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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
02 August 2016
Updated: 14 October 2020
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Leadership matters. This is the first line taken from our new report Leadership Development in the Third Sector: Learning Lessons.
We all know that leadership in the sector is important, but what really matters is leadership that can navigate through choppy waters while simultaneously capitalising on new opportunities. Sounds relatively straightforward, but it isn’t. This is because social sector leadership has to achieve the above while catering to a wide network of stakeholders, such as the government, private sector, volunteers and beneficiaries to name but a few, and do so in adherence with good governance. Today’s sector leaders are required to have a complex toolkit of skills at their fingertips to respond quickly to the demands being asked of them. But in these fast paced times leaders are often spinning too many plates to engage thoughtfully in how both they, and their staff, can become better leaders.
I have now been at Clore Social Leadership for exactly one year. During this time I have immersed myself in the world of leadership development, meeting with a wide range of CEOs, trustees and managers to understand their organisation’s leadership needs. Digesting all I’ve learned one clear message resounds: leadership development does indeed matter, but overall the sector doesn’t want to pay for it.
In these times of political uncertainty and austerity I can, to an extent, understand such reticence. Yet no one can deny that the sector is in the midst of some huge challenges, so good leadership is more important now than ever before. We know that leadership - and by this I mean leaders on all levels, not just CEOs - is imperative to ensure organisations are well run to effectively serve beneficiaries and the wider community. Leadership development improves productivity by 23%, but this requires an investment of time, finance and resources. It is therefore incumbent on the entire sector to come together to help find new ways of identifying and developing the next generation of leaders to make their organisations even more effective and create lasting social change.
To get under the skin of this, we are examining 21st century social leadership in a series of reports that analyse leadership development in the sector. We hope these reports will provoke further debates while also generating new ideas and solutions. What’s clear from our first report is that lessons can be learned from the past; wholly discounting previous attempts to systemise third sector leadership development is unwise, akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We can also learn from other sectors’ attempts to build leadership development practices, like the NHS Leadership Academy the National College for Teaching and Leadership, in addition to examining practices from our overseas counterparts. It’s interesting to note that they all share similar challenges as our sector, including the need for further investment alongside structured leadership development offerings.
Casting a critical eye on the past and wider sectors invites further questions which our subsequent reports will seek to answer such as: what is the right ‘ecosystem’ for leadership development in our sector? How can we sustain this in the future? What new solutions might Clore Social Leadership create and deliver, and might partnerships be the way forward?
Please read the full report here.
We encourage your feedback about this, and our upcoming reports. You can share your views and comments below, on Twitter or even contribute an opinion piece to our Leaders Now blog.
Tags:
casestudy
culture
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
28 June 2016
Updated: 14 October 2020
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Perception versus reality is a poignant theme which many of us have been grappling with since the aftermath of the EU referendum. Do the referendum results illustrate the country’s real wish to leave the EU, or are we in the mire of a bigger, societal disconnection with how the public wants real change in the face of austerity and social inequality?
The Charity Commission has just published their report, Public Trust and Confidence in Charities, which shows that public trust in the sector is at an all-time low having dropped by 10%. The report is a powerful read, but as I reflect on these findings I can’t help but wonder - is this perception or reality? And if we are to regain public trust, what does the sector need to do to make this a reality so that we can collectively climb out of this chasm of distrust?
There’s no doubt that the sector has faced a huge number of challenges, and it’s clear that the various media revelations and fundraising issues have dented the public’s view of the sector. However, the public also knows how vital charities are with 93% of the report’s respondents recognising that charities play a significant role in society. Increasingly, charities are taking up the fallout from government cutbacks to provide support to local communities across the nation.
Now, more than ever, charity sector leadership is imperative to ensure we deliver the support the public truly needs as we steer our way through these unpredictable times. Based on our experience of running the Fellowship programme for eight years, we know that leaders don’t get the support they need. Here are some ideas to help make public trust in charities become more of a reality:
- Invest in leadership development: There are countless examples of excellent leaders in the sector – from junior to senior leaders. They have the ability to lead their organisations and teams, but like everyone, their leadership skills need to continuously develop. Research shows that leadership development increases performance output by 23% , so investment in leadership training is a vital.
- Find your peers: Being a leader can be lonely job; this is one of the main complaints I hear from sector leaders. With this in mind, I strongly recommend that leaders develop peer groups where they can go for support and advice, and hopefully find innovative ways to collaborate.
- Speak up: Charity leaders need to feel empowered to speak up for themselves and think hard about their organisation’s messages and purpose to ensure they’re truly serving their beneficiaries. We must stand for what we think is morally right – if not us, then who?
- Collaborate: Together we have to mend society rather than allow the sector to continually fragment. I believe that most people who work in this sector do so because they want to make a difference, so let’s work together to make this happen.
Our country’s leadership is in a state of extreme upheaval where it seems as though there is no trust or cohesiveness within the major political parties. The Charity Commission’s report is a reminder to us to take positive action to rebuild trust, and strong leadership will help show the way.
Read the full report here.
Tags:
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culture
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trust
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