Are we practising what we preach?

We are often facilitating the learning and development of other organisations. But what are we doing to learn and develop our own organisation?! In early August, we gathered in Hereford for a series of team development and learning days. These included inputs from Clive (Hyland), our Neuroscience Advisor, about “quantum principles”. We are dedicated to being a learning organisation and so it is important to take out time in this way. It was also an opportunity for team building activities such as kayaking, rounders and yoga! See some photos from the 4 days below:

We learnt about the importance of 'trust' and 'flow'. Trust is central to Clive's Quantum Principles. It is a prerequisite for high performing teams. When we feel physically and emotionally safe we release a hormone called 'oxytocin'. This opens us up at all levels and increases our capacity for learning and growth. We also need to create work environments that foster 'flow' or 'being in the zone'. This can be defined as "the optimal state of consciousness where we feel and perform our best" and can lead to individuals and organisations being 5x more productive! Read about some research by McKinsey and Co. here.

One of the days focussed on exploring our exciting Next Generation Change Makers Programme . We were delighted to be joined by some of our Advisors and new volunteers to advance this. At the core of our programme is "compassion". This is particularly important in current times when anxiety about the future and the climate crisis is high. Read a recent piece of research here. The photos below show Kemal (Shaheen), Ellie (Evans), Gareth (Jones) and Shivani (Singhal) discussing what leadership of the future means to them through the use of images and metaphors.

One of the images that resonated with a lot of people was this one. It depicts an older person with years of wisdom, and a younger person with a fresh energy and perspective.

A core element of our new programme will be opportunities for cross-generation, cross-sector, and cross-cultural exchanges.

Compassion for the self is just as important as having compassion for others. At Caplor Horizons, we encourage and practice mindfulness, meditation and weekly yoga. A recent edition of the BBC Radio 4 series "Just one Thing" highlights the health benefits of mindful meditation. As Presenter Dr. Michael Mosely says, ‘Press pause on a busy day and take 10 minutes to do something that has been proven to improve sleep and memory, reduce pain and stress, and boost your mood’. Click here to listen to the podcast. See a picture of us enjoying an in-person yoga session sat under a lime tree with Georgie (Treasure Evans).

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the Week: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion – if you want to be happy, practice compassion" Dalai Lama

Best wishes
Iain, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

#Show Your Stripes

The recent European heatwave has been a powerful reminder. Climate change is happening and it’s happening now. These 'warming stripes' below are visual representations of the change in temperature as measured in each country over the past 100+ years. For virtually every country or region, the stripes turn from mainly blue to mainly red in more recent years, illustrating the rise in average temperatures in that country. Have a look at your country’s stripes here.

Drastic action needs to be taken. The Commitment has gathered over 8,000 Commitments and engaged influential politicians across all levels of the UK government. We can make change with the support of people like you. Make your Commitment to vote only for politicians who work for urgent action on the climate and nature here.

The Commitment has been stepping up its political action in recent weeks. As some of you might be aware, the Conservative Pary in the UK are selecting a new party leader. The Commitment recently sent a report to over 130 Conservative members of parliament urging them to back a leadership candidate who supported the Net Zero targets. A week later, all the candidates in the leadership race backed Net Zero. That was all down to pressure from people and organisations like The Commitment.

To reduce the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss we all need to work together and play our part. We have recently been working with the Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA). They are an international NGO that use evidence and analysis, often from undercover investigations and intelligence, to bring about lasting policy change to protect our planet.

We have been working closely with EIA over the past few months. This involved recently facilitating an in-person strategy week (see pictures below). As part of the four days, Clive (Hyland), one of our Advisors, gave an input around neuroscience and thinking differently about organisational structures. He shared some learning related to his new book, "The Quantum Way" which you can get here.

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the Week: “We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns. For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It’s life or death.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Best wishes
Iain, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

What is world wellbeing week?

The World Health Organisation states that wellbeing is “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

We recently celebrated ‘World Wellbeing Week’, with activities all over the world helping people to look after and celebrate their wellbeing.  It provides the opportunity for people to celebrate the many aspects of wellbeing including: meaningful, purposeful work; physical, mental and emotional health; social resilience; empathic corporate and civic leadership; community relations; and care for the environment.

Connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and giving. At Caplor Horizons, our journey of health and wellbeing continues, and we would like to celebrate Georgie (Treasure Evans) for accompanying us on our journey. Since the beginning of COVID-19, Georgie has provided us with weekly online Kundalini yoga sessions to support our health and wellbeing.  We would like to express huge appreciation to Georgie. These sessions have provided real benefits to both mental and physical wellbeing and provided a great opportunity to have a shared experience together as a team. Please see Georgie in action below. To find out more about Kundalini yoga, and Georgie’s work, please click here. 

Some tips for wellbeing in the workplace

1. Remember to take regular, short breaks, to stretch and to give your eyes and brain a rest. Go outside if you can.

2. Ask for assistance when needed.

3. Practice mindfulness if things become stressful. Being in the present, increases awareness and clarity, which directly enhances wellbeing.

4. The 4-7-8 breathing technique known to bring instant calm (breath in to a count of 4, hold for 7, and exhale to a count of 8).

5. Do yoga!

Changemaker of the week:

Louise said of her placement: "The future of our planet is especially daunting and sometimes an overwhelming prospect for my generation. However, through my work this week with Caplor Horizons and The Commitment my eyes have been open to all the incredible work they are doing to combat this global crisis giving hope to our futures. This has been truly inspiring for me".

Quote of the week:

Best wishes
Lorna, Rosie and Ian 

How can we understand ourselves and each other better?

We are always looking for interesting and new ways to understand ourselves and each other better. The “enneagram” is one such tool that draws from many sources, including ancient wisdom traditions and modern psychology. There are 9 main enneagram types that have three centres of intelligence: head (thinking), heart (feeling), gut (acting). These types don’t box people in, but rather they open a pathway to self-discovery and greater awareness as individuals, groups and collectives.

The enneagram helps us to uncover the patterns of behaviour that sub-consciously drive and motivate us to act in certain ways. When we make these patterns and motivations conscious, we are able to transcend them and develop richer, more supportive ways of being. Working with the enneagram empowers individuals to take responsibility for their own behaviours and growth, from a greater understanding of why they act and react the way they do. Find out more of the benefits below:

The Caplor Horizons team have been using the enneagram to improve their teamworking and organisational effectiveness. Last week they had an in-person team day facilitated by Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, who has been a practitioner and teacher on the enneagram for over 20 years. They found the day inspirational, and many breakthroughs were had. If you want to find out more about the enneagram, this website is a good place to start.

In other news, we have started to run more and more in-person events now that the lockdown restrictions are easing. One of these was with An Cosán, Ireland’s largest community education organisation. An Cosán provide early years & adult education and counselling and family support services to women and children from marginalised communities. The day, facilitated by Kemal (Shaheen) and Rosie (Bishop), bought together over 100 staff members to reconnect and launch the new strategy that we have been supporting them to develop.

Changemaker of the week:

Quote of the week: “In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” Maya Angelou

Best wishes
Lorna, Rosie and Ian

What does leadership in the future look like?

What does leadership in the future look like? People around the world are deeply disappointed by the example set by many leaders. As a result, many young people involved with our work have often said how they dislike the term “leadership” altogether. This is one of the reasons why we called our book “The Change Makers Guide to New Horizons: Organising Differently for a Sustainable Future”. It is also one of the reasons why we are developing a “Next Generation Change Makers” programme. Watch this space.

There is hope! A growing movement of people are determined to bring about change. For decades, a myriad of new and different leadership approaches have arisen. Many of these share an underlying conviction about the compelling need for more sustainable leadership. They share a growing sense of urgency about the need for fresh approaches that address environmental and social injustices in a rapidly changing context, including technological change.

All of these tackle injustice in one form or another: some emphasise social injustices, others highlight environmental injustices, most bring them together. Our model is based on 4Ps of People, Planet, Prosperity and Purpose; for more background and insights about this, see chapter 12 of our book.

