Leadership Spotlight – Honor Wilson-Fletcher, CEO, British Exploring Society

Welcome to our leadership spotlight series, where we ask each leader 10 quick-fire questions so that we can give a little insight into the person behind a leadership role.

What was your first job?

Checking agitated milk for freshness.

What is the best piece of leadership advice you’ve been given?

Make sure you recognise yourself and that you generally like what you see. ‘Be yourself’ seems idiotically obvious – but it can be hard to sustain in some work environments. And forgive yourself when striving for 100% authenticity doesn’t go entirely to plan.

What or who is your most admired purpose-led organisation or person?

Jonathan Douglas, at National Literacy Trust

What do you do to help ensure good mental health?

Slow and fast exercise, film, food, friends. Laughing as much as possible. I am fortunate to work with wonderful people who bolster my conviction that the world is filled with amazing humans. That helps a lot.

What is the most impactful leadership decision you’ve made?

Time will tell, right? Perhaps how we were going to tackle lockdown. I had to be decisive at real speed – knowing my decisions would impact us for 2 – 3 years at least. My organisation has a long planning cycle and I knew embracing furlough would delay our bounce-back by many months, would probably damage the well-being of team members – and could have an existential impact on our future. So we pivoted in 6 weeks to deliver in an entirely new way and all worked full-time to deliver real benefit throughout COVID. It enabled us to sustain all our funding. I have never been more proud of how an organisation has adapted.

If you needed some sound advice, who would you call?

Different people, for different kinds of advice. For challenge too. We all need people around us to remind us of our ‘areas for development’. They’re the ones who give advice before I’ve even asked for it.

What is your dream job? (Apart from your current one!)

I do have a wonderful job. Possibly something to do with the environment/wilderness? My role increases my anxiety and frustration about the inequalities of access to the wilderness and how this impacts on who champions the value of our natural environment.

Favourite place to eat?

What you are eating affects where you will enjoy it most. Fish and chips should be in sight and sound of the sea. A cheese and pickle sandwich at the top of a big hill with a flask of tea is bliss. St John in London would probably be my relaxed-but-memorable eat-out fantasy restaurant choice. Total class. Roast chicken should be eaten at home in the kitchen IMO. Scones and cream should always be ‘out’ somewhere – at home is an indulgence too far.

Why are you in the purpose-led sector?

You can be in the commercial sector and be purpose-led! Editors are driven by the desire to find and nurture talent, scientists at Big Pharma by the desire to find a cure for something. I don’t think our ‘sector’ can make a unique claim on purpose. But we may have more complex outcomes and stakeholders to manage – and I thrive on that challenge. I feel a profound accountability – to extract the maximum value from every penny we spend – and for it to directly benefit the people we serve. The complexity of engaging with our community is so rewarding and the focus on positive value provides rigorous direction to every decision we make. That’s a hugely motivating mix.

What are you currently watching or reading?

I tend to have a few books on the go. These include at the moment ‘I live a life like yours’ a remarkable memoir by Jan Grue, James Buchan’s historical novel ‘A Street Shaken by Light’ and a wonderful anthology called ‘’Women on Nature’. I consume a lot of films. I have just watched the dark-and-hilarious tribute to male stoicism ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, ‘Hit The Road’, about an Iranian family on a journey (with an incredible piece of glorious child acting) and Edward Berger’s remake of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. I am watching Stanley Tucci’s ‘In search of Italy’ – a sort of double agony of food I want to eat and places I want to be in.

Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us, Honor.

If you would like to learn more about our work in the sector or would like to be featured in our series, you can contact us here.