We talk about the importance of listening, reading the room and Kantor's Dialogue model, grief, vulnerability and boldness and much more. We talked for over two hours...
Brigid says of herself I have been a self-employed coach and leadership consultant for the past five years or so. Before that I worked in the public sector in leadership and team development, as well as working as a management consultant within an international consultancy for over ten years. I have lived and worked in Scotland for just over twenty years. I was born and brought up in Oxford, though my family origins are in South Wales and the West of Ireland.
I’m at a stage in my life where I want to support those who can make a real difference to our public services, and our civic society. My husband, Jim, died of leukaemia in February 2020. He believed as much as I do in making a positive difference to others, of being kind; he wanted me to be doing meaningful work.
I see leadership as being all about the relationships between people, and across parts of a system which are inter-connected and inter-dependent. It is about connecting with purpose, making a positive difference to people’s lives. I’m particularly interested in exploring how leadership develops in practice. I believe that developing leadership goes way beyond expertise in theories and models. It starts with who we are as people, our humanity, and our relationships with the people with whom we work and right across our communities.
This is why I believe in a relational approach to leadership development. It is also why I’ve been so drawn to finding and creating more spaces for listening to each other, and having more open conversations. And that’s part of the inspiration for being involved in #SpacesForListening with Charlie Jones.
Find Brigid on twitter at @brigidrussell51
In Conversation with Brigid Russell