Common Purpose - Leadership News

Between 13-16 November, 26 participants from various not-for-profit organisations across the UK will explore collaborative leadership, one-to-one coaching and personal and organisational branding, developing some of the key skills required for effective leadership in the third sector.

American Express, in partnership with Common Purpose, are running the American Express Leadership Academy in the UK as part of a 5-year initiative to develop emerging leaders who have the potential to become senior leaders in the not-for-profit sector.

"At American Express, we appreciate the impact that talented leaders have on business, the community and society," said Timothy J. McClimon, President of the American Express Foundation. "We are committed to providing current and future not-for-profit leaders with opportunities to build and hone leadership skills that are critical to the sector."

Laura Smith, Acting Head of Global Xchange, VSO, attended the 2010 Academy which was also run in partnership with Common Purpose. She described it as "a valuable opportunity to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses as a leader and identify clear goals for development, both professionally and personally, with the opportunity to build a network of support and contacts".

Common Purpose in Scotland recently organised a day on leadership for 48 young women post-grads from universities across the UAE, who were in Dundee for a summer school at the Al Maktoum HE College. The Chief Constable of Tayside Police, the Development Director of 'M' Technologies (Glasgow, London, Chicago), the Chief Executive of Aberlour Childcare Trust Scotland, and the Vice President HR for Fairmont Group Europe took part in the discussions which explored attitudes to leadership, best attributes of leaders, and how people become leaders.

A fantastic day all round!

The inaugural Itijah Venture, the latest in our Ventures series, was run in Abu Dhabi in April in partnership with the Emirates Foundation. An intense and stimulating event, it drew together 40 participants from 7 cities - Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, Amman, Benghazi, Budapest, Istanbul and Manchester - to explore the challenge: "What would it take to multiply the number of young people who create new businesses using ICT and social media?"

Throughout the four days the participants heard from speakers who ranged from young entrepreneurs starting out in business to established entrepreneurs sharing their learning on social media, enterprise and scale. We also had three 15-year old students joining us to give the group a youth perspective. Visits out in Abu Dhabi were to a range of organisations working in diverse areas of youth engagement, youth unemployment, entrepreneurship, ICT and social media.

The group came up with six fascinating models for solving the challenge. The next steps will be for the participants to refine, develop and then present their ideas to policy makers and leaders in the different cities.

Common Purpose Ventures connect future leaders, across the world, to tackle challenges which are common and compelling, and big (enough to be worth the effort) and small (enough to be grasped).

Some of the comments from participants:

"Itijah has not just met my expectations, it has gone way beyond them".

"An eye opener, a life changing experience, a push to start my own life journey, a chance to break your stereotypes".

"Itijah is an exceptional experience towards better future and youth in both Europe and the Arab World"

"You must attend this event"

If you'd like to know more about the Itijah Venture or are interested in getting involved please contact Itijah@commonpurpose.org or visit the website.