The water was so still and clear this afternoon. It was quite late in the day and the wind was low on the bay which meant the wind and kite surfers were unusually absent. A few dogs enjoyed running along the sand and their owners made idle chit-chat amongst themselves. The pink of the sunset reflected beautifully against the water and the crisp clarity of the air made the horizon clearly defined against the sky — something that I am more use to seeing on the Darling Downs than in Moreton Bay. I was enjoying the peacefulness and beauty of the moment.

I needed a break. The past six months have been tough. The CoR implementation that I am doing has progressed slower than I am used to and would like. I was looking forward to this long weekend as I felt like to had been walking through concrete and the bags under my eyes last Friday afternoon were quite dark.

So here I was down at the bay to grab a breath of fresh air and let my crazy dog run through the mangrove mud to tire himself out a little.

Out past the mud something broke the stillness of the water, little ripples broke the surface here and there. My curiosity piqued and I started to imagine what was under the water and excitedly thought that maybe this would by my first dugong sighting in the bay, or maybe it was a turtle! But I knew that if I went any further out into the water, I would scare away whatever was out there and would never find out what it was. All I could do was be still and wait.

My energy has been a little crazy lately while I have been doing this CoR implementation. I have been pushing quite hard, feeling like I was fighting on a number of fronts to make progress, only to come home feeling drained and those big bags under my eyes.

The ripples in the water came closer and this time I wasn't impatient for them to reveal their secret. I enjoyed the sunset and waited.

While I waited, I realised then that I have been trying to force this CoR implementation. I was jamming it in for the sake of compliance, feel good about achieving something and was making myself tired and angry.

So I have decided to loosen my grip on the reins a bit. Hell, I might even have some fun and smile!

I'll take the time to listen more.

Yes, done is better than perfect but without taking the time to get the basics right — change hearts and minds — I risk building a house of cards that will collapse as soon as I turn my back and move onto the next project. That is not what I'm about.

I need to make a difference, develop people and teams so that real, sustainable change can occur. If that takes longer than I would like, that's my problem to manage.

And the ripples? It was a school of fish....guess I will need to stay patient for the dugong!

#mentalhealth #culture #compliance #motivation #vulnerability #scope #anxiety