31 May 2010

Deadline drawing near.....

Don't forget if you're interested in the Clore Leadership Programme as we wrote about here the deadline closes on Wednesday!!!

All details on their website here.

24 May 2010

Does Social Entrepreneurship matter?

Some think so ... some others don't ... we at On Purpose found this interesting post on a fellow blog and we liked it.

We liked it enough to want to share it and put out the question - what do you think? Is there a danger that the 'Millenial' generation are heading towards disappointment? Or do you agree with Nathaniel Whittamore that Social enterprise is the means to complete the circle? And where is the UK positioned on this?

More to come as we think these through over coming weeks....


(By the way - if you enjoy the blog piece then make sure you carry on and read the comments below ... )

Clore Social Leadership Programme - Fellowship applications open


On behalf of our friends at the Clore Foundation we'd like to pass on the following announcement:
The Clore Social Leadership Programme is now looking for its second cohort of Fellows, who will be recruited through an open application process. To be eligible, applicants must be working in or closely with the wider third sector and will have demonstrated leadership potential in some of the work they have already undertaken.
Each Fellow benefits from a personalised programme which provides challenging opportunities for development, and is tailored to meet their individual needs.
Applications for the 2011 Fellowships will open on 19 April 2010; the deadline for completed applications is 3 June 2010.
For more details about how to apply and to meet the current Fellows, visit the website here.  

Great News - Cameron puts Social Enterprise at the heart of the solution -

















All at On Purpose would like to congratulate Nat Wei on his appointment to the House of Lords - and celebrate the great messages that the new coalition government are sending out about the importance of social enterprise.



18 May 2010

Financial Certainty

I don’t know if it’s because I’d been teed up for success with my brilliance goggles, but I had a sense of continued improvement regarding my financial fluency over the course of this session.  By no means are my interpretive skills on a par with the MBA set of On Purpose Associates, yet, but it was a reassuring revelation that the basics of financial statements are ones you can learn quickly.  No doubt this was predominantly induced by Jonathan Shellard’s  enabling-, financial-literacy-for-all- approach.

Bolstered by the security blanket of uniform reporting requirements, the confidence trick one has to perform to manoeuvre between the: Cash Flow; Balance Sheet; Profit and Loss, Income statement, and; Notes, will no longer be the preserve of the financially-versed few.  
Instead, I feel confident it will become another handy lens through which to critique organisational health, with Candice's chant 'Cash is King' ringing in my ear. 

7 May 2010

How brilliant am I?

How often do we acknowledge our own brilliance?  Not often enough, say Darius and Matt, our guides through the strangeness of accepting our brilliance as it is.  By recognizing our brilliance and stating aloud, we come ever closer to our most productive state of operating – essentially, the nirvana of our career performance.

Most people are brought up to be modest:  modesty is taught to us through childhood, with humility alongside it.  To sit in front of your peers and state the honest truth about your greatest strengths – no, your BRILLIANCE – without dampening any statements using ‘maybe’, ‘kind of’, ‘a little’, was a challenge to say the least!

Softening the experience, however, was what followed.  A feeling of being enveloped in a fluffy cloud of compliments, as your brilliance is explained to you as seen by your peers.  A sort of 360 degree only-positive feedback session.  The atmosphere was one of trust, and calmness.  I think we all felt great at the end, maybe because it was over, but maybe because we all came a little bit closer to our own professional nirvanas.