We thought you might be. So, we asked a couple of the 4th sector leaders we've helped to share their thoughts on the Bubble Chamber experience, approach, and what they've achieved from working with our team.
Read the case studies below.
Catalyst Choices is an employee owned community interest company based in Warrington that provides services for adults with additional needs including learning disabilities, those with dementia and older people.
Its Managing Director, David Osborne, started working with Craig Carey of Bubble Chamber in May 2019 and was interviewed about his experience to date in December 2021.
I felt that I needed something that sat outside my relationship with my Chair to develop my role to be beneficial to the growth of the organisation.
It exceeded them, especially looking back at where we are now. Straight away I found that working with Craig was very different than any relationship I had experienced before. He encouraged me to reflect, self-assess and really focus on personal as well as professional role development. Things like the Harrisons Assessment were really useful in identifying where I was happiest in terms of my behaviour and decision making.
Our financial growth has been incrementally positive over the last 2-3 years giving us a strong and sustainable platform to develop our services and increase our impact.
This also means as an employee owned organisation, we have been able to share a dividend payment with our team members for the first time while still being able to invest in growth.
Working with Craig has been fundamental to that success. I had a lot of the stuff we have done in my head but didn’t really have the mechanism to plan and think it through.
The input we’ve had from Craig, and through him The Creative Conversation Company, has been crucial. I don’t think we would have been able to deliver half the stuff that we’ve done without that.
It‘s invaluable. In a role like this it can be a really lonely job, stuck at the top of the organisation between your Board and your senior team. I would say it‘s essential to have somebody else, not just to bounce things off, but who can mirror stuff back to you so you can see it in a slightly different way. And it helps to have somebody who’s outside so you’re not constrained by the power balances.
I’d say you can’t afford not to. There is a cost to doing it but I think there’s a bigger cost to not doing it in terms of the risk of your organisation not fulfilling its potential or not growing in the way it needs. I would say to really consider it, it‘s highly beneficial, both personally and organisationally.
Chime are a social enterprise offering NHS Audiology Services in Exeter East & Mid-Devon – from hearing tests and hearing aid fittings to balance and tinnitus treatments.
Its Managing Director, Jonathan Parsons, started working with Craig Carey of Bubble Chamber in February 2019 and was interviewed about his experience to date in March 2022.
An article by Craig Dearden-Phillips (founder of Social Club), suggesting that there was never a better time to invest in one’s self as a leader of a company.
I understood and liked the principles of having some coaching help, so for me it was a question of whether I could get on with Craig Carey... We had a session, he was typically challenging in the questions that he asked and we got on well.
Really successfully.
It has been more about preparedness for growth really. Reshaping us to best meet the needs of what a service 3 or 4 times as big could look like and being ready for when the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) hopefully press the button to decide to do that.
I’d say, I think that’d be a very wise choice. We’ve benefited massively from the work and look back three years and think, ‘How were we surviving in terms of the structure that we had for decision making?’
You get far more back than you actually spend in terms of finance. You can’t afford not to really.
We can help you develop healthy and balanced social, financial, and employee value without sacrificing your personal needs.
It all starts with a casual chat. We listen to the issues affecting your growth and confirm whether we think we can help. Call or email us today.
