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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
09 November 2016
Updated: 04 December 2020
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This week saw the publication of my Fellowship research Collateral Damage. In it, I have sought to shine a light on the hidden problem of children who witness police home raids. These children, whose parents or siblings have committed crimes, are the unseen victims of those crimes, often left deeply traumatised by the raids, and overlooked by the police.
In the report I have sought to make clear recommendations to key groups to encourage them to take some simple steps which have the potential to bring about significant change. But in those recommendations are some important lessons for leaders seeking to bring about change in a far wider range of sectors.
1. Easy does it
In San Francisco, inspired by the testimonies of young people, the Chief of Police has adopted a trauma informed approach to all arrests. This means that the police now do some very simple things to reduce the traumatic impact on children such as getting down to their level to talk to them or, when possible, giving the offender the chance to say goodbye.
It is easy to be lulled into believing that, because a problem exists and is deeply entrenched, only those with the ability to develop complex and intricate responses will be able to bring about solutions. But sometimes the most powerful responses are simple and straightforward. They just need people willing to get on and do them.
2. There's no I in team
Following on from the report, key charities such as Pact and Banardos, have made a commitment to working in partnership with their local police forces to develop solutions - such as the police providing families with contact details for those charities following a raid.
Leaders seeking to bring about social change can't do it in isolation. We must be able to work in partnership, across sectors and within sectors with 'rival' organisations. This means moving beyond the blame game and developing shared goals. And this will often require leaders who are willing to not take the credit or get all of the recognition they might deserve.
3. Talk isn't cheap
It almost defies belief that until now we have been willing to turn a blind eye to the harm being done to the children and siblings of offenders - and to the impact this has on society as we increase the likelihood of them becoming swept up in the currents of criminality. But it does not take many conversations on the topic to realise that this is because as a society we have a deep-rooted belief that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And unless in the longer-term we tackle this narrative, we will never see really systemic change in how these children are treated.
This is the case for many of our most entrenched social issues, yet 'communications' is still seen by many leaders as an afterthought, the fluff to get around to when the real work has been done. But through communications - changing mind-sets, raising awareness, and bringing together stakeholders - we have a chance to move beyond sticking plasters to long-term solutions.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
21 October 2016
Updated: 04 December 2020
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"People who never make mistakes never make anything. Leaders should not only be assessed by the successes they achieve, but how they handle their failures too. Social leaders should not be afraid to fail."
This slightly counter intuitive statement was made by Prof. Nick Hardwick, who shared his leadership journey at Clore Social’s recent Leaders Now breakfast event.
Nick Hardwick was HM Chief Inspector of Prisons between 2010-16, and previously the first Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Having spent the first half of his career in the voluntary sector, he worked with young offenders for the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, young homeless people for Centrepoint and refugees and asylum seekers for the Refugee Council. He was awarded a CBE in 2010.
The topic of Nick’s talk was one which he has a lot of experience of: making mistakes. If you never make mistakes you are not trying things hard enough was the central message of the talk - and it seemed to be one that resonated with a room full of social sector leaders.
Often we think that tasks prove to be difficult because of our own inadequacy or inability. But, as Nick shared, things are difficult simply because they are meant to be difficult. If you are doing the right things, you will inevitably find yourself making mistakes. “We are too intolerant of failure” said Nick, speaking of leaders across different sectors.
But making mistakes is only half the story. Good leadership is demonstrated in being able to deal with the errors made. “The rule of holes is to stop digging”, Nick reflected, “and to own up when a mistake is made”.
Unfortunately, as Nick pointed out, the bigger the mistake, the harder it is to accept it. As a result, efforts are often directed into proving that an error wasn’t made, rather than correcting it. Leaders in every sector often fall into this trap, but covering up is often worse than the mistake itself, and it is always better to own up to the misstep made.
Great leaders use the help of the people around them to identify errors and these will often take the shape of our opponents. Although Nick has experienced this first hand in the public sector, of which people are quick to condemn, those voices are often right, and a good leader should try to consider these rather than be defensive.
“There are three rules regarding mistakes”, Nick concludes, “Number one - make them. Number two - be prepared to deal with them when they happen. And finally - when they do occur, have the courage to identify them and put them right!”. Important lessons for leaders of a sector which often finds itself in crisis.
