Leaders need to listen

Julia Middleton — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:20:42 +0000

I spoke for a long time with a business leader in China about leadership. It made me realise that as a Westerner if I hear the words “Leadership” and “China” in one sentence my mind immediately computes “Mao” and to some extent turns off. Yours might too.

So it was interesting to go further. He talked about the Confucian roots of everyday leadership in China: of the credibility of the word “wisdom” in the context of leadership; of the commitment to forests rather than trees, so that systems deliver; of the culture of cultivating yourself before you lead. He said that Chinese culture is very old and is now perhaps being reborn.

And he talked about what the Chinese perceive Western leadership to be about: the drive to perform ever better individually; the dismissing of words like “wisdom” as wet; the drive to specialise and to compartmentalise.

As ever, the temptation to be defensive and make easy retorts needs resisting lest something important passes us by.

Twenty years of change

Julia Middleton — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:53:45 +0000

Tiananmen Square was twenty years ago this week. How the world – and China – have changed. The symbol for me was the earthquake last year when the Chinese government opened its reporting to foreign journalists. Over the last few months we have been talking to many leaders in China about whether we could start Common Purpose there and I believe that it increasingly makes sense . The sheer talent in China and the hunger of Chinese leaders to learn FROM people all over the world seems finally to be almost – not quite yet but almost – equalled by the rest of the worlds wish to learn at least ABOUT China. I hope that Common Purpose in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, as a first step, is around the corner, then with luck Shanghai.

Julia Middleton's Thoughts on Leadership » china

Leaders need to listen

Twenty years of change