A case for making it simple?!

When striving to influence, Niro Sivanathan prompts everyone to keep in mind that…

• “You cannot increase the quality of an argument by increasing the quantity of an argument.”

• “The delivery of your message is every bit as important as its content.”

• “Stick to your strongest, most compelling arguments.”

To learn more about the case for “keeping it simple” click here

We have had the privilege of engaging with the Cabinet of our local Council in Herefordshire in the UK. For instance, we facilitated a session based around our “Six Senses of Teamwork” exercise. Click here to learn more about this exercise. As a locally based organisation, we were greatly encouraged with the strong sense of authenticity and common purpose, plus the conviction to keep striving to a make a meaningful difference.

Our Neuroscience Advisor, Clive (Hyland) has written a new book titled, The Quantum Way: Understanding the Science behind Happiness & Workplace Engagement’ Click here to order the book. Clive is also one of the chapter authors of our book. Click here to read the book or click on the picture below to read his chapter, The Human Organisation.

Brene Brown quote: “Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let out true selves be seen.”

Have a great week!

Ellie, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

Why wait to make The Commitment?

David Attenborough in his recent book ‘A life on our planet’ expresses: ‘We share Earth with the living world – the most remarkable life-support system imaginable, constructed over billions of years. The planet’s stability has wavered just as biodiversity has declined – the two things are bound together. To restore stability to our planet, therefore we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing we have removed’.

His thinking draws on the long-term environmental challenges described as “planetary boundaries” by a group of scientists led by Johan Rockström and Will Steffen. These were nine limits outside which there were likely to be runaway effects and tipping points with dangerous and unpredictable consequences.

"This framework is a tool that can be used to change the way we think about nature and its place in the hierarchy. It’s trying to make a system change to our economic model.” To watch an interesting video discussing this click here

The Commitment focuses on two of these boundaries – climate change and biodiversity loss – aiming to increase government led action to support these areas.

Our Thought Leadership Paper, ‘Governance and Long Term Environmental Challenges’ is aimed at not-for-profit organisations and is an attempt to suggest practical examples of possible board responses to long term environmental challenges through the framework of “planetary boundaries.” The paper indicates how to begin discussions in Board Meetings presenting five possible questions:

1. Do planetary boundaries matter to our organisation? Why? Which ones?

2. What are realistic priorities for how we respond?

3. Who will do what?

4. Is there anything we need to establish to take this forward such as a task force or an annual review?

5. How will we know that we are making progress?

To read the thought leadership paper in full, click here. Thank you for Peter (Moore), our Governance Advisor for dedicated time on this.

Johan Rockström quote: “We take it for granted. The world that we love.”

Have a great week!

Ellie, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

Collaboration for greater equality in a pandemic!

Across the world, the not for profit sector is looking for solutions to respond effectively to the inequality arising from the pandemic. Working collaboratively is one of the ways that is increasingly significant. There are many different ways of collaborating – from strategic partnerships through to mergers. Please click here to read our paper on collaboration; this includes an annex about mergers; to gain further insights about mergers click here to watch a webinar from MzN.

The current pandemic has led to increased inequality and immense challenges for people. Please see below two ways we can all make a difference.

Through our collaboration with Children Watch in Tamil Nadu, India, a new initiative is starting with the Irula community, focused on young people. We greatly appreciate the inspiration of all the team at Children Watch; and also one of our Advisors, Usha (Ladwa-Thomas) for enabling this to start. If you would like to financially contribute towards this, please get in touch. Thank you.

A new international initiative in response to the global pandemic: “Get One = Give One”. As some countries start to roll out Covid-19 vaccines, it’s important that people in the world’s most disadvantaged communities get access regardless of their ability to pay. To learn more and potentially contribute toward this initiative click here. With great thanks to our Advisor, Lord Paul (Tyler) and also to Nicky (Tyler) for reaching out and for inspiring action on this.

Kakuzō Okakura quote: “The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”

Have a great week!

Lorna, Ian, Rosie and Ellie

Leading Courageously?!

What is courageous leadership? Nancy Koehn, a Professor at Harvard Business School, depicts a courageous leader as: “an individual who’s capable of making themselves better and stronger when the stakes are high and circumstances turn against that person. Courageous leaders are not cowed or intimidated: they realize that - in amidst turbulence - there lies an extraordinary opportunity to grow and rise.”

