30: Faith in Leadership with Krish Raval OBE

Krish Raval is the Founder and Director of Faith in Leadership (FiL), Britain’s main leadership development organisation working with inter-faith communities. As a practicing Hindu he works with senior leaders and clerics from Muslim, Christian and Jewish faith communities.  In this conversation Krish shares his work and experiences of leading this inter-faith community.    Simon and Krish share their thoughts on how Eco-Leadership expresses the inter-dependencies and rich learning potential not only between faith communities but also between faith and secular organisations.   Krish explains that the most powerful learning and development he observes, comes from leaders being with others, and learning how to work with and learn from differences, rather than being taught leadership skills.  This aligns with Simon's theory of Leadership formation, which was inspired by his stay in a monastic hermitage. Simon noticed that monks were not taught 'monk skills' but were formed by the monastic life; the prayer, liturgy, rituals, work, spiritual direction, community life, self reflection and service to others. Krish's FiL work recognises this and he creates spaces for leadership formation to happen. He is currently developing the idea of ‘radical hospitality’, sharing his personal experience that inviting others into your home or place of worship to eat together, can be a transformative act.  In this wide-ranging conversation Krish recalls his conversation with Nelson Mandela and  he shares why he believes faith leadership in our communities is so important, to all society. 

Krish Raval is the Founder and Director of Faith in Leadership (FiL), Britain’s main leadership development organisation to work with senior and emerging clerical and lay leaders from the main faith communities.  Based at St Benet's Hall, University of Oxford, Krish supports and mentors FiL’s extraordinary alumni network. Whether addressing refugee and human trafficking matters, running foodbanks, contending with right-wing agitators outside Mosques or Synagogues, addressing the fallout from the murders of servicemen or dealing with Covid-19, FiL alumni are the nexus of intelligent faith in the public square in Britain today.

Krish read law at Cambridge and Sheffield Universities, started a leadership development programme for young people when he was in his twenties, and has interviewed icons of leadership including Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Nelson Mandela and HH The Dalai Lama.  He’s the only person to have been award an OBE for services to leadership education and inter-faith cohesion