What's in a name?

Many of you will know that alongside my role as director of children, schools and families (DCS) in the London Borough of Camden I also Chair the Board at the Virtual Staff College (VSC).

Some of you will, like me, have participated in the national leadership programme for directors of children’s services and many more of you will have attended other events run by the VSC during your career.

Through the work of the College, directors, assistant directors and other system leaders, have developed a common language and a common set of reference points; wicked issues, systems leadership, adaptive leadership, Mark Moore’s Strategic Triangle (Public, Value and Proposition), balcony thinking, moral purpose and who could forget VUCA! (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, for the uninitiated). By applying these constructs and ideas in our own local contexts we have been able to build system capacity, create compelling narratives about our aspirations for children and young people and, through influence where we don’t have formal control, navigate the choppy waters of the changing policy, regulatory and fiscal environment we’re all operating in.