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S3 | Ep 18
38 mins
Why sideways moves can be the smartest career step
In this episode of the Charity Changemakers Podcast, Adam is joined by Stuart Lee, Director of Global Fundraising and Communications at Tearfund, leading a team of 160 people from his base in Edinburgh. Stuart’s career began with a radical swerve away from a marketing graduate path and into a master’s in disaster management, followed by a year as a humanitarian relief worker in South Sudan. He shares how he realised he could have more impact advocating and fundraising in the UK, and how that led him to Tearfund over ten years ago. Stuart explains how he moved through seven roles at Tearfund, why he believes sideways moves are often better than constantly climbing, and how he created a brand new “Chief of Staff” role by spotting a gap and offering a solution. That role became the stepping stone to his first Director post, skipping a level along the way. Together, Adam and Stuart unpack:
- Why a South Sudan job interview on a satellite phone in the midday sun was worth it
- The question that gave him focus: “What is the one thing that matters most?”
- Why being allowed to try, fail and learn is a gift charities must protect
- Why sideways moves build the breadth that leadership needs
- Lencioni’s “hungry, humble, smart” and how it shaped his career
- How to build culture in a remote and hybrid organisation
- Creating a role that didn’t exist, and why leaders love people who bring solutions, not problems
- The leadership lesson learned the hard way: hire well, or don’t hire at all
- A career that looks chaotic in your twenties can make sense later
- Give your best energy to the one priority that matters most
- Sideways moves can be the fastest way to broaden your leadership
- See a gap, write the proposal and bring a solution
- Protect in-person time in hybrid teams and use it for relationships and creativity
- Hiring well is the biggest leadership lever you have
- 00:00 Introduction and quickfire questions
- 03:20 From marketing to South Sudan
- 12:40 First role at Tearfund and finding focus
- 18:40 Trying, failing and learning
- 22:00 Why sideways moves matter
- 27:00 Building culture in a hybrid organisation
- 29:20 Creating the Chief of Staff role
- 33:30 Stepping up to Director
- 36:00 The lesson learned the hard way
Hosted by
Adam Stacey
CEO
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