City Action Workshop 23 November 2010 Ruth Lesirge and Hilary Barnard Centre for Charity Effectiveness

Leading your organisation:

ManagerLeader Risk averse Risk taker Head Heart Your efficiency Your character Management Facts Leadership Feelings (Facts create understanding; feelings create the energy for action)

‘Managers do things right, leaders do the right things’..... You need to be both! Management Leadership Systems Vision Organise present Create future Control Liberating

Leadership theory: Heroic – military Modest – working through teams

Leadership in 2011 Will additionally require: - vigour and speed of response to clients - creating climate in which volunteers thrive - resilience - integrity of purpose

Liberating Leadership: “ Consistently achieving results beyond expectations by creating a climate in which others can shine” Essential features: - Build trust - Demonstrate courage - Provide focus - Challenge and support - Communicate effectively

Developing your team: - Delegate and empower - Manage through coaching - Share knowledge - Reward* learning (*Reward = anything which contributes to my self-worth)

Leader & Manager - developing yourself Exploration:  What leading/managing approach works for you?  What does the organisation now need of you?  What additional management/leadership skill would help you deliver?  How can you/will acquire the skills and knowledge you need?  How do you like to learn?

Aspiring to Good Governance “NfPs have a wider range of objectives than a commercial company, their outputs and outcomes are more difficult to measure and the constituents they serve are harder to define……This makes the question of how they should be governed a crucial issue” Sir Adrian Cadbury, forward to ‘Rethinking Governance’ acevo Dec 2003

The premise ‘ Boards of NEDs/trustees are either adding value to the organisation or wasting its resources’

What is governance for?  Hold organisation in trust for current & future generations  Ensure integrity of purpose/mission  Comply with the law  Hold executives to account  Be accountable for public money  Maximise efficiency, economy, effectiveness

The Role of the Board ( Code of Good Governance 2005)  Set & maintain vision, mission and values  Develop strategy  Establish & monitor policies  Ensure compliance with governing document & the law  Maintain fiscal oversight  Understand & support the role of staff and volunteers  Maintain effective Board performance  Champion the organisation  Ensure appropriate employment procedures  Select, support and monitor the chief executive

Good Governance Code Key principles:  Leadership  Control  High performance  Review and renewal  Delegation  Integrity  Openness

What should ‘good boards’ do? ( Proportionate Governance) Board and trustees : i. Understand their role ii. Ensure delivery of organisational purpose iii. Be effective both as individuals and as a team iv. Exercise control v. Behave with integrity vi. Be open and accountable (sector consultation NCVO2009)

Effective boards……. “(Effective) boards undertake the tasks they do best while carefully avoiding micro-management ….. (they) avoid wasting time and energy. Good boards, well aware that they lack the time and resources to tackle all of their responsibilities at once, manage to adapt - perhaps by devoting extra energy to a single task, before moving on to the next challenge. Generally, the key isn’t to do more but to focus more.” Dynamic Non-profit Boards, Paul J. Jansen and Andrea R. Kilpatrick, McKinsey Quarterly 2004

Consider your governance processes…….. What is your Board’s contribution to:  Recruiting new trustees?  Reviewing key policies?  Strategy development?  Selecting the Chair?  Dealing with a crisis?

Boards: Survival of the Competent…  The most effective Boards are clear-eyed about their own strengths and limitations  Effective boards hold the governance-management boundary well  Effective trustees recognise the need for continuous learning  Effective Chairs consistentlysupport and work in partnership with the CE  Effective boards recognise the achievements of their executive team and work positively to mitigate any limitations (individual and collective)

So what?  Chair and Director are jointly responsible for ensuring good governance of their organisation  The style of governance leadership needs to be negotiated and agreed by Chair and Director  In the current climate your organisation needs an alignment of a skilled executive team & an effective board Governance is an art; it requires constant attention and good will

Big Society: David Cameron’s vision “To change forever the way the country is run...breaking apart the old system with a massive transfer of power, from the state to citizens, politicians to people, government to society. That is the power this country needs today.” David Cameron, 6 October 2010

“If you talk about the small state, people think you’re Attila the Hun. If you talk about the big society, people think you’re Mother Teresa” David Davis, senior Conservative MP  The Conservative Party’s big idea  Cover for major cuts in public expenditure?  Clever public relations repositioning the Conservative Party?  A confused idea stemming from its multiple origins – Philip Blond and Red Tory, Iain Duncan Smith and Centre for Social Justice, David Cameron?  An unrealistic dream for which families and individuals lack the time? What is Big Society?

Characteristics of Big Society  Increased social responsibilities for individuals and families  Power devolved to the lowest possible level including communities taking over local amenities  Greater responsibility for civil society and the little platoons undertaking social action projects  A smaller national and local State with lower taxes and break up of State monopolies  Increased accountability of government including a right to know and right to data  Greater activity being undertaken by the third sector  Reform of the planning system

Big Society and the existing third sector  A rich and diverse third sector and civil society  Centuries of charitable action and public benefit  Established funding mechanisms  Infrastructure support and partnerships  Leader in participation  Skilled volunteering operations  Different traditions of activism and organisation (e.g. coops and mutuals)

 Office for Civil Society  Cross Government Big Society Ministerial Committee  Big Society Bank making loans to social investors and community lenders  National Citizens Service for 16 to 19 year olds  5,000 community organisers  Four Big Society vanguard projects including Sutton  Communities First Neighbourhood Grant Fund  Big Society Day How Big Society is put in place

Big Society and the cuts  Average 19% in Government Departments; 28% by local authorities; NPC estimated loss to third sector at £3.2 - £5.1 billion  Cuts in support for volunteering – case of V  Cuts in discretionary spending – case of play  Deep cuts in capital programmes  Cuts in resources supporting development and innovation  Less ability for some users to pay charges  Increased demand for services with rise in unemployment  GP Consortia – orientation towards private sector support  Tighter procurement working against smaller organisations

Some issues for third sector organisations:  Too party political  Too unclear in nature and consequences  Risk to reputation  Fear that Big Society will implode Questioning about ‘Big Society’ concept

We can help..... You can contact us at Cass CCE..... Ruth Lesirge: Hilary Barnard: