Media coverage
"Understanding strategy", Director, November 2008
Strategy, for Julia Middleton, is never set in stone. "You should not trust a company that has a strategy for the next 20 years," she says. "Be clear what your goal is, but you must have flexibility and be brave enough to recalibrate instantly." When times are tough, Middleton believes leaders must have the confidence to be flexible. "Out of chaos comes huge opportunities," she says.
"We still love our bosses - but for how long?", Personnel Today 'Work Clinic', 31 October 2008
In a poll of 750 people by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose, 'business leaders' were picked by 45% of those asked who their leadership role model was - ahead of politicians (no surprise there), historical figures, religious figures and teachers.
"A leading question on role models", Management Today, 23 October 2008
After the year we've had, can it really be true that business people are still Britain's top role models? According to a survey by leadership development group Common Purpose, 45% of the 750 respondents named business people as their top leadership role models. That made them a more popular choice than politicians, historical figures, religious leaders, teachers and (less surprisingly) sporting figures. ‘The current economic situation has not dented the inspirational appeal of business leaders,’ concludes Common Purpose sagely.
"Talent management special report: market overview", Personnel Today, 17 October 2008
"Whenever I hear the pairing of the words 'harnessing' and 'talent,' I feel like weeping," says Julia Middleton. "At a time of recession, it's very tempting for all of us to become risk-averse both in terms of people and ideas, but as every previous downturn has shown us, what we will desperately need when this curve begins to turn up again are clever leaders who can think more broadly than most and come up with fantastic ideas," Middleton says. "The very last thing we need in a recession is a culture of harnessing something as precious as talent," she adds.
"Team spirit puts workforce on path to greater success", The Times, 23 September 2008
Broadland District Council, comes third in The Times 'Best Councils to Work for 2008' list: "The council recognises the value of managers interacting with and learning from sectors other than local government. Staff have attended management programmes where the other participants are from the private sector and Common Purpose, a national networking and development programme for emerging and existing leaders."
"In the City: goodbye to authority without leadership?", The Times, 18 September 2008
Common Purpose has published an interesting reading list recommended by the great and the good. Diana Parker, chairman of Withers, nominated Arabian Sands, by Wilfred Thesiger, about a journey across the Arabian desert. “The opening pages are an interesting study in leadership without authority,” said Ms Parker, “and the importance of leadership as being a common journey. The experience of which can be as significant as arriving at the journey’s end.”
"Common Purpose training", Derby Jamia Mosque Ramadan Newsletter, September 2008
Recently Derby Jamia Mosque had the opportunity to learn about leadership development as part of the Aiming Higher programme by Common Purpose.
"Business wisdom you shouldn't miss", Management Today, 4 September 2008
Courtesy of leadership development firm Common Purpose, and their 360 group of leaders, Management Today can share with you the inspired reading choices of some Britain's most successful business people.
"People: help your clients take the leap", IT Week, 15 August 2008
Julia Middleton: "The landscape in which we work is changing. With boundaries between departments, organisations and sectors blurring, they can no longer operate in isolation. If they want to remain competitive, they need to broaden their influence across organisations and outside them. This process is having and will increasingly have implications for those working in them."
"Taming the wolf at the door: Training on a shoestring", Training Zone, 11 August 2008
Slimmed down, squeezed and axed – the credit crunch is biting at the heels of the training and development budget. Annie Hayes faces the downturn and shares the secrets of shoestring delivery. She says that: " 'Taming the Wolf at the Door', by leadership development organisation Common Purpose, found that almost half of training and development professionals surveyed are expecting a budget cut of 20% or more."
"Avoiding the perils of national leadership", eGov monitor, 8 August 2008
The pitfalls of becoming a national leader have been revealed in a report launched today. Navigating the new waters of national leadership is a study by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose into the challenges of making the leap to a national leadership role.
