Strong and visionary organisational leadership is going to be a vital commodity over the coming decade, with society facing huge challenges such as the onset of climate change and the economic downturn. NCVO’s Leadership 20:20 programme, which launches through a series of ‘curry clubs’ over the coming months, is an important initiative for strengthening leadership in the voluntary sector.
Corporate Citizenship undertook a piece of research just over a year ago for ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations), looking at how companies work in partnership with charities to support leadership development in the third sector. There were some interesting findings. Mentoring and cross-sector peer learning between senior business and charity leaders was shown to be hugely beneficial on both sides. Leaders of voluntary organisations gained from the management approaches and skills from the corporate sector, without their charities having to pay any training costs. Business leaders in turn were able to develop a range of transferable skills that they were not usually exposed to in their day-to-day environment. In addition, corporate partners benefited from a reputational perspective. However, the main conclusion from the research was that, despite the successful engagement of some firms such as Herbert Smith, most companies were missing an opportunity in cross-sector leadership development, by not being involved in such initiatives.
So, has anything moved on in this space over the last year? Looking at what leading companies are reporting on in relation to their community investment programmes, there does not appear to have been much headway. With community budgets being tightened, what better time for companies to start thinking creatively about how they support charities, particularly through contributing employee time. Cross-sector peer learning is potentially a cost efficient, high impact form of community investment, which can help ensure that leaders in the corporate and voluntary sectors are well-equipped to meet the challenges ahead.