Meet the Team – Andy Byrne, Advancement Lead
31 August 2023
Collaboration, confidence, and empowerment are three values Andy Byrne strives to bring through in all aspects of his life, whether that is in his new role as LOCSU advancement lead, when pursuing his passion for sport and coaching, or when spending time with his granddaughter Poppy. Driven by a desire to make life better for others through fostering change and improvement, Andy is committing the skills he has honed through experience in the RAF and NHS to support LOCs as they build relationships with key stakeholders.
Born in England, Andy moved to Australia as a baby with his “Ten Pound Pom” parents, before moving back to the UK during his teenage years. Andy believes his experience of the two different cultures helps him balance life and work. “In England you can feel as though you are living to work. The British way is very much ‘achieve as much as you can as fast as you can’. In Australia, you are very conscious that there is a life outside work and that you need to prioritise health, interests, and family. In the end, we are here on earth for an undefined period of time, and we need to make the best of it in all areas.”
One area that Andy is especially passionate about is sport. He has coached international rugby and is an ardent player and fan of cricket and golf. He believes sport offers a wealth of lessons for working life, particularly in the NHS and Optometry environments.
“Sport teaches us a huge amount about collaboration,” he explains. “If you look at leadership in sport, it is about making the best use of the resources available to you in terms of the people and the skills they possess. Everyone is dependent on each other for the team’s success, and that is increasingly true in the wider world. With that comes a need for empowerment and autonomy.
“In rugby, for example, we don’t want to be telling players exactly what to do on the pitch; we need to prepare them as best we can so when they are in the game they recognise the situations that arise and make decisions for themselves. The difference we see in modern society is that leaders often intervene personally but, in doing this, they undermine the effectiveness and confidence of those who are responsible for undertaking a role in the first place. It is far better for leaders to focus on empowering others to be confident and effective in their roles, and that holds true in the NHS and optometry as in sport or any other sector.”
Developing confidence is a key theme for Andy, and something he feels is important when managing change at the scale and pace currently in progress in healthcare: “When looking at change, the first thing is to identify the end goal and ensure all stakeholders are confident about what we are trying to achieve. There must also be confidence between those stakeholders, and this is something we must work on. Historically there has been a lack of consistent collaboration between NHS and optometry – there have been great examples of it, but these have not been the norm. We have outstanding skills and capabilities in primary eyecare, and we know we can build seamless patient journeys that will alleviate pressure on secondary care. However, we need to build confidence with secondary care professionals and that will only come through developing closer collaborative relationships.”
Andy credits his time in the Air Force for honing his belief in the value of teamwork and the duty to make others’ lives better. “You are part of a team, and you quickly understand that people are relying on you to make a difference,” he explains. “You have got to have other people’s backs and be confident that others have your back. This is so powerfully ingrained that it rolls over into the life you live.”
That life has entered new phases recently, with the birth of granddaughter Poppy, and careers in medicine and teaching for his children, the youngest of whom is soon to be married. Andy reflects: “Time seems to be going much more quickly these days. Twenty-two years in the Air Force seemed like a lifetime and the 18 years since then have flown by in no time at all!”
Spending time with family, especially three-year-old Poppy, is important: “I spend a lot of time playing competitive games with Poppy. She loves them, but she hasn’t quite got used to the idea of losing yet. It’s important that she does at some point, as not everything will go her way in life and it’s important to prepare her to learn from challenges that come down the line.”
This is something that Andy has done in his own life: “I’ve made mistakes in life – we all do. The most important thing is that we start learning and reflecting on them. We might not always get things right the first time, but if we are willing to reflect so we can do things better in future, we’ll be heading in the right direction.”