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Coaching on the Leading Beyond Lockdown programme

Posted By Clore Social Leadership, 30 November 2020
Updated: 07 December 2020
As our Leading Beyond Lockdown programme draws to a close, we want to celebrate the participants who have inspired us with their dedication to their development and the causes they work for.

As part of the programme, we have had the pleasure to collaborate with Dr. Jeremy Hinks, Director and Leadership & Development Coach with Alpamayo Coaching Ltd. Inspired by the commitment and diversity of the programme participants, Jeremy writes about his experience with coaching on the programme.

“It was inspirational to speak with these activists and influencers, so committed to their respective causes. Hearing them name their challenges and then being witness as they chose to face them down has been a learning experience for me too.” Dr. Jeremy Hinks

Over the last few months, I have had the privilege to work in partnership with a group of leaders from the social sector, whose diversity, dedication, and commitment to their respective causes was a big inspiration. From the range of social issues they worked for, to their own life experiences and job titles, each participant brought a unique perspective to the table.

Whether they were new to coaching or had experienced it before, they were all excited about what the opportunity might offer to them, particularly aligned with the leadership training, group work, and networking opportunities that collectively made up the Leading Beyond Lockdown programme.

While the participants’ coaching objectives were uniquely individual, they shared a common interest - exploring how they could best fulfil their leadership role at a time when the sustainability of their organisations is threatened by the COVID19 pandemic.

Seeing the bigger picture

Some of our coaching conversations revolved around self-awareness and confidence-building for those who found themselves in new positions, or in old positions made to feel new by the change in relationship dynamics caused by the home working enforced on the majority by COVID19. Others related to more effective communication, decision making, and relationship building that harnessed difference effectively.

The ability to see the bigger picture was central to a lot of conversations. There was a sense that the ability to do so was often drowned out by the volume of work involved in the day-to-day running of the organisation. The importance of self-care was also often lost beneath wave upon wave of ‘doing this, supporting that, and delivering the other’. Bringing the importance of self-care back to the surface and drawing oxygen back into its lungs was a particularly satisfying part of these coaching partnerships.

"Bringing the importance of self-care back to the surface and drawing oxygen back into its lungs was a particularly satisfying part." Dr. Jeremy Hinks
All the coaching partnerships had a ‘whole of life’ aspect which was experienced in two different ways. Firstly, many conversations explored past experiences and reflected on how they were influencing current behaviour. Coachees saw a lot of value in becoming more conscious of their behaviours and feelings and to think about those that were no longer serving them well. Secondly, our conversations often explored how to achieve the balance between their work and out-of-work roles. Of course, this has become more challenging as COVID19 has required us to co-locate all these roles, challenging our ability to maintain the boundaries between them that are so important to our wellbeing.

Building trust and connections online

Forming a relationship built on trust via an online connection proved to be as possible as it is in face to face coaching. After all, we have all grown in our capability to manage the strengths and weaknesses of virtual communication.

It was also interesting how the relationship was influenced by coaching someone in their workspace at home. For example, the occasional presence of children, dogs, cats, deliveries, and unscheduled interruptions from a forgetful partner might have been a distraction. Instead, each interruption afforded an opportunity to learn more about each other and somehow this fostered a helpful level of intimacy not easy to achieve when coaching in an office environment.

Adapting to new uncertainties

As I write this, we have just entered a second period of lockdown in the UK, perhaps ironic given the title of the programme. However, the need to adapt to new uncertainties is a certain part of our future, whether it’s COVID19 lockdowns or an as yet unforeseen challenge.

As I reflect on the value of the coaching in the Leadership Beyond Lockdown I am in no doubt of the general benefits. Simply being on hand to help coachees face their challenges in a supported space where they are not judged, yet feel open to challenge, is of great value to them. It is the coaching equivalent of the ‘Hands. Face. Space.’ narrative which is used to remind us of our individual responsibility in containing the spread of the COVID19 virus.

