The power of allyship in senior management
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Michael Lever is the Operations Director at Manchester Pride and is responsible for overseeing the events strategy, operational processes, compliance and financial strategy for the charity.
As part of his role at Manchester Pride, Michael has been curating and overseeing the delivery of the charity's world-class programme of events from a strategic level including Manchester Pride Conference, Spring Benefit, the year-round calendar of cultural events 'Superbia' and the flagship Manchester Pride Festival which takes over the city every August Bank Holiday Weekend.
As Michael prepares to move on from Manchester Pride to pursue a new challenge, I sat down with him to discuss his career with the charity, and what his approach as a cisgender and heterosexual man has been working in senior leadership with a mostly LGBTQ+ staff team. His insights about his route to becoming an ally were not what I expected to hear and offer a valuable perspective for all allies working in senior management.
Christopher Owen: Tell us about yourself, your journey and role at Manchester Pride.
Michael Lever: I started at Manchester Pride in 2012, but really it was a journey that started in being interested in events. I’ve always been interested in events and my career has always been in festivals and events. Not just attending them, but being a promoter too. And then in 2011 I was ready to move on to something bigger, and almost as if it was perfect timing, I saw a job advertised which was the Events Manager for Manchester Pride.
Pride has always been a part of Manchester’s identity, and I’m a really proud Mancunian. I was born and bred in Manchester and I feel like I’ve committed my career to furthering the cultural identity of the city. So when I saw this opportunity and read the spec, I thought I had something to offer here. And so I applied and… I didn’t get the job.
But they were really keen to bring me on in addition to the person they hired to fill the Events Manager role, so they created a new role as Deputy Events Manager position for me. Previous to that, the events operations were outsourced to another company, and in 2011 it was the first time the Board of Trustees decided to bring the events operations in-house so we could do more as an organisation.
Over the course of the next eleven years I have developed through the organisation to Events Manager, then Senior Events Manager, then Head of Events and now Operations Director. My role throughout my career has really been about developing and overseeing the events programme and strategy. When I started at Manchester Pride we were an events charity, we put on the Pride Festival, and it’s been amazing over the last decade to see us develop to the year-round offer that we have today. Now we’re a much bigger team, and while the Pride Festival is very much at the forefront of what we do, there’s a lot of other great work that goes on too. And it’s because of the work we’ve done over those years and the success of the Festival that has allowed us to do what we do now.
As Operations Director, I oversee the charity-wide operations, events strategy, staffing, HR, finance, and supporting the executive office, CEO and the Board, with the strategy of the future of the charity. The reason I have been best placed to do that is because of my long history with the organisation and I’ve been a key player in growing the charity. I’ve seen where we’ve come from and where we are now, so I can see where we want to get to.
CO: What I think is interesting about that story is that your start at Pride didn’t really have to do with LGBTQ+ people or allyship.
ML: I wanted to do something impactful in this city. I knew I wanted to make waves and make a statement. I’ve grown up in Manchester, and being a proud Mancunian I knew that the LGBTQ+ scene here in Manchester is part of our heritage and our identity. It’s part of our DNA as a city and I’ve always felt that. So I guess I joined because Pride is so important to this city.
CO: But I think you’ve made a really valuable point — I think sometimes cisgender hetrosexual people, when it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusion, think they have to be some kind of activist first and that a deep understanding of the community has to be their starting point. But that doesn’t sound like this was your experience, and that your route to being an ally is different from what most people would expect. So when did you initially feel like you became an ally to queer communities, and how has that developed and shaped you over time? Tell us about that journey.
ML: When I joined Manchester Pride eleven years ago I didn’t know what an ally was. I don’t think we had the same cultural sense of allyship at that time, and so my understanding of allyship developed as the concept developed in our society. Over the years I’ve come to an understanding through my work. By working for Manchester Pride I learned how important my role is, not just as an ally, but as a senior manager in this organisation. So I don’t think there was necessarily a lightbulb moment, per se, but there was certainly an understanding over time. Every step of the way Manchester Pride has been pushing boundaries and has wanted to do more for our communities. And each one of those steps forward has allowed me to understand how important each of those steps are to our communities.
CO: So it was the other way around from what people expect the allyship journey should be. I think a lot of people feel they need to be an ally first and then do the work for improved inclusion, but what I’m hearing from you is that you did the work, and then in doing the work you recognised how valuable it is and that brought you on board with each new step for LGBTQ+ inclusion. By being involved, it brought you in.
ML: Exactly.
My allyship has developed through conversation and being part of action, and working with communities and seeing their lived experiences. Learning the histories of our communities is really important as well.
Being challenged is important. I’ve been challenged (in a good way!) by my colleagues and by Manchester Pride’s CEO, Mark Fletcher. At his core, Mark is a great activist, and his values really get ingrained in the culture of this organisation, and all of us get swept up into those values. So that top down influence is really important.
As a senior manager, thinking like an ally should be part of your everyday practice. Whether you see yourself as a part of our LGBTQ+ communities or as an ally to LGBTQ+ communities, at the end of the day it’s about recognising this mindset as a normal part of your work. Because as a senior manager you have power, and you have a duty and the resources to lift other people up. And that’s what all senior managers should do.
So there’s certainly a bottom-up direction of leadership here as well. From an ally’s perspective, it’s important to hear from people with lived experiences. I can’t relate to lived experiences that I haven’t had myself, and so I like to bring people in (especially as a manager) and then their insights feed into my own perspectives and work.
