Earlier this week, Mallen Baker dropped by our office to interview me for his latest podcast series. In this ‘Change Maker’ series Mallen interviews people who want to make a difference, companies that want to disrupt markets or people that just want to change themselves. It’s an interesting theme for a podcast and as someone working to create positive change day in day out, it was good to chat to him. Even if it did just give me the chance to ramble on about myself!
As I mentioned to Mallen, someone heard me speaking at an event earlier this week and sent me a tweet summarising what I had said by saying ‘change comes from bold moves, honest and open transparent communications and hard graft’. I thought to myself afterwards that’s a pretty accurate summary - especially the hard graft part.
My starting place for creating positive change is always having a clear vision – or a big hairy goal to go after (ideally without an obvious answer). Regardless of whatever comes your way you don’t steer away from that goal and you invest in a strategy to get you to that place. There are times during any working week when something will come in left-field and consume me but then I go back to my mantra which for the last couple of years has become ‘do few things really well’ and I get back on track.
It’s also important that you choose the right goal or issue to tackle. In my day job this has become disability inclusion. We got to this strategic issue through listening to experts, employees and customers – such a big strategic focus that demands time and resources has got to be grounded in real insight. When it comes to delivering that change, I have also learnt that it’s important to take those stakeholders with you and to always seek independent views – trusted people, who are at the end of the phone to keep you honest and quite simply, tell you as it is.
When talking about making positive change happen, I find myself often talking about the 5 golden P's:
Purpose – clarity on why you exist – change should always happens within that context and bring meaning to that change
Plan – a roadmap to deliver sustainable positive change – for me the longer the plan, such as 5 years, gives you time to create change on even the most complex issues
Partnerships – working together with others who hold the same ambition as you – you can accelerate change when you work with likeminded people and organisations
Platforms – places where you proactively and boldly amplify your message – never forget what opportunities you have within your reach, such as when we showcased what we are doing with Scope by utilising our Southampton Football Club shirt sponsorship
People – working with people who can help you to get the job done - don’t underestimate the need to take people with you and that cultural and systemic transformation takes time.
Towards the end of my chat with Mallen, he asked me to name a change-maker who inspires me. My answer came quickly to mind – the unstoppable disability activist Caroline Casey who is mobilising business leaders around the world to put disability inclusion on their board agenda. Only last week, did she convene and pull off a press conference and main stage session on disability at the World Economic Forum – one of the biggest platforms there is. What makes her an effective change maker? Caroline is unstoppable, has a huge vision that she doesn’t veer from, she is disruptive, relentless, gutsy, and passionate. Her boundless energy and acute focus, means she has this unique ability to bring others along with her.
What do you think makes a great change-maker?
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