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Life in the 3%: What it’s like for Britain’s young trustees?
Think you need to be old to be a trustee? Think again. Meet the PR professional who joined a board five years ago, aged 20, and encourages others to follow in his footsteps.
I’ve often wondered what it’s like for the 1% sitting in boardrooms making decisions affecting hundreds even thousands of people.
It’s only now occurred to me: in some ways, that’s me and it’s not half as glamourous as I expected.
The Young Trustee Movement report less than 3% of charity trustees in the UK are under 30, so my board appointment aged 20 at the Scottish Child Law Centre must put me in the youngest 1%.
It’s quite a unique perspective sitting on a board, especially for a young person.
Imagine this… you arrive at the office in Edinburgh at 9am to your PR agency account executive role as the most junior person in the room doing clippings and issuing releases.
At 5pm you go to your next meeting along the road, literally a few blocks up the capital’s George Street. In that meeting you’re the employer of a chief executive receiving a presentation and questioning them on their strategic decisions and financial accounts.
The first few times it takes a minute to get your head around it.
Since then, I’ve served almost five years on the board and learned reams about governance, effective organisational communication, debating the options and crucially how to choose the right one.
To mark this Trustee Week, based on my experience I’d like to share two things; what the benefits and strengths of age diversity on boards mean in practice, and speak directly to potential young trustees about why to join and the advice I’d offer.
What benefits do young trustees have on organisations?
Every trustee is different, and so is each young trustee.
However, with a growing body of research on leadership and governance we’re increasingly understanding the power of diversity where young trustees play an important role.
To put into context how underrepresented young people are on charity boards, in 2010 the Charity Commission published some of the most detailed analysis to date revealing a stark picture.
Of the over 810,000 registered trustees in England and Wales, about 4,200 trustees were aged 18-24 years old, accounting for less than 0.5%. That’s despite 12% of population at large being in that age group.
With clear work to be done, I thought I’d highlight what some of the most frequently cited benefits of young trustees mean in practice.
1. Avoid group think. Increasing diversity on your board combats ‘group think’ where people reach a consensus without critical debate or evaluating the alternatives. Asking questions and new perspectives creates more rigorous decision making which we should all aim to do.
2. A great learning and development opportunity. For an employer facilitating their team to join a board or driving your own professional development – working as equals with other talented professionals will teach you so much about decision making, preparation and how to deliver a strong argument in the boardroom.
3. It’s cheaper than a leadership course. Being a trustee is one of the best leadership courses you can buy, and it’s free! You will get some hard lessons on leadership, and get to see the long-term impact boards can deliver.
4. Better at identifying risk. I’ve read the research about us each interpreting data differently due to our cognition and socialisation, however, to be honest in practice I think ‘being different’ basically offers a good opportunity to ask hard questions or identify possible risk with a healthy level of objectivity.
5. Improved representation of your workforce and service users. Organisations may be accused of having a disconnect between the board and those on the front line. An obvious way to combat that (in perception and practice) is inviting them to join the table and for those to support or hire young people that means appointing a young trustee.
Why should you be a young trustee and what advice can I offer?
Like I said, a board role is one of the best leadership courses you can buy and it’s almost free!
There is no fee to be appointed, other than occasional travel, and the transaction is you donating your time to help an organisation run effectively.
While I’d argue it’s a great opportunity, don’t mistake it for being an easy networking exercise. I’ve been taught some hard lessons of leadership. However, that has its benefits.
Today charities, businesses and NGOs face high expectations to deliver ethical, diverse and transparent leadership decisions. Despite having a long road yet, I’m often heartened about how open and frank leaders are with me on the challenges and decisions they face - someone decades junior and on half the salary.
That openness is undoubtably linked with the skills and ethos I’ve built as a trustee, and so here are my key words of advice:
Leadership is a serious business – it comes with a lot of tough news and challenges. I’m not trying to put anyone off taking on the responsibilities, but you learn it’s not always glamorous or easy listening. I find leaders respect when you acknowledge a hard decision more than blind adoration.
You get better at communicating with senior leaders – not simply the words you choose but understanding the imperatives a board or senior leader are balancing. You get better at putting yourself in their shoes which make you a better PR advisor. For example, your media release might be important to you, but it’s pushed down the list by an issue with payroll I’m afraid.
You gain an understanding of operating at board level – don’t let the term ‘board-level’ fool you into picture mysterious skills. In reality the two biggest things I learned was to view an organisation from 360 degrees rather than only function specific, and implementing strategy is hard and takes way more than writing it on paper!
The last piece of advice I’ve been taught which is essential learning is: you’re allowed to give your own opinion.
Of course you get better at reading the room – if a decision has been taken perhaps you should accept it or not – but if a someone asks ‘what would you do?’ you are allowed to give your honest opinion and be ready to explain why.
You’d be surprised how often others might agree and listen to a well-reasoned argument.
As a young trustee or PR advisor at first you might not even be asked, don’t let that stop you. It doesn’t always come naturally to ask the youngest person in the room, and I’ve offered plenty (prefaced to ignore if they wish) unsolicited advice in my time.
But believe me, now five years on when I turn up to the office at 9am even as the youngest person in the room, you bet I’m asked to contribute regularly.
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Joel Meekison is chair of the Future Leaders Forum at CIPR Scotland, a leading young communications and campaign advisor in Scottish civil society, published author in the International Journal of Human Rights and vice-chair at the Scottish Child Law Centre.