At GLL, leadership is not confined to titles or offices; it is indeed defined by a shared commitment to community, innovation, and public value. Our leadership team brings together experienced professionals from across the leisure, health, culture, and charitable sectors, united by a single goal: to ensure that high-quality, accessible services are available to everyone we serve.
In an organisation owned by its members and operated for social good, the decisions made at the top have a direct impact on local communities. From strategic planning and financial stewardship to frontline service delivery and long-term sustainability, GLL’s leaders shape how we grow, invest, and respond to changing needs. This article introduces the people behind that strategy-outlining their backgrounds, their priorities, and how their collective vision is helping to redefine what a modern social enterprise can achieve.
Vision and Values Shaping the GLL Leadership Team
At the heart of GLL’s leadership approach is a clear,shared belief that progress must serve both people and place. Our leaders champion a forward-looking vision that balances commercial discipline with social responsibility, ensuring every decision supports long-term community benefit. They work from a common framework rooted in:
- Community-first thinking – putting local needs at the core of strategy and investment.
- Sustainable growth – pursuing innovation that safeguards future generations.
- Inclusive prospect – widening access to health, leisure and wellbeing for all.
- Accountability – measuring outcomes against obvious,public-facing goals.
These principles are not abstract; they shape how the leadership team collaborates, sets priorities and measures success across the organisation. From boardroom discussions to frontline programmes, values are translated into practical benchmarks that keep GLL aligned with its public service mission.
| Core Value | How Leaders Apply It |
|---|---|
| Integrity | Clear interaction and open reporting |
| Collaboration | Cross-functional teams and shared targets |
| Innovation | Piloting new services with user feedback |
| Impact | Tracking social outcomes, not just revenue |
Inside the Decision Making Processes That Guide GLL Forward
Strategic choices at GLL are shaped through a balance of data, dialog, and lived experience from the communities we serve.Each proposal is first stress-tested against our long-term mission and key performance indicators, then refined in cross-functional forums where leaders from operations, finance, technology, and community engagement interrogate the risks and opportunities.This means that a new program or partnership is never judged on numbers alone; it must also demonstrate measurable social value, operational feasibility, and alignment with our sustainability commitments. To keep this process transparent and accountable, decisions are documented, time-bound, and regularly revisited against pre-agreed milestones.
Collaboration is anchored in structured routines that ensure every voice at the table has weight. Weekly leadership huddles focus on near-term delivery, while quarterly strategy sessions look further ahead, mapping trends and pressure-testing scenarios that could affect customers, partners, and staff.Within these forums, leaders rely on shared decision criteria such as:
- Impact: Does this move improve member experience and community wellbeing?
- Resilience: Can we sustain this through economic and regulatory shifts?
- Innovation: Does it advance our digital and service capabilities?
- Equity: Are benefits distributed fairly across locations and demographics?
| Decision Tier | Primary Focus | Typical Timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Board | Mission, capital investment | 3-5 years |
| Leadership Team | Growth, partnerships, innovation | 12-24 months |
| Operational Leads | Service delivery, local programmes | Daily-6 months |
How GLL Leaders Develop Talent and Champion Inclusive Culture
At GLL, leaders are measured not only by results, but by the people they elevate. They invest in tailored development pathways that blend on-the-job stretch assignments with structured learning sprints and peer mentoring circles, ensuring colleagues at all levels can grow without leaving their purpose at the door. Through regular talent reviews, leaders identify emerging changemakers, match them with cross-functional projects, and give them visible platforms to present their ideas to senior stakeholders. This human-first approach is reinforced by transparent feedback practices and clear, shared success measures for every role. The outcome is a pipeline of confident, capable professionals who understand both the commercial and social impact of their work.
Inclusive culture at GLL is not a side initiative but a leadership obligation built into objectives, performance conversations, and everyday behaviours. Leaders sponsor employee networks, open up decision-making forums, and actively seek out underrepresented voices when shaping policies and services.They also champion flexibility and psychological safety, so people feel trusted to bring their full selves to work and to challenge the status quo. Core practices include:
- Inclusive hiring with diverse panels and skills-based assessments
- Equity-focused development to remove barriers to progression
- Listening forums where colleagues co-create local action plans
- Data-led accountability for representation and inclusion goals
| Focus Area | Leader Action | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Talent Growth | Quarterly development check-ins | Clear career pathways |
| Inclusion | Colleague listening sessions | Stronger sense of belonging |
| Capability | Targeted learning sprints | Future-ready skills |
Strategies Our Leadership Team Uses to Deliver Community Impact
From the boardroom to the neighbourhood hall, our leaders prioritise decisions that can be felt locally, not just tracked in spreadsheets. They combine data-driven planning with on-the-ground listening sessions, drawing insight from residents, staff and partner organisations to shape programmes that are both ambitious and practical. Regular community clinics, hosted in our leisure centres and libraries, allow leaders to test ideas in real time, adjust services quickly and ensure that investment follows proven need rather than assumptions. This hands-on approach keeps strategy rooted in lived experience and ensures that every policy discussion is tethered to a human story.
Impact is then scaled through a set of intentional practices that guide how our leadership team works every week:
- Co-design with residents – inviting local groups into planning stages, not just consultations.
- Partnership-first mindset – aligning with councils,charities and schools to avoid duplication.
- Transparent scorecards – publishing clear goals and outcomes for public scrutiny.
- Inclusive talent pipelines – developing future leaders from within the communities we serve.
| Focus Area | Leadership Action | Community Result |
|---|---|---|
| Youth Wellbeing | Free activity passes | Higher local participation |
| Social Inclusion | Targeted outreach sessions | More first-time facility users |
| Environmental Impact | Greener building upgrades | Lower energy footprint |
In Retrospect
As GLL navigates an increasingly complex landscape, its leadership team stands at the center of the organisation’s evolution-balancing commercial discipline with a clear commitment to community impact. Their combined experience, diverse perspectives and shared sense of purpose are shaping how GLL invests, innovates and delivers for the people it serves.
In the years ahead, the decisions taken in GLL’s boardrooms will continue to influence not only the direction of the organisation, but also the future of public leisure, wellbeing and community spaces across the UK and beyond. For now, the picture is clear: GLL’s leaders are intent on steering a course that aligns long-term sustainability with a renewed focus on social value, keeping the organisation’s founding principles firmly in view.
