Hi, I'm Angela Hayes

Developing What Really Matters felt like a natural progression after many years of working in the public and voluntary sectors. I have been fortunate to  have had a diverse and interesting career that enabled me to live out my interest in servant leadership, self-organising communities, creative expression and the interconnectedness that is always present in our work.

I made an intuitive decision to step up to the challenge of finding  organising systems and new ways of working that would better serve us all. 

It was a simple step from senior management to a different type of leadership that springs from a deep commitment to create space, networks and learning for all leaders to bring about the change that is now needed.

...and I'm Carolyn Caldwell

I'm  a social worker 'by trade', with nearly 30 years' management experience in Local Government and the third sector. Angela and I have set up What Really Matters to encourage new ways of working that make best use of the collective intelligence of organisations.

My strengths include building networks - usually taking a low profile myself - and creating safe processes for people to make the best of their own strengths and work together as a living system.

In my spare time I love knitting, which I think provides a useful metaphor for our work - bringing the diverse threads of an organisation together to create new patterns and strong flexible networks... with enough order to be a functional shape and enough creativity to be beautiful and unique.