Ep2 – Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society

Today’s guest is Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society, trustee at the Church Of England and RSA Fellow. Mark started out as a youth worker in his home country of Northern Ireland, in a divided town bringing young people together in the run-up to the Good Friday agreement. At the age of 30, he was appointed CEO of the Church Army, a social justice charity working in some of the most deprived areas across the UK and Ireland, a position he held for 13 years. Mark joined Children’s Society in 2019 - and now has the pleasure of being OTMO host Joe Jenkins’ boss! We speak on a range of topics including burning the candle at all 4 ends, building resilience as a leader, white privilege, the stereotypes of CEOS and the importance of both family time and BBQs. There is also a great Chief Exec/Lion King analogy and talk about being an extrovert (with introvert tendencies) while dealing with life and death during the Covid-19 pandemic. Date of Conversation - 26 June The Key Takeaways From This Episode [2.15] Conversation Begins [3.15] Balancing time with family/friends vs work [5.25] Consequences of taking on too much [9.19] Leaders are not superheroes [11.02] “I can’t breathe” - #blacklivesmatter & using white privilege [17.57] Challenging the traditional stereotype of a Chief Exec [21.57] What can only a Chief Exec do [26.00] The importance of organisational culture [32.35] Leading through presence and leading through absence. [40.00] How Mark builds his resilience [43.03] What is keeping Mark awake at night [44.58] Being an extrovert in a time of a pandemic [51.30] Three kinds of charity will emerge from the pandemic [56.25] Why Mark is filled with hope for the future Resources From This Episode * Children's Society - childrenssociety.org.uk * Third Sector article with Mark on his first year at The Children's Society: 'Constant communication has carried our charity through lockdown – and tragedy' * Church Army - churcharmy.org * RSA Fellowship - thersa.org/fellowship