It’s the end of the year, and the end of season 2 of the Leadership Letters Podcast, which means it’s a ‘walk my talk’ episode in which I rise to the challenge I set my guests and write my own letter to a leader. This time I’ve written to Dame Mary Marsh. Dame Mary was Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health from November 2016 to 1 November 2021. She is a cross sector leader who is also currently a non-executive director of HSBC Bank plc, a member of the Governing Body at London Business School, a Trustee of Teach First and Director on the board of the LSO (London Symphony Orchestra). She is also a member of the Asia Advisory Board for the University of Nottingham.

Following the earlier stages of her life journey as a teacher, including as a headteacher of two comprehensive schools, (one of which I worked in) she was Chief Executive of the children’s charity NSPCC and Founding Director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme. I was fortunate to work for Mary early in my teaching career, and to be promoted by her to a leadership role that at the time and ever since has had an enormous impact on my life and work.

In the Leadership Letters Lowdown, we covered:

• The work of Jane E Dutton, specifically her book Energise Your Workplace, which I go into more depth on here. 
• Matthew Syed’s book, Black Box Thinking.
• My recent conversations with Alison Lucas on our Endings for Beginnings Podcast. 
• Making high quality connections with Buddy the Elf. 

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