People On Purpose — Darren Robson

Now a staple of the On Purpose blog, the People On Purpose series has been running nearly as long as the organisation. It’s yet to achieve the cult status of Desert Island Discs, but the format of seven simple questions is our nod to the ultimate accolade in someone’s career. If you’ve an idea of who deserves to be given the People On Purpose treatment, be in touch and let us know.

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship (MOE Foundation) provides coaching and mentoring to defeat the conditions that create a poverty mind set in society by stimulating conscious, purposeful entrepreneurial spirit in current and future global generations. MOE’s Darren Robson is the personification of the entrepreneurial, fun, unconventional and inspiring spirit of MOE.

Why do you do the job that you do?

I love helping people, I love entrepreneurship, I love working with talented young people who are full of ideas and just need some help focusing them. It’s fun, and I feel like I’m making a contribution. I feel very privileged to do what I do.

My mum died when she was 52, and my siblings and I made a commitment to help young people from poor backgrounds to share and instil the values that she instilled in us: love, hope, being an optimist, and seeing the beauty in life. I often call her an earth angel. The work I do is the result of my commitment to her. I was a kid that grew up on a council estate, and our family were not particularly wealthy. But my siblings and I had a loving and rich family life. However, we saw many people who didn’t have the same support that we were lucky to have. If somebody like me can contribute and make a difference, surely anybody can.

What are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of MOE. It’s an idea that’s taken 11 years to get where it is today. I would have never guessed where it would be today, and it’s beyond where I would have imagined it to be when it started. It’s genuinely role-modelling the type of collaborative and purposeful leadership the world needs….if you like we have what Charles Handy called a ‘Nobel Purpose’.

What keeps you up at night?

I’m someone who sleeps pretty easily, so if I’m up late at night it’s because I’m doing something that I love and that excites me. I often come up with my best ideas at night, which leads to staying up to do research or send emails. I’m not somebody who worries too much. But I do have two young daughters and I’m always thinking about their development, their growth, and their education.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

I had just resigned from my position at Deloitte, and I was also just starting to experience becoming a dad — it makes you realise what’s important in life. Life is short and you never know when your time is up.

What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?

I’ll be doing what I’m doing now, but on a more global scale, there is a huge need in the world for organisations like MOE to make a contribution and difference in our precious world. For example MOE will be doing training and coaching for teachers so that we can bring coaching into education. The word for education comes from the Latin educo which means to draw forth from within to train (I lead forth, I take out; I raise up, I erect). So education is natural fit for what we do. Personally, I hope I’ll be doing a lot more travelling and starting a lot more fires and MOE camps all over the world. I don’t know exactly where all this is going to go, but I know that we’re going to consistently focus on the purpose manifesto and to make sure we help ‘game change’ peoples on the journey. We are growing globally with a presence in the UK, Tanzania and India. We intend to create MOE Hubs in countries across the world.

If you were PM for a day what would you do?

Oh my god, I’d have to do something that’s going to make a really big difference.

I would make it mandatory for every young person to spend one day with a really amazing coach to help them have the right mindset for their life. In fact, I would make it mandatory for every person, because a moement in your life can change your life positively forever more, so I would create a moement for everyone which can positively impact their life. I think the UK and world at large would be far better off if people had access to the leading edge coaching and psychological insights and learning that a coaching journey can provide for you.

I think there would be far greater awareness, responsibility, deliberate positive action in our country and world. Coaching gets you to unmask who you are and to stand in the truth of your own limitations whilst at the same honouring and appreciating all that you can do. Ultimately it gets you to a point in life where you realise the purpose in life is to contribute and to make a difference, hence M.A.D. in a MOEMENT.

Why are you involved with OnPurpose?

I was very lucky to meet Tom, and when I met him, I felt like I was at least one stage behind him. He shared with me what he was doing with On Purpose, and I just thought ‘This guy is awesome, he’s absolutely awesome. He is the purposeful entrepreneur that I’m trying to be.’ He left the comfort and safety of McKinsey. It inspired me, to see a fellow crazy person with a dream that had actually turned into reality.