28 February – 3 March
Taking place for the first time from 28th February to 3th March 2022, Illuminating Leadership 2022 is a global online festival aiming to shed light on the benefits and opportunities, as well as challenges of collective, systems- and place-based leadership.
Over the course of four days, the festival will see a variety of self-hosted events, during which participants and hosts can reflect, share, and identify ways in which we can support people across public services and beyond to feel truly empowered, sufficiently emboldened and able to use their creativity in a way that supports real improvement.
08:00 - 08:30
08:30 - 09:00
10:00 - 10:55
11:00 - 11:55
12:00 - 12:55
13:00 - 13:55
14:00 - 14:55
15:00 - 15:55
18:00 - 18:55
08:00 - 08:30
08:30 - 09:00
09:00 - 09:55
10:00 - 10:55
11:00 - 11:55
12:00 - 12:55
13:00 - 13:55
14:00 - 14:55
15:00 - 15:50
16:00 - 16:55
17:00 - 17:55
18:00 - 18:55
08:00 - 08:30
08:30 - 09:00
10:00 - 10:55
11:00 - 11:55
12:00 - 12:55
13:00 - 13:55
14:00 - 14:55
15:00 - 15:55
16:00 - 16:55
17:00 - 17:50
18:00 - 18:55
08:00 - 08:30
08:30 - 09:00
09:00 - 09:55
10:00 - 10:55
11:00 - 11:55
12:00 - 12:55
13:00 - 13:55
14:00 - 14:55
15:00 - 15:55
16:00 - 16:55
17:00 - 17:55
08:00 - 08:30
Take a pause from the stormy seas at the Illuminating Leadership Harbour. These sessions provide a safe space for quiet, contemplative reflection and mindfulness practice. Each morning, the Harbour offers different practices for self-reflection and a stable mind, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to turn your camera on or off and join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by members of the Illuminating Leadership organising team.
08:30 - 09:00
Pop in to the Bell Rock Morning Café for a quick burst of energy, to learn about what’s happening that day at Illuminating Leadership and to hear reflections from previous events. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to give a shout out for the event you are running. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our more reflective evening cafés here. The Illuminating Leadership organising team will be welcoming guest lighthouse keepers to co-host the Bell Rock Café sessions.
10:00 - 10:55
Welcome to the launch of the Illuminating Leadership 2022 Festival. This festival has been co-created by those passionate about shining a light on how we work collectively to address the complex, societal issues we are currently facing. Collective, system and placed-based leadership is often highlighted as being at the heart of what is needed for these difficult times including Covid Recovery, but can be challenging to implement. This is an invitation to explore together what it means to navigate the incongruities and paradoxes, the light and the shade, that we face in our work and to discern together what approaches to leadership will serve us well for the work that needs doing. At this launch we will include reflections from Katie Kelly, East Ayrshire Council and Martin Kalungu-Banda, Presencing Institute and Oxford Business School, Sarah Davidson, CEO Carnegie Trust, Karyn McCluskey, Chief Executive of Community Justice, and other guest speakers.
11:00 - 11:55
How do we widen the conversation on systems convening across different layers of public services, to include those who do not see a role for themselves, either because of professional discipline, role, or lack of visibility or voice? The Collective Leadership team engaged in an exploration of how to scatter the seeds of collective leadership more broadly, in order to join more parts of the system to itself through the embodied practice of Social Presencing Theatre. This session is an opportunity to be part of the conversation about the insights emerging from that process and to access the collective embodied wisdom of the group to build on our collective convening capabilities.
