A band of brothers…in a New Club

 

What a great way to start the day! A Chamber pop-up breakfast in The New Club, safe, warm and dry while storm ‘Abigail’ blasted us with 40mph winds. Better still, the breakfast itself was up there with the best that I have come across at any Chamber event this year.

 

This ‘pop-up’ event brought our focus on to the ‘not-for-profit’ sector.

 

Carol Lewis (Chamber President) introduced the two event sponsors. Firstly, Tracey Allen from SEA PR Limited was there to promote Giving Times, an integrated digital news platform for the third sector delivering news and campaigns to the community across the South East. Their aim is to provide a platform for smaller charities and social enterprises, to get their stories out. They also enable businesses to promote their ongoing CSR and social action activity.

 

The other event sponsor was Growth International and MD Peter Desmond outlined their assistance to both personal and corporate growth through a balanced approach. They have been going since 1991 and are proud of their work providing coaching, mentoring, training, consultancy and interim management.

 

 

Then, wind and rain lashing across the backdrop, it was time for the star turn, Nathan Roberts, Chief Executive of ‘a band of brothers’.

 

 

Nathan told us some stories. There was the story about the research carried out by Joseph Campbell to identify the underlying structure of popular stories in multiple cultures. One such core story is called a ‘Hero's Journey’.

 

Then Nathan told us the fascinating story of his own life overlaid with the structure of the Hero’s Journey framework and how that led to him co-founding a band of brothers six years ago.

 

I think you can tell a good storyteller when you are so engrossed that you lose focus on what is happening around you. For me it was as if Abigail had disappeared in an instant.

 

First the ‘Hero’s Journey’ as retold by Nathan as a roadmap for life:

This archetypal story structure recurs in contemporary films but Nathan also drew a parallel with the structure of the ‘X-Factor’ show on television.

 

Nathan told his own story with candour, sincerity and humour. From the Yorkshire village school to Newcastle University, work placements and meeting his first mentor. Then from disappointing travel experiences in Australia to meeting a second mentor that transformed his experience of that amazing country. And then, back in the UK, from a dreary life as an IT Trainee to training and working as a volunteer coach for young people in the criminal justice system and finally starting to feel as if he was ‘at home’ in that environment. He moved, leaving his friends behind, to pursue a new charity project that failed but taught him some valuable lessons about hubris. Overseas again, voluntary work in National Parks included working with ‘excluded youth’.

 

 

Nathan became absorbed by the question of:

 

 

Through research he came to realise that the maturity our masculinity is not just about the passage of time but also the ‘rites of passage’ that are essential to develop our manliness. In particular we need to develop our capability to develop trusted relationships with other men.

 

The charity’s web-site is stark in framing the problem that this creates in our society:

 

 

And the underlying causes:

 

 

‘A band of brothers’ is building a community of men, who are prepared to work on their own ‘deep wounds’ so that they can safely and effectively mentor young men who need help with their life journeys. They have worked with over 100 of Sussex’s most disaffected young men and have now launched in Haringey. They are also strategic partners to MTCnovo, influencing policy for over 8,000 young men across London and the Thames Valley.

 

Nathan’s stories have had more than a passing impact on me. I wonder about the maturity level of my own masculinity and also what the impact in business is of his observation that:

 

 

Nathan closed with a ‘thank you’ to Carol & Gail from Bainbridge Lewis for their support and with a plug for the ‘Time 2 Give’ Ball on the 9th of December where ‘connections are forged between small businesses and charitable organisations’.

 

An inspiring and thought provoking breakfast - thank you Nathan.