• Chris’ working class background in old steel town Corby and how this led to seeing the potential to make things better, a focus on education and then a career in the charity sector
• “Its not right, it could be better and could be different”
• Chris’ recent interview with Civil Society – ‘We must challenge the perceptions of what a charity leader looks like’ 
• Experience of homophobia in the workplace
• Approaching equity, diversity and inclusion at RSPCA
• 14.00 – Innovation and service improvement in a changing world e.g. digital transformation at Relate, reaching a younger and more diverse audience through technology
• Demonstrating the difference you make, whether in relationship counselling or in animal welfare
• Changing view on impact, moving from measurement to learning, from proving to improving
• “Most innovation is hidden in public services and charities…people will find ways to do things more effectively and efficiently, not always within the rules.”
• Banning the word ideation and other jargon
• The use of language that alienates people from different backgrounds
• A couple of things relating to the experience of people with working class backgrounds in the sector: a recent report by Reclaim https://www.reclaim.org.uk/it-should-feel-like-home and a new group for working class fundraisers https://twitter.com/WorkingClassFrs
• “Nothing for us without us” – coproduction as discussed in more detail in episode 6: Ed Archer on co-production; shifting power; and diversity and inclusion issues in the charity sector
• 29:25 – Organisational change projects – adapting John Kotter’s model of change, building coalitions of change but not building the burning platform. See a summary of Kotter’s 8-step Change Model or get the book, ‘Leading Change’
• Changing the governance model at RSPCA
• Strategy development with multiple stakeholder groups – Starting with the Why – that leads naturally to the how; cross organisational workshops and engaging the branch network; needing it to be ‘sticky’
• External support – informal through peers and formal through working with consultants who can be a sounding board and share learning from others or help to produce content, facilitate workshops etc
• 44:00 – Reflections on career progress – benefit of mentoring, management development training e.g. Diploma in Company Direction at Salford University, Bayes courses, Society of Leadership Fellows St George’s House, Windsor, learning tools such as the Boff method (Behaviour, Outcomes, Feelings, Future), networking, prioritising professional development, taking time to reflect on practice
• Stepping out of your comfort zone
• Stepping up from Director to CEO
• Doing the wrong thing to get the CEO role at Relate
• Moving from me to we and being a leader of leaders
• “Look outside your organisation, reach out to other networks, find a mentor, learn from others. That’s what’s helped me in my career. Starting with I don’t know the answer but I’m going to find someone who does.”

You can find Chris on Twitter and Linkedin and you can support the RSPCA at https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/donate/online.