Paul Brothwood: Type 1 Diabetes and Project Management
My first project started at three
Type 1 diabetes stops the body producing insulin. Daily management requires insulin, blood glucose monitoring and close attention to food, activity and changing circumstances.
As a young child, I learned about injections, blood glucose levels and carbohydrate intake. At one stage, I managed around five injections each day and recorded everything I ate and drank.
Each day required a plan. Food, exercise, illness, stress, travel and temperature affected the result. A plan that worked yesterday sometimes needed adjustment today.
I did not know the language of project management, but I was already practising it. I was planning, monitoring, managing risk and responding to change.
Risk management without fear
Living with diabetes taught me the difference between recognising risk and allowing risk to control every decision.
Ignoring risk is not bravery. Good risk management identifies what might go wrong, puts controls in place and prepares a response.
For diabetes, that means monitoring glucose, carrying treatment for low blood sugar and keeping essential supplies available. In operational leadership, the same thinking applies to safety, equipment failure, staffing, customer service and emergency response.
A risk register has little value if nobody watches the warning signs or acts when conditions change.
Being told what I could not do
One childhood memory has remained with me.
During primary school in the 1980s, a teacher showed me a list of professions regarded as unavailable to people with type 1 diabetes. It included careers in the armed forces and aviation.
Some restrictions had medical or regulatory reasons at the time. Hearing only about closed doors still had a strong effect on a young child.
I decided that diabetes would not define my ambitions. That did not mean pretending the condition carried no risk. It meant preparing properly, building competence and judging each opportunity on its facts.
I went on to build a career across banking, construction and utilities. Today, I work as an Operations Manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution and hold qualifications including Chartered Environmentalist, PRINCE2 Practitioner and TechIOSH.
Planning for adventure
Diabetes has accompanied me throughout every journey.
I qualified as a divemaster and have scuba-dived in locations including South Africa and Honduras. I have travelled through Western Sahara and Somaliland and completed long-distance motorcycle journeys across Europe.
I have ridden motorcycles ranging from large Harley-Davidson touring machines to the Suzuki Hayabusa, a model famous for redefining production motorcycle performance.
These experiences required more preparation, not less ambition. Insulin, glucose monitoring equipment, emergency treatment and backup supplies all formed part of the plan.
Diabetes UK states that diabetes should not prevent travel. It also notes that activities such as scuba diving require appropriate medical assessment and preparation.
The planning does not remove every risk. It makes the risk understood and managed.
Resilience in Somaliland
In 2019, I travelled to Somaliland as part of a delegation working to secure the release of Abdirahman Abees.
Abees was a poet with British dual citizenship who had been detained after performing a poem about prison conditions, police conduct and government reform. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for his immediate release.
The Hargeisa regional court later found him not guilty and ordered his release, stating that he had exercised his right to freedom of expression.
That experience tested preparation, communication and resolve. The lessons felt familiar. Stay calm, understand the risks, keep attention on the outcome and continue working when the result remains uncertain.
Speaking at the United Nations
I later addressed the United Nations twice on autonomy and economic development.
Standing at the United Nations felt far removed from the childhood routines of blood glucose checks and injections. The personal disciplines behind those moments were closely connected.
Preparation gave me confidence. Understanding the subject reduced uncertainty. Years of responding to changing glucose levels taught me to remain composed when plans moved unexpectedly.
Living with diabetes had prepared me to take responsibility, speak clearly and deal with pressure.
Information only matters when it leads to action
Modern diabetes management produces a constant stream of information. A glucose reading has little value unless it informs a decision.
The same principle applies to operational management. Performance reports, safety observations and customer data need an owner and a response.
Recording a problem is not the same as managing it. Leaders need to understand what the information means, decide what action is required and check whether that action worked.
This habit became part of my thinking long before I entered management.
Communication protects people
People around me need to understand what to do if my blood glucose falls too low. Clear communication reduces delay and confusion.
Operational teams face the same need. Instructions should be direct, responsibilities should be understood and emergency arrangements should be familiar before an incident occurs.
Complex language does not improve control. People need the right information at the point where they make a decision.
Resilience means responding and recovering
Type 1 diabetes is unpredictable. Good preparation reduces risk but never removes every difficult day.
Resilience is not pretending that nothing went wrong. It is recognising the problem, taking action and recovering without losing sight of the longer-term objective.
That lesson has followed me through professional setbacks, demanding projects, international travel and leadership under pressure.
A condition that requires attention every day teaches persistence. Progress depends on returning to the plan after disruption and making the next decision properly.
Diabetes did not set the limits of my life
I do not describe type 1 diabetes as easy or harmless. It is demanding, intrusive and sometimes dangerous.
It has also taught me skills that shaped my approach to work and life. Planning, discipline, risk management, communication and resilience started as necessities and later became professional strengths.
At three years old, I did not understand terms such as contingency planning, performance monitoring or change control. I was already using them.
Type 1 diabetes did not make me fearless. It made me prepared.
A diagnosis changes life. It does not have to write the whole future.
Further reading
Paul Brothwood | Chartered Environmentalist
https://www.paulbrothwood.co.uk/2026/06/paul-brothwood-chartered-environmentalist.html
Paul Brothwood | Honda Adventure Roads 2026
https://www.paulbrothwood.co.uk/2026/06/paul-brothwood-honda-adventure-roads-2026.html
Paul Brothwood | PRINCE2: Moving with the Times
https://www.paulbrothwood.co.uk/2024/11/prince2-moving-with-times.html
About Paul Brothwood
Paul Brothwood is an Operations Manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution and a Chartered Environmentalist. He writes about leadership, operational improvement, sustainability, project management, motorcycle travel and living with type 1 diabetes.
https://www.paulbrothwood.co.uk/2026/08/about-paul-brothwood.html
Comments
Post a Comment