Crucially important. I have been forced to go on two or three management courses in my career and I’ve always approached them cynically, tongue in cheek and you know, but I think probably the most important lesson and, and, and it was one that was common to the, the various management courses I was on and that’s Walk the Job and it, it serves a number of purposes and we know that, you know, traditionally zoo directors would particularly, I don’t know, I I imagine, I would hope anyway, still do in some of the continental zoos, particularly in Germany, that the morning doing the morning rounds was still, it’s still part of the job being seen by your staff, being out there, seeing what’s going on, noting what needs being not, what needs to be dealt with. Chatting with everybody. Bernard Harrison, the former director of of Singapore Zoo, I never worked, Bernard had already left Singapore when I was working there, but I, I got to know him when, you know, we became, you know, very good drinking pals from talking to the guys who were my friends at the zoo who worked under Bernard. He knew everybody’s name. The, from the guys that were, you know, sweeping up litter to, you know, some of the girls that were working in the catering outlets. He knew everybody’s name. I must admit that’s a skill I would love to have.
