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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
06 March 2017
Updated: 22 October 2020
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Julia Worthington MinstF(Dip) is a Fundraising Leadership Coach and Mentor based in the north of England. Find out more about her here.
Here’s a quick quiz question. It’s Friday night, and you’re just putting your coat on when your boss comes in, and asks you to stay late to finish a report. You’ve made plans to go out for dinner with your family. How do you respond? Do you sigh, and take your coat off again – after all, the report must be important and your family are sure to understand? Or do you politely but firmly say that you have other plans for tonight, but you’re happy to come in a little early on Monday?
If you’d always choose to stay and do the extra work, your response might not be as helpful as you think it is, nor does it demonstrate great leadership. Setting clear boundaries at work helps to make you more productive, and saying ‘yes’ to everything isn’t always the best response.
Some of the leaders I work with say ‘yes’ to working at an evening event when they have a night class or circuit training, or they say ‘yes’ to completing reports or extra work on their own because nobody else volunteers. Whilst this can be a successful short term solution, it is not effective over months and years.
While constant demands on your attention and focus might make you feel in demand and successful, they can also drain your focus, positivity and productivity, leaving you feeling like you’re not in control of your own life.
If you continue to be the person who says ‘yes’ all the time, no-one will appreciate your sacrifices as they’ll think you genuinely don’t mind being permanently on call– and they’ll keep asking you.
Each time someone makes a request, think about it based on individual merits. Is it a genuine, unavoidable emergency where it’s all hands to the pump, or could it be rescheduled? Is someone else better placed to deal with it, can you delegate it?
How can you avoid always agreeing? Instead of automatically saying ‘yes’ to every request, say you’ll check your diary and get back to them. This will not only give you a little thinking time, but will also help break the reflex ‘yes’ habit.
For conditioned people pleasers, saying ‘no’ (or even ‘not yet’) can be difficult. Safeguarding your personal time is essential to achieving a good work/life balance, and makes you more productive during the times you are at work. Setting boundaries really will help you to be a better leader, and surprisingly the sky doesn’t fall in.

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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
19 December 2016
Updated: 22 October 2020
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John Sennett is a volunteering spokesperson who runs the blog John's Road to Volunteering. He uses his experiences to influence change, motivate social action and to challenge strategy for leadership development.
Who? What? When? How? Why?
These are the five questions I think about regularly when it comes to understanding the greater need of volunteer influence on infrastructure and development in the so called ‘hierarchy’ many charities take prime views on. When asked to read through Clore Social’s recent ‘Facing the future’ report, I wanted to put forward my personal outlook on the findings and thoughts.
I’m a 90’s baby, classed within the report as a millennial from the collaborative era. This led me to question what happened beforehand. Before the digital age became the norm, how did charities collaborate?
Many would think such information is irrelevant to those of my age and to the future, but until we identify the need for mindset alternations, and identify what happened previously, it is hard to know how to face the future to ensure our sector is secure. Social media and other forms of digital platforms are now playing a significant role in amplifying a charity’s voice, and when I come to look at ‘the future of leadership development’, how can we move forward if we haven’t fully grasped what’s happening now?
Are we missing something when we’re looking at future trends? Are we taking into consideration that current leadership might not be as effective as we think?
Look at the Millennial outlook of ‘we’. ‘We’ is the perfect example of identifying the need for greater collaboration among third sector parties. Collaboration teaches us that within the meaning of charity, there’s ‘giving’.
Millennials are the ‘giving’ age. Identifying gaps in the sector or looking at it deeper within each individual charity is becoming the norm for the next generation. The term ‘leap of faith’ will be used more with the need for charities to collaborate with their volunteers. Working with volunteers in reaching more beneficiaries can be a simple process. How can we collaborate with each other to develop the next-generation of leaders for the sector? It’s that word again ‘giving’. Giving volunteers the opportunity to pitch in their ideas is just one step to collaboration.
What happens after the pitch? We can collaborate in the sector and give each other a platform to voice our views, but does that create a tool to develop new leaders? Influencing those with spoken word is a form of leadership, and training is another. Do we provide volunteers with the opportunity to pitch their ideas? We should listen to volunteers and understand their needs and wants, and in turn translate this into action for the benefit of the sector.
I’m a firm believer in internal education. By this, I mean learning from others within the organisation. This could be staff or in this specific piece, volunteers. Rather than looking instantaneously to collaborate externally, start internally. Let volunteers be a form of internal training. ‘Giving’ volunteers the opportunity to teach and educate is a basic example of leadership development.
I might be missing the point, or the sector might be missing the point with the advantages of collaboration, especially with volunteers, but what I do know is that there are boundless opportunities to develop the sector. We need to stop looking at ourselves as individuals and take the ‘we’ approach.
Once we consider growth to be integral for everyone involved, we’ll then be able to identify strategic approaches to form long-lasting collaborations.
Isn’t this what the sector is about? Helping others?
It’s time to take the sector forward and I believe that by investing in volunteers’ development and utilising their skills, they’ll have an integral role to play in the future of our sector.
Feel free to comment below or you can contact John on Twitter.

