'A different kind of leadership'

What do we mean by leadership in criminal justice? What kind of leaders will bring about the system shifts that we need? What should leadership training focus on?

My professional doctorate research explores the leadership journeys of people with lived experience of prison who become changemakers, so I've been thinking about the concept of 'leadership' and the qualities of outstanding leaders. I was therefore intrigued to attend the European Justice Education and Leadership Summit in Vienna, which focused on leadership development for prison staff and managers.

Traditionally, custodial leadership focuses on hierarchy, discipline and order. However, I assumed the ‘Champions Community’ leadership training programme, run by Richtungswechsel and Grow Transform Belong, might not take this approach .. I was right!

As Leen Muylkens, who manages a community-based transition house in Belgium, said at the start of the summit, ‘if we want different outcomes, we need a different kind of leadership’.

Leadership is a complex concept, so I was curious to see how people working in prison and probation settings across Europe defined it.

Four years ago, I wrote a blog about the launch of the ELEVATE CJS Lived Experience Leadership programme I established, where a panel of prison-impacted leaders from the UK and USA shared their views on the qualities of an effective leader. So in Vienna, I set myself a mission to spot any commonalities between their views and those of the summit speakers.

In this blog post, I reflect on the answers those lived experience leaders articulated in 2022 and how they were reflected at the summit exploring custodial leadership in 2026:

1.      Responsibility

The leaders with lived experience argued that leadership involves taking responsibility and ownership for actions and outcomes; not shifting the blame.

In Vienna, one of the Champions Community Leadership programme trainers highlighted to the participants: ‘We've given you this knowledge; what you do with it is your responsibility.' As one of the Champions, Petra Scicluna from Malta, reflected, ‘It challenged my limiting beliefs. I realised I can start a conversation; I can influence relationships; I can choose what I contribute to the culture.’

Leen explained her ethos of culture-driven leadership rooted in ‘responsibility, choice and ownership’ for both the staff and men who live in the transition house. She emphasised how ‘rules-based leadership is passive, but responsibility-based leadership is active.’ 

Gustav Tallving, Executive Director of Europris, shared a moving story about the responsibility he felt as a junior staff member to speak up when his superior failed to ensure a humane prison culture. He learnt that roles and hierarchy alone do not equal good judgement or leadership. I think this ethos, that leadership is not a role but a mindset combined with action, is important in dispelling the myth that only those in certain positions can bring about change.

2.      Self-reflection

The prison-impacted leaders described the importance of seeking feedback from others to figure out blind spots and shortcomings by having 'a listening ear and an open door.'

In Vienna, Gustav admitted, 'I wish I had recognised my blind spots earlier.’ He called for more reflective leadership that promotes vulnerability as a ‘measure of courage, not weakness’. He argued that this ‘starts with leaders showing vulnerabilities and things from the past that have affected you and encouraging others to do the same.’ He described how each week he asked his staff where they are on a scale of ‘thriving to barely surviving’, helping to give both space and a vocabulary to support self-reflection.

It is often expected that leaders with lived experience will show vulnerability and bring their 'whole selves' to this work, so it was refreshing to hear the call for custodial leaders to do the same.

Champions Community evaluator, Dr Sinead Meade, noted the participants were encouraged to consider ‘What kind of leader am I? What am I achieving? How could I lead differently?’ One Champion admitted, 'I was sceptical and stuck in my ways’ at first, but the mentoring and coaching support ‘held a mirror up and kept me accountable.' Petra explained how she was helped to ‘critically explore’ her own perceptions through the programme's creative activities and peer dialogue.

The ability to critically reflect was described by many as a key leadership competency. Olivia Rope, the Director of Penal Reform International, role modelled this type of leadership when she told us how PRI’s Experts by Experience continue to ‘hold us and me to account’. Torben Adams, Head of Division at the Ministry of Justice in Germany, described how the traditional prison staff culture of bravado and hard, closed-off exteriors was changing through using peer and professional supervision, aiding increased self-reflection.

Pascale Pug, a training officer in France, highlighted that leaders need a ‘learning mindset’ and to understand they do not know everything – they may have studied, but they need to be humble, listen, observe and make changes. Beverley Wall, Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, exemplified this by describing how she prioritises spending regular time in each of the prisons she manages, listening and having ‘honest conversations.’

3.      Vision

The leaders with lived experience in 2022 highlighted the need for leaders to look into the future.

At the summit, Beverley described the importance of ‘a shared sense of purpose, a vision, a picture of success, and how you and others can contribute.’  It was a reminder that in such turbulent times, leaders can become overly focused on reacting to current challenges that the vital leadership task of proactively shaping a vision for the future gets side-lined.

