Partner reflections from the National #TrustLeaders CEO Conference

Graham Shaw, Consultant, Wrigleys Solicitors

Forum Strategy’s National #TrustLeaders CEO Conference 2023 was once again a triumph of a carefully planned agenda, incisive expert insight and collaborative shared thinking to inspire, guide and inform #TrustLeaders on ‘Being the CEO’. As always, the theme of the day was so timely, focussing on #ThrivingTogether as CEOs, trusts and communities through uncertain times.

My main takeaway from the day was the connection between

• the main concerns of society, namely the cost of living and public services as articulated by Kelly Beaver MBE, CEO Ipsos UK & Ireland,
• how this is absorbed by children from their parents and carers with most 7-10 year olds worried about the cost of living, as confirmed by Mark Russell, CEO, The Children’s Society and
• how this affects school life and how CEOs and staff must lead and practice selfcare.

The response must be rooted in a trust’s vision and values with ethical integrity, a code of conduct, strategic agility and the delegation of operational matters, all so helpfully articulated by Sir Steve Lancashire. This will help everyone to thrive.

At Wrigleys, we are doing our own work on what it means to thrive by focussing on

• our purpose – putting people at the centre of what we do
• our vision – being the firm that everyone wants to work with
• our mission – specialist legal services, long-term relationships, intellectual rigour and excellent service – and
• our values – integrity and mutual respect, taking a personal approach and stewardship for the future.

We need everyone to play their part if our staff, clients and the communities we support are to benefit and flourish. It’s about strength in numbers – not size in and of itself – but in what we can achieve together.

The resonance between our approach and ethos and what it means to be a thriving trust is just one reason why we count it a privilege to be legal partner to Forum Strategy and support trusts to do the right things legally and apply best practice.

Leaving a legacy in the face of a polycrisis

Reflections on National #TrustLeaders CEO Conference, from Nicola West Jones Director of Insights and External Relations at The Key

For me, as an Insights professional, there is nothing that beats immersing myself in a conference as a delegate, for gaining a deep understanding of what is really going on in the sector. While running interviews, conducting surveys and reading research papers gives me a good steer, sitting among an audience full of Trust CEOs is always a privilege. Hearing reflections on speakers’ content, listening to what they’ll do differently when they get back to the office, as well as just sensing the mood in the room, is priceless. 

So what did I take away from this year’s conference? The theme of “thriving leadership” felt personal, for everyone in attendance. After the enormous disruption of Covid, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, strikes on pay and conditions, attendance issues, mental health challenges, an acute lack of funding, a recruitment and retention problem, and now RAAC…the need for a mental reset was never needed more. Every single CEO in attendance, I could see, was actively reaching for this reset, wanting to go beyond “surviving” to truly thriving, for themselves, their trust and their staff and pupils. 

So what did we learn? There was something for everyone, but what resonated for me was Sir Steve Lancashire’s challenge: what’s the answer to the legacy question? What intention are you making right now about what you will leave behind? No-one sets out to merely survive, we’re all in this to make an impact. But day-to-day, with the “polycrises” raining down on us, it can be hard to hold on to that. Sir Steve challenged us to make that our ‘North Star’.

I was lucky enough to sit on a table of brilliant women leading trusts with schools from Liverpool, Cheshire, Kent, Reading and London. We had a chat after things wrapped up, and I asked them, what one agenda item they would really like to make progress on this year. Absolutely in line with what we’d heard from Mark Russell and Poppy Jaman OBE, one mentioned making staff and pupil wellbeing front and centre and not “tokenistic”. Another mentioned “going back-to-basics on culture – and really listening to school-based staff” – drawing on what we learned from David Price OBE on developing an “invitational culture”. 

I also asked about what they might change this year to support their schools. One CEO told me they wanted to improve behaviour of staff, using agreed standards. She recognised that this could be seen as a contradiction to developing a culture which is more bottom-up, but the point she was making, I think, was that we need to first listen, then implement, then quality assure anything we put in place. She also referenced wanting to improve communication from the centre to schools – a theme picked up by Kelly Beaver MBE when she impressed upon us that only 50% of staff working in education think that their employer communicates well with them. On the face of it at least, improved communication looks like an easy win for implementation and impact.

Forum Strategy brings CEO’s together to engage with other leaders, challenge the status quo and pave the way for the future success of multi-academy trusts across the UK. And this is exactly what Wesleyan witnessed whilst attending the National #TrustLeaders CEO Conference 2023.

The theme of the event centred around supporting leaders to ‘thrive’ through uncertain times, and with a network of exceptional presenters shining a spotlight on a variety of viewpoints, attendees were given the opportunity to realise the concept of what it means to be a thriving trust. Focusing on thriving teams, children, workplaces, and communities, with thought provoking lessons and opportunities to reflect on current strategies. Considering ways to drive change and progress at a system level, attendees were invited to assess the constantly evolving landscape of the education sector, whilst challenging traditional approaches to leadership.

Alice Gregson (CEO, Forum Strategy) began the day with a thought-provoking introduction – “no child is an island; no trust is an island, and no Chief Executive can be”.

Forum Strategy validated that CEO’s cannot succeed and thrive alone; by working together with the Forum Strategy network, CEOs are able tap into tried and tested approaches to enable them to deliver their goals.

Sir Steve Lancashire (Chair of the National #TrustLeaders CEO Network) shared his thoughts around delegating responsibilities and empowering teams to drive change for the greater good; being resilient and focusing on the things you can do. In his words “survival may be the inevitable base line, but thriving is most definitely the summit”.

Mark Russell (CEO of the Children’s Society) delivered an inspirational speech, asking delegates to think and question their purpose, reminding attendees that their focus should be ‘all about the children’.

Wesleyan, for the first time, are thrilled to partner this year with Forum Strategy, and took great pride in the opportunity to attend the conference. It offered us a chance to witness inspiring leaders in action, whilst showing our appreciation for the amazing work they do to tackle the challenges of a somewhat turbulent industry. We were able to chat with CEO’s and showcase our expertise in the financial arena.

Following the conference, Wesleyan look forward to a future place where we strive to be the ‘go to’ provider of financial guidance – financial wellbeing for the good.

This could be webinars – delivered free of charge – by a team of specialists in the education field. Or educational guides, helping answer questions around pension schemes, lifetime allowances, protecting your income or savings planning. We can remove potential stressors from HR teams when dealing with pensions and general financial advice and guide them to Wesleyan for this support instead.

We all need a little extra support sometimes and Wesleyan are proud to be top of the class for financial advice.