Jabali Men’s Network – shaping leadership with the worldwide majority

This week’s blog is written by Alwin Puthenpurakal (@AlwinP13), Senior Lecturer at London South Bank University (@LSBU; @LSBU_HSC).

Swahili is a widely spoken language. Over 200 million speakers in over 14 countries (Lisanza, 2021). In 2021, the United Nations has designated the seventh^vol July as World Kiswahili Language Day to rejoice Swahili as a language (UNESCO, 2021). Jabali means ““strong and brave bond” in Swahili and Jabali Men’s Network embodies this strength with the wealth of information and cultural vitality of nurses from Africa, India and the Far East.

The birth of the Jabali Men’s Network had a humble starting. In 2019, while in a leadership role at NHS England, Patrick Nyarumbu MBE observed an absence of representation of majority staff internationally, and particularly from the male nursing community, in his work environment. This remark led him to ask the query:“Where are the BAME Men in Nursing.”?” on this institution. This query nagged at him despite attending various meetings with very senior NHS leaders, and their answers confirmed the potential of a profession in healthcare. Patrick focused particularly on the nursing occupation and reflected on his observations. With lively support from England’s Chief Nursing Officer and the WRES team, Patrick delved deeper into this issue, considering support ethnic minority men in a spread of leadership roles in nursing, and support wider communities to ask ​​NHS Nursing Career Interviews for nurses from most backgrounds all over the world.

To establish the content and clarity of his observations, Patrick attempted to compile an inventory of BAME male nurses from 8C upwards who aspired to take up senior management positions. However, a record of this data enabling communication and conversation was not available at his workplace. This opportunity encouraged Patrick to achieve out to friends he knew within the NHS who were willing to support his momentum in establishing identity and support for aspiring BAME male nurses. In 2020 Patrick and his colleagues ventured to Skipton House (NHS England) to fulfill with Chief Nursing Officer Dame Ruth May to place into practice plans and concepts for establish a network for majority colleagues all over the world and for nurses males who aspire to take up very senior positions within the NHS. A gathering that can shape the longer term of this young men’s network.

At the time of writing, the Jabali Men’s Network had roughly 100 members in various roles and was growing organically through word of mouth because of the achievements and fraternal support of the network’s dozen founding members. The power of collective social power in a community of like-minded people to advance the social good for a purpose has at all times echoed throughout history. From the Kappa Sigma fraternity (Malenic, 2020) to Freemasonry (Scanlan, 2014) to the Mosuo (Mattison et al., 2023), the composition of like-minded individuals with specific ambitions and a transparent goal for civic growth and development has been extraordinary and has resonated throughout different levels of society over the centuries. The Jabali Men’s Network stands out from previous examples for its unique vision and tangible goal of bringing social change and justice to the worldwide majority through the inclusion of BAME cultures and skilled representation, in addition to the visible impact it provides its members through camaraderie and mentoring designed to support and inspiring nurses to carry higher and really senior positions of their professions. Act ‘to pass’ strengthens the network architecture and helps construct a collaborative and supportive community where many contemporary and cultural topics are welcomed and discussed to advertise and nurture understanding and holistic mutual development. The latter helps recent and aspiring members rise to the worldwide stage and turn out to be next-generation leaders. The wealthy representation of members from African, Asian, Caribbean, LGBTQ+ and disability backgrounds makes the network a living and respiration example of a well-rounded, inclusive group of pros focused on supporting and developing one another through preserving the cultural heritage of the Global South.

The original terms of reference, achieved with the support of senior NHS England executives, remain the Magna Carta for the Jabali Men’s Network. Promoting WRES outcomes, influencing policy development with very senior NHS leaders and changemakers, promoting equal opportunities, celebrating diversity, working with wider organizations, supporting the retention and development of BME talent within the nursing occupation. Jabali Men’s Network’s ambitions and hopes for the longer term come back to its mandate each time and enable the network to repeatedly adapt and be rooted in core principles, driven by passion and purpose.

The Jabali Men network looks to a shiny future, working with several organizations through national and international challenges currently facing all elements of healthcare and other industries. It goals to widen skilled participation, further strengthen and encourage inclusive and supportive leadership and mentoring, support accessibility for senior NHS leaders and increase confidence amongst its members in profession and skilled development. The Francis Adzinku Scholarship in partnership with the Florence Nightingale Foundation is an example of one in every of many achievements established in 2022 to construct on the legacy of one in every of the late founding members of the Jabali Men’s Network, who supported nursing and mental health mentoring clinicians.

Like its ambitions, its name; Stone“a strong and courageous bond.”‘ took time to shape its identity from the very starting, encouraging evaluation and discussion with members to strive for cultural representation, racial inclusivity and a conscious reluctance to not be labeled as one other palatable and potentially monotonous ‘BME group’ in society. This persistence and vigor sets Jabali Men’s Network aside from other skilled networks within the UK and beyond. Leading change through effective, proactive, diverse and collaborative leadership from all sides with clear priorities has benefited many institutions and governments (Hargreaves and Harris, 2014; Hargreaves and Ainscow; 2015; Rock et al.; 2016). This vibrant recipe for inclusivity and variety resulting from the worldwide majority stays the visible secret and strength of this strong and courageous network.

Hargreaves, A. and Ainscow, M. (2015) ‘The top and bottom of leadership and alter’ Delta Phi Kappa, 97(3), pp. 42–48. doi: 10.1177/0031721715614828.

Hargreaves, A., Boyle, A. and Harris, A. (2014) Uplifting Leadership: How Organizations, Teams, and Communities Increase Performance. London, England: Jossey-Bass. Available at: https://books.google.at/books?id=T2HBAwAAQBAJ.

Spring, V. (2021) Swahili is gaining popularity all over the world, African renewal. Available at: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2021/swahili-gaining-popularity-globally (accessed April 21, 2023).

Malenic, M. (2020) A brotherhood like no other, Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Available at: https://www.kappasigma.org/ (accessed April 21, 2023).

Mattison, S.M et al. (2023) “Does gender structure social networks in several areas of collaboration? A study of gender networks among the many matrilineal and patrilineal Mosuo”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences378(1868), pp. 20210436. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0436.

Rock, D., Grant, H. and Gray, J. (2016) Diverse teams feel less comfortable – and due to this fact perform higher, Harvard Business Review. Available at: http://www.purplebeach.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/HBR_diverseteamsfeellesscomfortable-2.pdf (accessed April 21, 2023).

Scanlan, M. D. J. (2014) ‘The Origins of Freemasonry: England’, v Manual of Freemasonry. Leiden, Netherlands: BRILL, pp. 63–81.

UNESCO (2021) World Kiswahili Language Day, Unesco.org. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379702 (accessed April 21, 2023).

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