12:00 - 12:55
Join Gary Brown and Lisa Thomson from the National Leadership Network (NLN). Gary and Lisa will deliver a workshop discussing how they have approached the development of a new 5-year initiative with a leadership focus centred around the voice of individuals with care experience. The workshop will highlight how the NLN is ceding power, paying young people for their skills and recognising and valuing individuals’ personal contributions. Gary and Lisa will share the Network’s person-centred approach to decision making and relationships, sharing their methodology and highlighting practical examples. Young people’s feedback on the impact of this approach will also be shared. The National Leader Network is being set up by five organisations who will take forward part of Life Changes Trust’s legacy. Gary and Lisa will talk about how the Network will encourage collective leadership and embrace partnership working over the next 5 years.
13:00 - 13:55
Authentic leadership is a style of leadership that genuine, transparent and shows self awareness and emotional intelligence. Authentic leaders are self-tuned individuals who are aware of their strengths and their limitations. They offer their real selves to their teams. Their style is transparent and ethical and encourages open sharing of information needed to make decisions while accepting the collective input from others. They do not act one way in private and another in public; they don't hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak. Authentic leaders inspire loyalty and trust which in turns promotes a positive work culture. As a result they build strong bonds with people allowing them to do and achieve their best. Area that we will explore together on the session include: Your Strengths - Do I leverage my natural strengths? Self-awareness - Who and what do you project on others? Communication - How is my communication delivered and received? This Session is hosted by Wendy Chalmers Mill.
14:00 - 14:55
In East Ayrshire Council, we are working to embed coaching across the organisation. Our place based coaching approach lies at the heart of our work to develop Vibrant Communities, bringing to life our FACE qualities and behaviours (of Flexible, Approachable, Caring and Empowered), and supporting recovery and renewal planning. The coaching approach is helping us have better conversations and build stronger relationships, leading to teams working in an empowered way as they support our communities. This is part of a whole system approach to organisational development and culture change. We are embracing this approach to help empower and enable our citizens and communities, leading to an improved understanding of the issues and challenges and building resilience in our communities. Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash. Join us to find out more about the work we are doing and how it is supporting leadership across the council, enabling teams to work in an empowered way.
15:00 - 15:55
How does being present and really listening to peoples' experiences help us to develop vision and capability around collective leadership? When we actively listen to the real-life experiences of the people who use services and of our teams who deliver them, we are better able to develop self and team reflective practices. How do we use professional curiosity about what our services feel like for people to develop ownership, support problem solving and build those good relationships that help us to have culture of improvement? Join an informal conversation about the ways we listen to people and what we do with what we hear to empower collective leadership. Image by saeed-karimi on Unsplash.
18:00 - 18:55
Join the lighthouse keeper in dimming the lights during our Bell Rock Evening Cafés – a space to reflect about what has emerged that day at Illuminating Leadership and explore what new connections have been made. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to hear about participants’ thoughts and reflections of past events. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our morning café sessions for a quick burst of energy here. The Illuminating Leadership organising team will be welcoming guest lighthouse keepers to co-host the Bell Rock Café sessions.
08:00 - 08:30
Take a pause from the stormy seas at the Illuminating Leadership Harbour. These sessions provide a safe space for quiet, contemplative reflection and mindfulness practice. Each morning, the Harbour offers different practices for self-reflection and a stable mind, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to turn your camera on or off and join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by members of the Illuminating Leadership organising team.
08:30 - 09:00
Pop in to the Bell Rock Morning Café for a quick burst of energy, to learn about what’s happening that day at Illuminating Leadership and to hear reflections from previous events. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to give a shout out for the event you are running. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our more reflective evening cafés here. The Illuminating Leadership organising team will be welcoming guest lighthouse keepers to co-host the Bell Rock Café sessions.
09:00 - 09:55
What is it to be Human? Why do we find it so difficult to share the space to be? After the past two years, we have all experienced uncertainty and loss, at a level we may never have known before. But there are people we walk alongside everyday, who have lived in ways we have had to only recently, for their entire lives. What they teach us about being human, is integral to our recovery and essential for the human way forward now. Elly shared hers and her daughter's story as a TEDx in 2019, sharing then why we needed to reboot and FlipTheNarrative. Wherever you sit in the shared space - this talk will leave you thinking about what we all need to do, and how we overcome a shared adversity and step forwards into the future with human hope and confidence.
