Building Trust

"No two moralities match. Accept different shapes, so long as they aren't sharp enough to hurt."

~ Matt Haig - The Humans 

 Since our launch in October, we've been working hard to build connections. By this I don't just mean a name on a mailing list, but real relationships with strong foundations. In the limited time that I have outside of work, this can be challenging but it is an essential.

Generally speaking, I've been met with enthusiasm (at one meeting recently a professional responded to my description of the Discovery College by throwing her hands in the air and saying 'Hallelujah!'. I'm not even kidding) and people have been keen to collaborate and to share expertise. However, at the other end of the spectrum there have been a few who have responded with tentativeness, distrust, scepticism or animosity.

It would be very easy for me to respond in kind; getting defensive and shutting the door to any future possibilities of working together, making sure they stay out of the loop of anything I'm working on or trying to make happen.

However, in that circumstance, it's not just me who loses out. Children, young people, families professionals - all of the people we're trying to work with will find it harder to navigate between our services and may ultimately miss out. This is not ok.

I appreciate that the Oxfordshire charity sector is a busy and vibrant one, and you may not see the need for another service. I appreciate that funding can feel very tight at times, and competitive, and it may feel like our presence here is a threat to your income. I appreciate that you have such a genuinely deep and valuable skill set and experience in your work, and perhaps feel that you could deliver this work better yourself.

However, I'm really not here with any agenda that involves taking from you or undermining you. My only agenda is to make available a service that I strongly believe will be a valuable contribution, and will complement what already exists. Do I think I'm the right person to be overseeing this? Absolutely. But I didn't come to that decision lightly, and I didn't come to it without some serious self-examination.

I'm going to persevere with that minority group of relationships that haven't come easy so far - they are strong and essential players in this field, and I think that together we could do even more fantastic work. I'm going to role model trust as best I can and keep trying to have visionary and brave conversations with them.

Oh, and just so you know - at home I'm sometimes referred to as 'Cuveo'. Cuveo means 'stubborn' in Ruchiga... We will be collaborating for the benefit of the people we serve, just you wait!