This episode we talk with Lucy Caldicott, founder of ChangeOut and Councillor for London Borough of Lambeth.
Lucy started out in the commercial world but soon realised it wasn’t the path for her and moved into the charity sector, working in marketing and fundraising senior roles at the Prince’s Trust, Jewish Care, VSO, and then Clic Sargent. Her next step was into executive leadership, first as interim CEO for Diversity Role Models and then as Chief Exec for Uprising.
In 2018, Lucy was elected ward councillor for Stockwell in the London Borough of Lambeth while also founding the social purpose business ChangeOut – with the mission of diversifying the voluntary sector, seeking to make it more representative of society.
In this episode, we chat about how you can best learn from the bad choices of former bosses, that it’s ok to be nervous, the need to rid the charity sector of bad behaviour – and getting out of the way of future leaders.
There are some valuable tips – particularly the power of smiling, not looking at your phone at night and the importance of listening before you speak.
We learn that Lucy is thoroughly enjoying her well-earnt current roles – making change happen and being her own boss (while possibly ruling out future job offers!). We discuss the different leadership styles Lucy has learned through the different roles in her career – leading from the front in politics, the importance of teamwork and how to manage upwards.
Ultimately, despite the growing inequalities and challenges in our society that keep Lucy awake at night, she is keeping positive – hopeful that the Corona pandemic has finally woken people up to the need for change, and that through collaboration, charities will be relevant in the future.
Date of Conversation – 10 July
The Key Takeaways From This Episode
[2.23] Interview Begins[3.30] The search for justice and ‘The Great Grace’ protest
[7.17] White privilege and responsibilities for racism
[9.55] Getting out of the way of young leaders
[12.03] Different leadership approaches for different roles
[18.53] How building trust and being authentic is fundamental in leadership
[24.24] Moving into politics and learning quickly
[27.50] Not giving up and people power
[29.55] The veneer of confidence and how feeling nervous is ok
[31.50] Smile and the world smiles with you
[35.50] Nature vs Nurture in leadership
[41.00] Widening your frame of reference
[43.27] The future for the charity sector
[49.20] The dangers of complacency amongst the ‘do-gooders’
[53.23] Taking risks and collaborating for a better future
[55.45] The hope that the pandemic has woken people up to the need for change
Resources From This Episode
- ChangeOut – changeout.org
- Fundraising Chat Facebook Group – Fundraising Chat
- Lucy on Facebook – fb.com/LucyforLabour
- Institute of Fundraising Conference 2020
- Lucy’s Talk at the Conference – What are we really talking about when we talk about diversity and inclusion?
- Simon Sinek Talk – Be The Last To Speak
- The Booker prize-winning novel by Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Women, Other
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Lucy Caldicott
Lucy is a charity leader and campaigner working to address issues of inequality, injustice and exclusion. She has worked in senior management positions at a range of voluntary and private sector organisations over the last twenty-five years, most recently as Chief Executive of UpRising, a charity which offers a range of leadership and employability programmes to talented young people from under-represented backgrounds.
She has recently launched ChangeOut, a consultancy set up to address issues of diversity, inclusion, and culture change in the social justice sector and beyond.
Since May 2018, Lucy has also been a Councillor representing Stockwell ward in the London Borough of Lambeth and she ran as the Labour Party’s candidate in Dudley South in the 2019 General Election.
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