Julia Middleton's Thoughts on Leadership

As part of our Leaders’ Questions in London, I interviewed Nigel Morris Jones and 11 other leaders. He pointed out that in 2009 the UK saw quite a bit of crisis management but not a great deal of leadership. I agree, and I disagree.
Good crisis management is a part of good leadership. I don’t think [...]

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I’m not one for fashion, let alone outlandish runway designs. I can admire the structural engineering that goes into creating these textile sculptures, but (and I know I’m missing the point here) they seem highly impractical to wear.
My attitude to this, which will no doubt cause the eye-roll of many a fashion doyenne, by no [...]

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This week I read an article by Robert Bruce in Financial Director that highlighted the need for some plain speaking honesty from financial directors. It really hit the nail on the head for me when I think how arrogant and self-important ‘closed shop’ speak can be, and how flawed the communications skills of many leaders [...]

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In amongst all the noise from Davos – and I’m only concerned that there is so much to listen to that people will switch off – but it is lovely to hear from a banker in this film who actually did do a great job in 2009.
What comes across when he speaks about the World [...]

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Last week Common Purpose held an event called Leaders’ Questions in the UK. We asked around 40 leaders to discuss with some great speakers what the leadership challenges were in 2009, what they’ve learned, and how they will now face the challenges and the opportunities in 2010.
By the end of the day we were exhausted. [...]

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I read an article in the Guardian last Saturday that I disagreed with. It was an analysis of the recent research conducted by The Work Foundation called ‘Exceeding Expectation: the principles of outstanding leadership’.
The analysis in the Guardian is looking to distinguish and almost set at odds either target-driven or people-focused approaches – when there [...]

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Last week Mary O’Hara wrote an interesting piece in the Guardian about Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative.
It’s a good piece.
It’s sad when experienced leaders complete their formal career and expect ‘that call’. If it never comes, they retreat to the golf course. But the call doesn’t always happen because they have been so absorbed in [...]

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I am on the flight to Mumbai, home of Bollywood, celebrity and fame.
The last few days have been about deciding the business plan with the board and my colleagues in India. We have been working through which of the multitude of opportunities here we are going to do first. And there are almost infinite opportunities [...]

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I was in Frankfurt on Monday – in the pouring, sheeting, drenching, rain – talking to a big company about leadership. I sat in the airport on my way back and watched all the world leaders doing their talks (in the rain) about the wall coming down on the other side of Germany. They all [...]

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My first boss always said to me “fish go dead from the head”, if you get the leadership right then the rest can follow. Without leadership nothing works even with all the beauty, resources, and passions that Africa has.
It has recently been announced that the Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership will not be awarded [...]

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