Windsor
Fellowship's Five Tenets
WF focuses on more than individuals’ academic
development and on employment outcomes. WF focuses on participants’ personal
growth, on them as individual citizens of contemporary
UK society A core set of skills, beliefs and behaviours make
up the framework that we see as essential for guide citizens
through the opportunities and challenges of present-day
society. They represent the central building blocks of WF’s
distinctive approach and are Community, Leadership, Integrity,
Diversity and Excellence and are known as our five tenets.
They are not sails of a ship
to be raised and lowered depending on the weather. They
stand as foundation stones, WF's tenets; pillars upon which
everything that we do and how we do it is built. Each of
the tenets is as important as the others and together they
represent the ’DNA’ of a Windsor
Fellow. The tenets also serve as a competency framework
for the purpose of assessment by those who need to know,
be they potential applicants to programmes, schools,
colleges, or universities or employers seeking to increase
performance, or funding organisations and sponsors needing
to judge the effectiveness of their investments.
Diversity
Respect for race and diversity is a core competency central
to WF. During WF programmes, participants have the opportunity
to explore and discuss the questions of what it is to be
British and to be from a minority ethnic community in 2005.
Through this competency Windsor Fellows are challenged
to challenge the prejudices that they may hold. WF does
not say what is right or wrong, but simply that Fellows
should take the opportunity to obtain a greater understanding,
appreciation and respect for those who are different from
us only because of their race, religion, nationality or
that of their parents. The competency extends this further,
extending the same respect for race and diversity to respect
for the gender and sexual orientation of others. The fundamental
principle at the centre of this competency is that the
freedom and right of each of us to express our diversity
does not give us the right to restrict or to prevent others
from expressing their identities.
This means both recognising the complexity
that diversity brings as well as truly seeing and valuing
the racial diversity of UK. The history of WF is rooted
in a partnership between business, government and communities
forged in the aftermath of the 1980s race riots. Created
out of this WF has at its heart and its core a highly developed
sense of race equality and social justice. WF understands
the urgency of tackling the dangers that injustice, prejudice
and racism can create. Looking forward from the context
of Britain in 2005, this tenet is still vital. WF sees
the positive value that people of minority ethnic backgrounds
bring to business, the public services and to wider UK
society. It also sees that any breakdown in social cohesion
would have phenomenal consequences for UK society, particularly
for those who live in major cities. This is no more clearly
demonstrated at the extreme than through the July bombings.
The arson attacks on mosques and an increase in the level
of religious and race hate crimes such as the appalling
murder of Anthony Walter,
which occurred soon after, demonstrate the fragility of social cohesion without
a constant, balanced dialogue on issues of diversity.
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Excellence
A passion for excellence is a core competency
that runs through WF’s work. We
seek to ensure that everything we as individuals or collectively
do is synonymous with this tenet. WF is relentless in its
quest to unlock potential and to focus energies towards
inspiring success. This in itself raises standards, promotes
professionalism and goes above and beyond mere competence.
The competency of excellence centres on leveraging the
brilliance of past achievement to draw inspiration for
today and tomorrow. The pursuit of excellence raises the
bar of expected current and future performance to new record
levels. It challenges individuals to raise their game,
to seek to replicate the excellence of others and strive
to achieve a personal best. Excellence requires participants
not to make excuses or be prepared to accept things that
fall short of the highest yardsticks of personal
and professional standards. WF knows what distinguishes the brilliance of true
champions and believes that the pursuit of excellence
will drive society forward and improve life
chances for all because ‘Excellence is not exclusive,
it is achievable by all’.
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Integrity
This competency is the uncompromising pursuit of
personal integrity. It seeks to ensure that as individuals
we conduct ourselves with the highest standards of probity,
personal and professional honesty. As we go about our
private and professional lives we must never compromise
on truthfulness or on our core values.
This challenges us to be brave enough to scrutinise ourselves and to never make
excuses , but rather to take responsibility for our actions; focus on learning
from the past and making improvements. Central to this competency is being true
to what we believe in and being true to those who believe in us.
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Community
This tenet centres on the need to value and celebrate
community within the context of the 21st century. Community
focus is often misunderstood and confused with “doing
good for others”. The WF’s competency promotes
a concept of active citizenship, the need to take an interest
in what happens in every street; from those we live in and
walk along every day to Downing Street where government decisions
are made. It stretches from basic things like taking an interest
in the lives and well being of friends, family, and those
who live next door, to exercising democratic rights such
as to vote, to volunteering time, expertise and money to
help make communities better places to live, work or study.
This competency centres on contributing and participating at local levels through
neighbourhoods, as well as at regional and national levels through professional
associations and other bodies. It says to each community you are a part of, “I
have rights and responsibilities and I will exercise both”.
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Leadership
Fundamental to what the Windsor Fellowship
believes in is to shape and develop role models for today
and for the future from within BME communities. WF seeks
to provide opportunities that have rarely been accessible to BME communities
and develop a cadre of leaders from amongst our Fellows. By the very fact that
we are from BME communities we particularly notice when we are in a setting where
there are few others from BME communities. Those around may judge us, whether
or not we choose to be judged. In these situations we have a responsibility to
ourselves and to others. WF reminds us that we are all role models, be it to
our friends, family or others who may look to us. Through our actions and our
energies Windsor Fellows and the WF seeks to act as a catalyst for change within
our society.
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