Leading in the Middle: The COO Role in the VCSE Sector
In the VCSE sector, leadership is often talked about from the top down or the frontline up. Less often do we pause to reflect on what it means to lead in the middle — a space that is complex, demanding, and, at times, quietly heavy.
As a Chief Operating Officer, I spend much of my time acting as a bridge. A bridge between frontline staff and volunteers who see the realities of people’s lives every day. A bridge between trustees holding governance and strategic responsibility. A bridge between partners, funders, commissioners, and the communities we serve. And like most bridges, the strength of that role is rarely noticed unless something starts to strain.
Holding the Frontline Reality
In Tamworth, like many towns, community support does not sit neatly within service boundaries. People arrive at our doors carrying multiple needs — loneliness, financial stress, mental health challenges, housing worries, caring responsibilities. Frontline staff and volunteers see this complexity first-hand, often before any statutory threshold is met.
One of the most important parts of my role is ensuring that those frontline voices are heard, protected, and valued — not just emotionally, but structurally. That means translating what is happening on the ground into systems, processes, safeguarding frameworks, and funding conversations that often operate at a distance from lived experience.
It also means holding space for the emotional labour that frontline roles carry. People don’t switch that off at the end of a shift, and neither can an organisation that genuinely cares about its community.
Between Strategy and Reality
Trustees rightly focus on governance, risk, and long-term sustainability. Funders focus on outcomes, impact, and value for money. Partners focus on alignment, capacity, and delivery. All of this matters — but none of it exists in isolation from the day-to-day realities of community work.
As a COO, I often find myself translating between worlds:
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Turning strategic ambition into operational reality
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Turning human stories into measurable outcomes
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Turning funding conditions into services that still feel safe, welcoming, and inclusive
In a place like Tamworth, where resources are limited and demand continues to grow, those translations are not theoretical exercises. They shape whether a service feels accessible, whether staff feel supported, and whether community trust is maintained.
The Weight of “Keeping Things Going”
One of the unspoken aspects of leading in the middle is carrying responsibility without always having authority over every variable. We are responsible for delivery, compliance, staffing, partnerships, buildings, safeguarding, and sustainability — often at the same time.
In the VCSE sector, this can feel particularly acute. Short-term funding cycles, increasing reporting demands, and rising community need create constant tension between what we know is needed and what is resourced.
In Tamworth, we see daily how preventative, low-level support — community cafés, befriending, walking groups, transport, peer spaces — keeps people well and connected. Yet these are often the hardest services to fund sustainably because their impact is long-term, relational, and human.
Holding that tension — and continuing to advocate for it — is part of leading in the middle.
Partnership Is Built on Presence
One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is that partnership is not built in meetings alone. It’s built by showing up — in community spaces, in conversations, on walkabouts, and in shared learning.
When professionals walk the town centre together, visit services, and meet the people behind the work, something shifts. Understanding deepens. Silos soften. Relationships strengthen. That kind of partnership working doesn’t happen by accident — it needs coordination, trust, and time. Much of that work sits quietly within COO roles.
Why the Middle Matters
The middle is not a place of compromise — it is a place of connection. It is where values meet delivery, where strategy meets humanity, and where systems meet people.
Leading in the middle means:
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Advocating up, while protecting down
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Being honest about limitations, while holding hope
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Making difficult decisions, while staying grounded in values
It is not always visible work, but it is essential work.
In towns like Tamworth, where community organisations are often the glue holding systems together, the role of the COO is not just operational — it is relational, ethical, and deeply human.
And while the middle can sometimes feel like the hardest place to stand, it is also where the clearest view of impact exists — in the small moments, the quiet wins, and the relationships that make community possible.