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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
26 August 2016
Updated: 14 October 2020
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Do you run a charity or social enterprise? Are you a senior manager in the social sector wishing to take your next step as a leader? If so, and you are also committed to creating lasting social change, you should consider applying to our 2017 Fellowship programme.
The aim of our leadership programme is to find the next generation of leaders who have an appetite to develop their skills and bring back their learnings to their organisations to ultimately transform the wider community. We recognise that undertaking our 12-month programme requires a big commitment, so potential applicants need to understand how it will be of benefit to them, both personally and professionally.
Building networks
All of our 125 Fellows have told us that building their professional networks is one of the most important benefits of the programme. Our Fellows are from a mixture of organisations, so being on the programme gives people the opportunity to mix with peers who have a range of backgrounds and expertise, where they can gain operational insights, share contacts and potentially collaborate on new initiatives. This not only opens up networks for Fellows in their localities, but in the rest of the UK too.
Ideas sharing
Fellows are given the opportunity to share, debate and develop ideas. When attending programme residentials participants benefit from discussing some of the new innovations that are sweeping the sector, such as new technology and social investment. Despite huge advances, the uptake of new technology is still relatively low in the sector yet we’ve seen Fellows collaborating on projects in this technical space, often bringing these ideas to their respective organisations.
Get to know yourself a little bit better, warts and all.
We ask applicants to be as honest as they can when they complete their application forms. We want them to be open about the parts of themselves they are proud of and the aspects they feel might need further development. Without exception, all Fellows have told us that they recognise their self-awareness has dramatically grown as a result of being on the programme, and this in turn benefits them in the workplace and in their personal lives. This focus on self-awareness is enhanced by various aspects of the programme that asks Fellows to look at their working styles and those of their colleagues.
Broaden your skillset
The demands on today’s social leaders are complex and varied, with individuals required to not only run their organisations successfully, but to have multi-disciplined skills at their fingertips. Social leaders need to understand areas like governance, fundraising regulation and change management, in addition to mastering the more practical skills that come with running a charity or social enterprise. The programme gives Fellows the space to reflect on their skills and understand the areas they need to develop; they receive coaching and training to fill their skills gaps.
Experiential learning
Throughout the programme everyone has numerous opportunities to practically implement their new learnings, both with their cohort of Fellows and within their organisations. During the application process we ask people to demonstrate the social change they would like to make as a result of their time on the Fellowship, and to illustrate how they will make this a reality in their organisations. This gives participants a clear aim for their Fellowship, and hopefully as leaders once they finish the programme.
Applications to the programme are open until midday 5 September 2016, visit here to learn more and apply.
This blog from Shaks Ghosh originally appeared on Third Force News.

