Diary of a charity CEO - 11/03

I can't start this week's entry without paying homage to the inspiration for these regular posts, the innovative entrepreneur Steven Bartlett ; who's Diary of a CEO podcast gave me the idea of showing a little bit more of what life is like as a Chief Executive in the charity sector.

And purely coincidentally (I promise!) just a few weeks after having the idea to start these entries, following a chance meeting at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, John Caudwell agreed to appear as a guest on Steven's show and his interview was aired earlier this week and is well worth a listen. Watch on YouTube here.

It is a really great interview which delves into many of the events, decisions and relationships that have shaped John's life both personally and professionally.

There are also some words of advice, wisdom and warning for all Chief Executives and entrepreneurs, many of which really resonate with me and my life and career so far.

One of which is that a week in business/charity (I see them as the same thing, an important point for another week) rarely goes as planned, and this week has been a prime example. The time I had planned to use on reviewing the charity's priorities and progress as we approach the end of Q1, was unfortunately hijacked by forces beyond my control!

But nevertheless I still found time to prioritise the growing list of external meetings and potential partnership discussions I have been adding to every day since the start of the year, and the team have provided the monthly Board Meeting updates on how we are going to deliver the 'Big Bang' strategy I presented in January.

I see everything in pictures and use flow charts to help explain and demonstrate the complex interconnectivity between all of the charity's services, fundraising, operations, events, beneficiaries, donors and partnerships. In 2021 I devised a new way of showing the team the layers of impact that the charity has, and how important everyone's role was within the bigger picture.

My favourite shape to use in these flowcharts has always been the circle and it is now something of a joke in the team, because eventually everything always comes back to a circle.

The fundamental reason why I like to think in circles is to ensure that we remind ourselves that every project, campaign, service, strategy never truly finishes; as it always informs and should help improve the next phase of development.

If you ever visit us at the Caudwell International Children's Centre , you will see some examples of my circles here and there!

So, while the week was a bit disrupted, it fortunately hasn't prevented me from still progressing some exciting projects and on Monday I submitted our latest contribution to the upcoming debate in the United Nations Human Rights Council . We are proud to be an official affiliate partner of the Sikh Human Rights Group who have UN ECOSOC status. We act as the SHRG specialist contributor on issues affecting the rights of people with disabilities and children. This partnership enables us to share the years of learning and evidence we have gathered to hopefully help other countries with their services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The oral submissions are quite tricky as you have to squeeze a lot of information into the very strict 90sec time slot, but after about 20 takes we managed to record it and send it to the UN for the upcoming meeting next Monday.

At the same time as our statement will be broadcast to the United Nations on Monday, I will be joining colleagues and guests from the Institute of Directors in Birmingham as the guest speaker for a special event to mark International Women's Day 2022. The Lunch & Learn event will feature a live interview with Andy Wilkinson to explore my experiences as a woman, CEO, entrepreneur, gymnast and mother. There's a lot to talk about so I'll try to keep it brief!

And with that exciting prospect I will leave you and look forward to filling you in on all the exciting developments that next week has in store for me and Caudwell Children .

Thank you for reading. T x