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This sounds obvious but how many of us, when asked what we do, tell them exactly that: what we do? What the enquirer really wants to know is what we contribute. Rather than say ‘I configure routers’ perhaps our answer should be more ‘I enable students and researchers to exchange knowledge’. When at management school there was an exercise where we had to come up with a 15 second sound bite that could be extracted from a 1-minute answer. It was quite challenging to come up with a few words which encapsulated a complex business: however, it did help focus on what was important and what wasn’t. I commend this exercise to you in a quiet moment to reality check as to whether you really know what the purpose of your activity is.

Many operational people instinctively prefer to leave the numbers to the bean counters, particularly in a sector which has been substantially grant funded and based on annual cash flow profiles. This may well work in the good times but when the going gets tough it is crucial to know the DNA of the finances. I have found the ‘know your numbers’ factor really resonates with many colleagues in the research and educational information technology discipline. When the budgets are cut, if you don’t know your total cost of ownership and how the costs break down then it is highly unlikely that you will be able to adapt and flex effectively without damaging the quality of provision to those who use the services ... unless of course you were grossly overfunded in the first place!

Occasionally I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder whether the aggressive bottom line driven attitudes I had with some of my customers in the international TV business brought in any more revenue than a more collegiate approach might have achieved. My conclusion is that it did not: if anything such a macho approach, although impressing peers, made less money and certainly gave me grey hair! Any sales person worth their salt has the ambition to become a ‘trusted advisor’ to their customer. We should all strive to be trusted and drive our activity based on honesty and integrity, even when we disagree – I’m still old fashioned enough to believe that this is an effective and pragmatic route to success.

While many of us think we are a superperson, I hate to tell you the species doesn’t exist. Successful leadership is about drawing out the best from all the team. However, this doesn’t happen by magic. In a fast changing environment a good team last year may not necessarily be a good one this year. The game may have changed. A commitment that we have at JANET(UK) is that people in the team will be asked to do challenging things but equally we will ensure that they are equipped to complete the task. If you seek to empower the team it is essential to ensure that they are able and fit to take on such responsibility effectively. Failing to do this leads to organisational dysfunction and failure to achieve targets.

Of course, if this could be done 100% accurately then most of us would now be occupied with our favourite pastime 365 days a year! Just because this is challenging, however, it is no excuse for not trying. In a fast changing technical and political environment it is essential to explore the likely scenarios that are just over the horizon and be able to respond quickly to the options as they become more certain. To sit back and wait for others to ‘tell us’ is a recipe for disaster: indeed not so much for us but more importantly disastrous for those we serve. The legendary ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky said ‘A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.’ I hope that as we all seek to provide great services we will be where the action is going to be tomorrow and not just where it is today.