10:00 - 10:55
Evie Murray was part of an activist movement in Leith, (the port of Edinburgh), reclaiming common good land to make healthy food and nature accessible to themselves, their children and the local community. Now, as a collective, Earth In Common, they are working to tackle a broken food system, climate change and social inequality, locally, nationally and internationally. They have created a radical action-based team on Leith Croft with community building and food growing at their core. Not only are they growing food, they have developed a Carbon College, offering environmental education for youth and adults, equipping people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to live a life that's better for the planet, and encouraging people to take action in their communities. In addition, their Minecroft programme epitomises inspiring, inclusive outdoor education. Young people join experienced staff to learn outdoor crafts and survival skills, build fires, cook food, and share stories around the fire. There is also a ‘restorative climate justice’, a concept that brings together elements of restorative justice, climate justice, agroecology and food sovereignty. They have bigger ambitions! An integrated vision of urban crofts that can help generate community solidarity and wellbeing, strengthen the local economy, and contribute to community wealth building and skill-training. They aim to help communities across Scotland reclaim derelict urban green spaces to establish urban crofts. Together, they believe empowered urban communities could play a vital part in moving to food sovereignty. Their form of collective leadership is about grassroots, community empowerment in action. Come along, be inspired!
11:00 - 11:55
Join us to learn about the programme and how it can develop leadership capacity. A previous participant will join us to share their own exchange reflections and answer any questions you may have. Application deadline for our next cohort is 11th March 2022, so don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to find out more at this session! About the programme ACOSVO Leadership Exchange pairs leaders from middle, senior & executive levels to improve leadership capacity between peers. All sectors are eligible - third, public & private. The purpose is to provide a platform for cross-sector knowledge sharing where leaders can gain an insight into the different cultures, constraints and opportunities their counterparts work with. With leaders matched from the Scottish Government, banking, NHS, Police Scotland, voluntary sector, and much more, this is a unique opportunity to expand your network, see things differently, and build connections across boundaries.
12:00 - 12:55
Leading as a host is an attractive way of helping people engage... what are the challenges, pitfalls (and ways to succeed)? Host Leadership has been gathering momentum in recent years as an attractive way to think about post-heroic leadership which focuses on how to bring people together (in a good way) so that everyone can contribute to dialogue, decisions and developments. Mark McKergow's books, seminars and work have shown how leading as a host works as both a metaphor (which everyone can engage with right away) and in more detail as a model with six 'roles' (not rules) into which hosts and host leaders can step forward , and four positions where they can stand to get different viewpoints about what to do next. On the face of it, this is something we can all connect with (should we choose to do so). And yet... it all sounds maybe too easy? What are the real challenges, pitfalls, uncertainties and demands of leading as a host? In this session Mark will be leading a conversation about the skills, qualities, awarenesses and personal challenges of leading as a host, particularly in tough situations. For example, some of the challenges which are sometimes raised are: What if there are very different views in the room - leading to heated exchanges, stuck disagreements and further entrenchment? What if something unexpected happens, throwing my plans off track? How do we keep 'multi-partial' - acting on everyone's side, rather than being neutral or one-sided? This Illuminating Leadership event is an opportunity to bring forward your own challenges to leading as a host, to work with Mark and the other participants on how we might respond, and to broaden all of our skills and possibilities for effectively bringing people together to work on complex collective problems and issues. Do join us!
