8. Bringing Your Best as a Change Agent PDF
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City, University of London
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Summary
This guide discusses the role of grant makers as change agents and provides tips on cultivating trust and managing power responsibly. It emphasizes the importance of understanding power dynamics, reflecting on personal motivations, and building relationships with partners. Keywords include grant making, leadership, trust, and partnership.
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**8. Bringing your best as a change agent** Through your grant making and grant management, you have the opportunity to contribute constructively to change. You are a change agent, whether you like it or not. You will disturb the partner's status quo. Yet, with such power comes responsibility. Deci...
**8. Bringing your best as a change agent** Through your grant making and grant management, you have the opportunity to contribute constructively to change. You are a change agent, whether you like it or not. You will disturb the partner's status quo. Yet, with such power comes responsibility. Decisions you are a part of will affect people's jobs, their lives and in some cases their own sense of identity. To do no harm and contribute constructively we need to tread softly on people's lives. It is not a place to dump our own baggage, or unintentionally replicate harmful power dynamics. We have to use our power as an external change agent as carefully as possible. We have to bring the very best of who we are if we are to support capacity strengthening of partners effectively. In this video we will look at: 1. Understanding the power and privilege you bring 2. The necessity of cultivating trust 3. The importance of your well-being -- keeping yourself fully fit for your work This course has been about cultivating change in others. But we can only do that if we have the courage and humility and discipline to cultivate change in ourselves. When we think of our own change, it follows the same pattern and principles: - Motive -- do we really want to be better at what we do? - Means -- do we have the means to do it -- the feedback, the training, the mentoring, the resources? - Opportunity -- do we make the time in all our busyness to both look after ourselves and work on ourselves? **Understanding the power you bring** I have had been meddling in capacity strengthening for more than 30 years, but it is only more recently I am coming to realise the inherent power and privilege I have been wielding. As an international consultant I have enjoyed considerable power, people pay to listen to what I say, they read what I write -- they now even watch these videos! I realise that my unmerited (and largely unacknowledged) privileges from nationality, race, language, education, wealth, gender have all contributed significantly to this 'expert' power. And if you are working in a grant-making organisation, you also bring with you power over resources. What you think may well at least have an influence on whether or not a partner gets funding (even if the decision is not solely yours). In a resource dependent system, those with control over money wield massive power. This power means that what we say, the questions we ask, come at a high volume. Funders can only speak as if through a megaphone. Even innocent off-hand questions can be interpreted as dictats -- this is what you should do. The way we can manage our power and reduce the volume is by cultivating trust. **Cultivating Trust** How effective you will be in catalysing positive change in partners will depend first and foremost on how much they trust you. It will certainly help if you are aware of and name the power and privilege you bring into the relationship and communication with each partner. Steven Covey in his book, The *Speed of trust* says that low trust is the greatest cost in organisations and partnerships. Low trust slows everything down. Without trust, words and decisions get interpreted negatively. There is suspicion, not synergy. Mistrust leads to increasing bureaucracy, duplication of effort, political manoeuvring and disengagement. Covey says that the answer to the question - d*o you trust your boss?* is more predictive of team and organisational performance than any other question. He also points out the positive dividend to trust. Research by Warwick Business School concluded that business relationships that relied on trust as the primary driver (rather than stringent contracts) outperformed the others by 20-40%. This is why there is so much interest in 'trust-based philanthropy'. Studies show that trust comes from four things: 1. Competence -- we trust people who know their stuff and are good at what they do. When we go to the hospital we want the doctor to be competent first and foremost. 2. On my side -- partners need to feel you are 'on their side' and have their best interests at heart (and those of the people they serve). Some call this benevolence. 3. Integrity -- to be trusted our actions have to live up to our words. It is all about character. As leadership author, Walter Wright says 'It all starts with character -- who we are -- because who we are, shapes everything we do and everyone we touch'. 4. Reliability -- we trust people who are predictable and not different each time we meet them, depending on how they happen to feel that day. **What can we do to become more trustworthy?** As grant maker, we can work on our competence to support partners in their capacity strengthening efforts in a respectful way. That's what this whole course is about! We can develop our understanding of organisations and change. We can learn more about specific capacity challenges that many NGOs face including our own, whether it's leadership, governance, strategy, monitoring and evaluation, learning, theory of change or resource mobilisation. We can develop critical skills in questioning, listening, analysing, communicating, languages... We can be on top of our organisation's latest thinking about grant management, shifting power and decolonisation for example. And we can be conscious of how we relate to partners, to avoid falling into 'rescuer' or 'expert' mode. We need to be highly competent in our jobs if partners are to trust us. We can work on our benevolence -- how much partners feel we are on their side and have their best interests at heart. This takes conscious effort to understand and see things from their perspective. Spend time with them. Ask about what matters to them, not just to you as a grant maker. And listen deeply. I love the quote from David Oxberg who said, *"Being listened to, is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference."