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Forgive me for being a little simplistic, but it feels like this pandemic might be polarising us into one of two different camps.  I’m calling them the ‘All or Nothing Camps’. 

The ‘All Camp’ are full on out there working on the front line and holding what seems like our very existence together.  They are, in many cases, having to work in ways never imagined before and often under extraordinary pressure.  The stakes have literally never been higher.  Not only are these people doing critical tasks (looking after people who are unwell, keeping our supermarket shelves stocked,  collecting our rubbish etc.) but they are also exposing themselves and their families to significant levels of risk from COVID 19 as they go about these activities. They are truly worthy of the nation’s Thursday night cacophony of handclapping, saucepan banging and even, according to friends here in Bristol, the playing of bagpipes!

Meanwhile the ‘Nothing Camp’ are living like prisoners within their own homes, restricted from going about their routine lives.   Some are anxious about their future employment.  Some are balancing the demands of working at home with meeting the educational and leisure needs (not to mention the emotions) of their children in the next door room.  Some are surrounded by numbers and noise in cramped spaces.  Others are living on their own and experiencing a growing sense of isolation and loneliness.  Many feel a sense of helplessness, unable to make a difference to their world in this time of crisis, making them feel guilty or even worthless.  All this, a concoction of unfamiliar experiences and a myriad of different feelings.

So, how can we productively find our way through this?

As a Coach and Mentor, I have the privilege of working with a number of people leading Social Care organisations.  Here, in the ‘All Camp’, I am seeing some inspirational responses to the pressures they face.  These leaders are negotiating a path through this storm.  Each of them is working with a renewed clarity of focus in terms of what they need to do and why.  They have also forged a new simplicity in how they are doing things; they are cutting a swathe through their previously bureaucratic systems and processes.  Just this week, I have noticed their focus extending to building the resilience of their staff in the recognition that this uncertain journey is unfolding as a marathon rather than a sprint.

At present, despite my coaching conversations, in truth I can only consider myself as a member of the ‘Nothing Camp’.  This being a position, along with many others, I am not comfortable with.  Maybe I should think about all of this differently?

What if those of us in the ‘Nothing Camp’ were to take a different perspective and view this marathon as a long-distance relay race instead?  Here the ‘Nothing Camp’ is renamed ‘Team B’.  When our turn comes, we pick up the baton from the ‘All Camp’, now known as Team A.  Then the key questions we could ask ourselves are:

For Team A: “How do I best look after myself so that I can keep running well in this leg of the relay?”

For Team B: “How can I use this time or experience to become stronger and better at what I can contribute when it’s time to pick up the baton?”

As I have frequently heard it said, we are all in the same storm but in different boats.  Fortunately, we know from history that “this too will pass”.  In the meantime, we can all grow stronger and better if we take personal responsibility for #SeeingThingsDifferently whichever group we are in right now.

Lucy Hurst-Brown

I guess I have always been a bit of a ‘change junkie’. I love the feeling of adrenalin surging through me when I’m staring into the face of an exciting future project and can barely wait to get going. In equal measure, I can feel frustrated by the all too often wise words of caution from some around me, who may see the process of getting to this new destination fraught with danger. I’m a glass half full type of person and am lured into the change by a confident expectation that this future place will be so much better than the current state of affairs! In many ways it has served me well in my career to date, where life for people using health or social care is rarely what is should be and the agenda for change is just so compelling.

However, we all have a very different relationship with change; some love it and focus on the future, some hate it and focus on the past while some simply ‘go with the flow’ focusing primarily on getting through today. For many it brings out strong emotions, because change involves not only embracing the new, but also letting go of the old. My personal experience has shown me that managing change well is a vital leadership skill. The term leadership itself implies facilitating some sort of continual movement from one place to the next. As a result, there are endless leadership books and courses on what is referred to as change management. At the heart of most lie the twin principles of communication and involvement, which when done well definitely oil the wheels of change for any organisation.

However, as I get a little longer in the tooth I’m beginning to wonder if there is not a lot more to it. I believe it is very simplistic to think that organisational change either happens or doesn’t happen depending on some senior management decision. I think change is all around us; it happens whether we want it to or not, or to quote an ex work colleague of mine “change is the norm”. If we take a look at the natural world as a reference point, nothing ever stays the same, in fact it is in a constant state of motion. The seasons change, the tides ebb and flow, the sun rises and falls, the clouds scuttle across the sky, the flowers bloom and die and so on. We are in truth constantly living in the midst of change and of course are also changing ourselves – a quick look in the mirror confirms that one for me! The question I think we need to ask ourselves is are we trying to resist it or are we learning to ride it well and even shape its direction? When we learn to ride change well, we find that we are able to influence the direction more easily. Moving a stationary object from one place to another is a lot harder than directing one that already has momentum behind it.