New approaches in practice – last week we were with Ella’s, an organisation devoted to doing everything it can to ensure survivors of trafficking and exploitation have all they need to recover and build lives that are safe and free. The session was facilitated in an inspirational way by Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, one of our Advisors. Here is a picture from the day. Ella’s are an excellent team of change makers determined to meet today’s challenges in effective ways.

Change maker of the week:

Polly Courtice quote: “a leader is someone who crafts a vision and inspires people to act collectively to make it happen responding to whatever changes and challenges arise along the way. A sustainable leader is someone who inspires and supports actions towards a better world.”

Best wishes
Rosie, Lorna and Ian

Who can we learn from?

Most of us contribute to organisations and movements in one form or another. Who can we learn from? Extinction Rebellion has received a very great deal of international attention. What lessons are emerging? A very recent Netflix documentary provides some fascinating insights: click here to watch a trailer of the documentary or you can read an article about it here. Some of the most salient points are not new such as the importance of leaders listening, being open to challenge and being willing to change. Other points are new insofar as we all need to keep exploring and committing to transformational ways to bring about systemic change.

Most of us are also concerned about education at all levels, including tertiary. Who can we learn from? Tertial level education refers to all formal post-secondary education e.g. universities, colleges, technical training institutes, and vocational schools. Here is an article which explores re-thinking tertiary level education. In this article, institutions across the world are called upon to “re-design their concern (purpose), conception (operation) and consequence (impact) if they are to make the substantial positive difference to the chances of global survival and well-being that they are uniquely capable of.” This is especially important in the context of challenges facing us all, including the environmental crisis.

Change is not quick enough. The reasons why tertiary level educational is not reinventing swiftly enough vary, including because many have departmental silos limiting collaboration. Deeper barriers to change also exist. This article, focusing on the UK, highlights how only around “a fifth of Universities have made genuine attempts to address the legacy of colonialism.”

Who else can we learn from? Many individuals do outstanding things. One of these is our long- standing Advisor, Sue Stockdale. Sue inspires us all to keep stretching what we can do. She has just published a new book and you can read about it here.

Change Maker of the Week:

Quote of the week: “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen, you learn something new.” Dalai Lama

Best wishes
Rosie, Lorna and Ian

How can coaching and mentoring help leaders?

Many people at the frontline of change can face huge hurdles. Coaching and mentoring are powerful ways for leaders to be supported. And creating an environment that allows change makers to thrive is important. The role of Allyship is relevant to this: you can find out more here - this is a recent ripple paper called “Allyship – Journey to Justice.” Special thanks to Jade Dalton and Dr Lynne Sedgmore for creating this.

What is Allyship? Like mentoring and coaching and other important forms of relationship, Allyship shares an underlying aspiration: to help others to grow and to reach their full potential. What’s distinctive about Allyship is that it is conscious and deliberate about tackling injustices. Hence, in the title of the paper, the link between allyship and a journey to justice.

We’re exploring ways to expand and improve our coaching and mentoring. We want to contribute to enabling the next generation of leaders – especially women, environmental and under-represented change makers – to make a transformational difference. A group of around 15 people are meeting regularly to take this forward.

Recently, Iain Patton started in a new role with us. He is leading our efforts to progress our coaching and mentoring and link to supporting next generation change makers. If you’re in a position to volunteer in some way, then please contact Iain and he can explore this with you (click here to connect)

Change maker of the week:

Quote of the week
“We need to learn to see challenges as stepping stones instead of hurdles. They can really bring you experience and closer to your goals." Rebecca Garcia

Best wishes
Rosie, Lorna and Ian

How can we improve our sleep to support wellbeing?

We support individuals and organisations to “strengthen their resilience”. This is one of our strategic goals. Part of this relates to the importance of taking care of our health and wellbeing, especially given the pressures faced. How can we all do better in taking care of ourselves and those around us?

Sleep is often not given much attention, yet it is crucial to our health and wellbeing. How can we sleep better? And what are the benefits? According to scientists we spend around 30% of our lives asleep. Recently we did some learning about it with a sleep specialist, Joanna Kippax from Wye Sleep. She underscored what a big difference sleep makes. See our infographic (below).

