Knowledge Hub

Proceed

Welcome to our Knowledge Hub, where we take a deeper dive into important leadership topics. 

Our TEDx talks

Leaders from our organization share their insights on Cultural Collisions, Open Source Leadership and Cultural Intelligence during their TEDx talks. 

Adirupa Sengupta’s Cultural Collisions TEDx talk

As individuals, we experience the world around us in our own unique way. So, when cultures collide within us, each of us is equipped differently to handle the situation. Nevertheless, the options to reconcile the differences in cultures are only limited to two: we either fight it or we flex. Hear more from Adirupa Sengupta, Group Chief Executive of Common Purpose Charitable Trust. 

Andy Coxall’s Open Source Leadership TEDx talk

Andy Coxall, Chief Executive of Common Purpose Student Experiences, tells the stories of the young people he has met around the globe in his quest to mentor the next generation of leaders. He explores what leadership traits young people strive for and how we can embrace this new vision of leadership. 

Julia Middleton’s Cultural Intelligence TEDx talk

We believe the leaders of the future will need Cultural Intelligence. Our founder, Julia Middleton, breaks down Cultural Intelligence and how to develop it in her TEDxEastEnd talk.

Conversations with Purpose

Our initiative to get the world talking 

We believe that, if we are going to heal some of the divisions that have formed in the world today, we need to get better at having 'conversations with purpose'. Our new initiative supports leaders and organizations to have more effective, purpose-driven conversations about real, complex issues that affect us all.

Read our research, which draws on the insights of leaders around the world, and discover our new learning model that better prepares leaders and organizations to start and sustain conversations with purpose.

The Big Spark Cast

The podcast where we have conversations with purpose

In a world full of barriers, we need to be talking more about conversations bigger than ourselves. Join Adi Sengupta and the Common Purpose team in The Big Spark Cast as we talk to people from across the globe around what matters most. We bring you the big conversations. Conversations that spark our curiosity and that can give new perspectives. The conversations needed in the world today.

Common Purpose thought leadership

Common Purpose programmes draw on our thought leadership, in both Cultural Intelligence and Leading Beyond Authority.

What is Cultural Intelligence?

In a global world, where problems cross boundaries between cultures, we need leaders from different cultures who can cross those boundaries too and work together. For this, leaders need Cultural Intelligence (CQ) – the ability to cross divides and thrive in multiple cultures. 

Leading Beyond Authority

Many successful leaders learn to lead in roles where they have clear authority. The result of this leadership model is that many organizations operate in silos. However society needs leaders who can overcome the silo problem inside their own organization – and then move across different spheres of activity outside it and connect them too.

Leadership interviews with Adirupa Sengupta

In this series of interviews, our Group Chief Executive, Adirupa Sengupta, sits down with global leaders to hear their own leadership stories – discussing purpose, resilience, inclusion and more. 

Paul Polman, Co-founder of IMAGINE and Former CEO of Unilever

Adirupa Sengupta, our Group Chief Executive, meets with Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, to discuss the leadership challenge of resilience and opportunities around inclusion. 

Shuvo Saha, Founder, Google Digital Academy

Adirupa Sengupta sat down with Shuvo Saha, Founder, Google Digital Academy to discuss Shuvo’s leadership story and the leadership lessons he learnt while setting up the Google Digital Academy.

Sanjiv Mehta, Chair and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Limited

Sanjiv Mehta, Chair and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Limited, met with Adirupa Sengupta to discuss leading with purpose and creating a culture of inclusion.

Javed Khan, CEO of Barnardo's

Javed Khan, CEO of Barnardo's shares his own leadership journey – including how he solves complex problems as a leader in a role with great responsibility, and the importance of capturing evidence in order to create change.

Topical pieces & reports

Online learning that resonates with the next generation of leaders

Commonwealth100 was launched as we identified an opportunity to connect young leaders across the Commonwealth who were looking for a new approach to leadership development – one that resonates with their generation. It involved engaging young people to build a model of leadership that reflected what kinds of leaders they aspired to be, and then developing an online programme that equipped them with the skills to deliver on this.

Leadership in the North of England

This report provides insight into what leaders in the North of England think about the strength and diversity of their networks, where they think good leadership manifests, and how they believe they are contributing to the success of the North. We received a wealth of responses from a diverse group of leaders at all levels in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors and students. 

What is Diversity and Inclusion 2.0?

Diversity & Inclusion has evolved, find out how leaders in the D&I space are working towards D&I 2.0. We welcome specialists, from across all boundaries, to contribute their expertise, share their insights and reflect on leadership challenges.