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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
20 March 2017
Updated: 04 December 2020
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The leadership industry offers numerous theoretical frameworks and models, ranging from the instructional to the inspirational. The majority of these models are focused on the exogenous – the external factors, and offer up-skilling and progression as a solution to overcoming leadership challenges. But is this enough?
After spending 2016 as a Clore Social Leadership Fellow, I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject, but with the knowledge that I have gained from that intense fellowship year and reflecting on my 15 years of working towards social justice I offer this: leadership should be more about regression than progression.
The chances are we probably once had many of the qualities that would make us a strong leader, but we have lost or forgotten them. Perhaps more concerning, we might have learned not to value them as we should. We need to tap into our inner-child and re-learn the qualities that childhood gifted us, and value them as leadership traits.
Key to this is our curiosity. I’m sure none of our parents expected to give birth to pint-sized Paxman’s but this is what many of them got. 'Do the trees make the wind?', 'Do they close the roads to switch on all the cats eyes?', 'Where is my soul?', and of course, 'Where do babies come from?'. As children we’re naturally curious about the world around us, and less willing to accept things at face value.
The circle of why is a phenomenon that delights curious young minds and frustrates parents in equal measure. Yet at some point we learned to be less curious. 'Why?' Because the very question becomes annoying and it stopped eliciting the responses that we liked.
Research shows that our questioning drops off dramatically after the age of five, suggesting that schools have a role to play here too. I remember from my own experience that school rewarded the children who knew the answer, not asked the best questions, and this pattern of rewarding answers over questions continues into our professional life.
So, what’s stopping us being more curious as adults? Potentially lots of things! Have you ever heard it quipped that there’s 'no such thing as stupid questions, just stupid people'? Asking questions can cause us to be perceived as naive or ill-informed. Asking a question might feed our imposter syndrome, or we could risk letting our demigod masks slip in front of those who we want to see us as strong and all knowing – so they can trust us to lead them.
But without leaders asking why, what if, and how, we stifle our creativity and, at best, are doomed to tweak existing behaviours, programmes and ideas, and at worst repeat the mistakes of the past. If we’re to lead the change that we seek, then it’s critical that we think differently, and maintain a curious approach to everything we do, and everyone we do it with.
I started doing this a few years ago, particularly in relation to who I work with. It’s now habitual for me to be more curious soon after appointment to get to know my new colleagues more closely. I start with two questions. First I ask 'what matters to you?'.
Beyond an interview environment and trying to impress the new boss, I aim to get to know my new colleagues more personally. I talk about what matters to me, and give the example of walking my dogs at lunch times, hoping to give them permission to share what matters to them and how we can fit work in to their life.
I also ask them to tell me about their favourite line-manager (or sometimes their lest favourite – depending how mischievous I'm feeling). This gives me an idea of how they do/don’t like to be managed and supported. This curiosity is simple, but it has had a big impact on my relationships with colleagues and helps me to create an environment in which we can all thrive.
I'm also more curious in circumstances and conversations where I disagree. In the spirit of curiosity, I have become better at listening to understand, rather than listening ready to challenge with my own view.
This blog was developed as part of Mark's 2016 Clore Social Fellowship prgramme and was originally published on Third Force News.
Mark Kelvin is programme director at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland and a 2016 Clore Social Fellow.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
28 February 2017
Updated: 04 December 2020
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I’ve worked with the Armed Forces community for many years, both in military help-seeking research at the King’s Centre of Military Health Research and in healthcare policy at the Royal British Legion. I was fortunate enough last year to be a Forces in Mind Trust Fellow on Clore Social Leadership’s Fellowship Programme.
An area I care very deeply about is the mental health of our Armed Forces community. We live in a stressful world, there is no doubt. The World Health Organisation reports that mental health and substance misuse problems are the leading cause of disability worldwide, and one in four of us will experience a mental health problem in our lifetime.
In the UK Armed Forces community, the most common mental health problems are depression and anxiety. Most recent research suggests these may be experienced by Service and ex-Service personnel at double the rates of those in the general population. Despite much effort to improve service provision and mental health attitudes by the Ministry of Defence, the NHS and Service charities, help-seeking rates in the Armed Forces community continue to remain extremely low.
