Julia Middleton's thoughts on leadership

Everyone has a different way of assessing people. Just spoke to someone who always uses “winners” and “survivors”. Any organisation, he says, needs a lot of survivors to do the work in a professional way. Any organisation also needs winners because they will create something new. He says of course there are losers but most [...]

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So the first of the great televised debates for the top political job in the UK takes place tonight, and I am wondering which lens we should all be watching it through… Shall we focus on what these three men have to say on policy? Or the issues? Or will we scrutinise their competency? Or [...]

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There is an interesting discussion on the Common Purpose LinkedIn group encouraging us to be brave enough to answer the question “Why should anyone be led by you?” – not an easy one. How would you answer it?  In the discussion there is the suggestion that you should think about whether you are consistent in [...]

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I was brought up to have no respect for any position, age, background or title. My father told me that no one was better than me other than as a result of their ability, experience, achievements or character. At best people like this in me, and at worst they think my lack of deference is [...]

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A couple of weeks ago, I spent the day with several Egyptians. None of them saw Obama in person – they had been told not to go out on their balcony or even look out of their window as his motorcade went past – but they heard his speech and told me with delight, “It’s [...]

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Strange how the world suddenly stops. Someone needs you totally; someone you care for dies. Suddenly, the vast action list of the morning becomes irrelevant. Nothing like this has happened, but I am in quarantine – my son has swine flu! So people with masks over their faces come and check us out at home, [...]

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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 [...]

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I hit 50 today. That’s 50 people I have met in the last seven days who have told me that they plan to “sit tight” through the recession. And they call themselves leaders! Their assumption is: it will get back to where it was it’s just a question of waiting that they have no role [...]

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It seemed sad that for many years TV was never interested in producing anything about leadership. Finally in the UK there is a programme that addresses a lot of the issues. It has a huge following, ratings are soaring, no-one wants to miss an episode…it’s “The Apprentice”. Sometimes I feel like the only person in [...]

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