Turning Passion Projects into Sustainable Organisations

Barbra Carlisle • September 4, 2025

Is it possible to turn an idea into reality, and make it work well?

Passion is the spark, that thought about something that we would love to do but we never get round to actually doing it. I hear you:


  • it is too hard
  • it has been done before
  • I can't do it!
  • I am just not that type of person who does things like that
  • What if I fail?!
  • I am not creative enough


So how do you go about turning a spark of a passion into reality?


Turning a bold idea into a thriving organisation requires structure, strategy, tenacity and followers and comrades in arms!


If you think that 131,000 social enterprises in the UK contribute £78 billion to the economy and that 37% of entrepreneurs started with a passion project we should be encouraged as individuals to be bold and follow our ideas through, particularly if it supports societal wellbeing.


Mark  Walton’s journey with Shared Assets is a real masterclass in how to build something meaningful from the ground up.


Shared Assets began as a project, that Mark and a friend secured funding for, transitioning first to a temporary social enterprise pop-up and then over time, it became a Community Interest Company (CIC) supporting land justice across the UK.


Mark and his team embedded their values into governance, built partnerships, and scaled impact all the while staying true to their mission.



The Power of Collaborative Leadership


No founder succeeds alone. Collaborative leadership is essential for scaling passion into impact.


What does collaborative leadership look like?


It is a leadership style where:

  • The leader co-creates goals and vision with the team and stakeholders.
  • They empower others to lead and innovate providing support and encouragement.
  • They build trust through transparency and shared ownership nurturing an inclusive culture



A Practical Guide to Doing It Well:

  1. Define Your Mission Clearly: What problem are you solving?
  2. Choose the Right Structure: CICs, charities, or hybrid models.
  3. Build a Leadership Team: Use psychometrics to align strengths.
  4. Invest in Training: Equip your team with leadership and management skills.
  5. Use Coaching to Stay Grounded: 1:1 support helps founders stay focused and resilient. take a look at my earlier articles on the cost of coaching and what coaching is


Take a look at the support I offer to those who have a sparkle in their eye but don't know what to do about it. 


leadership development, coaching, and psychometric profiling.


To hear the full conversation with Mark, visit The Unlikely Executive Podcast episode 18


Passion starts the journey but it is collaboration that sustains it. Mark Walton’s story is a reminder that with the right people, structure, and mindset, you can build something that truly matters.


Ideas and thoughts on how to lead well through complexity and change

The Intergenerational Advantage: Why Construction Firms Who Blend Ages Will Outperform Everyone Else

By Barbra Carlisle • March 27, 2026
If you’re worried about not having enough young people, including women coming into construction, you’re asking the wrong question. The real risk is what happens when you don’t use the people you already have properly. The Crisis No One Is Solving Properly Across the UK, the construction workforce is ageing faster than it’s being replenished. There are 20% more workers aged 55+ than under 25. And it gets worse: 35% of the workforce is now over 50, and only 20% is under 30. Yes this presents an industry risk, but closer to home we see organisational risk. Leaders worry about recruitment, apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps all useful, but none of them address the real issue: Experience is walking out of the door every single day, and new capability isn’t being integrated fast enough. This is exactly what my conversation with Colin McEllin MCIOB of Clan Contracting highlighted. When a 21 year old commercial graduate joined Clan Contracting, Colin didn’t roll his eyes or think, “another kid who’s never been on a site.” He leaned into it and welcomes thoughts, ideas and advice from 'young Aaron'. Massive benefits for him, and Aaron, and the wider team. Why Intergenerational Leadership Is Now a Strategic Priority The construction sector is staring at a workforce cliff edge: • 140,000+ vacancies lie unfilled. • By 2036, 750,000 skilled workers will retire, stripping the industry of vital capability. • The UK will need nearly 1 million additional construction workers by 2032. Yet recruitment alone isn’t enough. You cannot hire your way out of this crisis. We must integrate generations on purpose, not by accident. What Younger Workers Bring (That Leaders Ignore at Their Peril) Younger talent offers: • Modern thinking around sustainability and digital tooling • Analytical approaches and better documentation habits • A willingness to question processes that haven't been updated since the 90s • A commercial lens shaped by newer training systems In Colin’s words, their thinking “took him right back to when he was 21” eager, energetic, ideas driven. You want that energy before they lose it. What Older Workers Bring (That You Can’t Replace) Your experienced people have: • 30+ years of instinct • Pattern recognition that no textbook teaches • Quiet influence that stabilises teams • Technical fluency on heritage, concrete, structure, sequencing, conservation, problem solving These people are your institutional memory. Once they go, they’re gone. And currently, UK engineering employers admit they only retain knowledge effectively from 57% of retiring staff. That is a crisis hiding in plain sight. Leadership Actions That Works 1. Create deliberate two way mentoring (not hierarchical mentoring). Younger staff teach digital skills, new processes, sustainability thinking. Older staff teach technical judgment, site sense, risk spotting. Both feel valued. 2. Give young people actual responsibility, not token tasks. The CITB plans 40,000+ industry placements a year. It means nothing if leaders hide young people in the corner. Let them make decisions, with support. 3. Systemise knowledge transfer. You cannot afford to rely on “ask Dave if you need help.” You need processes, templates, technical walkthroughs, shared documentation. 4. Remove the “that’s not how we do it here” reflex. 76% of construction workers say current training doesn’t adequately prepare people for the job. So your way probably isn’t the best way anymore. Your Competitive Advantage Is Sitting Right Under Your Nose When generations work in isolation, capability leaks. When generations work together, capability compounds. The firms who win over the next decade won’t be the ones who grab the talent, it will be the ones who blend talent. Listen to the full episode of the podcast here or watch on You Tube here About me I write about topics that my podcast guests bring to the podcast. They have years of experience with challenges and opportunities along the way, highs and lows and are in the thick of leading with purpose and passion, faults an'all. As a coach and trainer I work with leaders and their times to help them thrive, laugh, enjoy their work, be productive and to build teams of all ages.

The Leadership Bandwidth Crisis: Why Owners Who Can’t Step Out of “Doing” Will Stagnate

By Barbra Carlisle • March 26, 2026
We love what we do so we grow in that role, we end up as leader with people around us but we want to stay doing the thing we love doing. Balancing leadership is hard.