My provocation piece asks us to rethink our conceptions of mental health and help-seeking in the Armed Forces. The piece begins with an imagined character in the Armed Forces giving advice through a letter to those struggling with mental health problems. Whilst this letter is my creation and exaggerated for effect, it is based on some real views I have had recounted to me in my research interviews with the Armed Forces community. The language in the letter seeks to highlight some very important issues that prevent individuals from seeking help for mental health problems in the Armed Forces.
I highlight the main barriers to seeking help for mental health problems in the Armed Forces. These include mental health stigma, the preference to solve problems alone, a lack of social or family support, and finally the pervading culture of masculinity that equates help-seeking with weakness.
In terms of what can be done to address these barriers, I suggest that:
- We need to get talking about our mental health to one another and to our families;
- We need to educate ourselves on how to look after our own mental health, how to spot signs and symptoms of mental ill health and know what services are available that can support us;
- We need to challenge the weakness culture. We cannot continue to uphold the notion that seeking help is akin to failure. True courage is found in honesty, in facing up to problems, taking action to help ourselves and being strong through support found in others.
Our significance as leaders is measured by the courage of the questions we ask in order to confront and change negative cultures and attitudes that should not be promoted in our communities. The barriers and cultures that prevent Armed Forces individuals, past and present, from seeking help is a problem that all people in the Armed Forces community can take a stand upon and demonstrate leadership in promoting the type of environment we want to live in. It is time we changed the conversation and refuse to accept the state of things as they are now. I believe changing the culture around help-seeking for mental health problems in the Armed Forces will need all of our combined strength and leadership.
You can download Marie-Louise Sharp’s provocation piece here.
Please share your views and comments below, or you can contact Marie-Louise on Twitter.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
06 February 2017
Updated: 04 December 2020
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"I am human, and nothing of that which is human is alien to me." Publius Terentius Afer
At the end of his 2016 Reith Lectures, Kwame Anthony Appiah left us with this striking quotation. Written by a man who was ‘ a slave from Roman Africa, a Latin interpreter of Greek comedies and a writer from Classical Europe’, the words attest to a profound appreciation of what it is to be human, and how our humanity, once acknowledged, transcends concepts of nationality, identity or status.
The term ‘alien’, still used within US federal law to describe those born outside the country, is rightly considered an embarrassing and derogatory term in the UK, with connotations of dehumanisation and scapegoating that we prefer not to own. But in my experience of working with marginalised migrant and refugee communities, it’s often a term which recent arrivals, or even those who have lived here for decades, use to describe their treatment by UKBA officials, UK institutions, and even their lack of welcome by the Great British majority.
This painful reality is the opening precept to my Provocation Piece which I developed as part of my fellowship with Clore Social Leadership. The piece explores our current preoccupation with social integration and asks whether we can reconcile this with often fearful or nostalgic concepts of ‘British values’. If, as the Casey Review maintains, we are really looking for a ‘common life’, I argue that we need to be more questioning, more courageous, and more open to a reflexive discussion about ‘who’ we are and what ‘our values’ might look like in collaboration with those who arrive from abroad. What can we learn from people who have experienced themselves as ‘outsiders’; what reality checks can they give us about ourselves and our assumed cultural values; how might their experiences of migration and integration contribute to a dynamic model of cultural heritage for the future?
These questions have framed my Clore Social fellowship in a tumultuous year for issues and debates on migration, culminating in what can only be described as a crisis of national consciousness. Amidst the confusion and strife, it has also encouraged me to look for good practice in advocating for a model of social integration which addresses how we welcome and learn from new arrivals at ground level. From this, I’ve come up with four suggestions:
- We need to acknowledge that citizenship is not a birthright, but is earned by those who want a stake in society. Instead of an Integration Oath, why not use a Citizenship Celebration which brings together and rewards anyone who actively contributes their values and culture to their local community?
- Developing relationships across cultures takes curiosity, empathy and patience. Whether at work, in your neighbourhood or in the school playground, simply making eye contact, exchanging a friendly word is a great start; thereafter, accept that the normal social codes don’t necessarily apply – ask, explain, invite, explore, adapt, exchange and don’t give up.
- You can’t support social integration simply by saying nice things on social media. Stepping out of our comfort zone is what enables us to appreciate what it’s like to feel like an outsider: offer to teach English to your neighbour; ask them to teach you how to cook their cuisine; provide a night stay for a homeless refugee; join in with local or school activities which seem to be ‘for minorities’- you will be amazed by what you learn.
