Stephen Drain Leadership

11/07/2025

A day or two after the bombing of the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior 40 years ago on 10 July 1985, I was asked to join the police investigation team to "help with exhibits". I was a young uniformed constable and had been noticed by someone up high as I had been fortunate enough to do 3 or 4 months of "CIB Secondment", swapping duties with a seasoned detective (who was unimpressed as I recall)....

A day or two after the bombing of the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior 40 years ago on 10 July 1985, I was asked to join the police investigation team to “help with exhibits”. I was a …

30/12/2024

http://stephendrain.com/2024/12/31/walking-to-another-year/

As I polished off a final walk for 2024 just now, disparate thoughts of “obsessed with stats” and “doing what matters” occured to me. Once again I had a goal to complete 365…

10/11/2024

https://stephendrain.com/2024/11/10/a-sunday-walk/

I’ve been fortunate to have run or walk over the Auckland Harbour Bridge quite a few times. If you complete five of either the Marathon or Half Marathon in the Auckland Marathon you can becom…

25/08/2024

When I travelled in my Fiat 125 from Christchurch to my new home in Dunedin as a newly minted Police Constable in the early 1980s, it was the beginning of life long affection for the Edinburgh of the south. Three of us new Constables got “posted” to Dunedin after a year as a police cadet. Dunedin's historic Railway Station One of my colleagues then is still one of my best friends (top 2 rating!) and we flatted for the first few weeks in his mother’s house while she was visiting family in The Netherlands....

When I travelled in my Fiat 125 from Christchurch to my new home in Dunedin as a newly minted Police Constable in the early 1980s, it was the beginning of life long affection for the Edinburgh of t…

20/08/2024

Have you ever tried to have a house built to live it? Don’t! Well maybe. Anyway, not without some serious reflection on it. I signed up to buy my little bit of paradise in the countryside in mid-2017 and took possession in 2018. I didn’t intend to build straightaway – in fact I wanted to sell my existing home first - which I did at the end of 2019....

Have you ever tried to have a house built to live it? Don’t! Well maybe. Anyway, not without some serious reflection on it. I signed up to buy my little bit of paradise in the countryside in mid-20…

11/02/2024

Reflections on refresh leave and the importance of muscle for resilience.

In endeavours to obtain a Code Compliance Certificate for my house, men spent time in January under my deck reshaping the ground and applying hard fill to comply with the requirements of the Buildi…

19/11/2023

A year ago last week "Practical Completion" of my new build allowed me to insure my new home in the country and move it. It was the day of Mum and Dad's 70th wedding anniversary so a big day all around. Quite a few things didn't work - automation is a great thing until it's not - but it was (and still is) sparkly and the views are really quite special....

A year ago last week “Practical Completion” of my new build allowed me to insure my new home in the country and move it. It was the day of Mum and Dad’s 70th wedding anniversary s…

20/08/2023

The first flight I recall going on was Christchurch to Auckland, visiting Grandma with Mum when I was about 4. I'm not sure why I got to go but I did, and it wasn't the only time I flew to Auckland just with Mum. I remember there being a Viscount aeroplane and based on Wikipedia it must have been a…...

The first flight I recall going on was Christchurch to Auckland, visiting Grandma with Mum when I was about 4. I’m not sure why I got to go but I did, and it wasn’t the only time I flew…

14/08/2023

Back in the day while staying at Grandma’s the clock was ever present, chiming every fifteen minutes and the announcing the hour with chimes on the hour. It seemed like Grandma never heard it – she…