Hi!
It’s been 2 weeks since another successful Masculinity in the Workplace event and we’ve had time to both recover (!) and reflect on everything we learnt from our guests when it comes to leading with heart.
Team THC have put their thoughts down to summarise what our speakers shared on the day...
Adah Parris: Leading with Heart – What the machines can’t master
Today we don't seem to be able to talk about any topic without the mention of Artificial Intelligence and this event was no different. This year's theme was "Leading with Heart" and therefore it seemed to us that this is the perfect forum to explore how we can leverage our humanity in the AI world.
Adah Parris the chair of MHFA England and a storyteller approached this topic by asking... "What makes us uniquely human and what can the machines not replace?"
In the poetic talk she referred humanity back to the very essence of life in the form of the 5 elements to illustrate how we can build organisations that value human connection as much as code:
🌌 Aether – As leaders, we need to slow down, pause and take time to understand what's going on under the surface. Aether is integration - how do we manage being successful versus being human, having power and sharing power and measuring progress between mattering as a person?
🌀 Air - How can leaders create space for people to be able to show up as their whole self and feel safe enough to speak. Here is an opportunity for expansion, a place of reflection and of new possibilities but only if we’re brave enough to move past binary thinking.
🔥 Fire - Representing transformation, creating spaces in which to truly thrive and grow. Adah described that leading with heart sometimes means letting go of things to break out of our echo chambers.
💧 Water – Going with the flow, stop fighting against and go with the uncomfortable to see what happens, working with the current of change rather than against it. Leaders should focus on self-reflection asking the question "how am I getting in my own way?"
⛰️ Earth - connected to place and space. What are the foundations of trust that leaders can build for tomorrow and how can we lean into making space for those other voices that need to speak.
Adah concluded by saying whilst AI masters efficiency, we should master empathy, as machines master metrics, we should master meaning, and as technology masters information, let us master wisdom.
Leading with Heart Panel
Adah was followed by the panel, with Dr Lalith Wijedoru, Mariama Conteh and Xavier Rees – each bringing their experience along to discussion to bring to life what leading with heart looks like in practice in the workplace.
So much to digest from this discussion but one great moment for me was Dr Lalith (a former consultant paediatrician) looking to our human biology to illustrate the importance of leading with heart. He reminded us that the heart is a muscle that beats to pump blood around the body delivering warmth, energy and nutrition so that the organs can properly function. I found transferring this metaphor to the workplace was a lovely way to see that leaders should not only lead with heart but be the heart of the organisation.
As Mariama put it – without heart, we aren’t alive!
Darren Burns was our final keynote of the day. He spoke eloquently about the scale of the Timpson Group and the work they do in employing ex-offenders and other marginalised groups who face barriers to employment. He surprised us with the statistic that over 14 million people in the UK have a conviction more serious than a driving offence, and the truth that this could get in the way of them gaining meaningful employment. The difference that the Timpson Foundation makes to people’s lives is astonishing. Darren provided numerous accounts of how the Foundation helped people in their journeys of redemption and rehabilitation which were moving and thought provoking. Darren now heads up the Timpson Foundation and is super passionate about supporting people and helping them to reintegrate into society after prison. He now delivers stunning insightful keynotes such as this one, which help to challenge people’s perceptions of those with convictions, as well as highlighting the power of giving people a second chance.
The thought I was left with was an amazement at their ability to deliver inclusion to such a marginalised group in society. They really do ‘take a risk’ on some of their employees and you can see it pays off. Obviously hearing personal redemption stories was uplifting, but he was clear that there was a core business case for doing this. They are not a charity. I compare and contrast this with the ‘risk’ that other companies might have to make so as to be more inclusive and to widen their recruitment pool. If the Timpson Group can deliver this at this level, surely other companies can do better at more ‘manageable risks’?
And that’s that for another year! Thank you so much to those of you that attended and fingers crossed we see the rest of you at next year's event.
Roll on MIW 2025 (but not too quickly)!
Team THC x