I already know that each of them leave the coaching partnership with a greater sense of agency and clarity. Past experience suggests that there will be benefits from the coaching that will arise as time passes, benefits that will influence both their personal and professional life.

For me, one of the great aspects of Leading Beyond Lockdown has been the greater reach of the benefits of coaching into social sector organisations. These benefits can only be realised if its availability increases to meet the needs of an ever more diverse community of potential beneficiaries. To sum up, I’ll end with a great comment from one of my coachees on the accessibility of coaching and with thanks to all my coachees for having me work alongside them.

"I have to admit that I've viewed coaching as something similar to regular yoga practice or getting a personal trainer - probably really good for you, but reserved for those with certain privilege that working class me would find inaccessible, and I'm glad to have been proven wrong!" Programme Participant

Tags:  challenges  change  coaching  fellow  fellowskills  programme  resilience  skills  wellbeing 

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Here for your development

Posted By Clore Social Leadership, 30 September 2020
Updated: 07 December 2020

Emily Lomax, Clore Social Fellow and Programme Director for our Emerging Leader Women & Girls and Experienced Leader programmes shares a unique insight into programme delivery and participant experience during the crisis.


It has been eight months since I read the awe-inspiring biographies from the 2020 Women & Girls Emerging Leader cohort and the Experienced Leader cohort. I was lucky enough to have been appointed as their Programme Director to ensure that they achieved, or hopefully exceeded, their learning priorities from the six-month programme.

I was due to meet them all at their first residential in May. As a Clore Social Fellow myself, and long-time facilitator for multiple Clore Social programmes over the years, I knew how much the participants would be looking forward to meeting each other and to forming the bonds which would challenge, inspire and support them not only in the months of the programme but for years to come.

But, as we all know, the World was to turn upside down. Not only was this residential cancelled, the whole viability of the programme was put into question. Would people have the desire or capacity to participate whilst juggling home and work – both envisaged to put them under pressure that we had never seen before. How would people cope and how could the programme fit?

In considering the next steps I frequently reflected on the centre of the Clore Social model – something that has become a mantra for me ever since I did the programme myself, guiding me through difficult decisions as a CEO and then in establishing my own organisation; the importance for social leaders to KNOW YOURSELF, BE YOURSELF AND LOOK AFTER YOURSELF. Now, more than ever, these things felt so important if social sector leaders were to be able to rise to the challenges ahead. Clore Social, in my mind, felt even more important than it ever had done before. These people are the front-line of making sure that social change is a priority and that people stay at the heart of decisions – we had an obligation to support and challenge them.

"Clore Social, in my mind, felt even more important than it ever had done before." Emily Lomax

 

The other thing that was in my head was how this wasn’t our decision alone – the Clore Social model goes on to talk about ‘working with and through others’. We needed to engage them in deciding what to do next. We therefore conducted a survey in early April asking for ideas and for an honest response on whether or not they would want to continue to be part of the programme – with no judgement if the answer was no. 91% of participants on the Women & Girls programme and 64% on the Experienced Leader programme said they wanted to continue and 33% on the Experienced Leader programme decided to defer until 2021.

Delighted that the programmes would go ahead, we now had the daunting task of re-shaping the content to be less dependent on the face-to-face elements, and to try to find ways to bring the magic of Clore Social relationships to life through virtual means. Louise Obi-Drake, Clore Social’s Director of Innovations and Learning, is brilliantly creative and knowledgeable and together we shaped a new way of doing things. The key changes were:

  • Establishing a new programme of e-learning to support participants’ journeys and to help them to feel connected to the programme
  • Re-writing the programme handbook so there was clarity of expectations and timings amidst all the uncertainty
  • Being clear about what could be flexible and co-created, for example, the placement element of the programme is unlikely to be a week of being hosted within an organisation face-to-face
  • Kicking off the action learning and coaching elements of the programme as soon as possible so participants could build relationships and seek space and support
  • Re-shaping the residential into a series of online sessions to be held in May, where possible at the same time as the original residential, to aid planning


"This is the conversation I have been waiting to have all my life." Programme participant

Five months on and I am astounded by how much energy the participants have put into building connections and supporting each other. On a daily basis the programme’s instant messaging channels are buzzing with questions, suggestions, shared inspiration, honest requests for help and sharing when times are tough. These are unique times and participants have responded by stepping up and supporting each other. They have instigated new instant messaging channels to start specific conversations, have attended additional, optional webinars that we have arranged to add additional support and instigated so much supplementary learning.

