Leadership: does strategy still matter in times of crisis?
The question we addressed in this meeting was as follows: ‘In these turbulent times are we shifting away from a conventional planning approach? What does this mean for how leaders operate?’
The first speaker was Nick Sinclair, from Community Catalysts, who runs the Local Area Co-ordination network, and the New Social Leaders network. Nick shared a recording of an interview he conducted on this topic with Professor Donna Hall, architect of the Wigan Deal.
The second speaker was Kate McKenzie, from Power to Change, who manages the Leading the Way learning and grants programme for community business leaders in the North East and Yorkshire.
Here are some of the key points made by speakers and in discussion:
Strategy does matter in times of crisis. It is not enough to address the immediate presenting problems, important though that is, if we are also wanting to bring about a wider and deeper social change.
But we need a different approach to planning:
When it is difficult to foresee very much beyond the next six months (if that), the plan needs to make more allowance for emergence.
Rather than a set of objectives or targets, the plan should provide an overall vision (a ‘North Star’), and a set of relationships or principles which can guide decision-making and behaviour.
It also needs to allow maximum operational autonomy. (It was noted that Mencap, for example, is working towards a model where people at the front end of the organisation can set the strategy for their own work, within an overall framework. In a large organisation this requires a big culture shift).
The key elements of the plan should be developed with the community affected by the plan.
The plan should be set out with simplicity and clarity.
And it should place significant weight on the process for review, reflection and adaption. A ‘discover, design, test’ method, capable of being applied quickly to aspects of an organisation’s work may be preferable to an ‘epic’ effort to design a single all-encompassing strategy. The Human, Learning, Systems approach developed by Toby Lowe and others is felt by many to be very helpful in this respect.
In summary, a good strategy in turbulent times should be much more about establishing the right culture, to help people ‘do the right thing’ and reflect and adapt, and much less about imposing a rigid work plan.
Leadership as facilitation
In this session we focused on how leaders can operate as facilitators, rather than managers. What are the benefits, what are the difficulties?
The first speaker was Nick Sinclair from Community Catalysts. Nick runs the Local Area Co-ordination network, and the New Social Leaders network. He is also the ‘thought leader’ for the leadership strand of Better Way’s work.
Nick introduced our second speaker, Shelley McBride, who set up the Derby Community Parent Programme.
The final speaker was Helen Goulden, CEO of the Young Foundation. Her presentation drew on Young Foundation’s research, and the experience of its Leadership Academy, as well as her own personal experience as a leader.
Here are some of the key points made by speakers and in discussion:
A core role of established leaders can and should be to grow leadership in others. To act in this way challenges the traditional ‘command-and-control’ leadership model, and opens up space for more people.
We should remember that leaders are not all a good thing – some set out to promote vested interests or sow division. Our efforts should be directed towards leaders who are willing to work for the common good and who value inclusion.
There is far too little investment in leadership development in the informal community sector, compared to other sectors, even though community leaders are so fundamental to social change. Many community leaders feel anxiety and unworthiness in their role, and we need to build a better system of support around them.
We need to distinguish between management and leadership, and place more emphasis on the latter. Most organisations, it was suggested, are ‘over-managed and under-led’.
The term leader is an uneasy one. It implies that someone is ‘in charge’. Perhaps we need a different word.
A switch is needed, from efforts to support ‘leaders’ to support for ‘leadership’ – for example ‘how not to be a leader’ training, encouraging people to think of leadership as a group dynamic, not just about the individual.
We don’t need to start from scratch. Over the last 30 years or more there have been excellent examples of leadership training, that place high value in qualities such as curiosity, collaboration, enabling others, humility, empathy, emotional intelligence.