Julia Middleton
Julia Middleton is the founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose. She is a passionate campaigner for more - as well as diverse - leaders who are active in civil society.
In the autumn of 1988, Julia formed Common Purpose, an international leadership organisation. Common Purpose aims to improve the way organisations and society works by increasing the number of informed individuals who are actively involved in shaping the future of the area in which they live and work. By bringing leaders from diverse backgrounds together, Common Purpose creates new networks for current and future decision-makers.
Common Purpose operates in over 50 locations across the UK and is developed world-wide through Common Purpose International running programmes in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, South Africa and Hungary. It is currently developing new programmes in India, Turkey, France, Switzerland and Ghana.
Since 1989, more than 20,000 leaders from all corners of the UK - and an additional 3,000 worldwide - have completed one or more of our programmes.
Julia was born in London, although her family comes from Bolton. As a child she lived in several European cities and in New York where her father worked in international trade. She was educated at French state schools throughout, returning to Britain at the age of 16 to take her Baccalaureate at the French Lycee in London. She then received an economics degree from the London School of Economics.
Julia's international upbringing and early perspective on multi-cultural societies had already sown the seeds which were to develop into her future work. She began her working life in employee relations at the Industrial Society, working within companies across the United Kingdom on their briefing and consultative systems.
Julia believes that: "As professionals we cannot afford to be isolated from our fellow decision-makers. As people we cannot continue to be insulated from our fellow citizens. These twin beliefs are the founding principles of Common Purpose and they have continued to underpin everything we do."
She has been called a ‘new alchemist’ by Charles Handy, who, in his book The New Alchemists, said of her: “How Julia came to be the force she is, the values she holds and the way she applies them, contains messages for many who dream of making the difference she has done” and has been awarded an Honorary Degree from London South Bank University for “showing leaders how to break out of the bureaucratic box”.
In 2007, her book, Beyond Authority: Leadership in a Changing World, was published by Palgrave Macmillan. The book explores a new style of leadership where authority has to be earned rather than granted. The book secured rave reviews from Rosabeth Moss Kanter at Harvard Business School and Sir Derek Higgs, among others. Julia also contributed to the How to be an Even Better Chair book, written by Sophie Petit-Zeman in association with Common Purpose and published by Pearson in 2006.
Julia is married to Rupert Middleton, has five children and lives in Hackney, London. Julia is a trustee of Alfanar and the Media Standards Trust and is a member of the Shadow National Advisory Board of the National Centre for Diversity.
Email her at julia.middleton@commonpurpose.org.uk
