Making sense of the messy bits.
I have spent most of my working life in the middle of things that are complex, sensitive, and very human. That is probably why I became a People professional in the first place.
I enjoy walking into a situation that feels messy, working out what is actually going on, and turning it into something people can use. A plan. A decision. Sometimes simply a clearer conversation.
I care about the details, but I usually end up asking the larger questions too: Are we solving the right problem? Does this make sense for the business? And how will it feel for the people living through it?
Progress has rarely been a straight line.
Fitness has been part of my life for years, although it would be dishonest to call the journey linear. Injuries and health issues have interrupted it more times than I would have liked. I have stopped, recovered, adjusted, and started again. Every time, I eventually find my way back.
Fitness has taught me that progress is not a perfect streak. It is the slightly less glamorous business of returning after the streak breaks.
A recipe is more of a suggestion.
Baking gives me a different kind of satisfaction. A few ordinary ingredients go in, and if all goes well, something emerges that people are happy to eat.
Cooking comes naturally too, perhaps because I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I make things up, trust my instincts, and discover combinations that somehow work. Thankfully, most of the experiments have been edible.
Sport is my favourite kind of theatre.
Cricket, Formula 1, road cycling: I can happily lose an afternoon to all three. A Test match session slowly changing shape, an F1 strategy call unfolding over a few laps, or a Grand Tour mountain stage where the race finally cracks open.
The result matters, of course. But the tactics, the nerve, and the tiny decisions that create it are usually the part I remember.
I married the person with the itinerary.
I like travelling, but I am not constantly dreaming about the next destination. I did, however, marry someone who is.
So I travel more than I probably would on my own, and I am almost always glad that I did. It is one of the many ways our different personalities balance each other out.
I like that kind of balance. A plan, with room for the unplanned. Serious work, without taking myself too seriously. Honest conversations. Relationships where nobody has to perform.
Curiosity, with a stubborn amount of resilience.
I enjoy the small wins: finishing a difficult workout, making someone laugh, or watching a kitchen experiment turn out far better than it had any right to.
I like understanding how things work and finding simple ways to explain complicated things, whether that is an organisation, a recipe, a body recovering from a setback, or a life shared with someone very different from me.
I was also an avid quizzer from my school days until corporate life quietly ended the active streak. The quizzer is retired now, but only technically. Put a good television quiz on and I will still be answering from the couch, usually with more confidence than the contestant.
I do not always take the most straightforward route. I do tend to keep going, and I usually learn something useful along the way.