I therefore think that one of the key roles of leaders is to bridge the gap between how things are now and the desired organisational future, so that people can successfully make the needed journey. Part of this is done by communicating a compelling vision and effectively engaging those involved. But I also believe that part of this is about acknowledging the reality of ongoing change within and around us, learning to work with it and taking advantage of its momentum. Leaders have a role in modelling and building a culture where everybody is supported to ride the tide of change well because it doesn’t stop for anyone.

Lucy Hurst-Brown

Last week Radio 4 re-broadcast a slightly edited version of my 2016 Four Thought talk about the acute loneliness frequently experienced by people with learning disabilities.  It can be heard again at    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07hgh5h   Unsurprisingly perhaps, a number of people have contacted me via social media and email in response to the talk, for this issue is both a shocking and challenging one.  Something of course that many people without disabilities also face.

The concept of community with its shared activities and deep connections to those living close by appears to have eroded enormously over the last 50 years. Today, most family members no longer live in close proximity to each other.  Children leave home to take up work, get married and have children themselves often many miles away.  Equally modern transport routinely enables our mobility far and wide on an unprecedented scale and social media has fostered often distant rather than local connections (even if only virtual) focused around shared interests, beliefs and values. Over the same period, the Welfare State has come of age and is almost universally viewed as one of the hallmarks of a modern, civilized Britain; there to educate our kids, heal our illnesses and yes … look after the most vulnerable. While I am a huge advocate of the Welfare State, I do wonder whether the ‘law of  unintended consequences’ has resulted in it being a toxic influence on our sense of responsibility to family and neighbours?  Has the idea that someone else is responsible for ‘others’ crept in to some deep part of our shared consciousness and so added to the breakdown in community?  Does this reduction in local connections mean that most of us no longer know our neighbours let alone people of different ages and stages of life?  Does it actually play a part in the loneliness crisis?

What makes me particularly angry, is that in the situations such as those I describe in my talk, the people concerned usually have formalised contact time with staff paid to support them. In theory this support exists to enable them to live as independently as possible and to experience a fulfilling life. Yet, despite this support, loneliness features large.  It is impossible not to conclude that those of us who work in Social Care are frequently getting it wrong.  Worse still, there is no excuse; paid support should include a focus on connecting people to others with the aims of sharing interests and forging meaningful relationships. Yes, I am proposing that despite the breakdown in community all around, people with learning disabilities should be able to break through these societal barriers because, they so often have the dedicated resources to help them to do so.

The most important question of all is what should we be doing about it?  There is, I am glad to say, some good news.  Over the last few years there has been a growing awareness of this issue, and as a result, some creative responses emerging. These responses I believe could be multiplied to make a meaningful difference on a larger scale if only we would sit up and take notice.

Helen Sanderson has for some time been supporting the development of Community Circles. This is a process that brings two or more people together around someone who wants to make changes in their life. Through discussions and planning it enables people to get out, to do the things they want to do and vitally to develop a growing network of friends and contacts.  It’s really worth visiting their website to understand more at http://www.community-circles.co.uk or following @HelenHSAUK and @C_Circles on twitter to hear what’s going on.

Another great example is the Supported Loving initiative that is being undertaken by Choice Support (take a look at http://www.choicesupport.org.uk) who have been running a campaign this year to address some of the biggest challenges people with learning disabilities face in forming and keeping relationships and then sharing best practice. Their conclusion is that it is all about staff and how they work to make this happen.  As an organisation they are learning lots and are very keen to share it, so that lives change for the better across the UK.  Sarah Maguire Choice Support’s Managing Director talks much about this and is worth following on twitter @SarahMaguire30

The last inspiring example I want to share at present is the work of Paradigm (take a look at http://www.paradigm-uk.org ) who have this year launched The Gr8 Support Movement. This aims to inspire and challenge support workers to connect with each other and to continually learn how to be better at what they do.  The movement has set out 8 qualities that make for a great support worker.  Two of the eight qualities (Connecting and Supportive of my loving) address this issue of loneliness directly.  Sally Warren, the Managing Director of Paradigm also talks about this on twitter and is worth following @SallyAWarren.  I would greatly encourage organisations and individuals who are wanting to learn more and find solutions for where they work to get involved with this.

There are likely many more great initiatives worthy of sharing and I really would welcome any feedback/comments that people reading this blog are happy to share, as sharing could just make all the difference.

It is of course a hugely complex issue.  However, I am sure of one thing, that if we are to counter this epidemic of loneliness in a society where the ancient practices of community have so broken down, then we need to be intentional about it.  If we take intentional action we could seriously make a difference.  And … you never know Social Care might just be at the forefront of changing our society for the better by acting as a catalyst for the rebuilding of our communities!

Lucy Hurst-Brown