Workshop Series: Stepping into Comms Leadership Autumn 2022

Stepping into Comms Leadership

11 October 2022
09:30 - 12.00

A set of three workshops exclusively for heads of department/assistant directors (or equivalent) at organisational members of CharityComms.

Cost: £160+ VAT for all three sessions
Dates: 11 October, 3 November and 8 December

Online via Zoom

This workshop is now full and we are operating a waiting list. Please email events@charitycomms.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Becoming a visionary leader requires embodying a new set of skills. These workshops will support and inspire senior comms professionals looking to move from senior management to leadership (for example from head of department to director level – and beyond).

This set of three online workshops supports senior comms professionals through the transition from senior management to leadership. These events will run from 9:30 to 12:00 on these dates:

11 October
3 November
8 December

As a delegate you will:

Hear the experiences of other senior leaders in the sector who have made the transition
Create an ongoing supportive network of peers from other charities
Gain tools and strategies for success
Improve your confidence in your ability to lead

Who the workshops are for:

These workshops are exclusive to organisational members of CharityComms
This is an event for heads of department/assistant directors (or equivalent level)
The workshop fee covers all three sessions – please note that workshops cannot be booked as independent sessions

What to expect from the sessions:

The sessions are designed as a set of three and will run over a period of three months. Delegates attend all three sessions, get to know the group, and have the opportunity to reflect back with each other and the facilitator about experiences and learnings you have in the time period between sessions.

CharityComms aims to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and the sessions are structured to do that. Each session offers a short piece of content – a talk from a charity chief executive or an introduction to a leadership idea. We then have a mix of group discussion and breakout exercises to help you make sense of it in the context of your own work.

We use breakout discussions intentionally to support you in:

connecting with your peers
making sense of the content (smaller conversations have a different energy to the larger group)
hearing each others’ experiences

Please come to the sessions prepared to work with, and learn from, each other.

If you have any questions about this event or your eligibility, please get in touch with Vanessa.

Places are limited to 15 people in total for this workshop series. The workshops are not recorded and Chatham House Rules apply.

Full programme:

11 October Session:
9.30 – 12.00

A leader like you

Our first guest chief executive will tell their leadership story. We ask them to tell us frankly and personally about their experiences facing the challenges that leadership brings – to speak as themselves, not about themselves – and there will be plenty of time to ask questions.

After a short break, during which our guest will depart, we’ll use what we’ve heard from them as material to start thinking about our own leadership.

There will be some simple ‘homework’ to do to prepare for the next session – this won’t be time-consuming.

Guest speaker: Sonya Chowdhury, Chief Executive, Action for M.E.

3 November Session:
9.30 – 12.00

The uncertainty of leading

As leaders we often need to make decisions in situations that are full of competing demands. Sometimes referred to as ‘tough calls’ or ‘judgement calls’, such decisions have to be made in uncertainty – a single solution that satisfies all the needs of the situation rarely exists.

In this session we will use some simple techniques to explore how to name and work with the tensions that show up in our teams and organisations.

8 December Session:
9.30 – 12.00

A leader like you

Our second guest chief executive will tell their leadership story – again, speaking as themselves, not about themselves, and again with time to ask questions.

In the second part of the session, we’ll use a simple technique of inquiry to explore our own developing stories as leaders.

Guest speaker: Laurence Guinness, Chief Executive, The Childhood Trust

Facilitator

Griff Griffiths, Cocomotion

Griff supports individuals and organisations in developing their capacity to make sense of, and move forward in, complex situations. He is co-author of a forthcoming short book about decision-making and the need for leaders at any level to be able to hold multiple tensions.

Feedback

“I think many of us would admit that we don’t always find the time to reflect on our own leadership and areas for growth as its easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day. These workshops made me realise just how important it is – but also gave me the framework and space to do this. It was really useful to hear from, and question, the CEOs who spoke candidly and offered up some real nuggets of advice. Equally, the opportunity to talk things through with my peers in the sector was hugely valuable. Would really recommend.”

Katie Bennett
special projects lead – policy, campaigns and partnerships, Alzheimer’s Society