"The bosses who mind their Ps and Qs", The Daily Telegraph, 7 August 2008
More than any other issue, adopting the right approach to communication is the one named by national leaders who contributed to a recent report by the not-for-profit leadership consultancy Common Purpose on what it takes to succeed in a national leadership role. Once you have prepared properly for the role and avoided the biggest pitfalls, getting the communications right is regarded as being at the heart of keeping the job.
"Taking off the harness", Strategic HR Review, July 2008
Julia Middleton: "Talent is an organisation’s gold, its future, its ideas, its flexibility but it shouldn’t be harnessed. There is a danger that ‘high potentials’ are seen as merely a reliable pair of hands who will get work done quicker and more effectively than others."
"The lesson for today is humility", The Daily Telegraph, 31 July 2008
One of the key perils of holding a position of national leadership became apparent to the Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev Dr John Inge. Not being told the truth is one of the key pitfalls identified by national leaders who contributed to a recent report by the not-for-profit leadership consultancy Common Purpose on making the leap to a national leadership role. It's a problem, Inge believes, that can be very damaging to your ability to lead.
"Back to school", Inside Housing, 25 July 2008
Common Purpose provides, ‘the cross-sector group of senior decision-makers with a wide-angle view of the way the UK works, where it sits in an international context and what its long-term future holds'. Places for People’s chair Zenna Atkins, who is also chair of Ofsted, has had leadership roles in public, private and voluntary sectors and loves Common Purpose because ‘it brings all the sectors together’.
"There is no hiding place when you are sitting in the leader's seat", The Daily Telegraph, 24 July 2008
At the tender age of 39, Tim Melville-Ross discovered two unsettling truths about holding a national leadership position in a big organisation. Having just been made chief executive of Nationwide Building Society, Melville-Ross expected that his meteoric career in business would have equipped him perfectly for his new role, but he quickly found out otherwise. Melville-Ross was one of a series of national leaders who contributed to a recent report by Common Purpose on making the leap to a national leadership role.
"Generation Y learns to lead", eGov monitor, 22 July 2008
Thirty-seven pre-career leaders gathered at University College London last week to learn how to increase their ability to make a difference in their communities, universities and the organisations they will work for. Run by leadership development organisation Common Purpose, participants on the free Frontrunner programme explored their different leadership styles and visited a diverse range of organisations where they examined the issues they are facing with the people who are managing them.
"Passion in the workplace", The Guardian, 16 July 2008
Job satisfaction no longer suffices. Young people want to work for a company that not only tells a good story, but lets them be part of that story. One study from Common Purpose suggested that some people aged 25-35 are experiencing a "quarter-life crisis"- leaving pressurised jobs to search for more meaningful work.
"Young managers - nurture your own job fulfilment", INSIGHT, July 2008
Common Purpose found that three quarters of the young managers it surveyed do receive training, but only a third of them, across sectors, find that training rewarding in terms of job fulfilment. The private, public and not-for-profit sectors provide equal training opportunities, and are broadly equal when it comes to the success – or lack of it – in providing training which is inspiring to managers.
"The bitter taste of squeezing on development", Talent Management Review, July 2008
Julia Middleton, founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose, urges leadership and development professionals not to fall foul of a false economy: "Talent is an organisation’s gold, its future, its ideas, its greatest source of innovation. We will need our talent to get through the recession and to accelerate out of it at the optimal time. Worryingly, UK organisations are failing to help their talent develop and innovate during this economic downturn. The result? It may not be there when it is needed.
"What not to do when motivating people", The Times, 3 July 2008
Forget who’s boss. There is nothing more frustrating than a manager who wants to talk about his or her problems rather than deal with yours, says Julia Middleton, the Chief Executive of Common Purpose.
"Training budget cuts predicted by learning and development managers", Personnel Today, 1 July 2008
Many training and learning and development (L&D) managers expect their budgets to be cut over the next 12 months. A survey of 120 of them found that 44% expected cuts, while 54% expected budgets to remain stable and just 2% expected an increase. Technical skills and leadership development were the two training areas least likely to be affected by budgetary cuts, said poll organiser Common Purpose, which specialises in leadership development training.
