Having the courage to allow curiosity to roam freely

When all those years ago, our CEO and I discussed a new role at The Trust: Head of Consultancy, never did I imagine that our 134 consultancy projects in 2012, would in 2024 (deep breath) multiply and morph into 401 consultancy projects plus, 126 mentoring assignments, 3895 registrations for webinars, 65 delegates at peer to peer exchanges and 177 on-calls.  Together providing over £3m worth of charity infrastructure support and requiring my title change to Head of Operations!

Professor Richard Kwiatkowski, our most recent presenter and guest said in his webinar: Leadership Starts with You, that “it’s all about the people”.  We could not have become the leading provider of free support to charity leaders without focus on the people within our world.  We look to work and engage with the people that fundamentally share our values. Our team, trustees and volunteers.  Our clients, funders and friends. The Trust’s heart beats to these values:

We care and connect
We learn and lead
We focus on impact
We meet the moment, and
We raise the bar

We launched our webinar series in 2021.  It’s reached literally thousands of charity leaders eager to expand their knowledge and develop thinking in: Leadership and Strategy, Performance and Impact, Financial Management and Sustainability not least People Management.  These aren’t just webinars they’re invitations to engage with us and for us to generously share all our learning resources. 

“Every Cranfield Trust training I have attended has been useful, relevant, focussed to the point, respectful of my and charity’s time. I have never regretted signing up to one.”

For many charity leaders attending a webinar is the first step along their Journey to Excellence with Cranfield Trust.  Whether that be discussing a consultancy project or exploring the benefits of our mentoring programme, it’s a journey that will not only lead closer towards excellent organisational management but importantly to self-leadership.  To extend your thinking about leadership practice check out our webinar on The hero paradox: Leading heroes not being the hero leader . Our staff, volunteers are often the heroes within our organisations and we need to look after ourselves as leaders to make sure we can look after them.  It’s lonely leading a charity, can feel impossible to find time to pause and reflect, let alone futureproof. At The Trust, we designed our Peer to Peer Exchangesto unite charity leaders to connect, share experiences and tackle challenges together, fostering fresh perspectives and practical solutions.

We’re living in challenging, uncertain and ever-changing times. As I step away from my role at Cranfield Trust to embark on new adventures, I’m struck by the findings of “Mental Health UK’s” newly released Burn Out Report. It cites 9 out of 10 UK adults experienced high or extreme stress in the past year with a fifth of workers pushed to the brink of burnout.  I can only imagine that the charity sector faced with increased demand, recruitment difficulties and proportionally reduced funding is feverish. 

Despite these challenges, I remain hopeful that Cranfield Trust can continue to care and connect with each of you through our suite of services or simply a friendly chat with one of our team.  That our Mentoring Programme, of which I’m so proud can provide all charity leaders with a mentor with whom they can converse, think and discuss their options.  Our friend Professor David Clutterbuck’s research identified that effective leaders demonstrate:  Compassion, Curiosity, Courage and Connectedness.  

So, I’d like to wrap up by thanking Cranfield Trust for the opportunity to connect with you all, to develop my leadership skills, and for having the courage to allow curiosity to roam freely enabling my awesome team to be their best.  Our clients, staff, volunteers, supporters and friends have created such a brilliant organisation within the Third Sector.  Here’s to the next 35 Years of Cranfield Trust!