13:00 - 13:55
Sistema Scotland and Aberdeen City Council have been working in partnership since 2016 to deliver the place based Big Noise programme in the Torry community. As the evidence of impact from the Big Noise programmes has emerged and strengthened across Scotland the partners have been in ongoing conversation to understand and create the conditions for important learning from this work at a community level to be shared strategically across the city. Join Chief Officer - Early Intervention and Community Empowerment Derek McGowan and Sistema Scotland CEO Nicola Killean as they share their story of how they have been collaborating, the structures and conditions they are working to create to enable genuine honest conversations across partners, what impact and changes are taking hold and the challenges and difficulties along the way. They will share some thoughts on how they are managing the dynamic between local authority, third sector and community, how they navigate the funder / recipient relationships, and the importance of relationships in this work. This is a work in progress conversation. We will invite others attending the session to share their stories and aim to capture examples on how best we can find ways to allow community based learning and practice to influence wider decisions and structures.
14:00 - 14:55
This event will focus on the theme of collective leadership from a community-led perspective. Based on research from a series of case studies with community-led organisations and a recent workshop with practitioners to better understand key themes , this session will delve into how collective leadership can be used within communities to inspire collaboration and creativity.
15:00 - 15:50
Solving problems when we’re stressed is not the same as when we’re not stressed. And yet, so often we try to use the same tools in both situations. The challenge is that when stressed logical thinking has often gone AWOL and is nowhere to be seen. That is, ways of thinking that usually work for us don’t work as effectively when we’re stressed. As a coach who helps people when they’re stuck, and often therefore stressed, Alison Smith has developed and gathered together problem-solving tools that work really well in stressful situations. Perhaps you also have tools that work for you and your team when faced with stressful situations – so do bring them along to share too. During the session you’ll be given the opportunity to apply one or two of these tools collectively in breakouts to a problem. To get into your muscle memory tools you can then use in the future as a team when you’re faced with stressful situations. Come prepared to dial down logical thinking, to dial up your creative thinking and be open to the unconventional. The session will be facilitated by Alison Smith, based in Fife, Scotland who is a speaker, coach, trainer and author of Can’t see the wood for the trees and helps corporate and personal clients to get back on track when they’re stuck and stressed and don't know what to do.
16:00 - 16:55
Working and leading in these times, we can often experience a relentless focus on the intellectual aspects of knowing. Experience tells us, however, that knowing is important but not sufficient and that we need to include and value feeling just as much. This session offers an opportunity to work with Martin Kalungu-Banda, from University of Oxford Business School and the Presencing Institute, on the Know-Feel-Do of Leadership, exploring how we can bring our collective intelligence and the wisdom of our bodies into our leadership practice. Co-Hosted by Martin Kalungu-Banda and Janet Whitley. You might also be interested in joining this evening's Bell Rock Café session, which is hosted by Martin. In the evening Café, Martin will be sharing practical stories and examples of Know-Feel-Do and engage with participants during this session. This will be an opportunity to connect and reflect with others around this topic.
17:00 - 17:55
At the height of the pandemic, 50 experienced headteachers in Scotland saw the flux in the system as an opportunity to come together and re-imagine aspects of Scottish education. Education Scotland designed and facilitated 'Excellence in Headship Stretch', a collaborative enquiry programme to enable deep learning and re-thinking about issues identified by the headteachers. These included system leadership; assessment and qualifications and equalities, among others. The programme culminated in the 'Scotland Learns' day-long event in December 2021 in which programme participants shared their collective thinking and recommendations with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, with the leadership team at Education Scotland, with academics and policy makers as well as their peers. This Illuminating Leadership event will share the learning around the importance of empowering school leaders to become active agents in system change and hear more on the thinking and recommendations from headteachers to move the education system forward in Scotland.
18:00 - 18:55
Join this session's light house keeper, Martin Kalungu-Banda, in dimming the lights during our Bell Rock Evening Cafés – a space to reflect about what has emerged that day at Illuminating Leadership and explore what new connections have been made. In this session, Martin will be sharing practical stories and examples of Know-Feel-Do and engage with participants during this session. This will be an opportunity to connect and reflect with others around this topic. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to hear about participants’ thoughts and reflections of past events. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our morning café sessions for a quick burst of energy here. The Illuminating Leadership organising team will be welcoming guest lighthouse keepers to co-host the Bell Rock Café sessions.
