Inside Catalyst, May 20: reviewing 30 Executive Director applications
Shortlisting 7 people, application questions, reciprocity, personal challenges and birdsong…
We’re happy because we’ve had some great applications
Shortlisting our new Executive Director applications has been motivating and exciting. It’s been a privilege to see the breadth of amazing people who want to bring their skills and experiences to the role. Reviewing and discussing them all has helped us reflect on what qualities we most need to help supercharge the next phase of Catalyst.
Our application process was just three questions.
- One question asked what the applicant had contributed to starting — the examples were fascinating and really diverse.
- Another asked what excited them about contributing to societal shifts that see the digital and charity sectors moving to more equitable leadership methods (i.e. from dominance to partnership; from extraction to reciprocity and regenerative cultures; from humanity as separate and individualistic to an embedded, interdependent part of the surrounding environment). The best responses to this question were inspiring and energising.
We’re now in the process of inviting 7 people to interview in early June and finalising the task and questions, which we’ll share in advance. We’ll also be paying shortlisted candidates £150 in recognition of the time they’ll spend on the task and interview, in line with our values around reciprocity.
Read more about our approach to recruitment.
Challenges ahoy
Ellie shares…
On a personal note, I’ve been grieving the end of a deeply meaningful relationship in my life. While its been a beautiful and respectful ending in many ways, the emotions, insights and learnings from any change or grief process inevitably unfold in a non-linear way. I’ve had to accept that I just need to create space to notice and process the thoughts and feels, and not worry or beat myself up for being ‘distracted’ by them. Because this is part of being a whole, real, messy human. And the growth and self-knowledge we gain through any relationship can be applied to any other — given how relational our Catalyst work is, reflection and increased awareness is super relevant and valuable.
It’s funny how endings and new beginnings often come at the same time. As the sun sets on one horizon, so it rises on the other. Good to remember this.
Megan shares…
Managing our expectations of ourselves so that we don’t burn out can be challenging, especially when we’re ambitious and want to do everything in line with our values, and be radical. For example, we want to redesign our contracts so that they represent our values and mission. There’s lots in our current templates that are really jarring. But we need to issue contracts so that the people we work with can invoice us and get paid, and we don’t have the time and space right now to prioritise a redesign. So sometimes it’s important to go with what’s ‘good enough, safe enough’ and admit that some things can’t happen right now. But that can feel frustrating.
Also…
Megan, Ellie and Kate (Non-executive Director) spent a day working together at Megan’s house in London. It was wonderful to connect in person, to share food and listen to birdsong in her garden. It also made the day’s shortlisting tasks much easier.
Ellie’s on leave next week, co-creating a festival in a field down in Devon. Fingers crossed for some sunshine for her!
