Putting your professional development first - with Dr Mark Hughes and Claire Routley

Putting your professional development first - with Dr Mark Hughes and Claire Routley

From Let's Talk Fundraising by Chartered Institute of Fundraising

April 27, 2026 · 1h 7m · Season 2 · Episode 4

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of personal development and emotional intelligence in fundraising careers.

Personal development and 'soft skills' take centre stage in this fourth episode of Let’s Talk Fundraising , the official podcast from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, the charity that champions a lifetime of impact, a career in fundraising. Host Tim Beynon is joined by guest co-host Charlotte Sherman, Policy Manager at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, along with Claire Routley, Consultancy Director at Legacy Futures, and Dr Mark Hughes, founder of MCH Positive Impact, for a rich conversation about what it really takes to grow as a fundraising professional. The episode covers the barriers fundraisers face in accessing development, from unsupportive managers to squeezed budgets and the creeping demands of virtual working, alongside practical advice on making the case for training investment and understanding how you learn best. At the heart of the discussion is emotional intelligence, and a robust challenge to the term ‘soft skills’. Drawing on Daniel Goleman’s five-element model (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills), Mark argues that these are in fact the hardest skills to develop, the ones that take a lifetime to master, and the…

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