Its been 3 weeks since I was in Pakistan – an action packed visit with Penny, OGB’s International Director, along with Oxfam NOVIB’s International Director, Theo and Regional Director, Anjo – flying from one end of the country to the other, taking in Oxfam staff teams, OGB and NOVIB partners, the occasional parliamentarian and old friend or two. It was a busy week but we still found time (mainly in the back of cars on bumpy roads) to reflect on where Pakistan, the country is going, how change might happen and how organisations like Oxfam engage in that process – it’s a tough year ahead for Pakistan I think……

But as ever there are moments of joy when you visit communities and see the impact of all actors working together – I had one such moment on this visit – in a field in Sindh.

The Government of  Sindh had decided to allocate some government land to poor women headed household – progressive I hear you say – indeed – one of our Partners decided to support this process in enable women to know about the allocations and how to apply (sounds simple but in a rural area with low literacy rates – just how do you get your messages across?) – many were successful (although a number had their allocations contested – rich landowners contested their ownership – and them with little redress). Power in action…

We met one amazing woman who talked to us at her 3 acre field holding her deed of entitlement . She had been given by the partner through an Oxfam grant,  a starter kit of seeds and fertilizer to grow her own wheat – since that first crop – she has saved some for her family and sold the rest, raising enough money to buy new seeds and even to hire labour when she needs.

She is an older women whose family has grown – so this is her dream which will keep her in income for the rest of her life – she was clear that she didn’t need more land nor did she want to try new crops – this was enough – this was the improvement in her life she needed to be happy.

We asked her what her husband (who was sitting across the path from her) thought about her being a landowner – she replied that theirs was a long-term love – and he supported her and wanted her to be happy.

I asked how she had learnt to deal with all the new things that come with owning land – hiring labour, getting a good price, learning how to plant and harvests – and she said - when I got my land I got my brain! And that is power in action!

Inspired or rather maybe concerned by the number of questions about how I manage my time as Regional Director – I set about thinking how I do my work and what lessons I may be able to share – these won’t work for everyone, so take what is useful for you

So here goes;

1. Talk – to your line manager, your colleagues – so that you are clear about what you should be focusing on – keep that conversation going – talking through issues and challenges is a real way to come to solutions
2. Plan – you Do need to plan – an annual workplan for your team, with clear priorities – develop a 3 month plan for yourself so you know what your contribution is to the bigger plan – then plan at a weekly or monthly levels. Plan any trips or work outside the office in advance to that you can fit your other work around trips or meetings
3. schedule - I know you may not be the type of person who likes to plan ahead – but scheduling/keeping a diary/using your LN calendar is a real practical way to keep track of your commitments (and lets others know how busy you are!). It will ensure that you make the most of your time
4. To do list - yes we all need them – I have one for every day and its very satisfying when you are able to cross things off – it will also show you when you are putting things off – when they keep appearing on the list!! I use post its for a daily to do list!
5. Do the hard stuff first - I try to do one hard thing (or one I don’t like) first thing in the morning because then the rest of the day will seem easy! We all need to tackle things we don’t like – so tackle them head on – courage!
6. Time to think – plan in some time to think – whether to have a paper to write or a PIP to revise – so you will need some head space to decide what and how – put aside a couple of hours every month, plan it in your diary, find a quiet space in which to work. Giving ourselves thinking time helps us to work more productively
7. Keep people informed - you can’t do everything all the time – so if you are not going to be able to make a meeting or a deadline – inform people – renegotiate – have a discussion about priorities – silence won’t help anyone!
8. finally, keep TALKING - there are plenty of people out there who can help you sort through the complexities of work and expectations – use them!

So there we go – not all the answers but some things that work for me

Thank you to Mobeen from the Pakistan programme who inspired me to write this post

Good luck with getting your ducks in a row (i.e. getting more organised and using your time better!!)

I had some tough questions at my webinar this morning about Leadership – so that got me into reflective mode – many of the questions were about ‘difficult ‘ situations, disagreement in teams, how to get ownership in decision-making. I wondered if the reality of the Leadership challenge is ‘doing difficult things’ or the fear of doing difficult things….

I guess it all starts will ‘me’ or ‘i’ – when I think about where I get my ability, strength, confidence to tackle the ‘difficult’ things – I know it comes for knowing what the consequences are if I don’t tackle this issue well, on time and in a sensible and straight forward way – much easier to get the ‘difficult’ thing done before the morning coffee break, than wait ‘until the time is right’ – believe me the time will never be right!

Confidence and self belief is a real critical factor in being able to tackle tough situations – knowing you have back up – from your manager, your team, your colleagues or your friends – helps! There is no substitute for experience here – I find I draw on it all the time – you need to think of so many factors as a leader when you go into a tough situation – appearance, tone of voice, environment, all play a part – as do evidence, triangulated information – but sometimes you just need courage!

