As you may have heard, Charles Handy passed away recently. We have sent our sincere condolences to his family. Charles and his partner Liz, who is also sadly no longer with us, were both regularly involved since we were established. They were both inspirational in many respects.
The origins stretch back to 2007. Ian wrote to Charles, sharing a paper he’d written for a conference in Dublin about the non-profit sector internationally. Ian had imagined that Charles, a social philosopher constantly ranked as one of the world’s most influential thinkers, would be too busy to read and respond. However, much to his surprise and delight, Charles replied in an encouraging way.
The engagement with Caplor Horizons began during the earliest times. Lorna and Ian were busy making connections. Very little was in place. Far from not wanting to be associated with something so new, Charles and Liz facilitated a conversation, with around 25 people, to help distil what our fledgling organisation was all about. Charles used a technique he’d invented called a ‘still life’. The key picture arising is below. If you are intrigued, and want to learn more, please read the booklet he wrote.
This propelled a relationship with Caplor Horizons that became deeper over time. Charles was our ‘Thought Leadership Advisor’. He always very generously contributed his time on a voluntary basis. This was highly significant to us in various ways given that our work is with not-for-profits and businesses committed to sustainable change. Whilst, like others, he had written a lot about businesses, he was the first ‘leadership guru’ (a term he disliked) to write about the non-profit sector. His ideas, and ability to communicate them, were extraordinary. For instance, click on the links to gain insights from discussions we had about collaboration and partnerships, the soul of organisations, and leadership. He was one of the co-authors of our book.
Over the years, the contributions were multiple. We are very grateful and humbled. From the innovative ways to describe and improve leadership, strategy and organisational culture, consistent with our strap line to ‘learn, think and act differently’, to directly contributing to organisations we worked with. For example, we co-facilitated sessions with people at Jaipur Rugs in Rajasthan and with a group of HIV/Aids activists in Delhi, the latter of which he said years later was his most favourite memory from working with us at Caplor Horizons. Charles is pictured below in the ‘hot seat’ where participants could ask him anything they wanted.
A common thread that ran through Charles’ work was his belief in helping people to find their 'golden seed' – the unique potential within each individual. This is similar to our strengths-based approach and links to his quote that we frequently share “do the best at what you are best at for the benefit of others”.
Charles was always encouraging and confidence giving to the many people he met along the way. As another illustration, we organised for Charles to contribute, as keynote speaker, to national level conferences about the non-profit sector in the UK and Ireland. These involved 100s of people.
During trips with Charles, including around the UK and Dublin, plus India, we saw first-hand how people were greatly moved by his way of engaging and what he said. And how, very significantly, he listened so deeply.
Fast forwarding to the present. Laura Adams (our Chair), Lorna and Ian most recently met Charles a few months ago. He was his usual soulful and wise, gentle and effective, engaging and reflective, thought provoking and challenging self.
Ella’s – Chair role and Fundraising Manager position. To conclude with something specific that we know Charles would be highly supportive of, because he was always thinking of the future and ways to make a difference. Please see a link here to two important roles that Ella’s, one of our partners, is recruiting for. On its homepage, Ella’s state that: ‘we do everything we can to ensure survivors of trafficking and exploitation have all they need to recover and build lives that are safe and free’.
Charles Handy Quote: ‘The future is not inevitable. We can influence it, if we know what we want it to be’.
Best wishes,
Lorna, Ian, Rosie and Kemal