When I took over as Financial Director for ASGBI, I wasn't exactly stepping into the unknown. I'd already spent several years as a Regional Rep and had happily stuck my oar into assorted committees along the way, and honestly, had a brilliant time doing it.
Those years were genuinely fun and engaging. One of the best things about ASGBI is the conversations you have with colleagues across the UK. You sit down, start chatting, and suddenly the light-bulb goes on: Wait! YOU have that problem too? There's something wonderfully reassuring about discovering that the headaches you've been wrestling with in your own Trust are alive and well in half the Trusts up and down the country. It turns out we're all in the same boat, and ASGBI is where we compare notes on how to row.
It was a time of true collaboration and learning. I have genuinely lost count of the number of projects I've smuggled back into my own Trust on the back of an ASGBI talk, a committee meeting discussion, or a casual "here's how we solved that" from a fellow Regional Rep. And then there's that feeling, the one that's genuinely hard to describe until you've experienced it, of coming back to ASGBI the following year, standing up, and saying: "You know that idea you gave me? We did it. It worked." That moment is something pretty unique.
So here's my pitch to every member reading this: step forward and get involved in whatever way you can. You do not need to commit vast swathes of time. The ASGBI leadership is very good at making sure that tasks handed to individuals are well-supported and not onerous, no one is going to quietly dump a mountain of work on your desk and disappear. And if you've got an innovative idea bubbling away, please do share it. Pitch it to the team, they'll pick it up, discuss it, and come back to you. ASGBI only grows stronger when its members actually pipe up.
On the money side of things...
As Finance Director, I'll confess my principal aim could be summed up in five words: "Don't mess it up." I wanted to hand the role on in a healthy, sustainable state, with enough in the tank to cover whatever the world decided to throw at us. Because once the finances are on a solid footing, everything else within ASGBI can really start to flourish.
That hasn't happened by accident. It's taken a lot of time and a lot of teamwork. We've built relationships with surgical groups around the world, SAGES being the most recent and notable example. We've also transformed the way we work with industry. We actually listened to what our industry colleagues need from ASGBI, and (here's the novel part) they listened to what we need in return. The result? Both sides feel genuinely valued. That's why we now have very strong working arrangements with our Strategic Business Collaborators and a wide range of industry partners.
We've even welcomed back some long-standing collaborators, with several organisations taking part in our educational village at the ASGBI Conference. The feedback was so positive that some are now looking to replicate the concept at other conferences they attend. I'd call that a compliment.
A family, a blended one, but a family nonetheless
All of this togetherness is what gives ASGBI its real magic. It feels like a family. A slightly blended, occasionally chaotic, always welcoming family, but a family nonetheless. It was that feeling of belonging, of feeling supported in pretty much anything I wanted to take on, that made me put myself forward for President Elect. I wanted to do my part in making sure those feelings develop and grow right across the whole of ASGBI.
I want every member to feel heard, to feel seen, and to feel like part of the family.
And if you've not yet got actively involved, honestly, now is the time. Stand up, bring your ideas, and see where the journey takes you. Because the path is there, and it's a good one: from the Moynihan Academy, to Regional Rep, to the Executive Board, and, who knows, all the way to President.
And finally, to those of you who voted for me: thank you. I am truly, genuinely humbled.
Giles Bond-Smith
President-Elect, 2027 - 2028