08:00 - 08:30
Take a pause from the stormy seas at the Illuminating Leadership Harbour. These sessions provide a safe space for quiet, contemplative reflection and mindfulness practice. Each morning, the Harbour offers different practices for self-reflection and a stable mind, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to turn your camera on or off and join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by members of the Illuminating Leadership organising team.
08:30 - 09:00
Pop in to the Bell Rock Morning Café for a quick burst of energy, to learn about what’s happening that day at Illuminating Leadership and to hear reflections from previous events. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to give a shout out for the event you are running. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our more reflective evening cafés here. The Illuminating Leadership organising team will be welcoming guest lighthouse keepers to co-host the Bell Rock Café sessions.
10:00 - 10:55
Youth engagement and good governance with local administrations are key for community empowerment around the world. Especially in places where traditional leadership prevails, the shift to a collective approach and a collaborative culture can be challenging. The Collective Leadership Institute has worked with several youth organisations in central Tunisia to shift the paradigm to collective leadership between youth NGOs, citizens and local and regional administration to focus on local urban development – from ecological tourism to sustainable urban infrastructure and public transport to organic agriculture. Balancing the practice of collective leadership with the existing forms of governance and government, navigating generational and cultural differences as well as a history of centralized government were strong challenges. This session will illustrate how those challenges were overcome, and how a structured process of bringing in and adapting collective leadership practice resulted in an array of successful and thriving collaborative initiatives for local development. This session is hosted by the Collective Leadership Institute, based in Germany. The Collective Leadership Institute develops concepts, trainings, and projects to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in multi-stakeholder partnerships and transformation processes. CLI has offices in Germany, South Africa, and the United States and collaborates with decision-makers in international development cooperation, the public sector, NGOs, corporates, and foundations.
11:00 - 11:55
Are we afraid of the space of not knowing? Knowledge is power and admitting you have doubt or uncertainty can be seen as a sign of weakness. In a world which places a high value on certainty and an ‘accountancy reality’ is there something useful in the space of not knowing? If we want to re-imagine and find sustainable ways of organising systems, our work, and our way of interacting as a society is there a need to collaboratively enter the space of not knowing? ‘Not knowing is the place from which everything must emerge. The place to live when we desperately need to conjure alternative forms, new understandings’ (Wilfred Bion) Artists of many forms actively seek the space of not knowing using it strategically in the creative process to aid discovery. Though this can be an uncomfortable place to be its value is understood and is their space to engage in a sense of curiosity, exploration experimentation and discovery. In this session we explore collaborations in which creative agents have worked within institutions to encourage and explore the space of not knowing to provide a space for questioning, reflecting, bringing in different perspectives, noticing and seeing what emerges. This session is hosted lightly by Sophie Hadaway, Arts Council for Wales and Karen Lawson, Collective Leadership for Scotland.
12:00 - 12:55
Join us to explore what we really mean by leadership, management and everything in between - and what this means for our future. In this event, we'll try to collectively disentangle management and leadership: the purposes they serve, the skills they require, and who exactly they involve. We'll explore how management is concerned with bringing order and certainty to organising, while leadership involves living and thriving in conditions of uncertainty that call for creative, disruptive, and sometimes even subversive solutions. This session is a collaboration between Project Lift, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and Barbara Simpson, Professor of Leadership and Organisational Dynamics at Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, who will share her perspective. Together, in an engaging and interactive session, we’ll explore questions like: What's really different between leadership and management? When do we actually see new futures come about in our organisations? What could be different?
