Pauline Broomhead, founder and chief executive, The FSI
Stephen Covey’s book Principled Centered Leadership. It’s easy to assume that because we all work for the same employer and share one office that everyone is on the same page with regards to communication and buy in about what we do and how we do it. But that’s often not the case. If you have ever wondered how some organisations manage to build creative, effective teams where everyone really understands why they are doing things or behaving in a particular way, and that the decisions made are made for the right reasons, even when they are hard to make, this is the book for you.
Professor Paul Palmer, director, Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Cass Business School
The government portal website and specifically the Charity Commission pages are a treasure trove of information on how to run a charity and manage people in the sector. Offline, the opportunity to network and combine lessons learned from both the academic side and industry is probably my most trusted resource. Every month at Cass our MSc students, all managers in the sector, gather to brainstorm and problem solve issues of the day.
Debra Allcock-Tyler, chief executive, Directory of Social Change,
The George Bernard Shaw quote that begins – “This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one…” . For me, that purpose has always been serving others and all the effort is worth it if you can help even one other human being. Shaw also remarked, “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as I live it is my privilege - my privilege to do for it whatever I can.” This sentiment drives me every day. I use it in every single one of my speaking engagements and people always respond to it.
Caron Bradshaw, chief executive, Charity Finance Group
I regularly visit our member engagement site , the Directory of Social Change , the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and Twitter. Our sector is so diverse it is hugely important to understand the range of perspectives, business models and pressures. These places are excellent for tapping into latest thinking and creating a dialogue.
Dame Stephanie Shirley, founder and president, Autistica
My daily and essential resource is my iPad. I use it for researching information on the web, for daily news, to catch up with radio and TV, how to spell things, my diary, my notes, synonyms to help with my writing, oh for everything! Science Daily always has items of interest when it comes to innovation in healthcare that might link with autism.
Sir Ciaran Devane, chief executive, British Council
I recommend world in data for when you’re in a geeky mood. I find data visualisation incredibly useful. It is always good to look at long-term trends in the sector and visualising what you learn can help clarity and decision-making. In the same vein, I like information is beautiful and anything by the “Leonardo da Vinci of Data,” Edward Tufte.
Duncan Craig, chief executive and psychotherapist, Survivors Manchester
Managing a small charity is all about reducing risk, yet working in the field of sexual violence means having a high tolerance to risk – two factors at odds with each other. To decide my organisation’s risk appetite, I have found the Zurich Risk Guides to be extremely useful in future-proofing our services, workforce and interventions. The guides are easy to understand, logical and who better to learn about risk from than an insurance company!
Trudi Beswick, chief executive, Caudwell Kids
The book Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs by Muhammad Yunus. Recommended to me by Sir Tom Hunter, Yunus shows how social business can create self-supporting, viable commercial enterprises that generate economic growth as they produce goods and services to fulfill human needs. These principles are at the heart of what we are trying to achieve at Caudwell Kids.
About the Zurich risk guides
Zurich has produced a series of tailored, easy-to-follow guides to make insurance and risk management in the charity sector easier to understand. The aim is to make this subject simple and, where possible, remove barriers to activities so that the efforts and pursuits of community and social organisations are not hindered. We know your communities and customers must come first. Zurich’s ethos is that insurance is there to facilitate the customers being innovative and taking risks in a managed way. For more information please click here:
- Understanding the impact of emerging risks
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Future proof: ensuring the sustainability of your charity
- Charity regulation and what it means for your organisation
- A fresh look at reputation risks for charities
- Understanding the impact of cyber and information risk
- Planning for and dealing with major incidents
How can Zurich Insurance help your charity? Email info@zurichmunicipal.com or call 0800 2321901
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Zurich Insurance sponsor of the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network’s Charity Leadership hub.