Leaders Now is a new event series for social sector leaders. Each month we invite speakers from inside and beyond the sector to share their leadership journeys and encourage debate at the House of St Barnabas. Sign up to our newsletter and look out on our website for news about the 2017 events.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
18 October 2016
Updated: 04 December 2020
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One of my favourite leadership quotes from Peter Drucker, management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things - sums up how I see leadership. Leadership is often about tackling difficult but pertinent issues. With this in mind, my Fellowship research explores why social leaders must ensure they build inclusive workplaces which value diversity.
Inclusive workplaces welcome diverse talent; they do not discriminate against individuals on any basis including age, disability, sexual orientation, marriage, gender, race or religion. Such workplaces are important because they have been proven to contribute to social integration (social integration being the extent to which people interact with others who are different to themselves).¹
My Fellowship research involved interviewing five inspirational leaders who were identified by peers and colleagues as having consistently nurtured inclusive environments: Julie Bentley - Chief Executive, Girlguiding; Sharon White - Chief Executive, Ofcom; Simon Blake OBE - Chief Executive, NUS; Sue Owen - Permanent Secretary, DCMS and Tunde Ogungbesan - Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Succession, . Inclusivity lessons from these leaders were highlighted for others who may seek to emulate them.
As we enter uncharted waters of what a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit might mean for the social sector, our work must continue to tackle the root causes of societal discord in a multicultural society. Unquestionably, as social integration has never been more important, there is a need to ensure that our work and workplaces are more inclusive.
Leaders who wish to champion inclusion must avoid ostrich strategies which ignore the following:
- That diversity is still absent in some of our workplaces.
- Efforts to promote equality and diversity should aim to nurture inclusive workplaces.
- Attempts to nurture inclusion will falter without measurable targets to evidence tangible progress.
- Inclusive workplaces are critical to social integration.
On diversity:
Workplace diversity is about ensuring that people who work in an organisation are representative of the wider society². Even though progress has been made over the past few years, the reality is that certain groups are still excluded from many UK workplaces.³ As social leaders are people who lead change with a social purpose, the social sector should lead in ensuring that workplaces truly reflect wider society.
On inclusion and social integration:
With more organisations working to promote equality and diversity in the workplace, recognition must be paid to the fact that strategies which focus solely on championing equality and diversity are ostrich strategies as they fail to acknowledge the importance of inclusion.
As a first generation immigrant, workplaces have played a vital role in my social integration experience. An openly gay colleague and a manager - who just happened to have cystic fibrosis – were two amazing people who exemplified why difference should be valued and how talent was not monolithic. However, it was the fact that the working environment valued ‘difference’ that engendered a cohesive team.
A clarion call to avoid ostrich strategies:
While compelling evidence shows that a diverse workforce boosts innovation and stimulates productivity , my Fellowship research distinguishes between organisations that focus on developing a diverse workforce, and those that strive to nurture inclusive workplaces. This is because the latter not only makes good business sense, but it facilitates social integration and social mobility.
In today’s world, nurturing inclusion goes beyond being a ‘nice to have’ business consideration because inclusive workplaces are critical to social cohesion. Despite the numerous challenges, workplace inclusion and social integration remain lofty ideals that we must aspire to. Leaders in the social sector should be exemplars of good practice.
Visit here for my Fellowship research which draws on inclusivity lessons from the five leaders interviewed to make eight practical recommendations for other leaders and managers seeking to nurture inclusive workplaces which contribute to social integration.
¹ ³ Social Integration Commission 2014. How integrated is modern Britain? Available at: http://socialintegrationcommission.org.uk/SIC_Report_WEB.pdf
² Inclusive Employers. 2016. Inclusion, Diversity and Equality. Available at: https://www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk/about-us/inclusion-diversity-and-equality
Hewlett, S. A., Marshall, M., Sherbin, L. 2013. How Diversity Can Drive Innovation. Harvard Business Review (online). Available at: https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
24 August 2016
Updated: 04 December 2020
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Andrew Barnett has been the director of the UK Branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation since 2007 and is the Convenor of the Funders’ Collaboration on the Leadership.
