The On Purpose 2012 Associates are out of the starting blocks....

Welcome to 2012 - London’s third Olympic year and the third year of On Purpose. And, like the Olympics, On Purpose is getting bigger and better with a record eighteen Associates in this year’s cohort.

For those of you who still don’t know, On Purpose is a one-year leadership development programme which combines two paid six-month work placements in the social enterprise space with weekly training in professional, commercial, social and personal development topics.

I have to admit that I have sometimes been confronted with blank looks when I try to explain On Purpose to others. I think it comes down to the fact that a lot of people are still unfamiliar with the term ‘social enterprise’. However, I like to think that this is a diminishing problem. This week I read YouGov research that showed that a third of people have never heard of social enterprise. My first reaction was that this means that two-thirds of people have heard of social enterprise! Does anyone agree with me that two out of three people ain’t bad?

The 2012 programme kicked off last month with two days of induction (stay tuned for the next blog to learn more about this), led by founder, Tom Rippin, and Programme Manager, Kate Richardson. Day one of induction felt a bit like day one at uni combined with episode one of The Apprentice. I surprised myself by learning the other 17 names almost immediately (see here to learn more about them).

I am now in week 3 of my first placement at the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and am really excited to get things rolling. The SSE is an established and respected provider of action-learning programmes, and has eight schools in the UK, two in Australia and one in Canada. 2012 is shaping up to be a busy and exciting time, with a new partnership between the SSE and Lloyds Banking Group helping the SSE to reach more entrepreneurs than ever before.

As an On Purpose Associate, I know that my challenge is to have a direct, positive impact and add value at my placement right from the beginning – and I wouldn't have it any other way. The learning curve is steep and will involve me asking my new colleagues at the SSE lots of questions, and so far they have dealt with my queries very patiently. It will also involve me taking advantage of the strong support network that On Purpose builds around us. As well as being able to discuss our placements with our coaches, mentors and buddies, we can, of course, get a second opinion, a third opinion and a seventeenth opinion by talking to each other.

One of the 2011 Associates, Jordyan, said in a previous post on this blog “The other associates are like close colleagues without the competition.” And I feel lucky to be in that position.

One exercise we have been asked to do is write down our goals for the year, and one of mine is to enjoy the year, simple as that. I have a good feeling about that one.