For instance, whilst it’s often stated that people need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night on average, the need for it changes every day. Joanna highlighted how sleep helps our memory. Also, how it is an important to learning. Furthermore, during sleep the brain is “power washed” and waste products are removed. It can be damaging if you don’t sleep well for an extended period.

Sleep is sometimes compared to surfing?! To catch the wave as effectively as possible, a surfer needs to have the best possible preparation, timing, environment and mindset. It’s similar for a good sleep. Many things can interrupt us of course. Hence, like surfing, sleep is not easy.

There are steps we can take to build the need for sleep: e.g., exercise and being mindful of screentime. To find out more, watch this 13-minute Ted Talk.

Change maker of the week:

Quote of the week
“Discover the great ideas that lie inside of you by discovering the power of sleep." Arianna Huffington

Best wishes,
Rosie, Lorna and Ian

How can we all do better?

During our recent ‘Strategic Change and Development Group’ (SCDG), conversations focused on the role of the NGO sector. In this context, how can all of us involved do better? And are usual ‘sector’ definitions still relevant?

What is the SCDG? We want to move forward in a dynamic, open, inclusive and participatory way. Part of this involves ‘experts by experience’ forming our SCDG. This group was instrumental in forming our strategy. It now gathers every six months to help us ensure different voices inform what we do and how we do it. It makes our governance more innovative and reflective of the work we do (for more insights click here).

The gathering was focused on three questions: (1) should NGOs be advocating for change differently and in a much bigger way; (2) how are NGOs affecting systemic change; (3) how can all of us do better? Click here to read a short report. We had two presentations: one by Rita Chanda, Interim Co-Director at Ella's; the other by Steve Rocha, Executive Director of PRATYeK.

A key message from the event can be summed up by a quote: “what’s got us here won’t get us there”: the discussions prompted everyone involved to learn, think and act differently to meet future challenges and opportunities. This includes collaborating more boldly between sectors.

We need to have the courage to embark on a ‘second curve’. The NGO sector is in danger of becoming set in old-fashioned mindsets and relying on tools and models that have worked in the past, rather than considering what is new, what can be unlearnt and how it can collaborate better across sectors. The idea of the “second curve” (below) was mentioned and the importance of having the courage to consider changing the “winning formula” while it’s still winning and before it’s too late. To find out more about the second curve and the importance of being connected, please read Chapter 6 in our book.

Change maker of the week:

Click here to watch a video about Huda's work.

Quote of the week
“Change depends on ordinary people who have the courage to say, 'Enough is enough and no more'." Kumi Naidoo

Best wishes
Rosie, Lorna and Ian

What connects planetary health to our health?

UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC) brings together over 900,000 health professionals to advocate for responses to climate change and biodiversity loss that protect and promote public health.

'What Matters to You?' Recently, our colleague Kemal (Shaheen) published a blog on the UKHACC's website about why the environment and the health of the planet matter to him. To read it, click here.

Kemal also gave a presentation about how UKHACC members can take action by making The Commitment. Over 7,000 people have made The Commitment. Each person has a unique reason for doing this. One of the common themes is human health and wellbeing.

World Health Day was on the 7th of April. The theme was "our planet, our health" highlighting the impact of planetary health on human wellbeing. Given the latest IPCC report, it's more urgent than ever to bring about change.

What can be done? The IPCC report offers recommendations, like phasing out fossil fuels, investing in renewable energy, transforming agriculture and land use and decarbonising the urban environment. Here below are six points that are highlighted. For the full report, click here.

Earth day is on the 22nd of April this year and it's theme is 'Invest in Our Planet'. We are living through a crucial time for climate action to come together and act boldly, broadly innovate and equitably implement. To find out how you can get involved in events and campaigns, click here.

Change maker of the week:

To find out more you can listen to the Yikes Podcast episode on "Why climate change is a Health issue" here.

Quote of the week
“We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security and women's empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all” Ban Ki-moon.

Best wishes,
Lorna, Rosie, Ian and Megan