Leading on Governance
When I took on my role as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK in August 2015, one of the first things I did was to have an informal conversation with my then Chair, Dr. Margaret Casely-Hayford.
Margaret had been in post for over a year then, and among the various things she dealt with in her role, was my appointment. A key piece of advice I had received from a number of people when I was taking on this role was about the critical importance of the Chair - Chief Executive relationship.
It was meant to be an informal meeting, more for me to get to know Margaret a little better. I thought Margaret did have a good sense of who I was, having gone through two rounds of recruitment and received all the references. But then, it was a good opportunity to have this conversation in an informal setting.
While I was delighted with this opportunity a few weeks before I joined, I was certainly not prepared for Margaret coming so well prepared. She had had extensive conversations with each one of the trustees prior to our meeting, and she had taken copious notes of the discussions. She had particularly pulled out points which she thought would be important for me to know as reflections of the board. And we spent a couple of hours over a couple of coffees going through some of the reflections. I think she probably realised that I had a rather casual attitude to taking notes ....which meant that a couple of weeks later, there was a document with the compiled and curated version of the trustees' comments, that was so thoroughly done that it gave me a script, a mandate of what I needed to manage / tackle / address in my new role ! And on my first day in the office, she scheduled a Skype call early in the working day, a brief one, just to welcome me and wish me well, which was then followed by a face-to-face meeting a few days later, with a simple question : How are you doing ?
That is the Margaret I got to know - and the more I got to know her, the more impressed I was with the amazing breadth of her knowledge, her passion and commitment to issues of poverty, inequality, injustice and diversity, and her incredible energy to reach out and support us as the Chair of the organisation. She also led the board in discussions on our new strategy, which we finalised last year, and is titled, 'Together, with women and girls'. She also led, with great passion and insight, our quest to embed feminist principles as a core element of our organisational culture. It is no wonder then, that under her leadership, ActionAid UK won the BOND Award for Governance and the Charity Governance Award for Board Diversity and Inclusivity, both earlier this year.
I am therefore absolutely delighted that she has been awarded a CBE as announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2018, for her contributions. So here is a glimpse of the few important lessons I have learnt from her :
1. Speak truth to power : As a leader and a trustee, she has always welcomed discussions that are uncomfortable but that can result in a better outcome for all, without exerting power and influence. In the context of an international federation that we operate in and the democratic principles that guide us, this is really important, and has to be done rather sensitively given the relative size and influence of ActionAid UK within our federation.
2. Being true to one's values and convictions : It didn't matter to her if she said something which could be unpopular, as long as it was deeply embedded in her values and convictions about equity, fairness and justice. She was very conscious and self aware of her relative position and privilege in society and she was always keen to use it to promote causes that she deeply believed in.
3. There is never an end to learning : As a keen listener, she would take detailed notes of all our conversations and during meetings. She never hesitated asking a question. She did not mind saying that she didn't know something. She was never deterred by trying to do things that she was unfamiliar with. All that meant that she constantly absorbed new insights, skills, knowledge ever so effortlessly and contributed so widely. She even immersed herself in understanding rap music because she was very serious about mentoring a talented, upcoming and struggling rap artist make his mark !
4. Giving credit where it is due : As a Chair, it was really important for her to recognise the unique and distinctive contributions that each trustee made, big or small, and contribution by members of the staff. Her generosity of spirit was absolutely remarkable and her modesty in attributing any areas of success to herself was absolutely humbling.
And it is especially on this last point that I am offering this as my own little humble tribute to the amazing body of work that Margaret has led. As a first time CEO, it has been an amazing privilege to work with someone as driven, committed and knowledgeable like Margaret. It was with great sadness that we bid good bye to her last month, as she took up the role of Chair of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Our loss is their gain, but we are buoyed by the fact that Margaret will continue to be an ardent and committed supporter of ActionAid UK.
Congratulations Margaret on your very richly deserved recognition - and your contributions also to the Met Police, the Co-op, Coventry University, Great Ormond Hospital, to young artistes, entrepreneurs, the BAME community and to some of the world's poorest communities, especially, women and girls ! Wish you continued success !
