With all the bad news that we get fed every day: disaster; terrorism; austerity; war, it can be hard to feel optimistic for the future. In our lives, we don’t see all this disaster, but we can still struggle to see how we can make an impact on any of it. Mark Wakefield can make you feel differently. Every time I sit and have a conversation with him I come away refreshed and feel that I can make a difference when the tide is going the other way.
Mark is a genuine and open gentleman whose enthusiasm for getting the best from people is infectious. With his extensive experience across a variety of industries, he is working to see how people can reinvigorate their sense of purpose and use it for good in their community, society or organisation.
Most people don’t wake up in the morning thinking that they will be bad today, but often the systems that are put in place can make it hard for people to do the right thing. Instead of constantly fighting, they succumb and go with the flow. This often makes people feel that they are not accountable for their actions.
This led Mark to answer the nagging question of why is it that that so many great ideas fail to work in practice? Too often, in his experience, the answer lies in the human and emotional dynamics of organisations which, when harnessed, have great transforming power but which, when ignored, frustrate even the best laid plans. He believes the long-term health of organisations will increasingly depend on showing how they create value for society as a whole.
He unleashes the energy that comes from a shared sense of purpose, which is does successfully in partnership with Martin Vogel, with their Counter-Consultancy, VogelWakefield. They don’t bring pre-defined organisational or leadership training and hope to fit the company they work with into it. They look at the company/team and work with them to build an impactful and natural culture. Every team is different and VogelWakefield fully appreciate that each needs a tailored approach
Liliane Landor, BBC, has this to say “This is about real attempts to find solutions to genuinely complex and tangled issues. And so they listen carefully, unpick and unravel knots and difficulties, restate and summarise, ask questions and ask again, then reflect back. They’re demanding and relish a challenge – they work with you rather than for you, they engage, collaborate and ensure clarity and precision prevail. And crucially they’re perfectly comfortable navigating different and seemingly contradictory worlds.”
All this experience gained in his professional life is used to help young people who are disadvantaged, but should not have to miss out on high aspirations. He works for the mentoring charity ReachOut who work with children in disadvantaged communities to raise aspirations and help them grow in character and competence. They improve self-confidence and develop numeracy, literacy, communication and memory skills whilst reinforcing our core values of fairness, self-control, good judgement and staying power. They do this through one-to-one mentoring with positive role models and team activities to promote leadership, trust and responsibility.
Here at Tech Talkfest he resonates with us with his sense of purpose and the gift of generosity that he lives daily. In researching for this piece, I found out that Mark is also an ordained Anglican priest. So which came first? His beliefs that made him the lovely chap that he is or does his personality fit with the ethos of being a priest? You could find out by ‘bumping’ into him in church on Sunday and you can read more about why he decided to here.
Hope you are having a great beginning to 2015
Ghilaine
@LadyGhilaine
Tech Talkfest 