If you want a great translator – don’t hire a specialist. That was one of the key messages from a discussion on how to create teams to support leadership strategies in the charity, social housing and higher education sectors.
Chaired by Carol Rudge from Grant Thornton, the panellists consisted of Professor Robert J Allison, Natasha Clayton, Tracy Allison and Laura Stuart-Berry, who all sparked lively debate with the audience on how visionaries and translators ensure success in their organisations at Grant Thornton’s latest event for non-executive directors from not-for-profit sectors.
A large number of guests were invited to debate the topic, Behind every leader is a great translator, at the Royal Society of Medicine earlier this month, as part of their NFP Interchange programme.
Much of the discussion was centred round what makes a successful translator. Someone who disseminates down a leader’s strategy.
But how do you pick the best right-hand person, to ensure staff buy-in to a strategy? How can you make sure your vision is communicated effectively?
Panellist Natasha Clayton, who recently took on the role of interim chief executive of the walking charity Ramblers, said translators needed a broad range of experience.
“If you are looking for a translator don’t hire an expert,” she told the audience. “For the role of translator you are looking at someone who can translate the different languages.”
“You don’t often get that with someone who is an expert in an area.”
Clayton explained people who have the biggest impact reaching a wide spectrum of people are those able to translate across sectors and cultures.
They should “be able to speak to all stakeholders in a way they can understand”. She added they “should not be someone who is egotistical”. They must be “someone who will put their own vision to one side”.
Laura Stuart-Berry, Grant Thornton’s first ever chief of staff, also talked about the importance of an individual’s personality to effectively translate.
Their attributes, she said, would include: “Respecting the journey so far, respecting the vision, being comfortable in their own skin.”
“People don’t like change. You want someone buying into the vision with consistent values. There is nothing as damaging as ‘Do as I say and not as I do.’”
A successful translator needed an ear to the ground, be someone people could talk to and who had emotional maturity, Stuart-Berry said.
Tracy Allison, group director of corporate services at housing association Hyde, explained it was “essential you bring the staff on the journey”.
She told the audience that, six years ago, Hyde was seen as having lost its way in terms of value for money and being out of touch with its tenants.
Then a new chief executive took over which acted as a “call to arms”.
They drove through a new strategy for the housing association - coined “One Hyde, One Vision” – consulting staff along the way.
The new head actively promoted the strategy, aimed at improving the service for tenants, but was open about the challenges the organisation faced.
“Staff really understood why we were making the changes,” Allison stated.
She also spoke about how the association encouraged residents to get involved, so they voluntarily gave their time to help get across the One Vision message. “Residents become advocates in communities for change,” she said.
“I think we understand now there needs to be one plan that everyone buys into,” Allison said. But, she warned, staff need to be as clear “on what you don’t do as well as what you do do”.
Professor Robert Allison, vice chancellor of Loughborough University, which under his leadership has ranked in the Guardian university league tables after Cambridge and Oxford, agreed staff need to be involved in strategy changes.
Under his guidance, a new strategy was implemented involving hundreds of students and university staff, with the goal of putting students at the heart of the system.
The key is “getting people to buy into it and believe they are part of it,” he said.
Professor Allison suggested giving individuals responsibility rather than relying on bureaucracy and committees.
He added: “It’s about having the right people in the right roles and if you have that right you can deliver”.
Although, he warned: “The people who got you here today are not the people who will get you to the next step. You need a senior team that will challenge you.”
A question and answer session at the end provoked debates –and some disagreements – including over the best ways to implement new strategies and the benefits of work appraisals.
One point all the panellists agreed on was that it is better to have a simple strategy made easily accessible through a skilled translator.
And, as educational journalist Sue Littlemore said, rounding up the event: “It’s appropriate we think of translators in the context of languages.
“Even in an organisation, people speak different languages and respond to different languages. A good translator will speak all those different languages and know when to use them.”
Panel
- Chair: Carol Rudge – head of Grant Thornton’s not for profit team
- Professor Robert J Allison – vice-chancellor and president of Loughborough University
- Laura Stuart-Berry – Grant Thornton’s first ever chief of staff
- Tracy Allison – group director of corporate services at the Hyde Group
- Natasha Clayton – interim chief executive of the Ramblers
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Grant Thornton, sponsor of the Guardian Society Professional’s Better Boards series.