13:00 - 13:55
An interactive session that looks at leadership learns we all have from the last two years of leading in uncertain times. We will examine what has worked for personal and team resilience and what could have been improved. We will discuss small wins that have made a big difference through to impactful changes. This interactive session will aim to provide practical tips we can all use within our workplaces to aid resilience, moving us to recovery through to rising to be more productive in these uncertain times. What may seem a small and mundane change can lead to big improvements. We have all learnt new ways of doing things differently that may have surprised us, now is not the time to revert to days of old. Come along for a chance to reflect and learn useful leadership techniques that will aid you into recovery.
14:00 - 14:55
It is challenging to write and talk about the capabilities and practical experiences of facilitation that have “largely disappeared into our relatively inaccessible mental filing cabinets of intuitive, unconscious tacit knowing!” (Wadsworth, 2001). We have spent considerable time (years) trying articulating the process of facilitation that we believe to be important when working with collective leadership groups tackling complex issues. It’s not easy! When working with these groups, facilitation we have found is not so much about methods, tools or techniques, but the level of conscious awareness, and ability to hold a space for ‘not knowing’ that enables facilitators to be flexible and stable whilst working with the complexity of groups working at the edge of chaos (Reason and Goodwin, 1999). This art of facilitation doesn’t just lie with those who have a title of ‘facilitator’ but with anyone who is trying to create and hold a learning space for divergent voices to be heard, different perspectives to be considered and for collective action to emerge. Please come along and share your interest, experiences and expertise. This session will be hosted by Dot McLaughlin and Karen Lawson from Collective Leadership for Scotland.
15:00 - 15:55
Let's consider our collective appetite for risk and innovation across public services. Join Gemma Diamond and Mark Roberts, Audit Directors (job-share) at Audit Scotland, for this Illuminating Leadership Festival event. They will facilitate a discussion about the challenges to risk-taking and innovation in the public sector. What can we all do to help shift away from a risk averse culture, while recognising the importance of accountability? They will bring examples from Audit Scotland’s work and look forward to talking about how we re-frame attitudes to risk and innovation in the public sector. This is an opportunity to explore aspects highlighted in a recent blog by Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, where he reflects on some of the reasons why we haven’t achieved Christie’s aspirations and suggests that we are yet not using our collective leadership capability effectively enough.
16:00 - 16:55
Hosting new types of conversations across complex landscapes requires a certain kind of leadership, which is described as systems convening. A systems convener or systems convening team sets up spaces for new types of conversations between people who often live on different sides of a boundary. For example, a geographic, cultural, disciplinary, political, class, social boundary. They spot opportunities for creating new learning spaces and partnership that will bring different and often unlikely people together, and use their legitimacy to convene people to engage in learning across boundaries. You may be doing this kind of work without any label, unrecognized, or are not not aware that they are doing it, or perhaps you are interested in learning more… Join Etienne and Bev Wenger-Trayner in conversation with Janet Whitley and Joan O’Donnell about their recent book on systems convening, where they interviewed 40 systems conveners from around the world, working on diverse issues ranging from improving government transparency to enhancing cancer care.
17:00 - 17:50
This event will shed light to some of the collaborative approaches to anti-racism in the Scottish public service. Members from the Scottish Government’s Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education Programme of work, the Building Racial Literacy professional learning programme, the Advance HE Anti-Racist Curriculum Project and the Empire, Slavery and Scotland’s Museums project will be coming together to discuss the opportunities, the successes and the challenges of collaborative leadership of anti-racism in Scottish public sectors.
18:00 - 18:55
Join Sam Cassels, the lighthouse keeper of this session, in dimming the lights during our Bell Rock Evening Cafés – a space to reflect about what has emerged that day at Illuminating Leadership and explore what new connections have been made. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to hear about participants’ thoughts and reflections of past events. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our morning café sessions for a quick burst of energy here. Sam Cassels works as a Place Principle Advisor in the Scottish Government.
08:00 - 08:30
Take a pause from the stormy seas at the Illuminating Leadership Harbour. These sessions provide a safe space for quiet, contemplative reflection and mindfulness practice. Each morning, the Harbour offers different practices for self-reflection and a stable mind, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to turn your camera on or off and join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by members of the Illuminating Leadership organising team.
