Organisational Change
Are you contemplating radical, transformational change? Or simply looking for some fresh perspective or navigational support as you move through a complex transition (in leadership, strategy or funding model)? I bring hands-on experience of creating deep, transformative organisational change. Taking the fear out of change whilst creating brave space to experiment with new ideas, I support people to explore the enabling conditions for meaningful change. I can help you to define your direction of travel, co-design change processes, and re-imagine inclusive, transparent, collective working practices. Across governance, leadership, people, programmes and finance, I know what it takes to deliver a peaceful revolution, and to take people with you on that journey.
Emergent Strategy
My approach to strategy has evolved over the years, and is influenced by a recognition that we are living in times of deep complexity and change. We cannot hope to control the systems around us, but we can gather, drawing in lived and learnt experience alongside ancestral wisdom, to tune into the signals that we see, hear and feel. We can use these insights to co-create emergent strategy that does not pretend to predict cause and effect but works with concepts like tipping points to identify impactful pathways forward. Co-creating alongside teams, I incorporate systems thinking and futures thinking tools, strengths-based capacity analysis and partnership mapping into this work. I also hold space for teams to reach an understanding of what success looks like when working with emergent strategy and how to put it into practice.
Governance and Shifting Power
Engaged, diverse, well-informed Boards create healthy organisations. Yet it’s so easy for things to go a bit wrong. Power dynamics become skewed, there’s a lack of clarity on roles or strategic focus, connection to the work is somehow misaligned. I have worked extensively with Boards as a CEO and senior leader. I’ve also sat on the other side of the table as a Trustee and Non-Exec Director. I bring Boards and executive teams together around purpose and values as well as navigating crisis situations and scenario planning. Always attuned to how are decisions made, who makes them and what analysis informs those decisions. I have a track record in shifting power at Board level, bringing in new voices (particularly people with lived experience) and more distributed decision-making. Whether you want to radically reimagine your governance as a shared, distributed practice, or you are just looking for a governance review, development plan or team-building support, I bring both head and heart to this work!
Team Building
From Boards to executive teams to networks, I work with teams to develop collaborative, inclusive approaches to achieving their goals. I’m well practised in bringing creative, problem-solving approaches to teams; creating clarity on roles and responsibilities, resolving conflict and reconvening around shared purpose through holding safe and open space for teams. Often, this requires surfacing, sitting with and shifting power. My favourite tools for radical yet compassionate team-building approaches are rooted in sociocratic principles of democratic decision-making and distributed leadership.
Impact and Learning
From developing a theory of change to finding creative ways to collect and analyse data in participatory ways which surface the impacts that really matter, demonstrating impact is mission critical. I can support impact and learning work by working with you to co-design an impact framework, build up an evidence base, build in multi-directional accountability and feedback loops, and build learning into future programme iterations. As a collaborative learning partner, with experience in trauma-informed approaches to learning, I can also help develop creative outputs using Most Significant Change and storytelling methodologies, as well as written reports and policy asks.
Mentoring and Pathfinding
Leadership can be a lonely business. I offer mentoring to experienced and emerging leaders whether they juggle global operations or run a grassroots community group. Because I have spent the past ten years in leadership roles, I understand intimately the challenges and pressures that come with the territory. A reflective pathfinder, I enjoy sharing my experience whilst helping people to unlock new ideas and creativity of their own (always leaving space for a good vent – its tough out there!). I provide pro bono mentorship via the Experts by Experience Employment Initiative whilst offering paid mentoring more widely. I can provide short-term support to help you navigate a tricky situation or offer longer-term accompaniment as a critical friend and co-conspirator.
Communications and Influencing
I love to communicate. From writing reports (drafting, reviewing, copy-editing) to blogging and storytelling to creating strategic messaging, I can help you to create ethical communications content which centres lived experience. Working together, we can ensure that your work and your learning contributes to your sectors’ evidence base and spreads your impact by influencing others. I also deliver training on campaign strategy.
Interim Leadership
Do you have a complex process that needs some hands-on support over a fixed period of time? A knotty project or partnership that needs some TLC? Or a team in need of some interim leadership? I thrive in complex environments, am quick to navigate systems and relationships, and have excellent attention to detail. I can help you to combine big picture strategic thinking with getting things done!