Leadership for me is putting yourself out there – being prepared to do things your find hard or difficult and in doing so role modelling authentic leadership

You might not think that a Christmas should be celebrated with flowers – but I think differently. I was brought up to love flowers – Mum has always loved her garden and in later life, flower arranging – both doing and teaching and if you ever want to give me anything (apart from the diamonds of course) flowers would be great!

I was up in Chiang Mai for the Christmas weekend – the air was cool (but still not cold enough to warrant a jacket) – staying in the slight excentric family run hotel which overlooks the river Ping and does great breakfasts – and even better has no TV – so I forced myself to get outside and to explore.

I am in Chiang Mai for the marathon – no not to run 42km just the 10km, but I am taking the opportunity for the first time to visit the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011 – a celebration of all things horticultural and flowered! I catch the shuttle bus out of the city and arrive a huge car park where queues of people are waiting patiently to get through the gates – armed with an entrance ticket and one for the big wheel, I find a map and plan (yes I am planned) my route. I don’t look at my watch for another two and half hours.

First the Orchids for me (and my mum who would love it) – I am still amazed at the beauty and variety of flowers, which in the UK are rare and expensive – large bunches of blue, small yellow, red spidery ones, huge majestic white single stems. Heaven. There is even an orchid jungle – each orchid linked to an animal – cats, deer, snakes….I sent photos to mum!

I want to go on the big wheel, to see the views, but I decide to look at the country gardens first – what kinds of gardens do Kenya, Omar, Netherlands have? Well, Netherlands is tulips and cows and the other deserts and grasses – I like the Nepal and Japan gardens best – simple, fresh. It’s strange; on entering each garden from a country I know I was immediately transported to that place – by smell and texture..

The the big wheel, I share a pod with two Thai men who lean over the rails excitedly taking photos – they then take one of me ….the view of the Royal Pavillion is wonderful – the driveway, the gold and bright red from the poinsettia. I take a closer look when I am on the ground again.

I finish off my visit  in a blanket of sunflowers beaming yellow smiles at all who visit

What a wonderful afternoon!  - I did my run the next day – not in a personal best, but it was satisfying to know I had celebrated my Christmas with flowers and a run before most people had even woken up!

This week we celebrated 6 months as Asia region - to recognise our achievements, get to know each other better  and plan together we had a regional centre retreat at the Thamasat University Learning Centre in Pattaya – the theme of the 2 days was ‘Stories of Success’.

We learnt and enjoyed together – from a teasure hunt, to MBTI (google it!), to vision and strategy – we are learnt about each other as a team and planning together helps!

But one of the things I enjoyed the most were people’s stories – long or short, complex or straight forward – everyone has contributed to the success of the new region – we came away motivated and inspired.

 Here I am telling my story (hope you like the apron!)  – the picture is me celebrating – arms in the air – and the story is about  how after leading the change process for 6 months – leading from the front – at the last RegionalManagement Team meeting  I felt for the first time that I had a team in place that I could trust, could delegate to, who were ready to lead alongside me!

We followed up the story telling theme with a webinar on Thursday (see the link for a recording of the session) where we explored the power of stories and how we can use them to get our message across -  Asad told us his child so loves stories that they have to tell stories as often as they eat – hence rice, fish and stories……

We talked about having a story of the year competition as a way of learning from each other as well as us all developing our story telling skills…watch this space

In the mean time I look forward to hearing more of YOUR stories!

As always food plays an important role in any visit to a Country Programme – I was travelling north in Sri Lanka to Vavuyina, once the heart land of the occupied territory and now a thriving town full of optimism.

I was last in the north 5 years ago and certainly the context has changed a great deal and our Oxfam programmes are doing their best to adapt to the new situation – maintaining relevance whilst building on our relationships and partnerships.

It was great to see how the diary project has developed – we visited a Milk Collection centre, fresh milk was arriving in all sorts of containers to be tested for quality and added to the farmers running total of milk for the month. The cooperative adds value to the milk by making ghee, yoghurt, toffee and ice cream.

The members have seen their income rise and they have plans to expand their products and markets.

It was only 9 am and I had already drunk 3 cups of hot milk and eaten a big slab of toffee!

The communities are hugely resilient – families are getting on with their lives – kids are going to school and women looking for sustainable ways to increase their incomes.

Families are also moving back to their land – some of which has not been used for 30 years – Oxfam and partners are renovating tanks – large lakes made 100s of years ago to irrigate farm land and already the first paddy crops in 30 years are growing . I opened the first irrigation gate – cause for celebration.

So after more milky tea ( a missed meeting the Government Agent), a Chinese dinner with the team, we set off in the early morning for Colombo and of course had to stop for breakfast on the way – fresh fresh string hoppers, all the trimmings , all on a freshly picked lotus leaf!

I was able to grab a little time at the Programme Leadership Team meeting yesterday to show our new prezi presentation on the Regional Strategic Framework – it was a proud moment for me – being able to demonstrate our huge progress in the newest OGB region in a way that was innovative and powerful – many thanks to all those involved in the framework development and presentation design…..a  video of the strategy is on the intranet……

oh and the UK everyone has gone Christmas crazy! and this is the first Christmas tree…