Being a sector leader is a big task. It's often rooted in a passion for sport and physical activity, a commitment to tackling inequalities and a relentless drive to improve people's lives and create more accessible opportunities. We spoke to Stuart Long, CEO of ATF, to find out more about his successes, challenges and advice for others.
Stuart's story
For Stuart, leadership's never been about gaining personal recognition, it's always been focussed on creating positive change within underserved communities.
Stuart began his career as a Local Authority Housing Officer where he witnessed first hand the reality of the inequalities in the communities he was supporting. He's since spent time working in underserved communities with the LGA, in a peer assessor role focussing on community development across the country. These experiences have provided an enhanced understanding of how to work effectively in place and use community assets to drive progress and change.
In 2012, Stuart noticed increasing levels of anti-social behaviour from young people on the estates he was supporting. At the time, he was also training as a football coach and saw a positive opportunity to engage his local community through physical activity. He quickly realised that sporting talent wasn't the issue, accessibility was.
Stuart started community outreach work using these football qualifications and sought to empower those attending to start leading sessions, volunteering and gaining coaching qualifications themselves.
"Find the one person to bring twenty people with them."
He secured funding to support his work and launch 'Achieve Through Football'. Stuart witnessed the success of the outreach approach and realised its transferability to other community activities. With the support of locally trusted organisations, like schools and health providers, he successfully expanded ATF's offer to incorporate dance, drama, tennis and whatever else the community ask for. Achieve Through Football gained charitable status and became Achieve Thrive Flourish, reflecting this wider focus.
"Build trust in the community and be able to respond quickly to the system's needs. We're doing it for you, with you, moving into the space of it being done by you."
Fast forward 10 years, Stuart's now working alongside the young people he once supported and they're now doing the same for their communities and others. Seeing this impact is his proudest achievement.
Stuart proudly talks of the support from Sport England, enabling ATF to continue their essential work. Stuart has taken positive risks to advance ATF's programmes, continue to develop as a leader and progress the wider organisation. The Local Delivery Pilot through Active Essex gave Stuart's work real backing to develop a network of locally trusted organisations (LTOs) and system leaders that were adept at working collaboratively to drive real change in underserved communities.
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Leader wellbeing
From finding funding, to managing people, supporting communities and completing the everyday behind-the-scenes tasks, Stuart's workload is heavy. Like many other leaders, he's faced burnout during his leadership journey.
"Leading effectively can come at a cost. Added stress and pressure from situations can make you feel vulnerable and overwhelmed."
Confidence and risk taking have been key developments for Stuart and have ensured he can keep leading with empathy, purpose and an unrelenting focus on tackling inequalities.
"I've never been confident or enjoyed taking risks, it's something I've had to learn and develop along my leadership journey."
To lead effectively, Stuart takes planned time away from work to reflect and manage his own wellbeing. He regularly reminds himself that:
- You can't change the world all at once.
- There's no single point of failure; you're part of a system.
- The long game relies on you looking after yourself first.
Reflecting on his own wellbeing challenges is a powerful reminder for Stuart, but [he] "wouldn't have chosen anything else".
Facing challenges
Working to tackle inequalities is challenging. It's not linear. Stuart's successful leadership journey hasn't been without difficulties; he continues to face challenges and barriers as he strives to make a positive impact on communities and people's lives. These challenges have included:
- Experiencing imposter syndrome.
- Feeling unsure about his ability to make a real difference and lead with confidence.
- Uncertainty with the political and local landscape that'll impact ATF's work.
- Funding insecurity, including an over reliance on small grants.
- Overwhelm from the extent of the community's support needs including fuel and food poverty, social isolation and the residual impact of the pandemic.
- A lack of clear answers to complex or large-scale issues.
- Balancing structure and consistency with finding innovation solutions.
Top tips
Drawing on his successes and challenges, Stuart offers the following tips:
Back yourself
Stuart challenges his introverted personality by pushing through his comfort zone to make progress. He urges others to believe in themselves and have confidence in the impact of their offer.
Enjoy the journey
Stuart reflects on how easy it is to spend time worrying about the future. He encourages others to appreciate their progress, celebrate and enjoy the day-to-day wins.
Be an asset
Stuart's work is founded on an asset-based community development (ABCD) approach. He focusses on what's strong in a community, building trust in a community and moving at their pace. He encourages other leaders to take time to truly understand their community, place, workforce or system and be an asset.
Control the controllables
Leadership can be frustrating, especially when things are out of your control. Stuart's advice is to manage expectations; focus on the things you can control to lay the foundations for positive change and remain confident that your support will embed over time and across generations.
Be driven by your purpose
In times of uncertainty and change Stuart remembers his original purpose - improving the lives of underserved communities. His advice is to remain focussed on your 'why' and remember that change is hard by rewarding.
Get people working together
When there's a lack of partnership working, Stuart advocates to bravely step forward, start the conversation and be open to collaborative opportunities.
In this segment, we asked the last leader we spoke to to leave a question for the next, they said: What advice would you offer your younger self about being a leader?
"Reluctant leaders are the best leaders of all. You might not feel like you're a leader, that's not a bad thing, it keeps you grounded - it's not about ego. Through lived experiences and career choices you'll be able to speak on behalf of your communities and that's a privileged position to be in."
What's next?
Stuart's work continues to grow and be shaped to local community needs. He plans to expand opportunities for young people to become coaches and leaders through 'systems knitting' - increased place-based working and engagement with local organisations, national governing bodies and schools.
Stuart remains driven by the passion that sparked his original work. He maintains his motivation by adopting a risk positive approach, creating the conditions for innovation, consistency and a trial-and-error culture to thrive.
Do you have a leadership story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you, email us at leadingthemovement@sportengland.org and we'll be in touch!
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