Early morning and I'm at the Gym. Punishment is good for you . Which will please one "ProgManager " who has left a comment on my Blog admonishing me . He suggests that whilst many in our sector are motivated by a desire for social justice ,I am "eating fillet steak and drinking Continental lager " . An interesting point . I am not sure I follow this argument entirely . Is the act of eating fillet steak incompatible with a desire to further social justice ? Would a cheap rump steak and a warm bitter be OK ?
Or is commitment measured only in misery ? This Calvinist streak to the English character is depressing . You would find such sentiments laughed out of court on the Continent .And rightly so . Look what happened when the Puritans were in charge over here. Beheading our anointed Sovereign , banning Christmas , singing and dancing round the May Pole. I am afraid I do not buy the line that you measure your commitment to the cause by your eating and drinking habits . Or have I missed something? But do feel free to answer me Mr ProgManager . A healthy debate is always excellent . And I enjoy getting comments on my Blog.
After the gym I am in at FutureBuilders. We are looking at the dispositions on our various committees ; audit , remuneration , nominations etc.There is such a pool of talent sharing out the roles is difficult. One tip I would give to anyone looking for trustees or senior staff. Use headhunters. Rockpools did a stunning job for us . David Fielding, their head of Third Sector practise, is a star . A real knowledge of the sector with a sure touch for what will fit . He found us our fantastic CEO , Jonathan Lewis and got us our trustees. He is now handling the appointment of the CEO for NSPCC , following Mary Marsh's departure. Ok , it costs , but it is an investment in getting the right people . Recruit in haste and repent at leisure.
Now I am at Heathrow . En route for Rotterdam where I am giving a key note speech to the annual gathering of the Dutch civil society bodies. I will be talking about professionalism and the need for the sector to grow and expand , both in service delivery and in acting as a voice and campaigner. It is important that we as leaders are open to new ideas , to different approaches and cultures . Leadership learning does not stop at a national border . I'm looking forward to meeting some of the Leaders of Dutch third sector bodies at dinner tonight. There is a strong sector in the Netherlands and they play a strong role in delivering focused services , especially for children and young people . I'll keep off the fillet steak tonight and test them on the connection between drinking Continental lager and social justice !
3 comments:
Stephen
No correlation between fillet steak or beers (of whatever persuasion) and social justice was intended.
The point that I was trying to make was that while you blog consistently about the 'high life' - many of your members and their staff are living a very different reality. Establishing rapport and influence must be a challenge! That's all!
Sorry Progman I agree with Stephen, I felt that contribution was a bit ‘proleer than thou’ too. I’m a non meat eating, non drinking type myself, but I still recognise food and drink of any type are good devices to hook and hold people on a blog and they add interest for those of us who don’t necessarily want to live on planet policy all the time too.
This blog makes me feel sick, it reads like a satire of what a self satisfied frog would produce if it learnt to type after 2 beers
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