FikaFink
FikaFink is a virtual coffee shop for engaging conversation, reflection and thought.
Through our Zoom cafes, website forum and @fikafink twitter conversation, FikaFink provides a space for people to join together to share their challenges and make sense of the current climate and what it means for the organisations and people they serve.
Themes emerging from FikaFink conversations include the widening inequalities laid bare by the pandemic, leading in uncertainty, organisational culture and behaviour change, and national vs local government and governance.
FikaFink is building a community of leaders that want to collaborate around these and other challenges and use their influence to create positive change as we learn to live with COVID and navigate an uncertain future.
So far, nearly 100 leaders from across the UK from the housing, local government, health, further and higher education, charity, community and voluntary and private sectors have joined this growing movement.
FikaFink is powered by Do-Well, together with systems leadership expert Debbie Sorkin and globally recognised technology expert and government adviser, Lee Omar.
Next event - How do we define success?
23rd April12:00 - 1:30pm
Have you ever stopped and considered what success looks like? Can one person's success actually be harmful to another person and if so how do we change perceptions of what we consider traditional models of success? These are questions raised at one of our pop up Fika Fink Cafes and we want to explore this further.
We have invited Hayley Hulme from Starts With You to host a lunchtime pop up cafe to enable this discussion and we would love to see you there.
The session will be held from 12:00 - 1:30 pm (you are more than welcome to bring your lunch along!) on Friday 23 April. Our pop up cafes are always filled with curious questions which both stimulate and challenge us. The only prep needed is a brew for the conversation!
We look forward to having you join us.
Such insightful conversations on the Fika Think Cafes I participated in. I was particularly motivated by the discussion around homelessness and how we can collaborate to reduce homelessness.
Great piece Elfyn, I did see the article and agree it was excellent and a timely reminder that now is the time to take stock about what a leader of the future needs to be. The skill set needs to be different and I would be interested to see how organisations are re-calibrating their internal practices to give space for something different. I'd rather be a bridge than a pot hole :)
Saw an excellent article by Helen White in Inside Housing recently, as I’m sure some of you did, quoting: “I hope the current Zoom-ocracy changes the way we do leadership, with leaders becoming the host not the hero,” says @taff_Helen #ukhousing
She talks about being confident that operationally they are coping well, and challenges what should she be thinking about and doing. Expressing her confidence and optimism of the opportunities going forward, she challenges the role of a leader to be more open about the vulnerability of not knowing the answers, but there to enable and support colleagues to do the right thing.
As with the Welsh Mabinogion tale of Bendigeidfran’ offering to be a bridge for the army over the water, it was his leadership of support and enablement out of a crisis. Leadership in never one-dimensional and about knowing all the answers, and the current crisis has been that ‘wicked’ issue of facing the unknown. The cultural and behavioural change that we all embraced in having to do things differently (zoom-ocracy), so as leaders we have the timely opportunity and privilege, if not even duty, to be or build better bridges to enable and support colleagues, communities or new even concepts.
'A fo ben, bid bont' - never a better time to be a bridge!
I so agree with what Paula said and her comment re ''noise'' is really releveant. I love the leaders as a bridge both metaphorically and literally.....as leaders we should let people use us ( our skills, our contacts ) to cross over to new networks and ways of working as well as being conscious of how we are neccessarily required to be the diplomats and door openers for our teams and clients.
So much of these discussons are about putting hubris aside and having enouhg humility to acknowledge our lived experience is not that of our BAME friends, our leadership should not shine it should be about making others shine , etc.
Looking forward to hearing others thoughts...Im off to process all the good stuff Paula shared in her post !
I posted this on Twitter earlier. Any thoughts?
Today I learned something new thanks to my friend & colleague
@Elfyn_Canllaw
‘A fo ben, bid bont’ old Welsh saying (If you want to be a leader, be a bridge) How can we be a bridge in these divided times? How can we use what privilege we have to unite and bring peace?