Leaders Spotlight explores care, courage and humility

The event, hosted by Leaders, welcomed John Bampkin, CEO of NP Group and Vic Slade, CEO of Guernsey Housing Association, to speak on their leadership experiences. 

Both speakers identified the importance of self-awareness, trust, courage and fairness whilst leading a team, particularly in moments where the right decision is not always the easiest one. 

John and Vic spoke honestly about the need to reflect and listen to others so that you can understand the values that sit beneath the decision you are making. 

For John, this included the discipline of regular reflection and learning from patterns in his own leadership. For Vic, it included the importance of becoming more comfortable in her own skin and leading with greater authenticity after experiencing a serious personal illness. 

Another central theme of the evening was the importance of care and humility in leadership. John spoke about leading NP Group through the early stages of the Covid pandemic, having moved to Guernsey only weeks before lockdown. He reflected on the importance of being visible and earning trust through action. 

Speaking at the event, John said:

‘If people do not believe you care about them, they are unlikely to follow you. You have to demonstrate it through your actions and your decisions.’ 

John also shared that one of the most valuable pieces of leadership advice he had received was that leadership is not about the leader, but about getting the very best out of every person in the team. 

‘You are a thousand times more effective when you’ve got a good team, and you’re allowing them to be a good team as well. Look at your people, individually and as a team, and say: how do you get the absolute best out of these people? Because that is your job. 

‘Give them that room, give them that responsibility, and they step up.’ 

Vic spoke about her career in social housing and the values that continue to guide her work. She described fairness as one of her strongest anchors, particularly when making difficult decisions in a highly pressured housing environment. 

‘For me, it comes back to fairness. Are we doing the right thing? Can we live with the decision we have made? Are we thinking properly about the impact it will have? 

‘Sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing to do. To stop something, or change something, or say no to something, particularly when it is already well in train.’ 

She reflected on the weight of responsibility when making decisions, and spoke about the need to think carefully about long-term outcomes rather than simply taking the easiest or quickest route. 

‘You have to do things in the right way. For us, it is about building the right homes, the right type, the right quality, in the right places. Let’s think it through properly. Particularly for larger sites, the cumulative effects on infrastructure and place really matter to the communities that already live and work nearby. Let’s not do this piecemeal, let’s think about the long term, because this is legacy stuff for the island.’ 

The evening closed with a discussion on legacy. Vic spoke about building a strong team and developing people who will go on to be better than her as legacy for the organisation John reflected on the responsibility leaders have to invest in others, just as others had invested in him throughout his career. 

Phil Eyre, Founder of Leaders, said: ‘What stood out from both conversations was the honesty of the reflection. John and Vic lead in very different contexts, but both reminded us that excellent leadership is deeply human. It requires courage, care, humility and the willingness to do the right thing, even when that is not the easiest thing. 

‘These events are about helping leaders learn from one another. Leadership can be demanding and complex, but conversations like this remind us that no leader needs to do that work in isolation.’