- Let’s offer experiential diversity training for our statutory services which doesn’t balk at exploring cultural difference and can promote empathy, intercultural awareness and cross-sector collaboration.
Whilst it’s a good thing that we starting to have ‘difficult conversations’ about values and identity, we have a long way to go on understanding the dynamics of privilege and power. Step into the shoes of a new arrival, question yourself and your assumptions in relation to those different to you, and you will awaken your own precious humanity.
Please share your comments about Emma’s blog and provocation piece below, or you can join the conversation on Twitter.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
31 January 2017
Updated: 04 December 2020
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I have worked in world of ‘crisis support’ in various roles for 15 years. For me, crisis support is for people who feel they cannot cope or move forward without external help. The people I have worked with who are in crisis are often dealing with a multitude of issues they need support with such as rough sleeping, mental health needs, domestic violence and substance misuse.
All of my roles have all been for small specialist charities, and I have often wondered about the impact on charities and their workers when responding to people in crisis. Similarly, I have also questioned how important these charities really are for those accessing it. Surely there are statutory services that are better setup for this type of work such as hospitals, the police, or GP services?
I used the opportunity open to me through my Clore Social Leadership experience to look at these questions. Specifically my research asks: ‘What do male sex workers experience when they engage with frontline support services?’ Due to my professional experience I felt that the people I had often worked with would not engage with statutory services, so this was my opportunity to see if my thoughts were echoed by other professionals, and also those accessing the services.
My research findings
What became apparent is that the reality of how things should be done and how they are experienced are in stark contrast. Policy and guidance documents that have been around for as long as I have been working are not being followed - either through a lack of resources and time, or a lack of understanding or care. These are my top line findings:
- Multi agency working practices are just not happening in this sector;
- Specialist sexual health services are often seen as being aimed at ‘white heterosexuals’ which therefore stops some people feeling able to access them;
- Funders do not understand the time, money and resources it takes to support an individual in crisis.
My research highlights some of the voices of male sex workers and the staff who support them when they are in crisis. Charities are often not funded or resourced enough to respond to these crises, and this has a huge impact on these men’s lives. Since conducting and publishing my research, several specialist sex work services have closed down. My research consistently states that when in crisis these services were often the only places these people felt they could go for support and respect, so where will they go now?
I have focused my research on male sex workers, but I believe the findings and questions raised from it are applicable far beyond this area of work. Both the workers and men’s experiences are indicative of people across the UK who find themselves in similar crises or lacking specialist support.
To read the full research report, please download it here. Feel free to share your comments about Hayley’s blog and research below, or you can contact Hayley on Twitter.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
10 January 2017
Updated: 04 December 2020
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When I began my year as an older people’s specialist Clore Social Fellow I was interested in looking at asset based community development (ABCD) in relation to social care. My interest had been sparked by what I heard about how this was being put into practice in Leeds. During my Clore year, while shadowing in a hospital which is leading on one of the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans, (STPs) I started to wonder how relevant these ideas were for the NHS.
STPs are place based plans, and planning guidance from NHS England talks about ‘creating new relationships with patients and communities’. This made sense to me. How can you develop place based plans without talking to the people who make up that place? I discovered a range of organisations working on community and citizen engagement in health. I also discovered a lot of criticism of STPs for failure to engage. Looking at some of the STP plans I found the extent to which they mentioned engagement with citizens or communities varied enormously. I could also see some obvious barriers to engagement, including the speed at which the plans have had to be drawn up.
Almost all STPs are led by NHS bodies but the partnerships include local authorities. However, the extent to which they have played a major role varies. Local authorities could play a crucial role in linking STPs with communities. They are not just relevant as the lead for social care and public health; housing, accessible street, community development are all relevant to health, and all part of local authority responsibilities.
The voluntary and community sector is also a key way into place and community. Most STPs refer to their role as providers of quality person centred interventions. Not all recognise the role of the voluntary and community sector as a way to engage with local communities, particularly with disadvantaged groups.
My thoughts on the barriers to citizen engagement in STPs and some possible solutions are set out in my report. I don’t believe this is a challenge solely for STP leadership. It’s one that leaders across health, local authorities and the community and voluntary sector need to grasp.
Please click here to read Sue’s full Provocation Piece, developed as part of her 2016 Clore Social Fellowship.
Share your views by commenting below or contacting Sue on Twitter.
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