BT, the Olympics, a dinner and a tie...

I wasn’t sure what to expect when our conversation leader from BT joined us for the latest Firm Elite dinner. Our dinners this year have focused on issues of sustainability – not just financial or environmental but also social. And so to have Jon Lane, who holds the title ‘Business Development and Partnership Director London Olympics 2012’, was an intriguing treat.

Why intriguing? Well, generally publicity around the Olympics (at least in some of the major cities, including London) has focused on: 1. Why didn’t we get tickets; 2. Infrastructure will be a nightmare, particularly travel; 3. Terrorism will abound; 4. Only the rich will make something from it etc… etc… etc… There has been some publicity around large businesses dishing out a bit of cash here and there to ‘worthy causes’ (usually interpreted by some as a bung for silence or giving up community land in favour of the bigger commercial cause…) and certainly many large sponsors have ‘worthy focused’ websites regarding their Olympic activities (costing a packet to design and nicely branded). However, the chance to really question the extent to which these sponsorships benefit not just the business financially, but also the environment and society as a whole is rare. So I was intrigued as to whether we really could have an open discussion.

As always, we had an engaging table for dinner. We included in our guest plan (places are by invitation only) those who have experience of the Olympics in other countries as well as those who have been involved in large and small businesses; profits and not for profits; and those involved with businesses whose reputations are always of significance given the nature of the contribution that their organisational purpose makes to the money markets, the environment and all elements of society.

What we learnt right away is that every country emotionally prepares itself for the Olympics in the same way – positive focus when the news is heard that the country has won its bid; negative when tickets are not obtained by all seeking them; even more negative when travel arrangements and infrastructure preparations are discussed; gaining more positive momentum when the Games start, with ‘of course I was always in favour of this’ when national medals abound…. So much for the individuality of country responses based on cultural background – we all behave the same it seems!

Thereafter followed a fascinating Q&A plus round table discussion which approached the issue from the multi-angled approach that such breadth of experience of guests always encourages at Firm Elite dinners. Wine flowed; food was eaten; views exchanged; knowledge gleaned. And as always a fair few connections made.

Our discussions are governed by the Chatham House Rule. So I shall not go into the detail. Suffice it to say the position of a sponsor to the Games is a complex one, an advantageous one on the one hand (benefits to the business in terms of exposure to new markets; to new societal issues; to new environmental issues) and a risk in other ways (and the risks to the business come as a result of the same exposures). Like every business today (or indeed any organisation be that for profit or not for profit) the world environment changes (financial, social and environmental) and charting a course through that environment entails both choppy seas and calm waters. Add to that the need to take on board the Olympic ‘dream’ and all the hard nosed business issues that that entails; as well as the risk of being associated with organisations whose sponsorship often throws up the negative associations of the brand (for example the Dow Chemical issue)… Well, why would you? But Jon and others discussed the why would you and why wouldn’t you with realism and insight.

Jon Lane looked remarkably sane, and in control of his brief, given his role. A really engaging plain speaking man who knows his stuff (and sported a wonderful tie which to those of us who judge a man by his tie was very reassuring!). And the conversation was as always informative and insightful thanks to the contributions made by our other guests. We covered politics, the diplomatic service, UN quangos, local authorities, branding and messaging, PR and press, business large and small, passion and fear, energy and stress, negative and positive social, environmental and financial impact – and very much more.

For those who would like to know more about BT and its Olympic involvement, click here.

Our guests that night: Jon Lane, Kehrela Hodkinson, Simon Card, Ann Wittman, Xenia Murray, Andrew Hillier, Imogen Martineau, Diana Marsland, Philip Henson and Sara Dixon. Thank you all.

Charity mergers and trustees - a summer of love and despair

Having spent the summer and early autumn dealing with charity mergers, law firm
mergers, joint ventures between profits and not for profits - in fact, a summer
spent bringing perfect strangers together with a view to a better future... - we at Firm
Beliefs cannot but ponder on the role that charity trustees play in this brave
new world of new relationships.

That role varies tremendously.  That is the problem. 

So do attitudes.  Also the problem.   

We are finding that there are rarely cases where both (or more) sets of trustees clearly understand their own role and attitudes, let alone the others' role,  and the process as a whole is often delayed by a lack of clarity around the role and the attitudes of one or more of the trustee boards.

Regardless of charity sector (dogs, carers, international aid), regardless of size (small charity where trustees ARE the day to day workers;  large international charity where trustees rarely meet the employees), regardless of experience of trustees (from the trustee who set up the charity many years ago to the seemingly ubiquitous ‘I donated stacks of cash to this charity and I am a hedge fund manager/banker/business owner...') - there are two clear issues that any merger team must be clear about up front:

1.      What role has the board of X charity played so far in its development? 

2.      What attitude has the board of X charity taken insofar as leading the charity forward thus far?

Because unless these are clear up front, both within X charity itself AND understood by the merging organisation, chaos, delay, uncertainty and even, sadly, failed merger will ensue.

Why the previous role is important:

Has the role hitherto included working with the staff? Charity X Board may or may not have developed a close working relationship with the management/administrative team of Charity X before the merger process.  Certainly they will need to do in the feasibility
process.  Add to this Charity Y who may also be trying to forge a similar working relationship in whether deciding whether to merge, and you have at least 4 groups who have never worked together before, trying to do so. 

Add into this the new Merger Steering Group once things get going and you add yet another group of folk into the mix - reps from the Trustee Board of X and of Y; plus key staff from the Exec teams of X and Y.  Whilst still trying to report back to the Boards of X and Y.  With all of the cultural and managerial and operational differences in language and approach that such mergers bring. 