"Training budget squeeze predicted" - Training Zone, 1 July 2008
A new study warns of the consequences of cutting training and development budgets during an economic downturn. The report, Taming the Wolf at the Door, by leadership development organisation Common Purpose, found that almost half of training and development professionals surveyed are expecting a budget cut of 20% or more.
"Leader meets leader" - Crain's Manchester Business, 23 June 2008
Around 60 leaders from private, public and voluntary organisations in and around Manchester have spent the past five months getting to know the city and its leaders better on leadership development programme TheKNOW says Amanda Shilton Godwin, Manchester Regional Director of non-for-profit organisation Common Purpose, which runs the programme.
"Taking risks | Tackling the recession" - Personnel Today 'Work Clinic', 20 June 2008
People's appetite for risk-taking in the workplace is likely to increase if the economy enters a recession, according to research released by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose. Over half of all working adults surveyed already consider themselves to be risk-takers and 43% think it will be important to take more risks to help their organisation survive a recession.
"Leaders say they'll take more risks in the credit crunch" - Training Zone, 18 June 2008
People’s appetite for risk-taking in the workplace is likely to increase if the economy continues to spiral downwards, according to research released today by leadership development organisation Common Purpose. Over half of all working adults surveyed already consider themselves to be risk-takers and 43% think it will be important to take more risks to help their organisation survive through a recession.
"How to unlock leadership potential" - Personnel Today, 10 June 2008
According to Julia Middleton, founder and chief executive of international leadership development organisation Common Purpose: "There is a misconception that people must start their careers in a box and that it is only in the limited space of their job description that they can grow and develop".
"They don't live for work ... they work to live" - The Observer, 25 May 2008
Teenagers and young adults - the so-called Generation Y - have watched with horror as their parents worked punishing hours in their scramble for money and status. Now, as this group go in search of jobs, they have different priorities. They care less about salaries, and more about flexible working, time to travel and a better work-life balance.
"Unlocking leadership potential in the NHS", Health Service Journal, 20 May 2008
Health service managers need to take advantage of opportunities beyond their comfort zones in order to thrive, as one programme is demonstrating. The aim of the programmes, run by training organisation Common Purpose, is to give leaders the skills, the connections and the vision they need to lead more effectively, and to push them to extend their influence beyond their own organisation, locality and culture.
"Facing up to reality" - Director, May 2008
There is a compromise at the heart of leadership. The world only accepts and trusts simple solutions and prefers to believe that leaders don't make mistakes. This forces leaders to pretend that there are easy and straightforward answers and to present sound-bite solutions.
"Networking | Generation Y recognise the benefits" - Personnel Today 'Work Clinic', 1 May 2008
Research carried out by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose has revealed a change in attitude towards networks and networking, with 68% of those surveyed expecting to increase their networking activity over the next five years. This rises to 75% within 25-44 year olds.
"Workers look ahead with networking" - HR Zone, 30 April 2008
As many as 75% of younger workers expect networking to feature heavily in the future.
Research by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose suggests that 68% of people expect to be part of more networks in five years time; the figure moves to 75% for the 25-44 year age group. Confidence in networking as more than a social utility is one of the reasons workers are putting their faith in it – with many confident in the benefits of networking as a professional boost. Almost two thirds of respondents believe that networks are important to their career success.
"The wealth of experience" - The Guardian, 16 April 2008
Julia Middleton: "Expectations of feelings of completion and fulfilment are often what drive careers. But many top executives and senior managers at the end of their careers find they are still hungry for fresh challenges beyond sitting on a few corporate boards, lucrative though that may be. So what should they do when it is time to retire but they are not ready to take a back seat in society? The answer is simple: with so much to offer in terms of knowledge and experience, they should continue using their talents once their full-time career has ended."
