Good Leaders in Turbulent Times

Now in his sixth decade working in civil society, Martin Farrell has held senior positions at organizations such as Save the Children and the British Red Cross. Since his first assignment with the UN in 2002 he has been in demand as an international facilitator and crisis coach for civil society leaders, and was awarded Certified Professional Facilitator Emeritus status in 2022.

• Cover PageTitle PageCopyright PageContentsPlease read this before you dive inHow to navigate this book Symbols ForewordIntroduction Good leadersTurbulent timesNavigating wild waters, me, you, us allNo longer a ‘guilty little secret’Fish for invitations, go to the party Prologue (seven years) Here are the fictional characters in order of appearance Chapter 1 Something’s brewing Robin (is glued to his laptop)Tara (scribble, scribble, scribble)Robin and Tara (have landed in the same place)Grace (is listening)Good morning, my name is Sarah (I’m a founder)Bob (rebelling mostly illegally) bumps into Rose (rebelling mostly legally)Bob (is smelling smoke)Alice (is arriving late)The pop-up community (is safe)Imran (passes by)Time for lunchInto wild waters Chapter 2 A wild Wednesday, one year later What’sUpRobin (is awake on gardening leave)Tara (is hit by a truck)Grace (get up, stand up)Sarah (whose time is up, maybe)Bob (is on the road to hell)Daniel the wise (is worried)Rose (into the flames)Alice (meets the ghost of interviews past)Imran (is hit in the guts, twice)A tumble of worries Chapter 3 Feet back on dry land, another year later Robin (dreams up a gum tree)Grace (carries the spirit of Saint Bernard)Alice (follows a whisper)Alice and Grace (share a container)Bob and Daniel (are on screen)Alice (is believing in better)Bob (feeling the fear and doing it anyway)Rose (shouts her colourful expletives at a mountain)Sarah (is holding on too long)Tara and Imran (invite truth and trust at a board meeting)Robin, Tara and Imran (greet each other with knowing glances) Chapter 4 Life goes on, five years later RobinTaraGraceSarahBobDanielRoseAlice (she/her)ImranEpilogue: Integrating (life goes on) Chapter 5 Passing it on – ‘Mondays’ Value your support networkLook beyond your day jobAct on your instinct and catch the momentThis drama was bigger than all of usFollow your gut instinctShame – name it and move beyondTake your own standing-eight countHold firmJourneying through the river of griefGrateful every dayBe a (super) human, not a superhumanMy prisoner lived rent-free in my head then after walking 1,000 miles I forgave AcknowledgementsMy living and working assumptionsThe authorResourcesIndex

Essential reading for all chairs and chief executives and all who care about charity governance - Amazon 5*This is a remarkable book: the author’s multiple approaches to the subject – through story-telling, through direct advice, and through the recorded experience of real individuals – provide a thorough exploration of the topic of workplace adversity - Amazon 5*This is a brilliant book full of insight and wisdom written in a uniquely engaging way - Amazon 5*