As we develop our new strategy, “leading courageously” has emerged very strongly. The following five principles were highlighted in a recent article about courageous leadership: authenticity; resilience; emotional intelligence; self-discipline; commitment to a purpose. To read the article click here

Celebrating young and courageous women leaders this year? In advance of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the release of a film that is being promoted by one of our partners, Paper Boat as part of a fundrasier. It is titled: “I am Belmaya”. It is a film following the life of a young woman who “takes the camera and power into her own hands”. To watch the trailer click here. To find out more and book your tickets for a private pre-relaease screening, click here.

Gathering Commitments: In the run up to the upcoming UK local elections in May, the work of The Commitment is gathering pace in the West Midlands, Derby and Dumbartonshire areas which we are targeting. The Commitment is a distinct part of Caplor Horizons. Its purpose is to: “put the climate and natural world higher up the political agenda”. For the latest monthly update click here

Nancy Koehn quote: “resilience is the capacity to not only endure great challenges, but to get stronger in the midst of them”

Have a great week!

Ian, Lorna, Rosie and Ellie

Why must we give younger generations space to dare to step out and step up?

“Courageous leadership” is emerging as a key theme in our strategy renewal process; also “Next Generations Leadership”. We’re very fortunate to have worked with many courageous leaders, including through a women’s led marketing initiative and NGOs in The Gambia. Currently, Isatou (Ceesay) and Baai (Jaabang), Directors of NGOs that we collaborate with, are undertaking research about the impact of what we have been involved with in recent years.

One courageous and remarkable leader, living in The Gambia, is Oley Dibba Wadda (pictured below). Click here to read a recent article in which she states: “The women leaders of today must arrive and deliver in full force: we must pave the way in challenging the status quo to give younger generations space to dare to step out and step up; it is impossible to have dialogue about the future without the participation of those who will live it.”

Coaching and mentoring can help accelerate the development of all of us as leaders. This often includes the development of confidence and self-esteem so that we can become more courageous in our approach and actions. Iain (Patton), hand in hand with others, such as Sharon (Turnbull), has been strengthening our approach to coaching and mentoring. Click here to find out more.

Thank you! We appreciate the various Advisors that provide excellent coaching and mentoring to the people we work with, such as Denise (Mulligan). Please get in touch with us if you would like to learn more.

Oley Dibba-Wadda quote: “my life is to give and share all that I am, and all that I have, to humankind: I get my inspiration from the longing for love; the search for knowledge; gratitude for all that I am and compassion for the living - this is my life.”

Have a great week!

Ellie, Rosie, Ian and Lorna

Why does the food we eat matter?!

Vandana Shiva is a famous advocate for ‘food sovereignty’ and shares the importance of adopting an organic approach to farming as well as the importance of ‘Eating Consciously’. To read this fascinating article and learn some tips, click here

Malawi Fruits is an organisation that’s focus is to establish and grow sustainable community businesses in the north of the country. Malawi Fruits more specifically provides training in modern farming technologies including compost manure making and growing of improved and certified seed varieties. We have facilitated a session with the leadership team focussing on the Caplor House and the Six Senses in recent days.

We’re hiring! We are advertising for a new role – ‘Development Coordinator’. If you are interested, please see here. Applications are open, and close on 1st March.

Vandana Shiva quote: "In nature's economy the currency is not money, it is life"

Have a great day!

Ellie, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

New Co-Directors, new ways of working and thinking?!

We have some big news - we have two new Co-Directors! As we have developed and embedded a “Co-Directorship” approach at Caplor Horizons over the last four years, and supported some of our clients and partners in exploring this in their own organisations, we are delighted to announce that Rosie (Bishop) is joining Lorna (Pearcey) and Ian (Williams) as a Co-Director of Caplor Horizons. A new trio! And William (Eccles) and Ian have become Co-Directors of The Commitment. A new duo! For those still not familiar with The Commitment, please click here; its purpose is “to put climate and the natural world higher up the political agenda”.

Here are some of the biggest benefits we’ve identified, from this collaborative approach to leadership:

• Better sensitivity, depth of relationships and collaboration

• Better quality of decision making

• Better prioritisation of health and well-being

• Better reflection and learning, including richer insights about opportunities and strengths, risks and areas to improve, plus a more soulful approach.

• Better pace of action.

Please get in touch if you would like to learn more about our journey, and to read our paper on Essentials of Collaboration, please click here.

We’re hiring! In light of our changes, we are now advertising for a new role – ‘Development Co-ordinator’. If you are interested, please see here. Applications open today, and close on 1st March.

