As a new Chief Executive of The Equality Trust, I was extremely pleased to have been sponsored to attend the Windsor Black and Asian Leadership programme. It provided a space to reflect, to learn from other Black and Asian leaders and to raise issues that we were all facing. The opportunity to ask questions, exchange experiences and open up about doubts and questions about ourselves in a supportive atmosphere was very valuable.  It was also good to have the second retreat, where we could see the difference that time passing and the learning we had taken from the first session and how we had changed our practice and enhanced our leadership skills. This has enabled me to be a better leader at The Equality Trust and more confident in the issues I raise as a frequent commentator in the media. It has emboldened me to go further in what I say on race issues and to engage with a range of diversity initiatives across the sector. 

Thank you for helping create the space for me as a mid-career professional to step away from doing and to reflect more substantively on being. I’d love to share some of my journey going forward which you have made a focused but nonetheless important contribution towards.

Since going on the Windsor Fellowship I have become a local councillor and my experiences there have directly impacted my leadership style, the extent of networks I have to help me make a difference, how I use my networks, and the approach I have taken to working with different stakeholder groups.  This approach meant I was immediately selected for a leadership position as Deputy Cabinet Member for Innovation in the borough. These are benefits that I have applied to my day-to-day work as well.

One of my biggest takeaways from my experience at Windsor was the role for self-care in nurturing and replenishing you as a leader. By applying these insights, I’ve been more resilient as I’ve met the various demands of being a local councillor at the same time as performing a leadership role in a busy consultancy.

I came to the Windsor Leadership Course wanting to learn more about developing greater levels of resiliency and increase my ability to develop ‘grace under pressure’ as a leadership quality. These are qualities I very much admire in others who demonstrate them, and qualities as a leader within the charity sector I feel are a real must to develop. I feel I’ve very much developed my ‘resiliency reservoir’ through the Windsor Leadership Course, but actually so much more!  The insights and skills I have gained have benefited Young Enterprise in a number of ways. In the role of Deputy CEO and former COO in a medium sized charity, your attention is often pulled in all sorts of different directions.  I’m now much more focused in applying my own personal resources to areas I feel I can have most impact for the Charity and those of which my strengths would be of most benefit to the organisation. I’m also much more comfortable with delegating tasks to others, having developed a greater understanding of the importance of being able to delegate well in a leadership position. I am much more proactive in supporting others to achieve their own goals / objectives and then ‘getting out of the way’ to let them do great things. As I have a much clearer sense of the important differences between leadership and management, which I definitely gained through the Windsor Leadership Programme. I would have achieved none of this without the support of The Telos Foundation. Thank you so much! 

I was very fortunate to be supported by Telos to attend the 'Emerging Leaders' programme run by Windsor Leadership. The most valuable aspect of the programme was having time for reflection. Not only did the facilitated space help me learn more about my own leadership style, but it also helped me develop an insight into the leadership style of others. The diversity of participants was hugely beneficial in terms of considering work-life balance, especially when work is not 'just a job' but a sense of purpose. I learned some really useful strategies that are helping me keep a sense of perspective. I also gained clarity on what motivates me as a charity leader and that is about creating the change I want to see within society. I now have a much better understanding of how I can develop a common sense of purpose within the charity so that we are all working towards the same goal. The learning I gained and the connections I made are also helping facilitate this.

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3 June 2021

I am getting in touch because it is SEA's fourth birthday week and I wanted to say a massive thank you for the support you provided me with via Windsor Leadership.

We've a blog post on the website celebrating some of our achievements. With a growing team I have really drawn on what I learned on the programme and via my cohort who I remain in touch with.

Thank you again for being such a valued part of the SEA story.

Nic

Thanks to the support of The Telos Foundation, I was able to join Windsor Leadership’s ‘Developing Strategic Leaders’ programme. The course was a real turning point for my leadership journey and one that will create a legacy for me and the organisation I work for, the charity Missing People. I have learned that self-reflection helps me be a better leader. Being more authentic, bringing more of me ‘in’ to my leadership style helps me get the best from brilliant colleagues. My confidence is boosted and I’m more to the point; more open to challenge. The course has helped me find a way to plan for the ‘tough’ chats, to better prepare my messages for key leadership moments, and knowing that every chat is a leadership moment. And the moments when I feel under pressure; I can go back to my leadership learning and make those feelings subside. I now also have a Windsor syndicate group to draw from; a group like no other! I have left Windsor with a wider ‘lens’ on my leadership - seeing my role across the organisation and the wider societal context too.

