What happens when a crisis threatens not just an organisation's operations, but the very model on which its survival depends?

In this RiskMasters — The Download, Angela McConville, former Chief Executive of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), reflects on joining the charity just ten weeks before the first COVID-19 lockdown and facing an immediate existential challenge.

NCT's operating model depended on bringing expectant parents together through in-person antenatal education. When the pandemic made those gatherings impossible, the disruption affected the charity's income, services and ability to fulfil its purpose.

Angela describes how an organisation built around face-to-face facilitation rapidly developed the confidence, skills and infrastructure needed to deliver support digitally.

A particularly important part of the discussion concerns how leaders frame change. Rather than presenting digital transformation as an organisational objective, Angela connected the transition directly to NCT's mission of supporting parents at a time when connection and community had become even more important.

That sense of purpose helped mobilise a workforce whose capabilities and determination were already present, even if the circumstances in which they needed to operate had fundamentally changed.

In this extract:

• Why the pandemic created an existential challenge for NCT's operating model

• How resilience became an immediate leadership and organisational survival priority

• The role of purpose in mobilising people through significant disruption

• How practitioners developed new capabilities to deliver services digitally

• Why framing transformation around the organisation's mission can influence its ability to adapt

• What NCT's experience reveals about leadership, confidence and organisational resilience

This extract comes from my CPD-accredited RiskMasters conversation with Angela McConville, When Mission Meets Reality: Resilience and Leadership in a Transforming Charity.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of RiskMasters for the complete conversation on organisational resilience, leadership, transformation and decision-making.

How do organisations recognise emerging risks when the evidence is still incomplete?

In this RiskMasters — The Download, Angela McConville, former Chief Executive of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), explores how leaders can identify, interpret and respond to early warning signals before they develop into material strategic issues.

Angela explains why organisations need to pay attention to frontline observations, intuition and emerging concerns without allowing those signals to become established assumptions prematurely.

An important part of the discussion concerns the ability to distinguish between a signal, a symptom and a strategic issue. This requires curiosity, judgement and a culture where people feel comfortable sharing observations that may not yet be supported by conclusive evidence.

Angela illustrates this through NCT's experience of recognising growing concerns about birth trauma. What initially appeared as isolated observations from practitioners working in different communities gradually developed into a broader picture of an issue receiving national attention.

The example highlights why connecting signals across an organisation matters. Individually, observations may appear inconclusive, but collectively they can reveal patterns that warrant further investigation and ultimately influence strategic priorities, services and organisational responses.

In this extract:

• Why early warning signals should be explored without becoming premature assumptions

• How leaders distinguish between signals, symptoms and strategic issues

• The importance of frontline intelligence and organisational listening

• How connecting observations across different locations can reveal emerging patterns

• What NCT's experience with birth trauma illustrates about organisational awareness

• How emerging risks can influence strategic decisions, services and priorities

This extract comes from my CPD-accredited RiskMasters conversation with Angela McConville, When Mission Meets Reality: Resilience and Leadership in a Transforming Charity.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of RiskMasters for the complete conversation on organisational resilience, leadership, transformation and decision-making.

How can leaders make better decisions when information is incomplete and circumstances keep changing?

In this RiskMasters — The Download, Angela McConville, former Chief Executive of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), explores why organisational resilience depends on the ability to experiment, learn quickly and adapt without waiting for certainty.

Drawing on NCT's experience of transformation, Angela explains how the organisation adopted a test-and-learn approach, using small, low-cost experiments to explore opportunities before committing significant resources.

A particularly revealing example concerns an initiative that failed within just 10 to 15 days. Rather than treating the outcome as a setback, the leadership team celebrated what they had learned and moved on.

The distinction is important. Learning from failure does not mean accepting uncontrolled risk. It means creating opportunities to test assumptions, contain potential losses and make better-informed decisions.

For charities and other organisations operating under financial and operational pressure, this approach offers an alternative to lengthy transformation programmes that may struggle to keep pace with changing circumstances.

In this extract:

• Why leaders must become comfortable making decisions with imperfect information

• How small experiments can reduce uncertainty before significant resources are committed

• Why speed of learning can matter more than speed of execution

• How celebrating contained failures can strengthen organisational culture

• Why a test-and-learn mindset supports organisational resilience and continuous adaptation

This extract comes from my CPD-accredited RiskMasters conversation with Angela McConville, When Mission Meets Reality: Resilience and Leadership in a Transforming Charity.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of RiskMasters for the complete conversation on charity leadership, organisational transformation, decision-making and resilience.