Leen argued that leaders must inspire with a ‘meaningful vision for the future’ and remain committed to their vision, even during setbacks. She shared a powerful quote by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: ‘If you want to build a ship, don’t tell people to gather wood; teach them to long for the sea.’

4.      Know your own values

The prison-impacted leaders explained that knowing your own values allows leaders to stand up for what they believe in. If not, they can blur into other people's.

Values and morals were frequently mentioned at the summit as core to leadership. Philip Meissner, from UNODC, described the need for ‘values-anchored action’ and Olivia called for ‘values-anchored leadership’. Leen argued that culture-building starts with values, and visions must be underpinned by ‘genuine and keenly-felt values’. She emphasised the importance of openly 'articulating, living and reinforcing' your values to create culture change.

This reminded me of the 'living into our values' activity on the ELEVATE CJS lived experience leadership programme residential using Brené Brown's Dare to Lead resources. She also talks about the importance of 'values clarity' in her new book, Strong Ground.

Former prison officer with Unlocked Graduates, Kat Gartland, described how, when working in prison and facing moral dilemmas every day: ‘I focused on my beliefs, my values, and how I show up to work. I reflected on myself and my why.’ Another panellist advised, ‘Find others with a similar mindset and build your team. It will help you remain true to your values.’

Prof. Alison Liebling, for the University of Cambridge, speaking about her new book ‘Aristotle’s Prison: The Search for Humanity’, used the term ‘moral faith’. She explained, ‘Moral faith is knowing you have to be certain about certain values, but you can doubt other things. Sometimes we lose our moral faith when we are challenged in the workplace, and it takes effort to get it back. I think it describes what outstanding leaders seem to have.’ Torben agreed and spoke of the need for leaders to have a ‘moral compass’ and ‘moral courage’.

5.      Caring about humanity

In 2022, the leaders with lived experience asked, 'How can you lead if you don't care?' They felt leaders should want to change lives, make a difference and be an advocate.

At the summit, compassion, humanity and empathy were strong themes. This was apt, as Prof. Alison Liebling was referenced our joint project, ‘The Future is Human’, drawing on the insights of 68 people from twenty countries. As she expressed, 'We are all in criminal justice because it's so profoundly human. And when we feel discomfort, it's because there are challenges to that humanness. And what we want to do is build it back.'

She reflected on an outstanding prison governor who had a 'genuine connection' with the people in their care, being an example of a leader who, 'when you're up against the border between compliance and being human, always chooses the human.' Gustav agreed and argued a new perspective of custodial leadership success was needed, away from performance indicators and towards care for people. Phillip emphasised the importance of creating conditions for 'human dignity and flourishing' and Olivia called for justice leaders not to use derogatory terms for justice-impacted people, as it ‘goes to the heart of dignity and humanity.’

Kim Ekkhaugen, Director of International Co-operation in the Norwegian Correctional Service and Vice-President of the ICPA, wanted to promote humanity at the recruitment stage: ‘It’s a people business – if you don’t like people, don’t work here!’ he exclaimed. Nim Gill, a trainer with Unlocked Graduates, emphasised the importance of prison staff understanding that people in prison are ‘genuine human beings’. He powerfully shared that ‘I was written off by the system, but human connections can cut through concrete.’

One tension that arose was the balance between professional distance and proximity. Gustav explained that he had to ‘unlearn the concept of distance, to work in proximity in a responsible way’. In her transition house, Leen promoted ‘relational proximity, not distance’ so people living and working there felt connected, seen, respected and valued.  

Olivia reflected on the work of Antonia Reiter from Now-Ni, showing how empathy is a key leadership skill that can be taught and can grow. I was fascinated by the clever card game Antonia had established to develop this skill, and it again reminded me of the workshops we facilitated on the ELEVATE programme on empathy as a leadership competency:

Olivia also reflected on the ‘us and them’ mentality inherent in adversarial, and often military-heavy, justice systems. To counter this, Petra described initiatives she established to encourage prison staff to step outside the roles and assumptions that have traditionally defined them. Khalil Chait, Founder of Stitching Sileo, emphasised the benefits of lived experience experts involved in training prison staff, helping shift the ‘us against them’ mindset by seeing each other through different lenses.

Many examples of this 'humanising' work involved food, music, arts and sport to ‘celebrate our common humanity’ and, as Dr. Sarah Lewis emphasised, to ‘experience joy’. Leen explained that ‘fun activities are the cornerstone of the community’, for example, they make a point of celebrating birthdays in the transition house. In her evaluation, Dr. Meade described how the highlights of the Champions Community leadership programme were the residentials, where participants shared meals, fun and laughter to connect as humans - as was also the case on the ELEVATE leadership programme residentials too.  