So an understanding of what role each has
played hitherto is helpful in trying to decide the roles going forward and putting
into place systems and support mechanisms to make sure that all the different
groups work effectively together.

Why previous attitudes are important:

In particular, attitude to change.  For many trustees, their approach to change
has been something tested, or not, in their ‘day jobs'.  Even if they have gone through tremendous changes in their working lives, they may or may not have been ultimately
responsible for delivering on that change.  This may have affected the attitude that the
trustee board as a whole has shown in terms of change for the charity for which
they are ultimately responsible - have they been change averse?  Have they been change aware? 

And for many, regardless of experience in their own working lives, that may not translate into attitude to change as they merge their charity with another.  I think we have all come across the ‘In my commercial role, I have been merged with/lost my job/managed a merger numerous times and this merger for this charity is no different'.  Sadly at the moment,
that attitude prevails all too often.  No merger is ever the same as another - so attitude to change needs to show an element of humility as well as adaptability to the requirements of this particular change.

There are of course many other issues which affect trustees and their role and attitude during a merger - and many trustee boards we have worked with have shown exemplary approaches to both their role and their attitude.  Indeed, the fact that trustees appoint interim independent chairs of merger steering groups to ensure that the merger, not just the interests of the charities, stay at the forefront of the process, regardless of past experience, is to be commended. 

So, trustees need to be clear, up front, about the role they have played hitherto, the attitudes they have shown towards change hitherto - that way they can enquire similarly about the other trustee board/s in the merger.  Once the differences/similarities are ironed
out, the merger process proper can begin.  The courtship that includes a full and frank assessment of one's self, as well as the other, does tend to lead to better outcomes after all.  Even if it is, 'no thanks'.  Better know that sooner rather than later.

Business, Lawyering and Human Rights

Sara is interviewed for the Law Society International Division's 'Legal Life In...'

http://international.lawsociety.org.uk/node/11222

Pumpkins, Fish, Middle Class Angst?

that any company, individual or indeed nation would require to make positive changes happen.

The theme of our discussion was sustainability. We were privileged to have the wonderful and charismatic Georgina Stevens of One Pumpkin as guest speaker.

Georgina brought inspiration, experience, passion and charm to the evening as well as outlining the challenges, possibilities and pitfalls of driving through sustainability programmes. And as always the focus was not just on the environmental (the 'old' scope of sustainability) but also on the financial and the social...

Is sustainability on the one hand an orphan child of middle class angst? Which is nice to have if we make it another accessory to modem life while also appeasing our consciences?

Georgina has an impressive biography of success already but we are all fortunate as inhabitants of the planet that she has only just completed the early chapters in her career! Passion, expertise, experience and firm beliefs will be required to drive the changes necessary for all our tomorrows  -Georgina has all these elements and a new group of advocates to extol her virtues from this FE dinner.

Quandary to successful repositioning - via a drink!

'It looks as if it's been one of "those" days!' Sara said, as I arrived at a recent Firm Elite Dinner. 'Have a drink,' she offered, 'and tell us all about it!' 

So, before we sat down to dinner, I did .... to Sara, Deborah and Xenia who all listened attentively and perhaps more importantly, sympathetically, occasionally asking questions to clarify the facts. 

I was, at the time, designing a regulatory e-learning programme targeted at about 50,000 employees for a large corporate client. With around 75% of the training content not only written, but the screens designed and already built as well, my client had decided to change the scope of the training from being targeted at all employees to being targeted at managers only. And of course, the challenge was to complete without any delay to the delivery date, and inevitably within the original budget! No wonder it had been one of those days!

This, then, was the challenge that I described to Sara, Deborah and Xenia over pre-dinner drinks, before we had even sat down to the Firm Elite dinner that evening at the Caledonian Club. It wasn't just that they listened to my problem attentively and sympathetically; they grasped the challenge very quickly, but rather than simply nodding and changing the subject, telling me what I should do, or leaving me on my own to find someone else to talk to, in this very informal, very friendly and very 'secure' and confidential environment, they asked me some really great 'coaching' questions, made some observations and shared some insights that made me quickly see the problem from different perspectives. 

I didn't leave the Firm Elite dinner with a solution that evening - I didn't expect to! But the conversation lifted my spirits, gave me new hope and put me into a different frame of mind ready to enjoy the evening; stimulating and good humoured exchange of views around sustainability in business, and good food and drink - just the things to re-energise at the end of a long day! 

And then, the following morning - almost out of nowhere, but without question arising from something someone had said the night before - a flash of inspiration whilst travelling into London on the underground, (I knew the underground would prove its worth one day), and I managed to turn the whole thing around. Between Bond Street and Green Park, I suddenly found a way of re-positioning the training for the new audience with minimal re-writes to the content and not too much screen re-design, (the most time-consuming and costly part of any e-learning design). And with this flash of inspiration, my passion for the project was as suddenly re-ignited! The client was delighted with the result and, as I write this, the feedback so far from users testing the pilot version of the module is that 'this training is perfect!' 

So what do the Firm Elite dinners give me? The chance to talk; the chance to listen; the chance to exchange views, to learn something new, to consider different perspectives, to laugh, and, of course, to eat and drink in good company, and to leave the evening with that strange sensation of being tired after a long day on the one hand, but equally of being so refreshed that I feel ready to tackle the next day with renewed energy, enthusiasm, and humour!

Ken Cohen