My first boss

I moved from there to Poole County Council and then on to Knightstone Housing Association where I am now doing my first job in housing.

The boss
The boss was called Tim Sturgess, he was the estates manager. He was a nice chap to work for – a gentleman and a team player who was always prepared to listen to new ideas. He was very fair-minded, which I value in a boss.

What did you learn?
Well, it was my first job in the public sector, before that I had been in private practice. It was very different – quite a culture shock. I had to learn to work with elected members, and Tim taught me a lot about the inner workings of local government, which seemed a mystery at first.

I particularly enjoyed getting involved with the public consultation process and have found that public sector work is a lot more varied than private sector.

A great deal of my experience as a chartered surveyor came from that job, which has been very helpful in my later career.

Would you treat your staff in the way he treated you?
I'd like to think so, yes. I try to ensure that I make time to listen to ideas and treat people fairly. I think it's important to allow staff to get on with their jobs, but to be there to help them when they are in need of assistance.

The boss says:
Stephen was a person of tremendous dynamism, enthusiasm and a really good lateral thinker. He was a delight to work with as he consistently used his own initiative and came up with good ideas.

When he was transferred in 1997, I was extremely sorry to lose him. He was the last person I wanted to let go but unfortunately I had no choice.