Social sector leadership is an issue that’s close to my heart. I’ve worked with some exceptional individuals during my career: passionate and empathetic, thoughtful and strategic, collaborative, outward looking, with vision and foresight. They’ve not just been effective; they’ve been an inspiration to me. These qualities are found across the 163,000 organisations that make up the sector but not consistently so. Some heading up organisations lack the sort of insightful, collaborative and ‘generous’ leadership that feels so necessary when organisations should be collaborating, rather than competing, in the interests of their beneficiaries. Understandably, the response of some leaders is to retreat in the face of the huge external challenges whilst a tiny few – a small fraction of the total - act in a way that brings discredit on the sector as a whole and the values it stands for.
We have often neglected to invest in developing the next generation of leaders with such investment perhaps regarded as an indulgence. The fragmented nature of the sector – with many smaller charities and a limited number of larger ones – creates conditions in which we just hope and pray for good people rather than identifying and developing them. And this happens at a time when the social sector plays an increasingly important part in the fabric of society and yet faces some of its biggest strategic challenges. We have huge potential to be forces for good if only we can address this deficit.
This was the context for a ‘retreat’ held six months ago in Windsor. The gathering was convened by Sally Bacon from the Clore Duffield Foundation (a pioneer in this field), Sara Llewellin from the Barrow Cadbury Trust and myself from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s UK Branch (another early supporter of Clore Social Leadership) with the support of Shaks Ghosh from Clore Social itself. We were joined by colleagues from thirteen other funders, from the sector’s major umbrella bodies and from government. It was an opportunity for challenge and critical assessment. The big question was how we, as sector “stewards”, could ensure that it was well led and governed now and in the future.
A sense of urgency was hung over our discussions and a number of observations emerged: there is no ‘market place’ where organisations can find affordable and accessible leadership education (and no sign-posting to what exists); for a variety of reasons, demand from the sector itself appears weak (whether driven by short-termism or lack of resource). We felt strongly the need to support charities in their work. This is not just to reclaim their place in the affections of the British public, challenged of late by the behaviours of the tiny few, but to fulfil their potential acting alongside the state and a private sector who share the mantle of meeting the demands and needs of the British public now and in the future. We committed to collaborate on a bold initiative to transform social sector leadership - what some call “pulling all the levers at once” and others as “a collective shot in the arm” - to be delivered within a fixed timeframe but with an impact that lasts beyond the activities themselves (or funding).
The Funders’ Collaboration on Leadership, as it has come to be known, has brought together 50 individuals from funders, umbrella bodies, social sector organisations, and government with the aim of developing innovative and scalable solutions to the problems identified at the retreat. The focus is on four main themes, each of which now has a working party:
- Restoring trust in the voluntary sector.
- Sharing foresight information and preparing the sector for the future.
- Improving the standard of governance by informing and skilling trustees.
- Developing a new leadership style for our sector.
Each working group has been challenged to develop a defined, time-limited experiment that tackles each priority head on. If we can demonstrate evidence of the potential to be transformative, the plan is to prototype, pilot and take each to scale. We have a strong interest in ensuring this initiative adds up to more than the sum of its parts and we will be seeking to link the work of the different groups in ways that create a multiplier effect. We have a strong commitment to avoid duplicating other sector initiatives on governance, leadership and trust, complementing and supplementing them, where we can. We will disseminate the findings from the work and keep the collaborative flame burning with events and communications.
This doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of the commitment of people like Shaks, those who joined us in Windsor and others besides. And, it doesn’t come free. We are pleased that the Office for Civil Society has set aside a budget of £1.7 million for the most innovative projects and the Big Lottery Fund has agreed to match this. This leaves £1.7m to be raised from other sources including trusts and foundations who will be encouraged to trial the approaches with the organisations in their grantee portfolios.
We intend that a real difference is felt by the organisations who make up our sector, those who work with us, who benefit and even those who have been of our detractors of late. We estimate that there are 1.3 million leaders in our sector. To empower them further, we must extend a rich but coordinated offer of support to remarkable people in a context in which their work is not only valued but sought out.