"Mutual Defender" - Sunday Business Post, 13 April 2008
Mark Moran. He is on the board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Board and Common Purpose Ireland - which runs challenging programmes for business and community leaders.
"Be yourself – but know who you are meant to be" - Financial Times, 18 March 2008
“Multiple personality” leaders do undoubtedly exist, according to Julia Middleton. She says the pressure to provide simple solutions seems to push leaders into creating artificial public personas: omniscient and infallible. “Leaders’ public faces can be so carefully honed that they lose sight of whether this is their real face, or the other one who makes real decisions in a real world,” she adds.
"Restricted CPD leaves young managers unfulfilled", INSIGHT, March 2008
Over half of young managers in the UK are dissatisfied with their jobs and are considering change, according to a report by Common Purpose. The report suggests this is leading to a mass haemorrhaging of young talent who are either actively searching for or thinking about a new job. And employers are failing to respond to this unhappiness and frustration.
"The Good Director honours" - Director, February 2008
Lord Turner is known for his time as CBI director general and for his recent work with the Pension Commission. But according to Julia Middleton, CEO, Common Purpose, Turner has done a lot more than that. "He has framed the climate change issue for business in a way which will prompt action".
"Leading leaders to tomorrow's world is a job for learning and development professionals" - Training and Coaching Today, 22 January 2008
Common Purpose undertook research to find out how well equipped leaders were in applying these skills and using them to drive their departments and organisations forward. The subsequent report revealed a worrying crisis of confidence among managers. The crux of the problem is the deep mistrust of the unknown and unwillingness to take risks, with 53% of leaders saying that they would not work with someone they did not already trust.
"Leaders - Broaden your horizons" - HR Circles, 14 January 2008
Increasing numbers of top executives want to use their energy and leadership skills to put something back into society once they have completed their first career. As the moment approaches, they begin to feel like satellites searching for something to orbit, a governing body to join or a charity to throw their energies into.
"Future leadership skills for UK organisations" - Training and Coaching Today, 20 November 2007
Common Purpose polled 507 leaders of UK organisations on leadership issues. It found that the top seven future skills for leaders were indentified as: Spotting opportunities and threats from outside, leading diverse teams, extending influence outside the organisation or department, networking across sectors, communicating across cultures, leading organisational change and cutting through complexity.
"PM outlines security measures" (Audio) - 10 Downing Street website, 14 November 2007
"War on Talent: Are you helping your talent to blossom?" - Personnel Today 'Work Clinic', 2 November 2007
As the war on talent wages on, it's getting harder and harder to retain top talent. Therefore, it is vital to understand what determines whether a high potential employee stays long enough for that potential to be realised or leaves to develop their career elsewhere. Senior development director Rachel Burlton of leadership development organisation Common Purpose reveals the barriers that limit junior managers from fulfilling their potential as leaders of tomorrow.
"A poor reflection of the work we do" - The Guardian, 24 October 2007
Another solution is for some of the UK's biggest charities to make an open commitment to improving diversity in their boardrooms, says Julia Middleton at Common Purpose. "I think the chief executives of the top 40 charities should be putting their money where their mouths are, and recruiting a diverse range of people who can succeed them. Everyone's looking for a complicated solution but there isn't one. It's just a matter of getting on and doing it."
"Beyond the tick-box culture" - Management Issues, 12 June 2007
For many people, the notion of workplace diversity has become a legal tripwire, a set of targets to be met or a problem to be overcome. As a result, discussions about diversity often embrace nothing more than statistics and quotas. It's no wonder that people are beginning to get tired of the whole thing.
"Managers strive to put something back" - Management Issues, 5 April 2007
"Move outside your comfort zone" - The Guardian, 30 March 2007
"When only the broadest outlook will do" - The Guardian, 21 February 2007
"Drive to get more ethnic minorities into British boardrooms" - Management Issues, 17 October 2006
"I'm very good with a hatchet" - The Guardian, 17 March 2006
