Catalyst, Transforming Leadership Project Evaluation Report

Executive Summary

In 2019 Create Gloucestershire was successful in applying for funding from Arts Council England’s Transforming Leadership programme to test a leadership curriculum focusing on innovation and collaboration which would target ‘hidden leaders’ in the Gloucestershire area, focusing on the place-based change that those leaders wanted to achieve in and for their communities: there was a real conviction that really meaningful leadership development needed to be rooted in the communities it was seeking to serve. The aim was not only to support individuals, but to create cohorts who might develop networks, relationships and future collaborations of their own. The programme was also driven by a strong sense of leadership as a way of supporting innovation and risk-taking whilst working with others.

Two cohorts of participants were recruited and participated in a leadership course designed and delivered by Create Gloucestershire in partnership with nowhere group ltd, a company which typically works with corporate organisations to develop their capacity to innovate and manage difference and change. Participants, particularly those in the first cohort, were encouraged to apply with a tangible project or change in their work or volunteering that they wanted to use their learning from the course to help achieve. A wider group of stakeholders and interested parties was recruited as a ‘Sweeper Group’ including representatives of funders and other key institutions in the Gloucestershire area; their role was to hear the learning from participants in the course, and to consider how the potential of the individuals and the cohorts might be converted to create a wider impact in the Gloucestershire area.

The participants were demographically more diverse than typical representation in the arts and culture workforce, and particularly in leadership roles. They were also largely from roles which were directly community-facing, and individual participants were often significantly embedded in and committed to the communities they worked with. Most did not view themselves as ‘leaders’ in a traditional sense, though several ran their own small-scale projects, initiatives or organisations.

Participants were recruited via both open marketing and recommendations, and introductions from colleagues or other people in their network were particularly important, enabling Create Gloucestershire to ‘find’ its ‘hidden leaders’ and potential participants to feel confident in applying for the programme. The cost to individual participants was very limited, and participants were supported with bursaries, sponsorship from employers or other organisations, flexible pay arrangements and additional support for access needs. Participants were motivated to apply by the opportunity to improve their leadership skills and confidence, to help them make changes in their area, organisation or community and by the chance to develop their networks and connections.

On the whole, participants found the Catalyst programme quite challenging to undertake, and for quite a few it was not quite what they had expected – almost all participants felt it was different to other professional development they had done before. This challenge has – for many participants – been a key strength of the programme. The course focused significantly on individuals’ strengths and skills, and on participants discovering and using their own voices and stories in their leadership. After the course, when participants were able to reflect upon the impact of the programme on their leadership characteristics, almost all participants felt that it had made them more confident and authentic in their own vision and voice:

‘This process has taught me to embrace my individual style and energy, be truthful to myself and accept it is okay to show vulnerability. When the creeping doubts of 'imposter syndrome' appear, embrace them, don't let them hold me back.’ (Catalyst participant)

Key to the programme design is a particular idea of leadership, a collaborative style in which leaders ‘hold space’ for others to contribute and participate. Feedback from Catalyst participants shows that this idea of leadership has been something of a revelation for many participants, who discovered that they were perhaps ‘doing’ leadership even though they did not think of themselves in this way. Participants have found, on the whole, that this approach works well in the kinds of public facing jobs and voluntary roles they do, and there is evidence of participants using techniques and approaches from the programme in engaging with others, and feeling significantly more confident in dealing with the challenging parts of this kind of leadership: in working through the moments when things are not comfortable to create new possibilities, in resolving conflict and in making space for a wide variety of voices to be heard. When asked about the impact of the course on their leadership characteristics, almost all felt it had changed how they were able to bring others with them:

‘A really changed perception of what leadership is - key for me is the new idea that good leaders create space for others rather than take up space.’ (Catalyst participant)

Before they started the course participants were keen to connect with others and build their networks. Catalyst participants have learnt a significant amount from each other and have built strong bonds. They also have a shared language and set of practices to take out of the course and into their day-to-day lives. Following up after the course with participants there have been significant contacts which have already emerged from the cohorts, with participants networking informally, checking in with each other, developing initiatives, sharing ideas and – in one case – setting up a new organisation together:

‘…I have gained so much from the group - talented, vibrant creatives who I look forward to weaving into my future, whether as a sounding board, partnership or inspiration.’ (Catalyst participant)

The context in which the course was taking place also had a significant effect – particularly the disruption related to Covid-19 – as both personal and professional responsibilities tested the capacity and resilience of participants in engaging, and the delivery team worked hard to support individuals in navigating their way through. At the same time, the delivery team were also working to re-design the programme to be delivered digitally, to meet the Covid-19 related restrictions on face-to-face activity. The combination of the intense and complex nature of the programme and the starting point for some participants has brought significant challenge for the delivery partners – Create Gloucestershire and nowhere – about the reality of the ambition to work with a group of participants both more diverse and quite different from those who might normally participate in programmes like these. Create Gloucestershire has had to build networks to support recruitment and to provide significant 1-2-1 support for participants throughout the course of the programme.

The Catalyst programme has been a substantial and very meaningful intervention for almost all those who took part, as well as for the delivery partners. In addition, some participants in the first cohort worked alongside Create Gloucestershire staff to train and then deliver parts of the course to the second cohort. There is evidence across the participants of increased confidence, particularly in themselves as leaders and in their voices and personal and professional stories. There are two cohorts now, alongside the delivery team, based in Gloucestershire who are practising a kind of leadership which is collaborative, which seeks to work alongside communities and which is looking for ways to be hopeful and innovative in solving problems and building solutions. There are tangible examples of both individual and collective development, including participants who moved on to new roles, who stepped up onto boards and committees, who have extended initiatives or begun new ventures.

Whilst participants have, on the whole, been positive about the support they received from the delivery partners, there has been some important learning relating to the four participants who did not complete the course and two participants who engaged to the end in different ways, and participants who found the course challenging and who did not find, over time, that the style suited them. In some cases the language and concepts have been difficult for participants to grasp, and more broadly some of the learning approaches have been less suitable for some participants. The delivery team has reflected upon this learning, both individually and together, and there are some important questions for any future cohorts about how expectations are laid out, and to what extent parts of the course may be adaptable or altered to reflect the specific strengths and needs of some participants.

The programme has already reached beyond the initial two cohorts, and nowhere and Create Gloucestershire ran two pilot programmes for young people, employing two Catalyst participants to deliver the work, which has developed their leadership skills. The Sweeper Group has had an ongoing presence, investing in the catalyst alumni and giving glimpses of collaborative leadership; bringing huge value to the cohort as well as advising on future activity and direction. Further funding has been secured through Healthier Communities Together a UK wide programme overseen by the Kings Fund and charitable trusts towards a collaboratory. The collaboratory will upskill and support a new group of diverse leaders working across an ‘ecosystem’ to come together at regular intervals across the year to resolve problems and provide a space for breakthrough and innovation.

The programme has succeeded in supporting a number of individuals to go out and develop and extend their leadership practice, but also in firing the imagination of others already in more traditional leadership roles in Gloucestershire – ultimately it has laid the foundations for place-based collaboration, across sectors and between communities and those who seek to serve them.