* There are a number of ways we show our integrity: First, simply by d**oing what we promised**. The fastest way to build trust is to make and keep commitments. It is not just about intentions. It is about consistent behaviour. When we say we will give feedback by a certain date we have to keep our word. **Second, simply by admitting mistakes**. People know when we have gone wrong and yet we are sorely tempted to externalise the blame to others. But when we take responsibility and make a genuine apology, this can transform relationships. We are more reliable and predictable when we bring the best of who we are to our work. If we are over-tired and over-stressed our partners and the people they exist to serve may well suffer. To bring the best of ourselves to our grant management role we have to: 1. Create healthy margins in our lives -- live within our limits 2. Keep ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually fit for our work. We live in rushed, pressurised, almost manic times. In many ways, technology and our ever-present phones, makes this even worse. Many of us resist the idea of limits, particularly when our work is so incredibly important. But living within limits is simply recognising that we are human beings, without supernatural, superhuman powers. Many of us find it hard to say 'no'. We're flattered when asked to take on a new responsibility, especially if it brings status and respect. But our inability to say 'no' may be a symptom of a deeper malaise. We may need to be needed. We may be people pleasers. It is easy to spread ourselves too thinly and end up failing to devote enough quality time to what matters most. I was really challenged by a quote from Ruth Haley Barton who said: Knowing and living within our limits is helpful to us and also to those around us. Limits can enable us to focus on the most meaningful work that really makes a difference and plays to our strengths. It creates the time to turn our knowledge into wisdom, our experience into learning. Keeping within limits requires saying 'No' regularly and relentlessly. It means, for example, ensuring adequate time and space between travel commitments. I'm a firm believer in leaving margins in our lives -- spaces - so that we can respond to unexpected demands, without going into melt-down ourselves or letting others down badly. Creating healthy margins means consciously planning more downtime that we think is absolutely necessary. Creating margins can enable us to operate, not from stress, but from a place of rest. **Keep yourself fully fit for work** Looking after yourself is simply good stewardship of the only gift you have to offer others. It's not self-indulgent. To bring our best to our work, we have to look after ourselves, our whole selves -- physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Non-profits typically expect more of people than is humanly possible and it takes self-discipline to care for ourselves so that we create the space for ideas, creativity, compassion, energy and fun. **Physically** If we are not physically well, we will underperform. Our bodies are the fundamental source of all our energy. We have a duty to ourselves and those around us to make sure we are as healthy as possible. This means being disciplined about what we eat and drink. It means taking enough regular exercise to simulate the endorphins in our bodies. Research consistently shows the health benefits of doing just 20 minutes exercise three times-a-week. It improves our energy levels and reduces our tiredness and irritability. Aerobic exercise gets the heart pumping which delivers more blood to the brain. To be at our best we need enough rest and sleep. Proper sleep allows the brain to clear out toxins, repair cells, fight infection and file away the events of the day, solidifying memories. Research shows that looking at phones or computer screens late at night has a detrimental impact on our sleep. Taking a laptop into bed and answering emails at night may be hugely counter-productive to your performance at work. Leave it until the morning. The morning hours are more balanced and productive anyway. Regular breaks from work are vital to re-charging ourselves. We cannot function well without proper rest. Deliberate rest increases creativity. Studies show that annual holidays improve our productivity at work and also reduce heart attacks! **Emotionally** Our work can be emotionally draining. We are often working remotely or in an office a long way from the people our organisation exists to serve. This can be dislocating. When we visit partners, we may be shocked by the difference in our worlds. It can be emotionally draining to experience other's suffering or to witness injustices such as lack of resources. At times, we may feel emotionally injured when we have to follow our own organisation's policies and procedures, yet in some way this undermines the relationship with the partner and the capacity strengthening efforts. Also if we get too obsessed by our work, we run the risk of losing touch with the people and activities that give us life and energy. We need friends (and family) outside of work to rest, relax and laugh with. We will probably serve our organisation and partners only as well as we engage with our friends. **Mentally** Our best ideas often come when we are NOT staring at a computer screen, but doing something else, like going for a walk. Physical activities like walking can clear the mind, without abandoning the problem, allowing for the sub-conscious to come up with creative solutions. New ideas pop up when our 'brain' is in neutral. Many people find mindfulness meditation a helpful practice. Mindfulness enables us to pay attention -- without judgement -- to our moment-to-moment experience. It helps us to notice the assumptions, biases and judgements that influence the way we see things, and the way we behave. It helps us see why we can become vulnerable to stress, unhappiness or rigid thinking. Learning mindfulness helps us to choose where to place our attention, and what intentions and attitudes to bring to each moment. This supports our well-being and by extension our effectiveness. **Spiritually** Many people find that their faith is an important way to keep themselves motivated and energised. Spirituality is about connecting to a sense of higher purpose and the deeper questions about the meaning of life. Because our beliefs profoundly influence our values, connecting with our faith can be an important way to help us live up to those values. People use different activities to recalibrate, reflect and orientate themselves: prayer, meditation, retreats or group meetings, conferences, and pilgrimages. These practices can connect us to a deeper sense of belonging and interconnectedness with others, with the environment and, for some, with God. It helps bring perspective. Connecting with the spiritual can help us become more authentic, compassionate and accepting of ourselves and others. We can feel more loved and accepted, rather than driven to achieve. Spirituality can help keep us humble, and also inspired with hope. So we've seen that looking after yourself is not a selfish act -- in fact, it is the only way to bring the best of who you are to your work. As we finish, stop and reflect for a moment: