"Always do your homework - I do not believe there is any such person as an 'overnight success.'  It may take 40 years or longer to become an overnight success"  (Trevor Gay)


Trevor is the author of “Simplicity is the Key" (October 2004) - more details at this link;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/190423531X/qid%
3D1107188769/sr%3D1-3/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F8%5F3/026-0706228-8831662

You can download a copy of Trevor's Masters dissertation Leadership in Practice (Adobe pdf file)

Visit Trevor's Simplicity Blog at this lnk:
http://simplicityitk.blogspot.com/


A Personal Message:

I believe the world is becoming “virtually” as small as the village I grew up in - thanks largely to the information technology revolution, e mail and the web.

At 53 years old, I am a proud member of the “baby boomer” generation and this “techie” stuff doesn’t come naturally for me like it does for kids in 2005 - keyboards are simply extensions to their fingers these days. I have had to work at this stuff - but now I love it 

Rattle the Cage is a fantastic example of what I am talking about. A few folks from round the globe who have never met (yet) but we all share some passions including:

• A passion to see change
• A passion to promote and celebrate ethical behaviour in management and leadership
• A passion for fairness
• A passion for valuing and celebrating diversity
• A passion for making a difference
• A passion for “taking part” rather than standing on the sidelines

Personally I bring to my team mates in Rattle the Cage, a passion for Simplicity. 

I am convinced managers make things that are simple, complicated. All professions do it, plumbers, hairdressers, lawyers, road sweepers and doctors. We all invent our own complexity - designed to confuse. We build a wall round our own profession and then plaster that wall with posters that say “no entry unless you speak our language”

My passion is to dispel the myth of complexity in management and leadership. After all, complexity is merely the sum of simple parts. Management is not complicated at all ….we just love to make it complicated.

I also love lists. This is a list of 17 things I believe. Yes 17 is a strange number. There is no mystery or significance in 17 - that is as far as I got!

Things I believe with a passion - not in priority order

1. Staff at the front line know all the answers all the time
2. The words “managing people” should be exorcised from the workplace. Nobody “manages” people any more - people manage themselves.
3. If a manager has any job at all in 2005 it is to move heaven and earth to make it easier for front line staff  to do neat work 
4. Get other people to do bits of your job - they usually do it better than you
5. Management is simple
6. Leadership is not - it is an art form
7. The basics are the new cutting edge
8. I’m not convinced leadership can be taught
9. Give all the budget to front line staff ….yes I did say all the budget
10. Complexity is merely the sum of simple parts
11. Forget MBA think MST (Masters in Story Telling)
12. We are all Chief Executives of our own future
13. “Powerlessness is a state of mind - not a state of reality” Tom Peters
14. I don’t know what “a big organisation” means in 2005
15. I would take a pay cut for some leaders ….I would not follow some leaders if they doubled my wages
16. Our greatest motivation is always from within
17. The older I get the more I like words like “difference” and “diversity” …and the less I like words like “right” and “wrong”

About Trevor
Trevor was born near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, England in 1952 – a member of the “baby boomer generation.”  He is one of three children.

He was educated in his unremarkable home village of Parson Drove near Wisbech. He failed the oral part of the “eleven plus” - a verbal test - having passed the two written papers. His memory is of a panel of “old men behind a large desk asking difficult questions.”

His only ambition about a career was “to work in a warm office.” His grandfather had always told him not to work on the land as much of the family had done - “Find somewhere warm boy” were his Grandfather’s great words of wisdom.

When Trevor was 16 years of age his headmaster told him that working in the local hospital would be a good idea - not only that - the headmaster told him “I’m a friend of the hospital administrator, so I will sort that for you.” That was career counselling in 1969!

Trevor remained in healthcare for 35 years so that “judgment call” by the headmaster sounds good. In his healthcare career he has managed in many settings including general hospitals, hospitals for older people, hospitals for people with learning disability and hospitals for people suffering mental health problems. In addition he has managed community health services such as health centres and community nursing services. Since 1994 Trevor was a manager in the world of Primary Care in Devon and a key player in the establishment of Torbay Primary Care Trust.

Trevor left the NHS in November 2004 to set up his own company Simplicity is the Key Limited . Trevor now offers range of freelance services including change management, leadership teaching, team coaching, team development, inter-active role playing workshops on patient involvement and of course writing. 

Trevor studied through day-release for three years (1996-98) to obtain an MA Management (Healthcare) and his Dissertation “Leadership in Practice” was well received. The study of leadership remains one of his fascinations.

He undertook further Post-Graduate training to become a Teacher in Clinical Education in healthcare. He has undergone intensive training to become a Team Coach.

Writing is a more than a hobby for Trevor. He was a part-time sports reporter for 7 years with his local newspaper - this probably fired his enthusiasm for writing - an interest he has maintained and developed over the years. He regularly writes articles on leadership, change management and how things get done and he usually finds someone happy to publish his articles.

His philosophy about management is straightforward. He believes that complexity is the sum of simple parts - therefore he is convinced simplicity is at the heart of excellence. Hence the title of his book “Simplicity is the Key.” Trevor loves anecdote, stories and subjectivity. He has to work hard in academic matters. Numbers and Trevor are not compatible bedfellows. Nevertheless some of his best friends are accountants!

He understands and appreciates the role of process - one of his articles “Passion with a Side Salad of Process” sums his philosophy up quite well. Trevor believes things get done through a mixture of passion and process - in his view a gallon of passion and a pint of process!

His learning style is activist with pragmatism and he scores low on theory and reflection. This probably explains the pace at which he works and his occasional impatience with delay.

He lives in Central England with Annie - 'my life partner on both sides of forever' says Trevor

Trevor has three children and he recently became a very proud Grandfather following the birth of Sebastian in April 2005

He is a cradle to grave fan of Manchester United and football (soccer) was something he loved to do as a younger man. He played competitively at a reasonable standard and when he stopped playing he took up golf - now another great interest. In September 2005 at 53 Trevor has just started playing football again - he hopes Manchester United may still call him up!

Contact Trevor at trevor.gay@rattle-the-cage.com