Last week I asked for some informal feedback and was astounded by the flood of positivity – “This is the conversation I have been waiting to have all my life,” and “I finally feel like a leader.” These people are stepping up and out amidst all the chaos around them in order to make a difference to people’s lives. I am humbled.

They are also incredibly busy and at times struggle to find the space to focus on themselves and on the programme. And that is ok. They, I hope, are learning to be kind to themselves and that one of the joys of the Clore Social programme is that it is self-led and that you create your own path – focusing on the elements that will make the biggest impact for you – it isn’t about pleasing me, it is about what makes the biggest difference for you.

"I finally feel like a leader." Programme participant
 

A few observations of thing that have helped these inspiring leaders during these unstable times:

  • Taking the time to plan
  • Being kind to yourself if things don’t always go according to that plan. Not chucking the plan out at this point, but adapting and evolving – dealing with ambiguity is a really important skill as a social sector leader and this, in itself, is an opportunity for learning
  • Being vulnerable and ask for help
  • Collaboration is key. Ask for shared resources and ideas, no need to spend time reinventing the wheel when you have such an awesome network to draw on
  • Finding ways to fulfil your learning priorities through your day job, and through your home obligations to save time and to connect parts of your life together. We only have one life after all so why not learn whilst being a parent to a reluctant toddler as well as when chairing a board meeting.
  • The Clore Social model is relevant today and every day. Return to it when times are hard.

I am so excited to see what the next few months of the programme will bring and am so grateful to spend virtual time with these inspiring people – I just hope we get to meet each other sometime soon!

----------------------------------

Connect with Emily Lomax on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tags:  challenges  change  covid  fellow  programme  resilience  skills  tips 

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How do you know what your purpose or ‘deepest work’ is?

Posted By Clore Social Leadership, 09 December 2019
Updated: 07 December 2020
How do you keep going after 25 years in one sector? How do you know that you are doing a good job? How do you know what your purpose or ‘deepest work’ is? How do you know your next steps in your career? You join the Clore Social Women and Girls programme and you find out!

The programme inspired and challenged me at a fundamental level; being with women from the sector and learning from others’ experiences was deeply challenging and humbling. The Clore Social programme used a variety of interactive learning methods to draw out our experience. From YouTube clips, inspiring speakers, journal articles, homework, workshops, group exercises, coaching, Action Learning Sets and one-to-ones, aided by an abundance of post-its and sharpies, we trawled through a massive amount of content. It’s demanding and requires you to commit… and to juggle your workload.

However, having completed the course, I will claim several things:

  • I am more able and willing to step forward knowing that I will fail. One session by Liz Peters enabled us to take big theatrical bow when we got a silly exercise wrong. I’ve taken this to the office and when I take a ‘failure bow’ I make it good. The message is, ‘It’s ok to make mistakes. It’s ok to get it wrong.’ I’ve learned to ask myself, ‘What will you do about it - wallow or learn?’
  • I am still learning to say, ‘YES, AND...’ instead of, ‘YES, BUT…’ as this can be a powerful enabler to the team around me.
  • I am more aware of my energy and attention and when I work best. After a one-to-one coaching session with the excellent Pat Joseph, I prioritise diary dates, planning and margins and therefore work to my strengths.
  • I have accepted more speaking engagements. Using the power poses that Liz emphasised you’ll find me breathing and standing like Wonder Woman before I speak, imagining amazing women cheering me on.
  • I am more aware of the strengths and the issues that women with disabilities face thanks to learning from women in our group.
  • I am more aware of a ‘systems thinking’ approach after the session with Jennie McShannon. Asking key questions about the root causes of a problem and how we can work together to bring about change comes more naturally to me. I still need further work on this!
  • I am more connected and able to offer and receive support from my cohort. Our Action Learning Set will carry on and the five us will keep learning from each other, thanks to Jane Garnham our fantastic facilitator. I have also taken the bold step of training to be an Action Learning Set Facilitator and I’m booked on the training course. I wouldn’t have done that before. I would have discounted myself.