Science and Spirituality. We recently had the pleasure of hosting an online workshop with two inspirational speakers: Clive (Hyland), an Advisor and specialist in neuroscience; and Kemal Shaheen, an Advisor and Director of Paper Boat. The session explored how Science and Spirituality are coming together and how can this inform our work.

To gain some insights, you can read our ‘Essentials of a Learning Organisation’here (pages 9, 10, 11), including how the emerging learning from neuroscience underpins our Caplor House model. To delve deeper and learn more, click here to find out about Clive’s most recent book called “The Neuro Edge: People Insights for Leaders and Practitioners”. Finally, for a thought-provoking video called ‘My Stroke of Insight’ click here.

Rumi quote:“You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the entire ocean in a drop.”

Have a great day!

Lorna, Ian, Rosie and Ellie

Encouraging brave and courageous leadership

Words from Amanda Gorman’s poem at the inauguration in the US, reminds us how important it is to be brave in taking a stand about injustices facing the planet and humanity. To watch her speak click here

Hope for the Future is a climate charity working to encourage communities and their elected representatives across the UK to take decisive action on climate change. We have been facilitating a process with the team in recent days on their strategy.

Ella’s is an organisation of women who coordinate ‘safe houses’ for vulnerable women and children in and around the surrounding areas of London. Sharon (Turnbull) has been working with the team on their culture and has been using our Six Senses of Teamwork tool. Click here to use it with your own team. 

Appreciation - it is a pleasure to work with Hope for the Future, Ella's and other partners and clients that are carrying out such brave and important work to bring about positive change in our world.

We recently held our second ‘Strategy Session’ for Caplor Horizons exploring our ‘new horizons’. Interesting discussions were had around topics such as: our envisaged future; climate change and biodiversity loss; brave and courageous leadership; organisational resilience; our culture; and what we can be for next generation leaders. Thank you to all 59 participants and for the facilitators who joined us for the journey!

Mary Anne Radmacher Quote: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow”

Have a great day!

Rosie, Ellie, Lorna and Ian

New year, new resolutions? Why are goals so important?

Thinking of the new year, and new resolutions, a recent article, Kim Starkey states that the leaders who excel most often have the same qualities as top athletes. And she has observed they typically ensure that goals are: “specific and measurable; feedback-driven; realistic; self-referential; controllable; chunkable”. To learn more, click here

The article also talks about the founder of BRAC, a large NGO that was established in Bangladesh: Fazle Hasan Abed set up the organisation after seeing the devastating effects of a cyclone. He stated: “everything we did in Bangladesh we did with one focus: getting poor people out of poverty because we feel that poverty is dehumanizing”.

Put into practice…We have recently been working on a strategy and team development process in the past few days with Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI); this has included facilitating a process to develop clear and compelling goals. PDI take an integrated and sustainable approach to the provision of water and sanitation with communities in Malawi. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with PDI.

Dalai Lama quote: “the seed of goodness is found in the soil of appreciation”

Have a great day!

Ian, Lorna, Rosie and Ellie

How can we give and receive great feedback?

How can we give and receive great feedback? We advocate a strengths-based approach. We have previously shared about the significance of ensuring a balance of authentic, appreciative comments compared to constructive improvement points: e.g., some believe that a 3 to 1 ratio is appropriate; others even more such as a 5 to 1 ratio. However, beyond this what else is important?

Lee-Ann Renniger reasons that people tend to fall into one of two camps. Either they tend to provide too indirect and soft feedback, to the extent that the receiver may not even recognise what is being said. Or they can be too direct and tough; this can lead the receiver to be unduly defensive. To watch a 4 min video - including about a four-step process that she recommends - click here

Furthermore, at this general level, Carol Dweck’s model encourages us to have a “growth mindset” when giving or receiving feedback.

More specifically, we believe understanding preferences can be very helpful when giving or receiving feedback. Our “Differences and Diagonals” paper, by Ann (Adler), discusses how to navigate around the “Caplor House” to address issues that can frequently occur between people. To take the Caplor House online test, and learn about your preferences, click here. To read the paper, click here.

We greatly appreciated the opportunity to facilitate a strategy renewal process with Dementia Matters in Powys in recent days. Dementia causes create suffering and is frequently misunderstood. It is a debilitating disease and Dementia an umbrella term used to describe a range of progressive neurological disorders.

Laloux quote: “Feedback and respectful confrontation are gifts we share to help one another grow.”

Have a great day!

Ellie, Rosie, Lorna and Ian