At the end of the day, a lot of it is just about doing the work. Try things out. Sometimes you’ll get things wrong. Sometimes you’ll get it right. See what works. Listen to people. There isn’t a blueprint, there isn’t a perfect guide on how to be an ally.
CO: Yes! My rule of thumb is to not be afraid to make mistakes, but try not to make the same mistake twice.
ML: Exactly. And actually, that ethos is something that I employ across all of my work. So why would my allyship be any different? For me this is part of my job. Part of my work is to be an ally and to uplift our communities and elevate marginalised voices. So why would I approach that any other way than any other part of my job? It’s just good management.
CO: Can you provide an anecdote or example of how you've implemented inclusion and allyship in your work as a senior manager?
ML: Allyship involves listening and hearing from people with lived experience, and hearing what they need without making assumptions about what they might need. There’s a famous phrase that I love: ‘Nothing about us without us.’ I think that should be an ethos that everyone should take because it’s easy to implement. Think about ‘nothing about us without us’ whenever you’re doing something in your work. One way to do this is with staff personal development planning (which should include giving them a chance to openly share how management can best empower them)
As an example, I lead on programming for Manchester Pride, and we created a culture of co-design. What that means is that we bring others in, such as our staff team and representatives from our communities and we give them input on what our programming looks like. And there’s lots of ways to do that, such as listening groups or surveys.
At Manchester Pride, we put local LGBTQ+ talent right next to big international talent on our programme, so people can see that we’re levelling the playing field. That’s allyship! While that might be specific to Manchester Pride, others can relate this to their own organisations. For example, maybe they could do a mentorship programme with a trans middle manager and the CEO, allowing them to share their differing perspectives in a way that treats both their insights as equally valuable. Or have an LGBTQ+ person deliver your event keynote talk.
Subvert traditional power hierarchies and hire local queer talent. There are so many great LGBTQ+ artists, activists and charities in Manchester that you can hire. That’s allyship!
CO: What are some common mistakes that you think other allies make? Any suggestions for improvement, especially for other senior managers?
ML: The key issue is that people are afraid to get things wrong, and because of that people may be afraid to try. But as long as you don’t act arrogant or uninterested, you follow-up with people and you’re interested during conversation, you’re humble and correct any mistakes you might make, then that’s all ok. You may get things wrong initially, just try not to get them wrong again.
For example, if you’re nervous about how to address somebody, have a conversation with them about it and do it in private. But be willing to have that conversation. Treat them with respect rather than avoiding them entirely, because that’s a common and big mistake people make.
CO: Allyship really is that simple. It really is just about treating people with respect.
ML: Absolutely, yeah. And in the workplace, not only should you be respectful, but keep it professional. And then the result of that is people will feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. By having that conversation you’re opening that door for them and creating a place of psychological safety for people to come to work. That member of staff now knows that their manager genuinely cares about them and who they are.
CO: So why should other senior managers be allies to the LGBTQ+ community? Are there any benefits for them?
ML: LGBTQ+ people exist in every walk of life, in every industry and organisation. LGBTQ+ people should never be excluded from any position, role or responsibility. So the real question is: why wouldn’t you be an ally? There are some amazing potential staff out there who can do amazing things, in every industry, and they might just happen to be LGBTQ+ so why would you want to risk losing out on that talent?
People work best when they feel safe to bring their whole selves to work, and as a manager you want to facilitate that. Make it a mantra and say it ten times every day: ‘People work best when they feel safe to bring their whole selves to work.’
As an organisation, creating this should be your goal and be ingrained in your culture. Be welcoming and open and you’ll get the best people doing their best work. And at the end of the day, the company will thrive.
CO: Sadly, you will soon be leaving Manchester Pride. Reflecting on your many years with us, do you have any final words of wisdom for us?
ML: One of the main drivers for me to move on was to make space for other people, space for colleagues or potential colleagues. We’ve got some amazing LGBTQ+ people who work for the organisation already, and there are amazing people in the community who might want to work for Manchester Pride. And so it’s important that those voices should be elevated.
I’m not saying that if you’re a cisgender hetrosexual person you should quit now! I’m saying it’s important to make space. And it’s also really important to check your privilege. Understand what opportunities you can provide to other people, take some time to consider it, otherwise you might not realise it. For example, what can you do to lift up the voices of your colleagues? This might involve bringing people into conversations in meetings, helping to set up a staff network group, or doing some mentoring.
My favourite thing to do in meetings is to shut up and listen and open a conversation rather than lead it. Be curious as I bet there are amazing people that you work with. As a senior manager you shouldn’t be on the outside of a conversation, but you should bring others in and make sure that everyone’s voices are heard. That kind of mindset and skill set is something every manager should have. And you can fine-tune that to be not just a great ally in your organisation, but a great leader.
Manchester Pride is one of the UK's leading LGBTQ+ charities. Its vision is a world where LGBTQ+ people are free to live and love without prejudice ad our culture is universally celebrated. It is committed to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester and beyond. Manchester Pride is part of a global Pride movement that celebrates advancements in equality and challenges discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ people. Every penny that the charity raises is ploughed back into the community in dedication of its goals. These are to stage an annual world-class celebration of LGBTQ+ life, campaign for the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality at home and abroad, and support grassroots projects and initatives that encourage th wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester.
If you or your colleagues would like to share your LGBTQ+ inclusion insights with the All Equals Charter membership, please contact allequals@manchesterpride.com to discuss opportunities for collaboration.
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