Debbie Richards is Chair of the Board and has a rich background in theatre and arts marketing. She has been involved in governance since her early 20s, when she joined the board of the Arts Marketing Association (AMA). She later co-founded Baker Richards, a business strategy consultancy, and in 2020, oversaw Baker Richards’ transition to employee ownership.
In our conversation with Debbie, we discussed the strengths of Northern Broadsides’ distributed leadership model and its ability to both engage trustees and drive the organisation forward.
Debbie also offered some thoughts on the challenges that charity governance faces and how governance can be improved across the sector.
What is Distributed Leadership?
Underpinning Northern Broadsides’ governance model is the concept of distributed leadership – a model of governance which emphasises distributing tasks and responsibilities across all trustees to ensure they are actively engaged in leading and driving the organisation forward. It keeps ultimate responsibility with the chair, but seeks to spread work across the board, capitalising on the strengths of individuals and reducing the overall workload of the chair.
As Debbie mentioned to us, trustees can often feel under-utilised, or that their role is reduced to rubber stamping and compliance, leaving little room for them to offer their valuable skills and experience. The distributed leadership model seeks to negate these issues and ensure that all trustees are actively engaged and utilised for the good of the organisation.
“The model fosters innovation and ambition, with multiple people driving the organisation forward”
The requirements of this governance model are something trustees must understand and the Trustee Role Description and board pack at Northern Broadsides make it clear that new trustees will be expected to contribute their time and skills in meaningful ways.
A key requirement is that, as well as joining the board, trustees must join at least one sub-committee or ‘Squad’ to drive progress in a particular area. Whilst Squads are mainly comprised of a mix of trustees and staff, they also bring together a broader mix of people connected to the organisation.
For those who lack the time or appetite for trusteeship, the Squads offer a more informal and less involved way of contributing to the development of the organisation.
To cement the roles of trustees in line with their skills and experience, each trustee is given a title in the organisation’s Trustee Role and Code of Conduct document. These include Community Champion, Ambition and Quality Champion, and Digital Champion and correspond with the skills of the trustee and the sub-committee or Squad on which they sit.
“The model of distributed leadership drives the organisation forward as a whole, with all trustees committed to taking responsibility for independent areas. This helps bring the board together, fosters a culture of shared responsibility and keeps trustees engaged, knowing their skills are valued and utilised.”
The distributed leadership model also impacts how the senior members of the board operate. On assuming the role of interim Chair, Debbie initially hesitated about taking the position permanently due to her other commitments and the fact that Chairs are typically heavily involved in the organisation and shoulder large and expansive workloads.
A two Vice Chairs model offered a solution to this problem, distributing leadership across three individuals, whilst keeping ultimate responsibility with the Chair. This approach allowed for shared decision-making, knowledge distribution, and a more manageable workload.
Whilst it is essential that there is understanding and acknowledgement that the Chair retains ultimate responsibility, a key benefit of this model is the way that it reduces reliance on a single leader, allowing the organisation to operate more efficiently and making the role of Chair a less daunting one for prospective candidates. It also, by engaging all trustees and giving them ownership of governance areas, best utilises the skills of the board and gives trustees valuable experience of leading certain areas, something which would benefit them should they wish to take on more senior roles.
“A key challenge is around capacity and the breadth of skills required to do the role. Typically, the role of the chair can be a wide-reaching and particularly onerous one, seeing chairs expected to be closely involved in a wide array of operational areas and with a consistent in-person presence around the organisation. This requires both large amounts of time and a rich and varied skillset, two things that can be hard to come by.”
“I think a key piece of advice is to understand that you can make governance work for you and the organisation. Models like distributed leadership are an example of this, ensuring that people can engage and support in a way that suits and benefits them. Whilst it is essential you understand that, as chair, the buck stops with you, this doesn’t mean you have to be directly involved in all areas of governance. Overseeing the work of trustees and allowing their skills to come to the fore, is an essential part of being a good chair.”
Alongside the distributed leadership model, Northern Broadsides has taken several other steps to maintain strong governance.
The joint CEO structure at the executive level mirrors the board’s collaborative governance model. Trustees maintain strong relationships with the executive team through regular check-ins and work on sub-committees, giving them a good understanding of how the organisation is operating.
There is also a process of values-driven recruitment, with the priority of recruiting trustees who align with the organisation’s values, fostering a strong organisational culture. Skills, experience and perspective gaps are identified through the annual trustee skills and perspectives review and, during recruitment, emphasis is placed on ensuring that candidates can demonstrate both the necessary skills/experience and adherence to the vision, mission and values of the organisation.
“We need to improve the ways we support and encourage trustees to get involved in organisations and develop their skills and responsibilities once they join. I am passionate about seeing more young and first-time trustees enter the sector over the coming years. An investment in, and recognition of the value of training will be key here, but we also need to be realistic about the time available to trustees to engage with this. Training will need to be tailored and could stem from processes such as skills audits, to ensure it benefits both the individual and organisation.”