For so many leaders, Common Purpose provides an opportunity to see the world through other people’s eyes so it’s great that the Common Purpose 360 Day should challenge people to do something along these lines. Common Purpose extends to every leader an invitation to do one thing, big or small, to challenge the way they see the world.

You don’t have to conquer Everest. There are various ways you can challenge yourself to develop a different perspective.

• Visit a part of your city you’ve never seen,
• Subscribe to receive a blog from a writer you’re unfamiliar with,
• Use a different mode of transport for the day to get around,
• Watch a documentary on a topic you’ve no knowledge on,
• Buy your fruit and vegetables somewhere completely different,
• Enrol in a language course;
• Or just invite your neighbours to your house for afternoon tea!

What will you be doing?

One of the things we encourage our 30,000 alumni to do is try and contact other alumni that they don’t know. This year, I hope our alumni will do something a bit more international. Last year there was some wonderful feedback from people who got in touch with alumni in other parts of their cities or from sectors of work different from their own – but seldom in other countries.

Now that Common Purpose operates in so many countries the opportunity to simply email a someone on the other side of the world is incredible.

You can chat to someone who runs an airport in Bangalore, or a community project in a Johannesberg township, or a bank in Dublin, or a hospital in Leipzig, or a parent teachers association in Birmingham, or a town hall in Glasgow, or a policeman in Hong Kong (ok so the first course does not start till November, but soon…!), or a retailer in Budapest.

What an incredible source of knowledge, generosity and insight.

Having said this, I am not going to contact anyone. I am going to try a day of fasting. For some reason Ramadan seemed to go on for ever this year in the UK for my friends who were doing it. They looked gaunt and tired. It must require huge self control, particularly in a country where others continue to eat unaware. Maybe I’ll understand it better if I fast for one day. A small effort compared to their stretch.

Find out more about the 360 Day and get involved at www.commonpurpose360.org

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12 October 2010

So the impact on me? Very simple. For half a day I wondered what people are fussing about. Not eating is easy. Then I started getting bad tempered (no, not bad tempered but short tempered). I did start to obsess about the sun and how slowly it moves. I cannot imagine how you fast if sundown is at 10pm and not 7.30pm.
Did I learn anything? I think I was admiring of people who fast for Ramadan before so no change there, but now I think I am more understanding of their occasional (only very occasional!) short temperedness.

- Julia Middleton.

The article was published two days before the World Economic Forum buzz (or indeed lack thereof for those that stayed away). It’s also been the week of President Obama’s State of the Union address – kind of a spoken annual review, but with many more hand gestures and a serious campaign to go down in history as one of the world’s greatest orators.

Excuse my cynicism. I’m just a little tired of the puffery.

Robert Bruce has hit upon something. The public – these leaders’ publics – are baffled. And they deserve an explanation.

Like all professions, directors of finance have their language – ‘financese’. Removing the ‘puff’ from it would mean making the story of what they do accessible to others, and there’s a fear that this would devalue what highly paid professionals do. They’re not alone.

The thing is, I don’t believe they think of themselves as leaders – and they are. They’re often seen as the boring number crunchers, not the story tellers.

But this year they have such a key role to play – and an important story to tell. They have an even greater responsibility to rebuild the trust in business. It takes numbers to do this, absolutely, but there’s a story here too. It’s a story that should not be reserved for other finance directors or investors – though the stake in communicating to these people is quite clear, and mutually beneficial. But these leaders need to communicate to other people.

See, the numbers don’t lie – they’re just confusing. But the numbers do provide a clear means of telling an organisation’s story. All you need is an accompanying narrative and a clear and straightforward consideration of who needs to hear it. Surely that’s not beyond the capabilities of a financial director (although they might need the services of translators)? And if it is beyond their capabilities, it shouldn’t be.

This year’s story might not have a happy ending, but if we have learned one thing over the past year it is that leaders need to tell the truth because that is what people yearn for above all else – whether it’s good or bad.

In fact, I don’t think that’s limited to the private sector at all. Finance directors across sectors would be wise to redefine themselves as leaders on this issue if they haven’t already done so.

I say congratulations to ICAS for putting together a guide on ‘Making Corporate Reports Readable’. The next step is that leaders within organisations need to tell the story to their people clearly and honestly. They need to write it. They need to speak it. And they need to ensure that it is understood by all their stakeholders.

Stories that end in shock and awe, or that twist and turn are nice for suspense thrillers. Not when your job or the economic stability of your employer or country is at stake. Your people do deserve a straightforward story. And leaders are responsible – at the very least – for telling it well.

Other places where you can read up on this topic include:

• The Times
• Personal Computer World

Today at the World Economic Forum there will be a session on ‘Global Industry Outlook: Finance, Services and Media’, and yesterday there was a session on ‘New Corporate Governance in the Post-Crisis World’.

You can view the programme at Davos here, and view the media coverage here - or refer to the Common Purpose blog to see what our teams are reading.

I wrote that down fast when the chair of a Strategic Health Authority in the UK said it to me the other day. What’s the point in talking things through with people who agree with you? So why do we spend our time doing it? And why do we get so worried when people do have different views? And why do we do we believe that homogenous teams are the most successful?

I had been at a meeting too that day, with a man who appoints interim leaders to failing organisations. He was desperate – his pool of talent needed new skills now. They couldn’t simply work the numbers, move them around, appoint consultants and “drive through” a new strategy. They would actually have to lead – and become vulnerable in so doing – because there was no alternative turnaround option.

The world is revealing the difference between people who act it (and act it well) and people who really are leaders – brave, bold, inspiring, unpolished, driven and difficult.