Joining a new organisation and becoming the new boy again is daunting. A great friend of mine recently moved roles inside the NHS and created a ‘Manual Of Me’ to share with his new colleagues, I loved the idea so much that, with his permission, I have done the same. I figured if I was open about ‘me’ from the beginning I hopefully will get off to a quicker start and be the best leader I can be for my new team and the whole organisation.
So here goes…
Manual Of Me
The basics you should know about me are…
I’m Richard Corbridge, answering to Rich or Richard (this all started as there were too many Richards in the team). I love being in the office but I do like to get home at night too to make sure the family are all happy, hybrid working was made for me.
I’m here to ensure that technology and data and all the permutations of what we collectively call digital can aid in the transformation of every touch point for every citizen. I know that technology done right can make a brilliant difference for everyone.
I am a people person, I care about the teams I work with and I am passionate about how we build a diverse group that can answer any question by leaning into our team and getting support from friends and colleagues.
I don’t believe in IT people being separate to ‘the business’ and try hard to always be part of OUR business.
My experiences in IT are across healthcare and retail. I like to think I have tried every part of the “IT Department” but as soon as I say that I find a new thing to push myself into.
Is there anything better than getting technology in front of someone who has a problem and seeing them delight at the solution?
The best way to give me feedback is…
Feedback is the answer to the problem, if I am doing something you don’t like tell me. Equally if you like what you see and want more tell me that too.
Feedback can be delivered in all forms to me and I know sometimes it is a hard message to give and I accept written can be easier than verbal, but I don’t bite so tell me how it is.
I pride myself on making sure that I say thank you for the things that my colleagues do, if I am missing something somewhere in the team that is great I want someone to point it out for me so I can say thank you to the people doing the hard work.
I work brilliantly together with…
A challenge and I want to learn so my perfect partner at work is someone who is keen to share what they are doing to help me understand better what I can do.
I want to be the ‘obstacle remover’ so colleagues can get on with the job.
Its great to have an agenda and capture what we are going to do next after we have had time together but I also trust people to follow up and follow through on what we agree.
Beyond work, I’m really passionate about…
I am part of a ‘blended family’, we describe it as “shares” in two amazing children who mean the world to me. I am passionate about being with them and giving them the best life experiences I possibly can.
I love to learn, to hear something new and understand why something happens.
I collect vinyl records and cook books, they are an ‘investment’ I pretend!
My wife is my rock, without her I would be quite lost I think, we enjoy so much together and believe that is the secret of nearly always waking up with a smile!
My perfect Sunday morning is a walk with my wife and my dog, cooking a long sprawling dinner for my family, some lovely music to sing and dance to and a film with the five of us gathered around together.
My best working patterns look like…
I have always been an early bird, paper rounds before school means my body clock is annoying as I am one of those people that can jump out of bed when the alarm clock goes off.
I like time to focus but I love time to collaborate with people. A problem shared being a problem halved is something that I believe in.
After many years supporting big systems in healthcare and retail when an incident arises I like to know about it, I like to be part of the communications around it, but I also know that there are people with a lot more knowledge than me fixing it so I never mind being told to back off or but out.
I believe that ‘IT People’ can and should be the driving force of transformation and love nothing more than seeing real bits of our business change for the better because of something that IT can offer.
I love to meet teams and colleagues and simply find out about what is in the way of them achieving what they get up for. I think my job is to make sure everyone can be the best them in the work they do.
When I’m dealing with stress…
I want to be able to lean on my colleagues and friends. Using the physical space to plan responses and solutions and consider together what we are going to do will always help me formulate a plan and be less stressed.
Being honest about stressful situations and being clear with colleagues where stress is coming from helps me work to resolve the impact of stress.
When stressed I know I can move to a more micro-understanding stance, I ask for forgiveness at this point and seek to understand more about the situation we are in together.
I like to have control of the message when things are not going as expected, but, I am happy to be told I don’t need to be involved if that is the case.
When we are ‘out of the woods’ of a stressful situation I like to go back and understand what we can learn from the moment and what we can do different next time.
My absolute requirements to do great work are…
I work on the go and I am just as happy on WhatsApp or Text as I am on email. I love to talk and will always answer the phone if I can.
I still rely on a notepad and list and despite many attempts to ‘modernise’ that need I have gone back to a nice pen and a notebook, I love ticking off what I have done.
I don’t mind loud and I don’t mind quiet I am rubbish if I am writing something down and get distracted though so if there is steam coming off my fingers then give me a moment.
I don’t need an office to work, a desk and power will do me fine and i certainly don’t like to sit on my own all day long ever.
I can be too verbose, i know this and try hard to not be but when writing I like to be ‘creative’ and I know that can be irritating, I apologise beforehand and ask to be challenged where this habit gets in the way.
I am unhealthily obsessed with slides looking right, on a template that everyone is using, straight lines and the right font, but I know this is an unhealthy obsession and will simply try and fix the deck in the background after looking at it.
I like to send ‘things’ early and allow colleagues to give me their views rather than getting to the end first.
Personality Types
So I do think this stuff is useful, I think it changes dependent on the mood, day and situation but to varying degrees of ‘conformity’ I have been an ENFJ for the best part of a decade, my ‘current’ scores are below.
ENFJ-T
67% – EXTRAVERTED
Extraverted individuals readily enjoy group activities and value social interaction. They tend to be outwardly enthusiastic and express their excitement.
68% – INTUITIVE
Intuitive individuals are very imaginative, open-minded, and curious. They value originality and focus on hidden meanings and distant possibilities.
74% – FEELING
Feeling individuals value emotional expression and sensitivity. They place a lot of importance on empathy, social harmony, and cooperation.
61% – JUDGING
Judging individuals are decisive, thorough, and highly organized. They value clarity, predictability, and closure, preferring structure and planning to spontaneity.
54% – TURBULENT
Turbulent individuals are self-conscious and sensitive to stress. They feel a sense of urgency in their emotions and tend to be success-driven, perfectionistic, and eager to improve.
Conclusion
So that’s me in a nut-shell. The top bottom and middle is I am here to be there for my team, to help make the ship sail fast and to ensure that every person who needs to be with us in whatever way they need to we can support them. It is going to be super exciting to be the new boy, in the first couple of weeks I will get out and about as much as possible and I am open to suggestions as to where to go first and what to do next.