08:30 - 09:00
Pop in to the Bell Rock Morning Café for a quick burst of energy, to learn about what’s happening that day at Illuminating Leadership and to hear reflections from previous events. These daily sessions provide a space to make new connections, cross-pollinate ideas and continue discussions about the festival in an informal way. If you are an event host, these sessions are also a great opportunity to give a shout out for the event you are running. The Bell Rock Cafés run twice a day, so bring your breakfast or dinner snacks - but most of all - your curiosity. You can sign up to our more reflective evening cafés here. The Illuminating Leadership organising team will be welcoming guest lighthouse keepers to co-host the Bell Rock Café sessions.
09:00 - 09:55
The breakdown in our planet’s climate and biodiversity represents a breakdown in the relationship between our species and the living world. Our systemic illiteracy has led to system failure. Everywhere. We don't appreciate how complex systems work. So we don't see how we break them. And we don’t know how they change, so we don‘t know how to help them heal. Our ecological crisis and our failure to address it are two sides of the same coin: we’re failing to mount a meaningful response for the same reasons our ecological systems are failing. This is the decisive decade. We need a level of innovation unlike anything we've ever witnessed. And business-as-usual simply won’t cut it. We need to be much braver and much bolder. Designed as a provocation-and-conversation, this session will explore the relationship between our ecological crisis and our conventional ideas about what it means to organise, to lead, and to change. And it will offer you a space to reflect on this unprecedented moment in human history and ask: What’s yours to do? This event will be presented and hosted by Paula Downey, partner at Downey Youell Associates and co-creator of CultureWork - Working The Way Life Works®, a living-systems approach to organisation, culture and change. She has a Masters in Responsibility and Business Practice from the University of Bath, and writes and speaks on the realities and opportunities of whole-system change.
10:00 - 10:55
The relationship between organisations and communities across the world is changing and this change is going to require a fundamental shift in behaviours from both officers in organisations and residents in communities. In this stretching and refreshing session, international speaker and author Cormac Russell, will draw on the concepts and approaches from his latest book: Rekindling Democracy: A Professional’s Guide to Working in Citizen Space to facilitate a wide ranging discussion on how best to put communities at the centre of change. The workshop will give you the opportunity to look at four fundamental questions for creating vibrant and resilient communities in keeping with the current strategies and policies of the Council: What can communities do that organisations cannot? What can communities do with organisations that neither can do alone? What can organisations do that communities cannot? How can we get these competencies and strengths better aligned? Cormac Russell, Managing Director of Nurture Development, will demonstrate why he believes that the traditional customer segmentation and needs analysis approaches are the way of the past, and that assets and strengths are the future.
11:00 - 11:55
At the heart of every place is an authentic narrative – a shared story about its past, present and futures. How does this narrative challenge and shape the right kind of leadership needed for each place? Following a short provocation from Sam Cassels, we will invite challenges to how we conventionally intervene in the circumstances of people’s lives – and facilitate a conversation, based on real life experiences, about how we might create the conditions for success in the places we live, and what that means for the types of leadership we now need. You might also be interested in joining the evening Bell Rock Café on 2 March, which is co-hosted by Sam Cassels. The Bell Rock Café takes place @ 6pm.
12:00 - 12:55
Collective Leadership for Scotland has been working with colleagues in Police Scotland and The Improvement Service to design and deliver a Pilot Collective Leadership Programme in three localities, including participants from Police Scotland, Local Councils, NHS, Fire and Rescue Service and the Voluntary sector based in the locality. The intention of the pilots is to offer a place-based, focussed learning experience on the theory and practice of Collective Leadership, including supported exploration of complex/wicked issues by participants. This lighthouse session offers an opportunity to find out more about the Programme and to hear the stories of how Collective Leadership practice has been developed and is now being used by participants in the Programme. Photo by Anthony from Pexels
13:00 - 13:55
The NorthWest2045 Project comprises community groups; local development trusts; statutory bodies; and community, private and eNGO landowners from across the rural North West Highlands. The common desire these groups share is to see a future where their communities thrive economically, socially, and environmentally. Under the restrictions of a global pandemic and thus the shift to work from home, came a new opportunity in reaching across settlements and vast distances to engage with the community and effect real change. Join us in discussing the benefits and challenges of this equitable partnership.
