It’s Christmas! And this is a special one.
In my fifth Cracking Charity Chat I speak with Paul Amadi, Chief Supporter Officer at British Red Cross. He’s got a pretty good CV.
Starting with a shoddy and overdue apology from me to Paul from when we worked together, we move to cover the key components of leadership, how to shift your leadership style when you need to make a call on something to the changing fundraising paradigm and building capacity for appeals for protracted crises. It’s full of good stuff.
Key learning for me:
- Situational leadership. Sounds obvious but is difficult in practice. Ensure you understand the situation and adapt your style accordingly. And crucially, Paul suggests that if people understand your intent, they’re more accepting of a changing style, if you need to make a difficult decision, for example.
- Live your values. Don’t try to model the stereotypical leader – be true to yourself and your values, the rest will follow (well, not quite, but you get the jist).
- Developing capacity for appeals. We don’t know when an emergency will occur and meanwhile we see an increase in protracted crises. It’s essential that leaders build the capacity – and flexibility – to develop and deliver different types of appeals. This includes managing income expectations while incentivising your team. Tricky stuff but increasingly important.
There’s a lot more learning in the chat. You can listen on my website, SoundCloud or iTunes. And if on iTunes, please rate it – thank you!
Merry Christmas! See you on the other side.
Beth Crackles 