not do what he did for one of the y sub processes hired a van packed, loaded, unpacked it all by myself assuming I would take 4 hours total 12 hours later I was still doing it ).. If I'd done what I wanted to do for all of these sub sets of X process as I assumed coukd be done easier quicker with just a bit more ' grunt' by a few super heroes like me instead of a larger team of the laziest people we could find, so to speak, a 2 to 6 to 8 plus week activity, all of X, which sometimes used to blow out to 12 weeks (with a few outliers) plus would have become a much much longer nightmare of constant activity..