How transforming the leadership in a students’ union led to a career in values-based recruitment

Over the last year, we have spent a considerable amount of effort discussing what our values are and discussing why we exist. As part of this process, we also revisited our brand. We wanted to think about a message that could articulate our place in the world, our values and our goal in just a few words. Easy right?

I feel that I have a special connection with Peridot, in fact, one could argue that my career is a direct consequence of Peridot’s ability to transform leadership and inspire change within the not for profit sector.

Students’ Union Sab – a steep learning curve

Before I ever considered a career in consulting, I was a Sabbatical Officer at Abertay SA. Like many Officers, I had no idea quite what I had got myself into and without getting into the nitty-gritty, it’s fair to say I’ve never dived into a bigger developmental deep end since.

We went on a major transformation process and as part of the changes made, we transformed our leadership and governance structures.

We wanted to hire our first ever Chief Executive and our first ever External Trustees. Sounds great, except at that stage I had never recruited anyone, at any level, in my life.

It was recommended that we sought support from Peridot, we did, and Grant Taylor supported us to appoint a Chief Executive and Two Trustees. Grant was able to empower me as a new (and quite green) Officer to take a key part of the process. I was able to contribute to the briefing set and play a key part in interviews.

Students’ Union recruitment – transforming the SA

Hiring a great Chief Executive and two supportive Trustees quite literally transformed the leadership of our SA and inspired significant change and meant that we could support more students, affect more change and generally provide a better example of student leadership. Seeing that change and development transformed my career, and I knew wanted to seek a career where I would be able to support other charities in delicate times.

I always had Peridot in the back of my mind and when an opportunity came up at Peridot, I knew I had to go for it.

Over the past few years of being part of the Peridot team, I have benefited significantly from the leadership expertise in the team, not just from Grant, but also from Philippa Fabry, Liz Holderness and Simon Callaghan within the wider leadership team. The beautiful thing about leadership is that it can exist at all levels and I have been able to develop and learn from fellow peers too.

We have developed a special team of like-minded people at Peridot that are motivated by the opportunity to transform leadership and help create positive social change within the sectors that we operate within.

The motivation behind ‘Transforming Leadership, Inspiring Change’ isn’t that it sounds great as a strapline. It’s because it’s at the heart of everything we do.

It gets us out of bed in the morning, travelling the length and breadth of the UK (and sometimes Europe!), and inspires us to go the extra mile and needed to deliver the exceptional results we are renowned for.

Talk to Bill about Students’ Union Recruitment>