🌊 Part 2 — What People Say Stewardship Is…

When we launched the Be the Waves manifesto, we said something simple but important: we don’t need more leaders, we need stewards.

Alongside that, we asked a question: what does stewardship mean to you?

The replies were thoughtful, personal, and often moving. This blog gathers those voices - not as a survey or a theory, but as lived reflections. What emerged was striking: different words, different perspectives, but a strong shared current of care, responsibility, and conscience.

Leadership, clouded

Leadership has become a stretched word. At its best it is brilliant - taking responsibility, shaping direction, holding a vision. But the word itself has been clouded by overuse and damaged by high-profile failures. Trust ebbs when words lose meaning.

That’s why stewardship matters.

What people say

Mark Darlington - “What does stewardship mean for me? Quiet responsibility: stepping in to support others, offering help, and simply getting things done. Not being flashy or saying ‘look at me,’ but helping the team deliver in a productive and efficient way.

Integrity: as an autistic person, I carry a strong sense of right and wrong, with a deep commitment to doing things in the right way - not just for myself, but also for those around me: friends, colleagues, and family (in no particular order).

Continuity: looking after things so they can last, whether that’s projects, relationships (exceptionally hard for me tbh), or my garden.

For me, stewardship means leaving things stronger and clearer than I found them, so others can build on what’s there.

Thank you for the opportunity to think and reply about this. Really interesting exercise :)”*

Chris Reddy - “I’ve never thought about this word until we spoke yesterday. The things that come to mind when I think of ‘stewardship’ are care, compassion and support. To me, it’s about looking after, with the idea of making things better for the future.”

Esther Patrick - “To me, stewardship starts with being self-aware and recognising what we’re feeling/doing in each moment and where that comes from (fears, insecurities, old scripts, etc). Unless we recognise those things we can never make better choices, and better choices are essential to stewardship. How else do we tend, care, play, love, protect, grow, and release…”

Sherin Aminossehe - “Thanks for tagging me - this really speaks to me. We speak frequently about stewardship in the built environment, leaving places better than we found them and it surprised me that it wasn’t mentioned as part of a responsible leadership narrative. We have a responsibility and duty which isn’t discussed enough. Thank you.”

Eleanor Patrick - “Wonderful launch of something much needed. For me, stewardship is about caring and looking after [anything/everything we’re involved with or touch] so it’s still there and hopefully improved for those who follow. But at least preserved - not frittered or destroyed. Looking forward to seeing how this develops into a tsunami.”

Stacey Crump - “I’d love to offer some deep thoughts but instead I’m just wondering if stewardship could be embedded into a culture design canvas like this one (a framework organisations use to define values, behaviours and culture). I think it would be an excellent addition. All of these are commitments and guiding lights which need maintenance and focus.”

Gurpreet Sehmi - “For me, stewardship is really about care, compassion and responsibility - doing the right thing for people and society, not just now but with the future in mind. In the public sector that shows up as fairness and accountability. And across technology, it’s not just about the process or the kit. It’s about shaping the culture around it, making sure values and ownership come first.”

Matt Gascoigne - “Exciting times ahead - I think it’s a really welcome perspective and one I’d be intrigued to discuss in more detail. Especially interested in how you see our values driving our behaviours within the stewardship model. I’m sure Be the Waves will be a huge and amazing success — look forward to catching up when you’ve a second.”

Ben Whitaker - “For me, stewardship in education is not about guarding the status quo, it is about refusing to let the tide of possibility be wasted. It means holding the line against cynicism and short-termism, while daring to imagine schools, colleges and systems that future generations will thank us for. To steward well is to create conditions where ideas can thrive, where learners can take risks, and where technology becomes a tool for liberation not limitation.

Edufuturist stewardship is not quiet caretaking, it is restless energy channelled into something bigger than ourselves. It is choosing considered disruption but relentlessly, handing over agency to learners with guardrails, and to build communities that ripple far beyond the classroom. It means being willing to "be the wave" that shapes the future, even when it is uncomfortable, because the alternative is leaving our young people stranded in the past”.

What threads emerge?

Read together, these voices weave a shared picture of stewardship:

• Chris speaks of care, compassion, and support.

• Mark highlights quiet responsibility, integrity, and continuity.

• Esther grounds it in self-awareness and better choices.

• Sherin reminds us of responsibility and duty in the built environment.

• Eleanor frames it as caring for what we touch so it’s preserved or improved for those who follow.

• Stacey points to clarity and maintenance of guiding commitments.

• Gurpreet names care and responsibility, with fairness, accountability, and values shaping culture for the future.

• Ben frames stewardship as refusing short-termism, daring to imagine futures, and channelling restless energy into liberating conditions where learners and ideas can thrive.

• Matt lifts the link between values and behaviours.

The words differ, but the current is the same: stewardship is about carrying responsibility with conscience, tending what’s entrusted, and leaving things stronger for those who come after.

For us here at Be the Waves, what’s striking is how strongly these reflections also echo the values of stewardship - conscience, responsibility, care, integrity, accountability, and awareness of the wider system. We’ll explore those values more fully in a future blog.

Beyond leadership

Stewardship is different from the way leadership is often practised. It’s not about visibility or charisma. It doesn’t rely on titles. Stewardship is a posture - holding responsibility with conscience - and recognising our choices ripple into futures we may never see.

Reading these reflections reinforced, to us, why stewardship matters. It’s not abstract - it shows up in quiet responsibility, in caring for what we touch, in making better choices. We believe stewardship begins with the self, but it doesn’t end there - it ripples out into relationships, organisations, and ultimately the planet. That’s the journey we’ll be exploring here at Be the Waves.

Looking ahead

Stewardship is already here. It shows up in how people care, how they persist, how they design for clarity, how they preserve, and how they act with integrity.

But if stewardship is a current running through us, how do we orient ourselves when the map is unclear? How do we notice where we’re strong, where we’re drifting, and where to step next?

That’s where the CARE Compass comes in. Over the next few weeks, we’ll share the Compass - a way of navigating stewardship through its anchors, lived qualities, and sustaining conditions.

The invitation

These are just a handful of voices; wonderful as they are - we’d love to hear yours.

What does stewardship mean in your world?

Stefan

CEO, Be The Waves | Executive Coach | Father | Citizen

Don’t just lead. Steward. Create stewardship wherever you go. Be the Waves.