Liam's got issues: September

Congratulations! Your new job can become one of the nation's most interesting and influential. And you've really got your work cut out.

SEC is a stagnant brand. At grassroots, people gave up some time ago looking to it for inspiration and leadership.

To the Cabinet Office you need to signal quickly a change of tone and style, leadership based upon clarity of focus and intent. Shower love on your talented and passionate staff who are desperately in need of support, coherence and a leader with vision.

Your funding base is fragile and too dependent on the taxpayer. But you know all this. If you are a good communicator, experienced leader of people, a cunning networker and have some experience of creating and selling stuff, none of these challenges should be insuperable for you.

Lots of people want you to succeed. Your real challenge is much more fundamental. What do you want SEC to really stand for? An incremental growth in the number of non-profit distributing companies? By how many, within what time frame? More public sector contracts for not-for-profit social enterprises?

Yes, for sure, that must be part of it. But realistically what proportion of that market can non-profits have? Ten per cent? 20 per cent?

Your predecessor would never answer such questions. You must if you want to be credible. The ground SEC occupies is small and its influence over government and business is marginal.

Senior figures on both sides make encouraging noises, but the real action does not happen in the Office of the Third Sector.

Make sure that at least a third of your diary is taken up with interacting with people outside the 'sector'. People who are socially enterprising - using business to create social and commercial value - but whose models can be very different from those of the third sector.

Be bold. Take risks. Don't get caught up in the self-referential loop of entitlement that discourse about social enterprise too often becomes.

Surprise us with the amazing and unexpected alliances you make. Signal your intent by changing the name to the Coalition of the Socially Enterprising!

All power to your elbow.

Liam Black is co-founder of Wavelength. Visit www.thesamewavelength.com

Feel free to email comments to news@socialenterpriselive.com