For my organisation, I am better able to lead through the difficult times, to be a greater champion of our ‘be human’ culture, and to lead as we are more courageous in using our public voice to campaign for change in discrimination families from Black and other minoritised groups tell us they are facing when their loved one is missing.

The programme met all my expectations and exceeded them in many ways. The diversity of my cohorts’ careers and experiences provided wide-ranging thoughts and approaches in all discussions. There were participants from the military, the services, a rabbi and a priest, civil servants and businesses. This meant that most discussions had wide-ranging viewpoints and lines of exploration. We were encouraged to ask questions in a safe and supportive environment. Coming from the museum sector, I feel we often approach things from a singular viewpoint and I found it valuable to hear a different focus in discussions that I didn’t expect. I now recognise the importance of ensuring everyone in the room gets heard and appreciate how different viewpoints can lead to different outcomes.
 
I found the programme content both stimulating and educational. I really valued the 5 keynote speakers who shared their leadership journeys in an open and honest style. I also appreciated the discussions around developing techniques to remain resilient. It was a crucial reminder that there will always be challenges and things that go wrong, but it is about being prepared for these times, spotting when your resilience is low and taking steps to protect yourself at those times. I need to practice techniques on how to ground myself at times of stress and prioritise giving myself time to step back and reflect. 
 
At Bletchley Park we are still on a challenging path following Covid-19 and due to the current economic pressures. This means the leadership team need to look more strategically at the future, and consequently trust our teams to manage the operational. The programme has shown me how to do that. It has allowed me to reflect on my leadership style, change my approach in certain scenarios and ensure I lead with purpose. I now recognise my style and what I bring to the table. I am more confident in my decisions and this has enabled me to keep the bigger picture in mind. Bletchley Park will continue to grow and succeed and I feel better equipped for the journey. 
 
My focus is now on trusting my teams and nurturing their growth. One speaker summed up a learning that particularly resonates with me: I don’t need to make all the decisions. As a leader I need to create the organisation and environment to make the decision, rather than feel I need to make the decision.  
 
Thank you again for your bursary. I continue to reflect and to learn and the Windsor leadership programme has undoubtedly been, and will continue to be, a valuable part of my journey.

By far the greatest insight since the programme has been around my own energy and confidence levels. My imposter syndrome has always made me feel very small and insignificant, which manifests itself in the way I write and speak to my team, our delivery partners and associates. Since returning from the programme, I became immediately aware of how apologetic I was for, quite literally, everything. 

I would find myself apologising for taking up someone’s time, for asking for help, for not understanding something, for requesting more information, for asking to join in with a meeting. The list goes on and on. I now find myself unashamedly asking for everything I need without any apology or hint of meekness. The difference has been astounding. 
About a week after the programme, I was invited to give a lecture on leadership at the University of East Anglia. Normally, I would have declined - with a final note saying ‘if you’re really struggling to find anyone else do to it, let me know and I’ll help out’. This time, I gratefully accepted the invitation and gave a lecture to 180 business students. 
I spoke frankly and honestly, drawing on some the topics from the WLP and even spoke about my own fears and insecurities around being a leader. Afterwards, I received glowing feedback from the Head of Department and was invited back the week after to speak again at their end of year conference. I’ve since received a handful of emails from students telling me that my talks were the ‘two best lectures of the year’. Another three students asked if they could come and work with us over the summer. 

The insights from the workshop have also allowed me to make a concerted effort to raise myself out of the day-to-day operations of our charity and into a more senior leadership role. I hadn’t really considered the difference between management and leadership before, wrongly assuming that a strong leader should be getting stuck into the operations and leading by example. 

Before Part 2 in October, I want to have built a completely new team of staff around me and to have grown the charity to a point where it is self-funding. I have also developed some new ideas over the past few weeks that would enable me to create something much bigger, so I would like to have a working plan in place for that before the next meeting too.  I’m genuinely excited about the next twelve months, and it’s in no small part thanks to the Windsor Leadership Programme.