Two years as Head of DASA

This post represents the personal view of the author and is not a statement of Government policy.

Two years ago today (20 March) I became Head of the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA). It feels like yesterday! I can hardly believe how far we have come in such a short time, and how many amazing experiences I’ve had along the way. For me personally, I feel I have grown into my role as a senior leader and a lot of the fear has (fortunately) gone away. I’ve met so many brilliant people who have believed in me and in what we are doing in DASA, who have encouraged me when times were difficult, and who have celebrated our successes with me. I owe them so much for keeping me going. And, most of all, I’m proud of #teamDASA, a fantastic, diverse group of people whose energy, passion and drive make DASA everything that it is today. I have learned that being ‘Head’ of an organisation is a job actually shared by many: my Deputy Head of DASA, Nicholas; my Chief of Staff Nick, and the rest of my senior team, Jane and Jyoti, all of whom make it possible for me to succeed in my role, and hopefully I make it possible for them to succeed in theirs!

Looking back at two years ago, I can only now see clearly my sense of being overwhelmed and under-prepared – at the time it simply felt like enormous pressure, and never enough time. One of the key things I have done to make my life easier has been to get a PA – the invaluable Lisa! – and sort out my diary. Say ‘no’ to more things, and set aside deliberately quiet times knowing I will need that time to catch up, especially when I have been out for a few days. It also means I am less swamped with emails and less of a bottleneck to the system, as things can be passed on to the right person to deal with them in the team.

Looking back over my notes from when I started, its obvious now with hindsight that a lot of the things I was worried about then I didn’t need to be worried about – being taken seriously as a leader, whether people would do what I asked them to do or undermine me, if I had the authority and presence to project myself at meetings and in public. I felt surprised at first to be treated as a senior person, even a VIP, but quite quickly found that being treated with respect helped me gain confidence in myself inhabiting my role fully, and then stopped thinking about it at all. As an introvert, standing up in front of a large audience and giving a talk has always been a challenge for me – but with practice it has become much easier for me to talk fluently – often now without notes – and engage confidently with large and small audiences. My current role has a much higher public profile than I had encountered before, and to an extent which is unusual for a civil servant: again this took a little getting used to especially on social media.

For me, this has been an opportunity to push myself well outside of my former comfort zone, to grow as a person, develop new skills which I can take on to future roles, and to test myself against a constantly changing set of challenges. I have found leadership comes in ‘waves’, sometimes things are very stressful and busy, or we are facing major challenges; and at other times things seem to ‘flow’ without much need for me to do anything. Identifying these times, and then deliberately making myself quieter in these times (both for my own recovery, and to not interfere by creating waves myself) has been a key part of my learning. It’s so easy for a leader, wanting to feel important and needed, to actually create additional work and stress for their own team. I’ve tried to avoid doing this, listened to advice from my team and asked them when they would want me to do something, and when I should do nothing. And I’ve learnt that, sometimes, doing nothing is a perfectly good option!

Finally, I’m so grateful for having this opportunity in my life. I have been able to visit all sorts of interesting places that few people get to see or hear about. I have met lots of fascinating and inspiring people with amazing jobs and learnt about what they do. I have been invited to speak at lots of great events, work with lovely people, and even managed to maintain a pretty good work/life balance, supported by my wonderful family. I look forward to more exciting days as Head of DASA. Thank you to everyone who has helped make DASA a success!