How We Build, Nurture and Sustain Movements
Yesterday, we launched JustRight Scotland‘s new five-year strategy, Paving Routes to Justice, and also officially celebrated my farewell, seven years after co-founding the charity in 2017 with Kirsty Thomson Andy Sirel and Sarah Crawford.
The new strategy, led by JRS CEO Emma Hutton, is a broadening and deepening of the founding principles of the charity, with commitments set out across five strategic aims: defend, extend, build, nurture and sustain.
I had the honour of closing the event with a few words to the JRS team, board, closest partners and supporters – sharing from the ❤️ how proud I am of everything we have accomplished together, and how positively joyful I feel about the future, knowing that the JRS team – with all their skills, compassion and dedication – are striving every day to make Scotland 🏴 a better place, for everyone.
Someone asked me, last night, how we had achieved what can be elusive for some: such strong consistency of values and principles, embedded in the framework of our organisation and in the decision making and behaviour of our team, across multiple “generations” of the organisation.
Values matter, but only if they are real to people 🫶🏽
Do you know your organisation’s values? Most people don’t. And this is why most people feel like this about corporate values: 🙄
But values do matter. They draw people together, they set expectations about how we treat each other, and they create consistency of decision making and behaviour, even in decentralised structures.
Think about a group you feel a part of, where you experience a positive sense of belonging and purpose. This could be a friend group, or a voluntary association, like a sports team, a book group, a neighbourhood project, a music ensemble or faith group.
Now consider the values you hold in common, even if they are not formally acknowledged. These are the connections that run through you and draw you together, allowing you to build a collective that is greater and more effective than the sum of your individual efforts.
We make values real 🛠️
For values to be real to people in a workplace, they must be lived, and spoken about and demonstrated, every day. They must run through the work – how we lead, how we prioritise our time and resources and how we treat one another.
If that feels like a stretch, if you see a lack of consistency or hypocrisy in the behaviour of others in role modelling and applying an organisation’s values, then either the values are wrong, or the structure you are asking people to work within (time, resources, processes) needs to be changed.
If not addressed, that dissonance will undermine and then destroy relationships, teams and movements.
We nurture and sustain by giving future leaders the power to sense make and remake our values 🌱
Something that I really admire about the JRS strategy launch, was that each strategic aim was presented by a different member of the JRS team, connecting that aim to the work that they do now, and their plans for the coming year.
I loved this example of a leader intentionally making space for our future leaders to reflect, connect, role model and share their sense making publicly.
It often takes more time to support others to do a thing, to give time and space for others to find their way, than to do something yourself. It takes patience, too. But there is no more important task for leadership in movements for collective change and organisations like JRS – systemic change takes many leaders, and many generations to achieve and secure.
What else is new?
The other brilliant thing I did this week: travelling to Belfast, where I spent two days facilitating workshops for The PILS Project with expert stakeholders to research the environment for public interest litigation in Northern Ireland.
This was massive good fun – and my first outing as Lawmanity. Thanks to all the participants for going with my wacky 🚀 space themed🪐 activities and to Maria McCloskey Emma Cassidy Hilary Perry and Kate Barry for such a warm welcome to Belfast!
So long, and thanks for all the donuts! 🍩
Massive thanks to everyone who attended the launch and farewell event yesterday. Here a selection of some of the lovely gifts I’ve received, including a cool new mug and glass coaster, a copy of Against Landlords, a new book from barrister Nick Bano of Garden Court Chambers and of course… a special treat from Tantrum Donuts!
First published on LinkedIn on 3 May 2024:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-we-build-nurture-sustain-movements-jen-ang-xxwte/
