Insights on social leadership

A selection of blog posts and publications sharing lessons from my work in social impact and systems change
Signpost indicating different directions with a sunset behind

Why every charity leader should have a coach

“Just 90 minutes of coaching helped me see what needed to be done and in what order”

Vital support for busy, under-pressure social leaders

A blog post describing what coaching is, and why it can be especially helpful to charity leaders – who tend to be busy and hold a lot of responsibility, often in high stakes situations.

Coaches act as “thinking partners” enabling these leaders to process busy mental loads, gain clarity on their priorities, and put in place the boundaries and self-care needed to sustain their work in the long-term.

Nurturing intrapreneurs to drive systems change

When intrapreneurship gets tough, community makes all the difference.

Lessons from the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship

In this blog post I share three challenges commonly faced by banking ‘intrapreneurs’, and lessons from Climate Safe Lending Fellows on how to overcome them – including:

  • Building or participating in supportive peer community.
  • Applying flexible frameworks and systems thinking.
  • Focusing on the change they can each effect at a personal level.
  • Slowing down and taking time to reflect.
Photo of the sun setting behind mountains and a lake
Report cover with image of the sea meeting the beach

Catalysing bank climate action: Lessons from the inside

“There is a growing number of deeply concerned and committed banking professionals who are fighting for change.”

Total transformation needed for banks to be fit for purpose in a just and sustainable world

This report, which I co-authored with Lydia Hascott, highlights key insights from the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship and identifies three transformations required for banks to support a climate transition:

  1. The integration of climate into all business decision-making – throughout ‘business as usual’.
  2. To position the sustainability team as enablers of others throughout the bank.
  3. To build climate capability into all roles across the bank, through training and access to resources.

Building a learning culture

I was struck by the strength of the culture that had been built among the cohort – a culture of mutual trust, respect and openness.

How action learning helped us model and build a learning culture

In this blog post I share reflections on the learning culture that enabled the success of the first Climate Safe Lending Fellowship, and how we built it by working in ‘action learning’ cycles as a team and with the cohort:

PLAN >>ACT >>REFLECT >> ADAPT

Report cover with title "Our Impact Journey" and a group of smiling programme participants

Transforming lives with Tech: Social Tech Trust Impact Report

“Transforming lives with tech is no easy task. If we are to help ventures achieve this goal, we need to pay close attention to how effective our support is.”

How financial and non financial support can help accelerate social tech startups

This report, which I co-wrote with Jessica Dillon during my time as the Social Tech Trust’s Impact Manager, outlines the Trust’s work during it’s first two years, and highlights how the organisation’s support is helping tech for good startups to grow their impact as well as their business sustainability.

Every AI startup should be managing its impact

“It has fundamentally changed our business… We have now developed a much more robust product that addresses the needs of both our customers and their customers (users).”

Impact management can help businesses improve products, services and customer relationships

In this article I offer three steps that AI startups can take to make sure they are considering the social and environmental impacts of their work from the outset, and how this can be helpful to them as businesses, not jut for “doing good”.

How working with charities can help businesses do better

This is no longer CSR, it is more than simply “doing good” or “giving back”; it is a new way of doing business that considers all stakeholders and contributes to the sustainability of the business.

Findings from my 2017 Churchill Fellowship

In 2017 I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to visit the USA and Colombia and meet with business and social leaders to research how working with charities can help businesses to do better.

My report shares case studies, recommendations, and proposes a model for business learning from charities across all of their internal and external operations.

Your programme after we work together? 💭

It’s exactly like the one you have now. Same vision, same team, same goals, except now everything works that bit better. Your team knows exactly what they’re working toward. Every strand of the programme runs smoothly, and the messy challenges that used to keep you up at night feel manageable. The social impact you’re making isn’t just measurable. It’s undeniable.

Let’s chat about how I can get you there. No pressure. Just a conversation to explore if I’m the right fit to help your programme thrive.