These are exciting times at CoachBright! At the end of last year, we said goodbye to Robin Chu and we started 2023 with Joe McGinn in the role of Chief Executive Officer. We connect with Joe here to gather some insights, learn about his plans for CoachBright and throw in a fun fact or two!
How was your first day?
Everyone across the whole organisation made me feel welcomed and a part of the team as soon as I arrived, whether that was inviting me to join school programmes, putting 20 minutes in my calendar for an intro chat or just saying hi in one of our offices. It was the warmest welcome I've ever had at a new organisation.
What was one of your first 'on the ground' tasks that you jumped into upon starting the new role?
I was grateful I had the chance to jump in and support some coaching within my first week. I had a group of Year 11 boys from Harris Academy St John's Wood and ran a trigonometry and probability refresher session (mixed with a bit of job interview practice). I started my career in youth work so it was brilliant to be working with teenagers again!
What insight did this give you into the job that our frontline staff face daily?
Both our Programmes and Volunteer & Partnerships teams do such an impressive job. Delivering a programme that relies on coordinating teachers, pupils, and volunteers - who all have other things competing for their time and attention - is not easy. Making an impact and creating change is tough, sometimes really tough, and I'm constantly impressed by the hard work and commitment of everyone across the organisation.
What core areas have you identified that are critical to our future?
The charity has experienced such phenomenal growth recently, practically doubling in size in each of the past three years. So the main priority for us over the next three years, where we have planned for a slower period of growth, is to continue to build and improve our internal processes to ensure we can be a truly sector-leading charity in the next 3-5 years.
Aside from that, the current pilot of our Lifecycle programme, which supports disadvantaged young adults at university or in the early stages of their careers, will open up new areas for us to create impact. We are currently piloting the programme with Winchester and Plymouth universities, and are looking to begin a corporate pilot in the next two months.
What do you look forward to learning more about?
I can't wait to start my coach training over the summer! I've seen both our internal team and our volunteer coaches employ the core tenets of coaching in everything from team meetings and line management to the academic coaching we do in schools. I really believe in the coaching model's power to help develop confidence and independence, and I'm excited to get trained up.
What is the biggest barrier to improving social mobility?
In my view, it’s a lack of joined-up policymaking. Housing, access to healthcare, low pay, insecure employment and many other factors restrict social mobility just as much as educational inequality does. We aren't under any illusions that improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged young people is the single silver bullet that will solve this challenge. It needs to be complemented by progress in these other areas. However, we know we have an important role to play and are passionate about the impact that we can make in this complex jigsaw.
What’s one word that best describes your leadership style?
Authentic.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I'm always aware of how non-original my interests and hobbies are when asked this question; but I genuinely love spending as much time as I can reading, cooking, running, cycling, suffering as a Spurs fan, and (currently) planning a wedding :)
