What I’m working on right now

Just an update on the projects I’m involved with in case it's helpful or sparks inspiration for someone

I shared a bit of a window into what I actually do, about six months ago. It was very popular for some reason. So here's a snapshot of work I'm doing, and who I'm doing it with.

And as a very brief recap, in March we ran a four-day participatory leadership training here in Brighton (a beautiful roundup, here) that was possibly the best collaboration I've ever been part of, and in April I taught at the Knowmads in Amsterdam, again.

But, back to the here and now.

Clearing the Way — three-day retreat

At the beginning of June I’m running a retreat, deep in the Sussex countryside, with Charles Davies.

He and I have been working together, on and off, for over four years and it’s a exciting to be collaborating again.

We both believe in the power of learning how to work in more clear, deliberate and natural way — to be able to listen to needs, follow your gut and heart as well as your head, to know how to ask for and offer help, and use compassion and clear purpose as the the guide for any work.

Along with Charles’s creative process work, I’ll be introducing a practice of working with the body so that we can offer a small group of dedicated people three days of space to slow right down and find out what needs to happen, through listening deeply to themselves.

We still have a few places left if you’d like to join us?

Rickshaw Travel — creating space for your team

For the past year I’ve been working with the amazing team at Rickshaw Travel, an ethical travel company based here in Brighton, with offices in Holland and Germany.

I’m working with a real visionary, whose ambition for the business is to create a place where everyone is able to work to their strengths, ask for what they need and be involved in steering the business.

But instead of jumping into implementing holacracy or any kind of big change programme, I’m working with her to start simply creating more space for people to step up.

We’ve started with the team of managers — the middle tier who have so much influence and opportunity.

I’ve been running a programme of active inquiry to help them answer the question: how do I create more space for my team?

It’s been massively challenging and rewarding for all of them, to see how they get in their own way of allowing those they work with to step up and take responsibility.

It’s required holding space for them to be vulnerable with each other, and take action to push their boundaries.

As a result, they’re finding that their teams are feeling more empowered, and that they can let go of control and become more like coaches and facilitators.

Adur and Worthing Council — the potential for shared leadership

I’m three months into working with another visionary at a big public service organisation.

We connected around the need for more participatory approaches to working in high pressure, hierarchical organisations.

Recognising that trying to implement a new, totally contradictory system and structure to the one that’s deeply entrenched, we’re taking a very different path.

Our approach is to build capacity and competence in hosting conversations that matter, for a large group of people that might not be considered the ‘leadership’ in a traditional sense.

Each month, I host a group of these team leaders, managers and connectors from across the directorate, to explore the potential of shared leadership and learn new practices.

And alongside this, hosting a regular action learning group with the traditional definition of a leadership team, to uncover the behaviours and practices they need to shift.

This approach is about recognising what is — that hierarchy exists and will resist — so instead to build something new and powerful within and around it.

To recognise it’s not a battle, or a ‘change programme’ with a fictitious end state, but an ongoing process of building confidence and innovating.

School for Social Entrepreneurs — teaching dialogic process

Right now I’m on the train, on my way to London to teach 15 students at SSE.

Much like a recent workshop I ran at Knowmads in Amsterdam, we’re looking at how to use dialogue to get clarity and deeper truth on our work.

I’m working with a group of social entrepreneurs who are all dedicated to putting their energy into work that changes the world.

But, as I’ve found out, we need to understand our inner world before we go trying to change the one outside of us.

Anything else is building on shaky foundations, and can lack the integrity required to really serve anyone else.

So today we’ll be learning how to use the needs cards, circle practice and storytelling, to get under the skin of what we’re bringing, of ourselves, into the projects we’re working on.

Stay Up Late — reconnecting to being well and being together

I’ve just run a second team away day for Stay Up Late, a charity that campaigns for the right of people with learning disabilities to have a full and active social life.

I’ve been working with Paul and the team for nearly five years now, in one way or another, and it’s a privilege to be asked to host them again.

As a team that puts all of their energy into supporting vulnerable people, who face discrimination and sometimes abuse.

This means it’s hard to find time to ask: “How am I?” and “How are we?”

But when we don’t, it’s easy to become disconnected from your own needs and the comfort and security of feeling like you’re connected to your colleagues.

So we spent a day in the Sussex countryside just being together, listening to each other and hearing what’s going on.

Then exploring what amazing collaboration looks like and turning that into fun, chaotic and creative ways of expressing it to each other. It was a lot of fun :)

Not starting a school

I’m still very focused on not starting a school.

The education system in the UK has some major flaws that are putting undue stress and pressure on teachers and students, in service of nothing but political point-scoring.

And beneath that, The fundamental model of how we educate our children needs to change, from one that’s about goaling children on grades, exams and fictitious life paths, to one that’s about nurturing their ability to navigate the world well, from their own creativity and compassion.

Thankfully there is a huge number of inspiring schools and projects already working on this, and I’m seeing where I can help and add value.

Last month we (me and a few parent friends) ran another micro-school experiment. This time in the park. It was fun and insightful.

That’s it — hopefully a little useful to someone, somewhere :)

Give me a shout if there’s something you need help with or would like to do together - [email protected]

Thanks for reading!