NET pop up #07: The essence of leadership? (April 2024)
At this in person event we explored leadership through the lens of Austin McNamara’s experience as a professional interim, including, most recently, at Newcastle Carers. During the seminar, Austin reflected on his learning from the provision of interim leadership in a variety of challenging circumstances, sharing his insights into the unique contribution that a professional interim can make to an organisation. Sixteen people took part.
Connection and sharing
We started the session working in groups to reflect on our experiences of leadership. This involved citing good examples of effective leadership from our own experience, and then identifying up to six words or phrases to summarise why we thought it was so effective.
In small groups we shared our individual reflections and agreed three characteristics of effective leadership. Here’s what we thought.
- Group 1: Trust, wisdom, communication
- Group 2: Resilient, collaborative, listens
- Group 3: Consistent/concise, inclusive, authentic
- Group 4: Purpose driven, how we are with others (caring, adult to adult, playful, generous), inclusive/collaborative
- Group 5: Whole person perspective, decisions, access to resources
Reflections on 16 years as a professional interim
Next, Austin shared his leadership journey and interim leadership roles (Austin’s slidedeck part 1), offering these reflections on his learning as an interim.
What did these assignments have in common?
- Teams facing significant challenges through periods of transition and/or turmoil
- No induction and no honeymoon period — expected to hit the ground running
- Things are never as they are presented beforehand
- A temporary role — but with no clear exit plan
- A history of poor communication
- Ineffective, or non-existent, talent development and succession planning
What did they teach me about interim leadership?
- Start with “Why?” — Ensure there is a clear common purpose, shared values and a vision for the future
- Focus on the people — Listen to their stories, build relationships and enable effective communications
- Remember it’s all about us, not about me
- Act quickly to deal with the “running sores”
- Be realistic about what can and cannot be achieved — Concentrate on agreed priorities
- Identify and nurture colleagues with untapped potential
- Keep calm, remain positive, show appreciation and have fun together
- Promote and model a healthy work-life balance
- Create an exit plan to achieve a smooth transition
We ended this session with questions from the group.
Sharing stories: Newcastle Carers and Peninsula Learning Trust
Following a short break, Austin presented a detailed case study of his time as an interim at Newcastle Carers (Austin’s slidedeck part 2), explaining the context of the role, what he discovered, what they did, and what they achieved.
Following this presentation Austin posed a number of questions for us to explore through discussion
- What have we learned today?
- What (if any) are the differences between leadership in an interim role and leadership generally?
- To what extent has this session either reaffirmed or challenged our views on the essence of leadership?
Whilst not explored in the session due to time constraints, Austin also created a second case study of his time as an interim at Peninsula Learning Trust (Austin’s slidedeck part 3).
The essence of leadership?
Austin ended with two quotes.
“A good leader brings out the best in others and creates in them a sense of purpose that continues to prevail even when you’re not there. . .” Rachel Hannan, BHP Consulting
“The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen.” Simon Sinek (author of “Start With Why”)
You can connect to Austin through LinkedIn.
Thank you
Huge THANKS to Austin for sharing his experience and learning with us with such openness and generosity. Thanks to everyone that took part. And thanks to One Strawberry Lane for the free use of the innovation challenges hub (free for VCSE organisations).
North East Together upcoming events
- 11 September 2024 — NET Connect #6, 16:00–17:15, online — bringing together North East Together members and network friends to connect, grow and nurture our relationships — book your free place
- 28 November 2024 — North East Together #27, whole network event, 13:00 for 13:30–16:30 + later for more informal networking — we’ll open bookings as soon as we can
About North East Together
North East Together is the network for social change leadership in the north east.
Our collective mission here at North East Together is to create the conditions, and platform for, collaboration to become the norm in the north east and to nurture a healthier social change system.
Our network offers mutual support, enables collaboration and inspires social leaders. We offer a series of dynamic network events; whole day events, self-organised collaborative working groups; pathways into coaching; and independent social change events. Our events are supportive spaces where leaders can meet one another, explore issues of social change, network and begin to collaborate. It’s for leaders from the voluntary, charity, social enterprise, education, public and private sectors. It’s for experienced, new and future leaders of organisations, work, and ideas.
North East Together is hosted by Yes We Can and is a collaboration between Yes We Can and Newcastle University Business School. We’re grateful for the support both organisations give to North East Together.
