Author: Stephen Drain

Hi everyone, I am a Partner in PwC in Auckland New Zealand. I lead PwC Forensics Services and support PwC Partner Leadership Development. My particular area of focus in leadership is Authenticity.

A summer’s day in the city

You don’t need to go away to enjoy an exotic summer’s day. There’s so many cruise ship tourists downtown at the moment, stepping out for lunch it can almost feel like you’re on holiday.

I got chatting to a couple from England on the escalator in Westfield Downtown the other day. They were staying in Mt Eden, visiting their daughter and family.Summer in Auckland

“This place has changed a lot since we were last here seven years ago” he said, “there’s well a lot more, feels like a European city now and there’s you know…“, more people I offered “yes a lot more people, it’s really gone ahead“.

We parted after this brief exchange. We’re all ambassadors for our country and city. I didn’t really have much to add, they were clearly loving their time in Auckland on a hot summer’s day and wanted to share their enthusiasm.

It’s easy to ignore the pleasure of what we have every day. Outsiders can see it quite differently.

On a summer’s day in the city.

Stephen

Who knows you?

Not who you know. That’s what was suggested to me at lunch time with a challenge “there’s a blog for you!” He’s not wrong. It got me thinking. The idea is that if you need to spread the word about yourself then it’s a far better measure of who is talking about you than who you can connect with.

The power of leverage. But it raises a more significant question. What are you known from? What might be being leveraged In a wider network? Or maybe it doesn’t matter: “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about”.

In a strategic approach to marketing yourself you will want to grow connections (virtual and real) and ensure people are talking about you, and what you have to offer.

An authentic leader won’t be too concerned about the message which is being spread but rather they will embrace Wilde’s message, comfortable about the message which is spread.

But more importantly, the authentic leader will have answered the question posed by my friend and this blog.  By making certain they know themselves first.

So yes, it’s a blog alright! About you. And me.

Stephen

Competition for Carlton

Saving up my paper round money I bought the beautiful Raleigh Royale 5-speed from Linwood Cycles, I think for about $145. It was a lovely machine, I wanted a ten speed but this was the machine on offer at the right time. It got stolen once by local ratbags (who turned into more serious criminals I learned), but I recovered it. So when I traded it up for a Carlton Competition from the bike shop in Papanui Road, I memorised the serial number and for some strange reason that number has stayed with me.

Rides up Dyers Pass Road, all around the Port Hills and Banks Peninsula, no helmet but toe clips to add power. I was so taken with it I kept it in my bedroom. Gleaming white and fast.

A few decades have gone by and I’m back on a road bike. The principle is the same, but a few things have improved. Weight, combined brake and gear shift levers, smoother gear shifts and a computer that tells me things I don’t yet know what they are (but apparently if I keep it at 80 then I’m having a good workout I think). The tyres seem pretty skinny and although there’s a puncture repair kit under the seat the Uber App might be the solution if I’m on my own when the inevitable happens! Chris at Cyco told me that you don’t glue patches onto the inner tube any more! Crushed. Toe clips have been replaced by clip in shoes and so far so good, I haven’t forgotten to come out at the lights.

Cycling is really so so much fun and being back on a commuter bike for the last 18 months I’ve learned quite a bit, with mostly good experiences. The road bike though, takes me back to being a teenager and the freedom I felt on the bike then is back.

I never articulated to myself at the time that it was freedom-giving, but for sure that’s what it was then, and what it is now.

The Carlton was a beauty at the time, just as the new one is special now.

So although Trek won’t be coming into the bedroom anytime soon, it’s a link back to an early experience of a most important value that so many don’t have.

Stephen

p.s.  Linwood Cycles is still there, by the look of Google Maps in the same place.

302 and 303

Apart from the colour they looked quite similar. 303 was a creamy white while 302 chestnut brown. They had two friends, but we couldn’t see their numbers. At our first viewing up the drive from our holiday house 303 seemed quite taken aback and aggressive. it didn’t look like they had too much in the way of human interaction.The curious leaders

They were good looking cows (however you measure looks on a cow I’m not sure!) and were pretty happy in their field of grass, flowers and weeds.

Next time down the driveway, same thing, 303 was on full alert while his mates showed some interest then went back to their grazing.

Each time was much the same, so we called 303 the “boss”.

Once we stayed a while once. Curious. Which is what 303 was. A little aggressive at first, probably unsure, but he seemed just plain curious about us.

Curiosity. Something you want in your leader.