When I took on my role as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK in August 2015, one of the first things I did was to have an informal conversation with my then Chair, Dr. Margaret Casely-Hayford.
Margaret had been in post for over a year then, and among the various things she dealt with in her role, was my appointment. A key piece of advice I had received from a number of people when I was taking on this role was about the critical importance of the Chair - Chief Executive relationship.
It was meant to be an informal meeting, more for me to get to know Margaret a little better. I thought Margaret did have a good sense of who I was, having gone through two rounds of recruitment and received all the references. But then, it was a good opportunity to have this conversation in an informal setting.
While I was delighted with this opportunity a few weeks before I joined, I was certainly not prepared for Margaret coming so well prepared. She had had extensive conversations with each one of the trustees prior to our meeting, and she had taken copious notes of the discussions. She had particularly pulled out points which she thought would be important for me to know as reflections of the board. And we spent a couple of hours over a couple of coffees going through some of the reflections. I think she probably realised that I had a rather casual attitude to taking notes ....which meant that a couple of weeks later, there was a document with the compiled and curated version of the trustees' comments, that was so thoroughly done that it gave me a script, a mandate of what I needed to manage / tackle / address in my new role ! And on my first day in the office, she scheduled a Skype call early in the working day, a brief one, just to welcome me and wish me well, which was then followed by a face-to-face meeting a few days later, with a simple question : How are you doing ?
That is the Margaret I got to know - and the more I got to know her, the more impressed I was with the amazing breadth of her knowledge, her passion and commitment to issues of poverty, inequality, injustice and diversity, and her incredible energy to reach out and support us as the Chair of the organisation. She also led the board in discussions on our new strategy, which we finalised last year, and is titled, 'Together, with women and girls'. She also led, with great passion and insight, our quest to embed feminist principles as a core element of our organisational culture. It is no wonder then, that under her leadership, ActionAid UK won the BOND Award for Governance and the Charity Governance Award for Board Diversity and Inclusivity, both earlier this year.
I am therefore absolutely delighted that she has been awarded a CBE as announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2018, for her contributions. So here is a glimpse of the few important lessons I have learnt from her :
1. Speak truth to power : As a leader and a trustee, she has always welcomed discussions that are uncomfortable but that can result in a better outcome for all, without exerting power and influence. In the context of an international federation that we operate in and the democratic principles that guide us, this is really important, and has to be done rather sensitively given the relative size and influence of ActionAid UK within our federation.
2. Being true to one's values and convictions : It didn't matter to her if she said something which could be unpopular, as long as it was deeply embedded in her values and convictions about equity, fairness and justice. She was very conscious and self aware of her relative position and privilege in society and she was always keen to use it to promote causes that she deeply believed in.
3. There is never an end to learning : As a keen listener, she would take detailed notes of all our conversations and during meetings. She never hesitated asking a question. She did not mind saying that she didn't know something. She was never deterred by trying to do things that she was unfamiliar with. All that meant that she constantly absorbed new insights, skills, knowledge ever so effortlessly and contributed so widely. She even immersed herself in understanding rap music because she was very serious about mentoring a talented, upcoming and struggling rap artist make his mark !
4. Giving credit where it is due : As a Chair, it was really important for her to recognise the unique and distinctive contributions that each trustee made, big or small, and contribution by members of the staff. Her generosity of spirit was absolutely remarkable and her modesty in attributing any areas of success to herself was absolutely humbling.
And it is especially on this last point that I am offering this as my own little humble tribute to the amazing body of work that Margaret has led. As a first time CEO, it has been an amazing privilege to work with someone as driven, committed and knowledgeable like Margaret. It was with great sadness that we bid good bye to her last month, as she took up the role of Chair of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Our loss is their gain, but we are buoyed by the fact that Margaret will continue to be an ardent and committed supporter of ActionAid UK.
Congratulations Margaret on your very richly deserved recognition - and your contributions also to the Met Police, the Co-op, Coventry University, Great Ormond Hospital, to young artistes, entrepreneurs, the BAME community and to some of the world's poorest communities, especially, women and girls ! Wish you continued success !
