The importance of organisational values – a Kickstarter’s view

Meet Stiven Prekndreaj, Animo Leadership’s Digital Research and Marketing Assistant, employed through the Kickstart Scheme

I’ve been Animo Leadership’s Digital Research and Marketing Assistant since the start of 2022. If you’ve been keeping up to date with Animo’s LinkedIn or Instagram then there’s a good chance you’ve seen my handiwork already. If you haven’t, you should! We share plenty of useful content for leaders in the charity space. On Instagram we’re running our Young Leaders campaign. We highlight young leaders in the sector and share resources to help young people in their leadership development.

Working with Animo co-founders Kate and Maria has taught me a lot about leadership, people management and the importance of working with my values. From day one, they’ve allowed my voice to be heard and listened to with care, respect and validation. And they’re aware of how they show up in the workplace, and the world.

Both Kate and Maria acknowledged that they’re older than me, and would approach me for my views on topics concerning young people. They listened to and incorporated my suggestions, which allowed me to create the Young Leaders Survey and steer our Instagram content in this direction.

This marked a change from former employers who had a token young person, or someone from a minoritised background, just so they could earn their brownie points without once consulting, acknowledging or considering their views. At Animo, it’s clear that we’re all learning from each other and there’s a degree of mutual trust.

Accountability has been another big learning for me. One morning I was ill and started work later than usual, so I missed a last minute meeting I’d been invited to. Later that day, I had a call with Kate who, calmly and understandingly, explained why this wasn’t OK. We spoke openly and respectfully about Animo’s values, work ethics and building trust in working relationships.

My time with Animo has come to an end now but I leave feeling like I’ve learnt a lot and made a difference.

You can learn more about Animo’s values here. And you can connect with Stiven on LinkedIn.