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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
19 August 2016
Updated: 14 October 2020
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It is a testing time at the moment for charity leaders in the UK - a ‘perfect storm’ of difficult events are bubbling up around them. With an uncertain political and economic climate, the landscape is changing for charities. There is more public scrutiny than ever, and more people needing their services; all of this adds to the challenge of their roles.
Leaders need to find ways to be able to communicate their message effectively, campaign hard, collaborate with others, inspire teams and win funds. For that, they need to grow their influence. What do I mean by influence? You can find a longer explanation here. Without having enough influence, they can’t have the impact that they want and their cause desperately deserves.
In my work as The Influence Expert, I regularly see both good and bad examples of charity leadership when it comes to influence. Good examples include things like being authentic so that beneficiaries, volunteers and funders really have the chance to know what the people at the top of a charity stand for. Bad examples include things like (to my mind) outdated ideas such as mistaking having a personal brand with ‘bragging’, when really it is simply about being clear about the things you stand for and are known for so that you have a chance to further your cause.
In this speech I gave at an international charity conference, I outline some of the ways that people working for charities can build their influence. As a former charity chief executive, I know that time is precious, but making a start to improve the amount of influence that you have needn’t take long. My LEAPS Model, mentioned in the video, gives 5 broad areas to focus on and improve:
L- Likeability - How do you come across to other people? How do you relate to them and empathize with them?
E- Expertise - What are you good at? What should you specialise in? Do others recognize you as an expert?
A- Authenticity - Do you come across as a genuine person? Do you walk the talk?
P- Personal Brand - Do you have a clearly defined and strong personal brand and do you know how to reinforce it both offline and online? Using online platforms, such as LinkedIn, effectively, is important.
S- Synthesis - Are you bringing all the other elements together and do you have a consistent plan to grow your influence over time?
Growing your influence is a marathon not a sprint. Over time though, it can transform the ability of a leader to make an impact on the cause that their charity is fighting for. Of course growing influence is not just about leaders at the very top: everyone in the organisation should be supported to grow their influence so they can be more effective in their roles and progress in their own professional lives.
Alex Swallow is The Influence Expert, helping you grow your influence to increase your impact. He is also the Founder of Young Charity Trustees and of the interview series, Social Good Six and has a background in the charity sector, including as Chief Executive of the Small Charities Coalition.

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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
08 August 2016
Updated: 14 October 2020
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Heather Black is Managing Director at Economic Change CIC a management solutions social enterprise.
As the leader within a non-profit it’s important to reflect and ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you effectively communicating with your different stakeholders to harness their energy, enthusiasm and engagement?
- Do you need to improve engagement with your stakeholders to help increase referrals, funds and resources?
- Do you have a strategy in place to communicate regularly with your different audiences e.g. your beneficiaries, funders, donors, volunteers, trustees, partners, influencers?
On a daily basis I help leaders develop stronger and more intuitive relationships with their community of stakeholders, through reviewing ways in which they can communicate, interact and involve them in the organisation’s success.
I achieve this by helping them segment their stakeholders, identify the messages they want to send or hear from each stakeholder group, and finally determine the best methods or tools to engage with them. Once this is decided, I work with the leader to embed the use of a good Client Relationship Management Systems (CRM) with integrated e-marketing tools to execute the strategy.
Below I have summarised five approaches that may be useful to your own organisation:
- Customer support management - Introducing a formal way to track, catagorise and analyse customer enquiries helps to identify if there are common issues, concerns or questions arising amongst your stakeholders. Introducing an online customer support form or call handling service with a clear case management process and/or a self-help Q&A forum can help improve and speed up standard communications. This also provides a way for customers queries to be heard, logged and monitored in a quality assured way, flagging areas to improve or develop for the organisation.
- Targeted e-communications – When I work with clients on a new CRM this is often is a catalyst for them to organise, update, cleanse and re-categorise their contacts into target audiences. This enables them to send out targeted and focused emails and newsletters to certain audiences via integrated e-marketing tools.
- Social media engagement – Engaging with stakeholders via social media is becoming increasingly important and as a result, my customers are now asking to track social media handles for both contacts and organisations within their CRM, and recording if they have completed the action to find and follow them.
- A community discussion forum – Introducing a community platform can enable different groups of stakeholders to share common interests, discuss ideas, thoughts and issues together. I have deployed community platforms for staff, volunteers, members, beneficiaries and learners to interact together.
- Ideas exchange – You could establish an online ideas voting platform, which lets stakeholders post ideas, vote on ideas and comment on them. This can support co-design and development of new solutions that are customer led.
If you are interested in streamlining your communication practices with stakeholders and implementing a good CRM using Salesforce with integrated tools for your organisation, contact Heather at heather@economicchange.co.uk for a free consultation.

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