By Samantha Barber, CEO at Gene People.
Due to numerous reasons, I was fortunate to become a job share CEO with not one but two fabulous partners in two different charities at the same time during the pandemic. One job share role was under six months and the other lasted a year. I want to say a huge thank you to Louise Fish of the Tuberous Sclerosis Association and Lisa Gagliani of Independent Arts, previously interim at Gene People (formerly Genetic Disorders UK), for their willingness to step into the job share world, and to the Boards of both small and fantastic charities.
If I were to job share again there are three areas I would focus on to make it a successful partnership.
Clarity
- Who is doing what? Are you dividing the job description by function, such as finance, HR, fundraising, or are you tackling specific projects? Whichever you decide, be crystal clear from the outset and jointly monitor how you are both progressing regularly. This is the most fundamental factor of being successful job sharing CEOs as without it there would just be chaos.
- What is shared? As CEOs, there are certain things that you will always have to share: working with the board, leading the team and developing the strategy. These are the meat and drink of being a CEO, and it would not have been right or proper for either partner to not be involved.
- How? This is partly to do with your leadership and working styles and partly managing expectations: if you work better by talking things out with a white board, say so; if you prefer to write something and then discuss, say so. If you are ok being called on non-working days, great, if not, also great – just be clear.
Communication
- Decide how you are going to communicate to the board jointly. As a partnership, you might want to discuss a shared position on specific issues before speaking with trustees. Bouncing draft emails between the two of you can be useful. Copying the other into all emails is vital. For board meetings, some papers will naturally fall to one or other of the partners, and others which you will share.
- The crucial element for communication with the team is that they are clear that when they speak to one of you they are speaking to both. One-to-one notes should be saved in a shared folder between the job sharers. If anything urgent arises then letting the other person know before they are next working stops any elephant traps. On those occasions when someone discloses something confidential it is prudent to make it clear that you will be raising this with your partner.
- The flow of communication between my job share partners and myself was constant, usually by email so an update was waiting for the other. There were also points in the week where our working times overlapped so we could check in with each other, see how projects were progressing and plan. It is very helpful to have someone to sense check what has just been said by colleagues and/or let off steam!
- Don’t forget the external comms. While both my roles were job shares, externally each partner was ‘Joint CEO’. This reflected our approach to our roles as we were partners sharing a vision for the charity.
Comradeship
- Sadly due to the pandemic opportunities to meet my partners in person were far more limited than normal. Instead we spoke regularly over the air waves, but we missed the more informal shared lunches. There was, however, a sense of a shared endeavour and ambition for the charities we were serving.
- Having a job share partner is probably the most intimate working relationship possible. It is a combination of having a constant mirror and being able to shadow a peer simultaneously. There is a unique opportunity for each partner to identify and work to their strengths, so the charity gets the best possible CEO. Personally you will understand yourself much better.
- Build in pre- and post-board meeting briefings. With job share CEOs, the board benefits from the experience of two CEOs helping them to make better decisions. Making sure that there is a united approach before going to board meetings and then a unified understanding of what has happened and been decided was essential. Equally, being able to support and having the support of my partner in board meetings acted as an almost external voice often associated with bringing in consultants, without the cost.
Would I job share again?
Yes I would. CEOs often say that no one had prepared them for how incredibly lonely it is. The CEO is the nipped-in waist of an hourglass with information, expectations and needs pouring into them from the board and from their team, as well as from those using the charity. It is a lot to deal with and the pressure can be intense, particularly at times of change or crisis such as a pandemic. With two, there is an inbuilt safety valve and confidante, sharing the load.
Then there is the point of having a job share: time off. Job share roles are by nature part-time with the luxury of knowing that someone you trust is progressing the charity in your absence. This lifts a huge amount of worry and guilt about not being there all the time.
Having another pair of eyes, ears and hands, and brain was hugely beneficial to me, and I hope to the charities. In a job share, the pair automatically acts as check and balance on each other’s ideas; it is a true case of two heads often being better than one. I miss my job share partners, the flexibility for them and for me and would definitely consider another in the future.