14:00 - 14:55
Join Manira Ahmad and friends to explore two 'of the moment' topics which may or may not be for you two sides of the same coin. Data is all around us. Does that mean we all understand what it is and what it means and how we can use it to its fullest impact? Leadership is described in many different guises but does collective, systems leadership have an intrinsic link to data? What difference does that make to people in communities? Explore through generative conversation the different views and perspectives and listen to experiences that bring this topic to life. Manira Ahmed has spent her time working across private and public settings whilst growing up in a multi-generational household. Working now in public health, Manira is very passionate about focusing on and understanding what truly matters to individuals and how collectively we can be greater in our impact within our communities and places we live.
15:00 - 15:55
With the new challenges we all face since the pandemic, it's more important than ever that collaboration is at the heart of leadership and system change in Scotland right now. But how do we actually collaborate? And, crucially, how do we collaborate effectively? We know that for it to be meaningful, collaboration needs to be planned and conducted with rigour. We looked at the evidence base and existing high-performing collaborations. We found that while the purpose and activities can vary widely, successful collaborations consistently share a set of eight characteristics. In this free online event, we will explore the characteristics of effective collaborations; examine how they can be applied in your own context to help you understand where you are and what this means for your own leadership; delve into what you can do to ensure your collaboration is making a real impact.
16:00 - 16:55
Innovative democratic processes are inherently collective and require new forms of facilitative leadership anchored in power-sharing. They push us into spaces where citizens collectively engage in dialogue and deliberation seeking to answer the wicked questions that trouble our communities and systems. Join Oliver Escobar, Senior Lecturer in public policy at the University of Edinburgh and academic lead for democratic innovation at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, for a stimulating and provocative conversation about the current proliferation of democratic innovations in Scotland and around the world. Oliver has been involved in research and development of democratic innovations, including participatory budgeting, digital processes and citizens’ assemblies. Most recently, he co-led the research team for the Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Scotland and is a member of the Stewarding Group for Scotland’s Climate Assembly. His work also includes the development of ‘socially smart cities’ and arts-mediated public dialogue on social and criminal justice, including the forthcoming Distant Voices Festival: Bridging the Void. In this session, Oliver will share insights from over a decade of research and practice, focussing on processes and impacts, and exploring implications for the future of governance and democratic life.
17:00 - 17:55
We welcome you to enter with curiosity, and a playful attitude. Bring your friends and colleagues, and explore whether the circus of leadership is developing the skills we need to work collectively? You will have the opportunity to: Meet the juggler and the plate spinner? What happens when they drop the balls or the plates come crashing down? Watch out for the clown? Are they laughing, crying or full of surprises? Observe how they change direction when something new and shiny appears, grabbing their attention. Gape at the tightrope walker – where are they feeling the tension, how much slack will they allow? Is there a safety net? Do you recognise the lion tamer – always cracking the whip to keep control? Or the ring master - strutting in one direction then spinning on their heel and strutting the opposite way. Watch in awe as the trapeze artist lets go without knowing they will actually be caught. Visit the fortune teller – is one view of the future enough? How could we share our different perspectives and imagine something yet unknown? We invite you to join our circus. Come and play in our tent and explore how we might develop the circus skills to work collectively and imaginatively. This event is hosted by Dr Lynn McNair, Karen Lawson, Sophie Hadaway and Hanneke Scott-van Wel
