Ponders, wonders and odd blunders

In August we took two dear friends on a day trip to Vinga, a small island with an impressive lighthouse, well-known in Sweden as the birthplace of the troubadour and poet laureate Evert Taube. The island is some ten kilometres west of Göteborg, the lively harbour, industry and university city on the west coast of Sweden where Ralph and I live since 2017.

It was a glorious late summer day, with clear blue skies, a very gentle breeze and pleasant warm sunshine. We left early in the morning to be in good time for the boat transport, booked for 10.30, crossing one river (by bridge) and a strait (by road ferry) before we arrived in the small fishing harbour where the captain of our boat greeted us, started the motor and steered with that particular aura of confidence that I have noted in some experienced and competent people who seem perfectly at ease in their professional role.

Half an hour later we stepped ashore on the barren island with hardly any trees, just granite rocks and some low vegetation in the crevices. There are only a few houses, including the childhood home of Evert Taube. His father was the lighthouse keeper, and their abode was a small red painted building housing a family which eventually grew to include thirteen children.

Since our return, the thought of the island, the light house and the people who lived and worked there has lingered on my mind. It has evoked a lot of sentiments related to my previous working life, as well as thoughts about where to head from now on. In my job as leader of a young and growing organisation, the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC), I often used the metaphor of a light house for providing guidance and leading the way when navigating dark and sometimes perilous waters – and I also incorporated tools related to sea travel – compass, chart etc – to explain the importance of setting out and following a direction. For me, being the captain of a ship means that you are the one who is ultimately responsible, but that you involve your team in the decision-making process and that you work together to achieve the agreed goals.

“I am your captain, but I need the help of my crew
These three days we shall agree on the destination, map out the course and set the compass
Then we’re ready to set sails and go!
Together we WILL make a difference!”

(UMC kick-off 2012)

Now it is time to set new goals, mapping out a different course. Unlike UMC, where we were over hundred employees when I stepped down as its chief executive officer, we are a very small team, Ralph and I, and both accustomed to being the captain we will take turns at the helm, as and if needed, and work together as we have done for so many years now. Often our views on a subject are so close that it is more or less impossible to distinguish between our voices when we express a standpoint; but in some areas we see things differently, and can have rather heated debates, trying to get our individual message across. It happens that we get stuck in an argument that doesn’t lead to a conclusion, and where we get frustrated and irritated with one another – but we never give up talking. And we will continue to work, to think, to share our ideas and opinions. The main difference compared with being in paid employment is that we now have the freedom to work at our own pace, driven entirely by our own interest and abilities. Our ambition is to raise issues that we think need attention; problems that should and could be solved, with creativity and goodwill. Hopefully we’ll come up with some helpful views and perhaps the odd answer.  

So long as there is life, there is hope!