Leading Beyond Authority

Common Purpose aims to inspire, develop and connect leaders who can lead beyond their direct area of authority – at work, in their communities and in their cities.

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What is leading beyond authority?

Many successful leaders learn to lead in roles or circumstances where they have clear authority, budget and accountability. When they move beyond this - leading peers, partners and stakeholders - the skills that brought them success may not be enough. To operate effectively they need a different approach to leadership - the ability to Lead Beyond Authority.

Common Purpose founder and Chief Executive Julia Middleton has written a book on the subject of Leading Beyond Authority. In the book "Beyond Authority: Leadership in a Changing World" she interviews leaders who have either been successful beyond their authority within their organisation - which she describes as the first outer circle - or who have succeeded beyond their organisation - the second outer circle.

LBA Circle Diagram

The challenges of getting leaders to go into the first outer circle are well known to organisations that wrestle with the 'silo' problem, when leaders build walls on the boundaries of their authority and the organisation struggles to connect the parts up. They aspire to develop leaders who will operate for the benefit of the organisation as a whole, dealing with issues that cross boundaries, problems that leaders could claim were not their own, leaders who will run the risk of appearing to interfere in other's business and deal with the complex and messy challenges that will never fit nicely inside the walls of the organisation.

The second outer circle, that takes leaders right out of their organisations, presents an even greater challenge. Yet leaders in the modern world are increasingly called on to work with customers, stakeholders and partner organisations. Their organisations are no longer islands entirely of themselves and they need leaders who can thrive and succeed beyond their organisations boundaries.

Cities badly need the leaders of its organisations and institutions to be capable of working together, in collaboration, for the very same reasons. Otherwise opportunities are missed, resources wasted and problems built up.

Common Purpose courses help leaders develop the ability to lead in the outer circles.

"True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders. In combat, officers eat last."

Colin Powell
Former U.S. Secretary of State

Highlight:
Collab

Collabs are designed to help organisations and partnerships build collaborative leadership skills to support the initiatives they have to deliver. Using local advisors and a diverse mix of participants, Collabs challenge people to step outside their current role and try building partnerships and developing creative solutions from a new perspective.

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