Our Changing Landscape

Is it not all change at the moment? There is no predicting what will happen from day to day – the ebbs and flow of events are showing up like something out of a fiction novel.  We think it is a dream and are consistently reminded that it is reality – our reality.   Yet at these times we must be alert to opportunities as well as the challenges.

The old answers may not work, the script is still unwritten and it is our destiny is to write the lines.  At no time in the recent past has high quality leadership been so called for. The stakes are high, courage and boldness are required. The call to be calm and carry on has so much resonance in this perfect storm.

 As board members let us look out for the spaces, places and times that we can work with our partners, our staff and volunteers to craft our futures in these uncertain times with positive energy and optimism. There is lots of work to be done. What do we do under pressure – we raise our game!

 This is the emerging normal. The ask is not just for good governance, but excellent governance. Keeping a steady hand while steering the ship in these challenging times will not be easy. The quality of board members, the skills and outlook required our curiousity, our generative agenda and focus on what matters is an absolute must. On our boards we must work as a team looking through our different lens – fiduciary, strategic and generative and connect with our inspiration and passions.

 I have joined a working party called ‘Governance for a Changing Landscape’. This task and finish group will be looking at trustee skills and other governance issues.   It would be great to hear from you, your concerns, your dilemmas and suggestions as leaders – trustees and executives alike.   As a band of leaders, our conversations, our thoughts, our depth, our resilience, our focus, and our ideas put into action, matter.

The quality of our thinking makes a huge difference. The next few years are steps into the unknown. There are lots of unknown unknowns. In the unchartered territory we are now navigating who knows just how things will turn out?