Join in on the conversation with #FundersCollab and keep an eye on both the Calouste Gulbenkian (UK Branch) and Clore Social Leadership pages to stay abreast of the work being done by the Funders’ Collaboration on Leadership.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
01 July 2016
Updated: 04 December 2020
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As I have sat amongst the other 2016 Clore Social Leadership Fellows one thing is for sure, I am not like anyone here. When I began my Fellowship journey, this state of affairs concerned me - we are all supposed to be people who want social change and want to learn how we can be more effective in leading these changes amongst the communities we work with and the social sector in general.
From several of the different tools we have used within the programme to understand our strengths, our styles of working and ‘areas of development’ (apparently we don’t call them weaknesses anymore), I found myself as an outlier. I was one of a handful of reflective thinkers in my learning. This means I like to hear many people’s views before making my mind up on an issue, I don’t like to be rushed into a judgement without having some good facts and it seemed to explain why I don’t particularly like telephone calls where I have to make instant decisions! But looking to the rest of my cohort I saw that the majority of the group were ‘activist learners’, people who want to get up and do things, lots of energy, lots of trying things and not worrying if they don’t work.
We also looked at another tool called the ‘Four Seasons Model’ - which is essentially a less complicated Myers Briggs type test - and I found myself within a smaller group of the ‘Summer’ category. For Summer people their drive, and what gets them up in the morning, is all about people and relationships. Summers generally like balance and harmony in teams, they dislike conflict and like consultative decision-making. Amongst the other Fellows there was a large bunch of ‘Springs’, people who are very creative and love to get new projects off the ground. There was also a good set of ‘Winters’, those who want to get things done who are efficient and take decisions quickly, and each of these seasons obviously have their strengths and weaknesses.
So as these things emerged, and I found myself and my experience to be very different from everyone else's, I had a medium-sized charity existential crisis. I thought to myself, ‘What on earth am I doing working in the charity sector?! I am so different, perhaps I don’t have the right qualities to do this big thing called ‘social change’, and am I failing the Armed Forces communities I work with because I am nothing like any of these other Fellows, Fellows who I admire and am inspired by, and should be more like!’
Yet as I’ve progressed through my Fellowship year, a new perspective is seeping in which has calmed my crisis. If I take nothing else from my time on the Clore Social Leadership programme I will take this: difference is beauty and difference is strength.
Most of my life I have been told to concentrate on the things I am not good at. No doubt this has helped me pass some exams I might have otherwise failed, however this norm has definitely been to the detriment of celebrating what it is that I can do. I have learnt over the Fellowship that ‘positive psychology’ (hear me out) would say to focus on the very things I am good at and to make them excellent. This is because the things we are not very good at we will likely only make mediocre if we try to improve them. Now this doesn’t mean I can just ignore the areas I am uncomfortable with. The lesson however is: understand where you excel, where you don’t and try to put a team around you that is VERY different to you who can fill in the strengths you don’t have.
As I stood on my own at the second residential with the other Fellows playing some active games, we were asked to stand along a scale of 0-5 on what we felt about risk taking. I stood at zero or perhaps 0.1 - the rest of the Fellows stood at least at 3 and many around 5. Previously this difference would have made me feel awful, but that day with the Fellows I felt very important because I realised that this difference could make me invaluable to a team where that trait is not present. It also impresses upon me that in my work life, I need to have people around me who are further up the risk taking scale - if we give ourselves the space to learn from each other, we will be able to pull each other up and down scale to achieve our collective goals.
It may seem like such a small change in perspective as to how I look at myself and others, but it has freed up my mind to embrace what I am good at and stop berating myself for the things I am not. The beauty of Clore Social Leadership is in the diversity of its Fellows. It is all their experiences and skills and life histories that matter. It is the strength found in the difference of where Fellows have worked or currently work, whether grassroots organisations, small and large charities, social enterprises and the private sector. Our difference is how we learn to be better, learn to ally with people that help us to step out of our comfort zones and who challenge us to do more exciting and impactful things for the communities we serve. As the Fellowship moves forward, and new Fellows look to apply for places in 2017, I urge Clore Social Leadership to continue to enable diversity and access to the Fellowship. I finally encourage potential applicants to embrace and bring their difference to the group, because this is the gold dust on which to build success.
Here's a short video of Marie-Louise describing what makes a good leader.
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