​Kathryn Welch on what she learnt from an inspiring Clore residential programme

Clore Social Leadership consider there to be at least 1.3 million leaders – people who are driving positive change - in the social sector.

Some of these leaders manage a team or organisation, but just as often they’re leading through their ideas, their projects, their contributions and their impact. As someone reading this article, there’s a very good chance you’re one of that 1.3 million.

The trouble is, many of us struggle with owning that title of leader. The idea of hero leaders (the white knight who swoops in and saves the day) is increasingly outdated - especially in the third sector.

However, many of us have a picture of a good leader in our minds; someone who’s confident, who always seems to succeed, who rarely doubts themselves. It’s a picture that can be pretty tough to measure up to.

Having spent a week’s residential with some amazing social leaders as part of the Clore Fellowship programme, I had time to explore this idea a little more. Here are some things I learned:

1. We’re not that honest, a lot of the time

Over five days on the Clore programme, what stood out for me was the atmosphere of total honesty and openness. The tone was set from day one, when one participant was brave enough to share her fear for the week: “will anyone like me” Of course, many of us secretly shared her fear, but her courage in admitting it so openly helped to drive a shared commitment to total honesty, and nurtured one of the most supportive and developmental cultures I’ve ever experienced.

Back to real life, the experience has prompted me to reflect on the brave faces that many of us use on a daily basis, and to wonder how many of our everyday working relationships are more guarded than we realise or intend. Of course, there’s a time and a place for a good game-face, but without care there’s a risk of it becoming a habit we forget how to break.

We can collectively inspire cultures of openness, where we value people for their whole selves

2. Greater openness is scary, but worth it

We use our game faces for all sorts of reasons – to project what we perceive as a professional image and to avoid exposing our doubts and fears. But if the challenge of lowering our facade is scary, then the rewards appear more than worthwhile.

3. Good leaders screw up all the time

I was taken aback over the week by how honestly some amazing leaders shared their challenges, articulated their doubts and openly told us about the times they’d screwed up. It’s really important that leaders are open enough to share these experiences.

4. We all have a responsibility to help build this culture

The consequences of only showing the world our best side can be personal, as well as professional. See Me Scotland’s #MyUnfilteredLife campaign was established to highlight the importance of recognising that lives are rarely as tidy and glossy as we like them to appear.

The campaign asks us to use social media to share our challenges of life, as well as our successes, reminding us that each person’s journey is complicated, and that some failure and disappointment is almost always par for the course. As in life, so too in leadership.

If my experience this week is anything to go by, remembering when to reveal a little more of ourselves can be the key to building really meaningful, honest and productive working relationships. And by being as honest as the person who wrote “will anyone like me?” on day one of the Clore residential, we can collectively inspire cultures of openness, where we value people for their whole selves, not just the people they need us to think we are.

Kathryn Welch is development manager at Macrobert Arts Centre.