It’s Trustee week – and AI me is still busy

Am still enjoying playing around with AI and creating images of what it thinks I look like. Unmistakably me – but not. Think I preferred the dashing young fella in the last blog….

Anyway it’s Trustee week – an event I only really remembered when myself and fellow Board members received a thank you message from the staff team at the charity we all serve as Trustees. Nice, unexpected and kind. Got me thinking about the role of the trustee, the challenges we all face and some tips I would give others thinking about becoming one. So here goes – it is based upon a decade or so of involvement as trustee and chair in a number of environments. Currently I chair The Trust for Developing Communities a neighbourhood community development and youth work charity in Brighton and Hove, I previously served as Board member and vice-chair of Unlock a national campaigning organisation promoting the rights of those with criminal convictions and also served as chair of Community Works a VCSE infrastructure organisation in Sussex. And obviously for 20+ years within CGL as Executive Director I routinely reported to the Board of Trustees.

1 – Why you should do it – there are 170,000 registered charities in the UK. All need a clear sense of governance and leadership if they are to fulfil their charitable objectives, comply with the law and make the change they want to be and see. So think about what you care about and look to get involved. ‘Give’ is recognised as one of the five ways to well-being – so giving your time, personality and expertise to others is also good for you individually. It is also really humbling and energising to be part of something bigger than you – and to see just how passionate, energised and compassionate people are when trying to make a difference in their community. And I don’t care how busy or important you feel you are – everyone can give a few days in a year in the service of others.

2 – what you need to think about – what really have you got to offer? You are not in to manage the organisation – but you do need to add value, leadership and direction. You need curiosity, soft skills and a genuine interest in what the charity is doing and a real desire to support the staff teams in achieving their goals. You don’t need to (and arguably shouldn’t) be an ‘expert’ in what the charity is doing. But you do need to care and you need to be prepared to let others shine. Having clear delineations between board level decision responsibility and operational accountability is vital – so the board can create the space in which the leaders / staff of the organisation can flourish. But you need to be able to challenge the leadership team and maintain the ethical constraints of the organisation. In my view the healthiest organisations have strong boards that comprise subject matter experts, representatives from the beneficiary groups it serves and those with technical expertise.

3 what difference are you trying to make? – it’s not enough just to care about something you have to have something to contribute. These are tough times for local organisations – financially tight environment, increasing levels of need and inexorable slides into regulation and bureaucracy. As a board member you should be looking to take these burdens as far a possible ‘upwards’ so that staff can focus upon delivery.

But there’s much more to do. As others have written Boards are not nearly diverse enough in terms of race, ethnicity, age etc and can therefore be ill-equipped to deal with today’s realities. So we all need to think about to make boards more inclusive and representative and about how all voices can be heard.

At a recent Board meeting we had a lengthy discussion about how best to respond to the ‘raise the flags’ bullshit that spewed up over the summer. We have to navigate individual reaction to taking positions that were authentic, complex and aligned with our values. We were cognisant that the communities in which we were working were seeing a rise in nationalism, that many of our colleagues and volunteers were being personally and deeply affect and that we were in fact working in neighbourhoods or with groups of people being targeted with hateful messaging and confected grievances. It was a tough set of conversations – I don’t know if we got it ‘right’ or if I chaired the meeting as well as I could or indeed if we ever could have got to the ‘right’ place. But I do know that we held the leadership team and took some actions that made our staff and volunteers and community members feel a bit more heard and recognised. I also know that we’ll revisit this regularly.

Why should you do it? Is also much easier to answer – it is fun, you make new relationships, it’s intellectually stimulating and viscerally satisfying. But it is a commitment – you become company directors, as well as ‘guardians’ of the charity. It is your obligation to prepare for meetings, to be curious and prepared to make difficult decisions in uncertain circumstances.

So to all my fellow trustees – thanks. The work you undertake on behalf of others is often unseen but it matters.

#strategy #leadership