Leaders face an enormous amount of issues, women in leadership even more so. The problems that I arrived with are still there, yet my perspective has shifted. I am more aware of my own and others’ strengths, our purpose and my ‘deepest work’. As a result, I think I can carry on longer in the resilient yet fragile women’s sector which deals with so much trauma and injustice. I know I’m doing a bloody good job and I want to enable others to know that too – including you! If you have read this far then I hope this is prompting you to apply... to get the dates in the diary… to talk with your Trustees...

Most of all, I’ve learned from all these women I have met. I’d like to think they have rubbed off on me, helped me to emerge and not listen to the ‘imposter voice’ that seeks to stop me before I start. What a dreamy and inspiring space to enter! I can’t recommend it more highly. But give it your all, make the most of it, stay curious, you might just find out your ‘deepest work’ and get some tools to help you be the best version of you, failures and all.

Josephine Knowles is the Co-Director (and Co-Founder) of Beyond the Streets, a charity that works with women facing sexual exploitation - and is the organisation’s only Argentine Tango dancer!

Tags:  challenges  change  collaboration  community  fellow  future  programme  skills 

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Announcing our WISE Programme participants

Posted By Clore Social Leadership, 23 May 2019
Updated: 23 October 2020



The Wandsworth Innovation, Skills and Empowerment (WISE) Programme is a free leadership development initiative delivered in collaboration with the Battersea Arts Centre and generously supported by the Wimbledon Foundation and the Battersea Power Station Foundation. The programme will run over 3 years, with annual cohorts of 20 free places available for leaders who are keen on developing the resilience, confidence, and efficiency necessary to drive personal, organisational and Borough-wide change.

Commenting on this initiative, Liz Moreton, Director of Creativity and Social Change from Battersea Arts Centre, said:

"Battersea Arts Centre's mission is to inspire people to take risks to shape the future, and we are thrilled to be working with Clore Social to deliver this innovative programme for the next generation of local social leaders. This programme builds on our experience of capacity building with the Local Roots charity network, and supporting the next generation of social entrepreneurs through The Agency programme. I'm excited to see the great positive change in Wandsworth that the participants on the WISE programme will no doubt deliver.”

"I'm excited to see the great positive change in Wandsworth that the participants on the WISE programme will no doubt deliver." 


Participants will be involved in a range of group and individual learning activities, action-learning sets, coaching and a mentor programme. In addition, they will have the opportunity to design and deliver a Local Challenge project, which will enable them to identify needs in the community and to achieve improvements over the course of the programme. Building on all aspects of our Social Leaders’ Capabilities Framework, the programme aims to help leaders become more empowered, focused, and generous, so that they can effectively transform the social sector to meet current and future challenges, and lead social change.

The 2019 WISE Programme participants are:


  • Julie Jowett, Thrive Horticultural Charity
  • Hadas Hagos, Waste Not Want Not Project
  • Beth Rattigan, Citizens Advice Wandsworth
  • Marcia Thompson, Women's Space
  • Tracey Ford, JAGS Foundation
  • Mike Dignam, Generate Opportunities Ltd
  • Rebecca Wilson, Little Village
  • Teresa Harris, Learn to Love to Read
  • Emma Chisholm. Age UK Wandsworth
  • Ellie Cusack, Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees
  • Egle Banelyte, CARAS
  • Eniola Akinlabi, Business Launchpad
  • Marie Bidegaray, AGORA ARTS CIRCLE
  • Leanne Wood, Share Community

In partnership with the Battersea Arts Centre, Supported by the Wimbledon Foundation

Tags:  arts  challenges  culture  fellow  fellowship  future  team 

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Reflecting on Inclusive Leadership

Posted By Clore Social Leadership, 21 June 2017
Updated: 22 October 2020

We all lead such “Helter-Skelter” lifestyles sometimes you just feel that life is passing you by at an alarming rate and you never have time to just stop and reflect on what’s actually going on! Today I was temporarily brought to halt after being asked to chat to British Council’s European Diversity Team at their annual meet-up in Belfast about my leadership journey and what I considered are the traits of “Inclusive Leadership”.

