‘Trailblazer’, ‘innovator’ and ‘exceptional’ are just some of the words used by colleagues to describe Lori Chilton, individual winner of the Cabinet Secretary Award and winner of the Leadership Award at the 2009 Civil Service Awards in December.
Lori’s team believes she lives and breathes effective leadership. They say that she always delivers, but never at the cost of those around her.
‘To be a good leader you need to be energetic and on track with the message,’ Lori said. ‘But it’s also important to be open and honest, to care about the small stuff and always be approachable.’
Presently Head of the Interventions & Substance Misuse Group – part of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) – Lori has been a civil servant for 32 years. Having worked her way up through the grades, she’s spent the last 20 years working in both male and female prisons.
In 2008, Lori successfully managed a major restructuring of the Prison Service, which the merger of five HQ groups along with the merger of parts of the Prison Service and Probation Service to create NOMS.
At the same time Lori found out that the cancer she believed was successfully treated in 1997 had reappeared.
Because of her loyalty and commitment to her job and to her team, Lori worked throughout her treatment – sometimes working from home with a team member on hand to help.
‘Even though it was a very frightening time, life has to go on and both my job and the team mean a lot to me,’ she said.
‘This was obviously a period of big change for the team. When there’s change, people often feel vulnerable. I felt it was important to carry on working through my treatment and my team felt supported because I was still there.’
More that one year on, Lori believes that exciting times lie ahead for NOMS.
‘Our group is very strong and it’s all moving in the right direction. There’s still a lot to do,’ she said. ‘Following the merger, we need to make sure that the new practices and systems we’re delivering work effectively across custody and community. Things are improving and we have a clear idea of what we need to do.’
