The first Spirit of Humanity Local Forum, in Harrogate, UK

Clive Wilson

Director at Primeast Ltd, 

Harrogate, UK

The first Spirit of Humanity Local Forum, in Harrogate, UK

At the 2014 Spirit of Humanity Forum in Reykjavik, I committed to launch local forums that would provide space for anyone with an interest in values-centred leadership to engage and encourage positive action. 

The first forum was held at the Primeast office in Harrogate on 15 September 2014.  This was intended to be a small, safe and intimate gathering to facilitate depth of conversation.

Eight people met and we each shared our greatest challenge on the subject of values-centred leadership.  Our challenges included corporate challenges where the espoused values were not what was being lived; differences between the lived values of stakeholder groups; engagement with young people; and tensions between service and family values.  The group gently arrived at consensus regarding the challenge to be progressed at the forum.  We chose to examine the work of one man whose life had been dedicated to encouraging values-centred growth with young people, something he felt “passionate about”.  He also, however, had a strong personal sense of family and was conscious of the potential clash between his attention to family and to service.  As the dialogue progressed, he discovered that the word “driven” with regard to his work had connotations that were uncomfortable, with undertones of self and family sacrifice.  The group encouraged the exploration of other words that might better describe his dedication to service.  The word “passion” kept emerging and resonated far better than the sense of being “driven”.  This shift of thinking also helped him to step back and appraise what was important and the balance and synergy between his values.  He left, according to his summary at the end of the forum, with more than he had hoped for.  In the plenary everyone shared their learning which was profound on many levels and the forum agreed to meet again in two months.  One member is also (gently) considering the possibility of setting another forum up in York when the time is right.  And so the local forum journey has begun.

The date of the next forum is 6pm for 6.30pm – 8.30pm on Monday 10 November 2014 at the Primeast office, 5 Greengate, Cardale Park, Harrogate HG3 1NP, UK.