Is good leadership about:

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• knowing all the answers, pretty much all of the time?

• coming up with clear-cut solutions to complex problems?

• keeping your thoughts to yourself and not being swayed by other people?

Not so, according to our three-year impact study of ADVANCE, an innovative volunteer mentoring programme developed by Carers Trust for leaders of local charities in The Carers Trust Network across the UK. The traditional ‘heroic’ approach to leadership was considered by participants in the 12-month programme to be much less effective than the ability to:

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• ask searching questions

• listen carefully to different views

• take time to reflect before acting.

Participating in ADVANCE enabled board members and chief executives to re-interpret their leadership role to fit a drastically changing world. In this world, charity leaders benefit greatly from support in focusing on the key decisions and actions needed for their organisations to provide sustainable services. In this world, flexibility trumps rigidity every time.

There is much to be learned from the experience of senior leaders who learned ‘on the run’ to enhance their confidence and skills in order to regain control of their lives and organisations.

The independent impact study, commissioned by Carers Trust and carried out by Marsaili Cameron and Sheila Marsh from PublicServiceWorks, developed materials to support chief executives, board members and others to work separately and together in a focused way to ensure effective strategic leadership.

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Findings from this action research study fed in regularly over three years to the ADVANCE mentors (senior volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds) and to the Carers Trust design team for the programme. This process enhanced the learning culture that characterised ADVANCE, supported by the work of Lead Mentor, Hilary Samson-Barry (www.koruleadership.co.uk).

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