6.      Persistence and adaptability

The prison-impacted leaders described outstanding leaders as not giving up despite rejections and obstacles, and having the ability to pivot and stay calm under pressure.

Resilience was another strong theme from the summit. Philip highlighted the need for leaders to ‘adapt without losing direction and manage pressure without losing purpose’.  

Dr. Lewis posed the question, what does it take to sustain change? Dr. Meade found that the Community Champions were building momentum towards culture change, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, relationship building and commitment.

The Champions Community described how working in a prison over time can lead to a mindset shift that change in the system, or in individuals, isn’t possible. As one speaker admitted, ‘it can be easier to conform than swim against the current’.

Nim and Khalil, both involved in training prison staff in the UK and Netherlands respectively, highlighted the value of lived experience staff trainers, as ‘it shows proof of concept, staff see success, and it helps their belief in change’. In turn, ‘this helps feed the courage to go against the grain,’ explained Khalil. (In the Netherlands, all new staff, whatever their role, must complete a module on lived experience delivered by Sileo's experts.)

Summit speakers highlighted that leaders need to be persistent and courageous in turbulent times. Khalil argued that they need to be ‘disrupters’, describing how lived expertise leaders must often ‘build their own tables’ rather than take a seat at the table, to influence change:

Prof. Liebling called for leaders to resist more when asked to do things that are immoral, drawing on examples of prison governor strikes in other jurisdictions in protest over inhumane overcrowding. Charlie Abbott, a Community Champion from the UK, said his governor role modelled a successful ‘let's make it happen attitude’ to seemingly more 'risky' initiatives, for example, having people with lived experience delivering prison programmes.

Several speakers discussed how being seen as ’difficult’ and resisting the status quo can lead to burnout. Dr. Sarah Lewis's highlighted the critical need to develop healthy ways of coping to sustain this leadership work, including connecting to nature and finding peace:

7.      Building up others

Lastly, the lived experience leaders highlighted the importance of being role models and supporting others to follow in their footsteps, rather than pulling the ladder up behind them.

In Vienna, Torben described how leaders need to ‘be the fertiliser’ by giving others agency and ownership. He also emphasised the importance of leaders ‘sending the elevator back down’ to give other people opportunities to progress.

The ethos of the Champions Community is to 'do with not to' and build leaders up through peer support and international exchanges. Dr. Meade described it as the ‘scaffolding’ for confidence, collaboration and collective change. Petra explained feeling ‘connected, supported, united and empowered.' She said the community gave her the ‘push to take the plunge’ with innovative ideas and that she was ‘challenged without being diminished.’

Beverley called on leaders to give positive feedback when things go well, no matter how small, and to create a culture of curiosity that encourages staff to think outside the box and to shape solutions. She gave an example of a staff-led initiative in Northern Ireland to better support care-experienced people, after some staff shared their own experiences of care.

Leen highlighted that ‘involvement creates ownership’ and ‘people thrive when they realise their growth is connected to the growth of others around them’. Prof. Alison Liebling developed this point in her concluding remarks, drawing on the work of Vienna-born philosopher Martin Buber, reflecting that the Champions Community was an example of ‘building a between’ where we find life and meaning, and feel fully alive through others.

This, and the summit itself, was a powerful reminder of the importance of in-person opportunities for leaders to connect, especially across geographic silos where you can see examples of 'doing things differently' in practice. It's these human moments that re-energise, as well as build new connections.. another important aspect of my research!

 Attendees at the European Justice Education and Leadership Summit, Vienna, September 2026

Conclusion

When I was researching lived experience leadership development for my Churchill Fellowship Report in 2018, I searched for a non-hierarchical, non-corporate model underpinned by social justice principles. I found the Leadership for Social Change Model of Leadership Development, which became the theoretical text for the ELEVATE CJS lived experience leadership programme. 

It is now also being used by the UNLOCK leadership programme, led by the brilliant Paula Harriot. The model's 7 C’s methodology (Consciousness of Self; Congruence; Commitment; Collaboration; Common Purpose; Controversy with Civility and Citizenship) resonates strongly with the principles described above.

By shining a light on the leadership principles articulated by leaders with lived experience and progressive custodial leaders, I hope this article sparks a conversation about how we define and support the development of a 'different type of leadership’ that will bring about much-needed ‘different outcomes’ in our justice systems worldwide.

Do let me know what you think! (nina@championsforsocialchange.com) I'm particularly interested in hearing from people outside of the UK, USA and Europe about your definitions and training for justice-sector leadership.