Leigh Griffin, managing director of the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit, says at 55 he feels 30 years younger. Photograph: Phil TragenMy day starts at 5.30am. Like any right-thinking person, the first priority is a cup of tea before I tend to the dog, Dylan, a Welsh springer spaniel and reluctant morning companion.
Refreshed, I'm out of the house by 6.30am. I live in rural north Shropshire, so head down country lanes, picking up the pace of the day by the time I reach Salford, where the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) is based. I'm helped by a good dose of loud music on the way in. Current favourites include The National and Depeche Mode – although I always try to catch the Radio 4 news bulletin.
The CSU provides a wide range of support services from IT and data management to large-scale service redesign across 12 NHS clinical commissioning groups and 10 local authorities. Arriving in the office by 8am, I review the day's priorities.
I'm a list-maker, and each evening plan the following day in terms of meetings, plans or priorities; I run through these again, fresh and armed with caffeine.
While no two days follow a similar pattern, my work falls into three broad categories: organisational development and operations; working with our clients; and what I like to call "horizon scanning" – working up a strategy that allows us to define the balance between competition and collaboration with our CSU peers, for example.
My morning is typically focused on internal work. I might write the foreword to our weekly newsletter, meet with directors or deliver a fortnightly face-to-face briefing. Briefings are filmed and available for all colleagues to view from their bases across the region.
When I do these briefings I always seek to be honest, open and, above all, human. Connection and resonance with all members of our extended team (almost 500 staff) is essential. With our staff offering 14 services across many bases, it is important that we have common values and a culture of openness.
I believe that we stand or fall by the relationships we have with our clients, so I spend some time each day reviewing the services we deliver and connecting with our clients.
The focus is on how commissioning can add tangible value and make positive changes for our healthcare clients. We must understand their needs, the challenges they are facing and the opportunities that NHS reform will offer them – especially as many are new and still being shaped as organisations.
Each day I make some time for development, individually and as an organisation. As a senior leader, one of the major challenges for me is to avoid micro-management and retain focus on strategy and innovation. It's important I step back and take a rounder view. It's a challenge to strike the right balance, but a nice problem to have.
Before I leave for the day I make sure to deal with the practical business of emails, drawing up a list and taking any reading home for the night. With that done, I head back to Shropshire, with more music and The Archers (my only concession to middle age).
Back at home, there's normally time for an hour of work before tea, and either a drink in the village pub or some TV; I'm a box set viewer. The last thing running in my mind before I go to sleep tends to be a list of things to do the following day. I do struggle to switch off, but a good book and the occasional use of headphones helps.
Apart from my tastes in rural radio drama, I feel closer to 25 than the 55 years my birth certificate indicates. Although I enjoyed being a primary care trust chief executive, I can honestly say I have never felt more energised by my work than today. The challenge of demonstrating the value of commissioning at scale, while understanding and responding to individual client needs, keeps me buzzing.
I've been involved in something special embedding commissioning support in Greater Manchester, and I would like to continue here for a considerable length of time.
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