Richard Watts, chair of Spread the Word

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"I think we’ve shifted from being focused on oversight, which meant a lot of checking, a lot of signing off, a lot of papers tabled...to being able to balance oversight with insight."

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About the chair

Name: Richard Watts

Chair of: Spread the Word, www.spreadtheword.org.uk

Job: Director of people make it work

Interview Date: 19th October 2009

About the interview

Rekindling an old passion

Richard Watts is the Director of People Make it Work, an organisational development consultancy. He had been a trustee for a number of years before moving to London and had been looking for a new charity board to join.

When one of Richard’s friends came to crash on his floor whilst she did an internship with a small London-based charity, he had no idea what impact this would have on the next 18 months of his life.

His friend was working with an organisation called Spread the Word, a charity that works with writers to engage communities in the act of writing. She mentioned that they were looking for board members, and Richard decided to find out more.

“I did my first degree in American studies, and an MA in American literature many years ago,” he explained, “but I hadn’t really stayed connected with writing since then, so it rekindled an interest that I had.”

Richard was quickly invited to become chair of Spread the Word, and although nervous at the prospect, he took on the challenge. Having just experienced significant cuts in its revenue funding, the organisation needed to review its inances.

Extensive reviewing

They set about undertaking a serious strategic review which began with what he called a '100 questions exercise'. This is where the board capture a barrage of questions and the result is an appreciation of some of the areas that should be explored further.

The review was a true collaborative effort, involving all the staff and drawing in funders, writers and participants, as well as their peer (and competing) organisations.

When he first joined, Richard explained, the organisation found it hard to articulate who they were and what they did; why people would come to them, why people would fund them. By the end of the strategic review process, they knew exactly who they were and where they wanted to go.

Richard is full of praise for staff and board members alike. He describes the huge amounts of uncertainty and anxiety they all felt:

“If you’re going to explore your organisation, you’re bound to end up questioning decisions you’ve made in the past,” he said, “uncertainty and anxiety are a natural part of the process.”

A besotted chair

Most touching about Richard is his clear connection and passion for the charity he chairs:

“I’m really proud of the organisation,” he says, “I think developing writers is critical to healthy society. Our writers help us to understand the world and other people...they are agents of social change.”

He goes on to explain that Spread the Word helps develop a voice for communities as well as social cohesion around it. “I think great writing is beautiful,” he says. “Writing is a great way of drawing people out and enabling them to reach their potential.”