When preparing for my session, and as a recent Clore Social Fellow, my first port of call was to re-look at what underpins the whole Fellowship, their Leadership Development Framework and Social Leaders’ Capabilities Framework. In principle I agree that these are all critical to being an effective leader, but what other traits are needed to be an inclusive leader?

I believe that there are eight key traits, some that overlap with Clore Social, so here are mine;


  1. Awareness: Being aware of what is going on around you is essential. But being aware of the people around you is more important. How can you lead if you are not in tune with your colleagues, partners and appreciating the diversity of thinking as well as life?
  2. Curiosity: Michael Dell stated that curiosity is the most important trait of inclusive leaders, and a few years ago I read a book by Alan Greenspan the former Head of the US Treasury who set aside one hour every day to read. I’ve tried to follow his lead by setting aside time early in the morning or at night to read, monitor websites and trawl Twitter – yes, my email inbox is overloaded with links to fascinating articles on literally everything, you never know where that next big idea can and will come from.
  3. Passion: All I have to say here is – if you’re not passionate about what you do, why do it. I’ve sat on numerous panels and listened to pitches when the presenter is just going through the motions and you just want to scream in a Jerry Maguire voice “PLEASE SHOW ME THE PASSION!” Recently I had the honor of being on the selection panel to interview the next wave of Ashoka Fellows for the UK and Ireland. One of the interviewees was an outstanding guy called Mark Swift with an unbelievable back-story who runs his own social enterprise called Wellbeing Enterprises CIC – truly inspirational and oozing passion!
  4. Courage: Without courage, you won’t be able to move forward. It’s not all about being able to take a risk, it’s also about having the courage to defend your colleagues, defending your values admitting when you’re wrong.
  5. Collaboration: Here I mean true collaboration and not “glorified cooperation” when organisations pay lip service to each other just to download information and use it for their own means. Trust me over many years of observing our esteemed third sector, and from painful personal experience, I’ve fallen for the “lets collaborate” routine only to find out a few days later that they’ve set up meetings with your partners; what I term death by a thousand cuts culture. Coming from a private sector background you know who your competitors are and you’re always on guard, in the third sector it’s more difficult to work out who your competitors are. A sad reflection on the third sector and if we want to create a truly collaborative environment we need a mix of transparency, trust and inclusive leadership.
  6. Values: Don’t think I have to say much more here, to me these are most important traits to becoming an inclusive leader: honesty, trust and a militant transparency. Enough said.
  7. Perseverance/Commitment (Never Quit): If values are the most important trait of a highly inclusive leader then perseverance comes a close second. Highly inclusive leaders are fully committed to diversity and inclusion because they align their values to their objectives and persevere no matter what. But like values, perseverance comes from the core - as a boy from the country and a family steeped in traditional farming values, the foundation blocks to everything I do are honesty and integrity, passed down by my parents and grandparents, and with that a determination to not quit come what may. In the world that many of us live in working in social enterprise and social innovation, quitting is not option. As Douglas McArthur once said, “Age wrinkles the body, quitting wrinkles the soul.”
  8. Authenticity: Along the same lines as passion, if you can’t be yourself and come across as authentic, other people will see through you.


So, thank-you British Council for allowing me to reflect on inclusive leadership and tell my story. On a final action point, never stop learning and set aside that one hour a day to take a breath, find new interesting articles to read and as Clore Social taught me, know yourself, be yourself and look after yourself.

Tags:  casestudy  change  collaboration  fellow  fellowship  future  skills  team  tips 

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