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Tayo Arikawe appointed as International Director of Langham Partnership

The International Director of Langham Partnership is the most senior executive in the organisation. The role involves overseeing and coordinating Langham’s work globally. It was essential for us to find a leader who was highly skilled in building cross-cultural relationships, coordinating and leading change in a global and matrixed organisation.

Tayo Arikawe appointed as International Director of Langham Partnership

Langham Partnership was conceived by John Stott with the vision to see churches in the Majority World equipped for mission and growing to maturity in Christ, through the ministry of pastors and leaders who believe, teach and live by the Word of God. The privilege of serving this organisation and our strong commitment to what it stands for, made this search a particularly exciting one for us.

The International Director is the most senior executive in the organisation. The role involves overseeing and coordinating Langham’s work globally. It was essential for us to find a leader who was highly skilled in building cross-cultural relationships, coordinating and leading change in a global and matrixed organisation.

Although the ideal location for the role was the UK, a global search was needed. Indeed, the final longlist contained candidates from five different continents. To do this, we conducted an extensive and deep piece of research over approximately four months to identify the right candidates. The most promising candidates were interviewed at length by the team at Carnelian Search. The search process was made more complex by the need to put the search on pause for four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a joy to work with the Chair and International Council of Langham Partnership, who we found to be an inspiring, warm, and mission-minded group of individuals who we felt a quick sense of rapport with. We provided the Chair with regular updates during the research process and guided the International Council through the interview process.

Without the expert help of Carnelian Search and Allan Beckett in particular, we at Langham Partnership would not have found our new International Director, Tayo Arikawe. We are so grateful to Allan and his team for their skill, careful listening, wise advice and prayerful concern for our needs. From the very beginning of the process our Search Committee was supported and guided through the process at every step. Even when we made the difficult decision to put our search on hold for a few months due to COVID 19, Allan was always responsive, understanding, helpful and supportive. Having a large interview panel from six different countries and seven time zones made the arrangement of interview times a big challenge, and it was met each time with patience and good humour. There is nothing I would change about the way that the search unfolded through each stage and I wholeheartedly recommend Carnelian Search to other organisations in a similar situation.

- Jill McGilvray, Chair, Langham Partnership International Council

One of the great privileges of our work is to see the excitement of the Board when they find the right candidate. In this case it was particularly appropriate that the successful candidate for the International Director role was a representative of the Majority World, for the first time in Langham’s history.

The spiritual dimension to any search must never be ignored.  An important part of our role was to pray hard for the appointment and to encourage others to do so along the way.

Allan and his team at Carnelian Search are outstanding and absolutely amazing! They've got very good acumen to match an organisation with the right candidates. I have recently benefited from their expertise, moving from my present role to lead an organisation with global ministries. During the period of screening and interviews for my new role, they supported and communicated with me regularly, and were praying for me all through. I can't thank Carnelian Search enough for their immense support, dedication and wealth of experience. They have found me a job that reflects my lifetime passion and experience. Thank you.

- Tayo Arikawe, newly appointed International Director, Langham Partnership

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