Julia Middleton's thoughts on leadership

Made a pitch this morning to an international  organisation. The pitch team regrouped to give each other feedback. Very helpful reminder from a colleague “Julia never say anything negative .” Even if its only one negative point amongst plenty of positive ones. For some leaders negative points are signs of weakness; not being on side. [...]

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Someone drew a parallel for me between royal leaders and leaders of huge corporations and organisations. I don’t know if its true but it has made me think. He talked about how kings and queens are aware of their position and how there is a clear, if invisible, line that you cannot cross when you [...]

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I am very interested in the expression “earned leadership”. Leaders earn the right to lead because they do or are – what? Of course the expression “earn” implies something important. That people do not become leaders (other than in title) simply by being appointed – whatever the method of appointment. They have to earn it [...]

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I was in a meeting with some leaders from Ireland during which the national debt went from 38 billion to 50 billion. It was interesting talking about the sense in Ireland amongst leaders in such times. They said two things: Everyone just wants to know what the final figure is. They don’t much care what [...]

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Yesterday we had the first Advisory Group meeting of Dishaa: a new initiative for future leaders in the UK and India. The Advisory Group for this initiative includes senior leaders from both countries who, throughout the careers and outside their areas of work, have achieved extraordinary things. They set the challenge which will be met [...]

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In the UK, trust in leaders has eroded. It is worth saying that maybe in some ways this is a good thing. If it means we do a double take and think for ourselves. And if it means that leaders don’t over promise.

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Making Good Society is the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, published by the Carnegie UK Trust this month. I think the report speaks to some strong points, but I do take issue with some of the content. Alarm bells go off for [...]

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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 [...]

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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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As ever, Christmas and the holiday season has crept up – even more so now that I don’t have small children’s nativity plays to go to, which used to get you in the mood. Now, before I know it, I’m panicking about food and presents and wondering where the year went. This year its not [...]

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