Starting ‘On Purpose’

Two weeks into the On Purpose programme and I have to say it feels like I have been part of the On Purpose journey for months. Right from the start it felt right — being with my fellow Associates, meeting January 2012 Associates, listening to the Fellows, being guided by Tom & Kate and the amazing programme itself. What can I say? You do indeed feel like very quickly like part of the On Purpose family.

Induction
The most important aspect of the first week of induction was getting to know my fellow Associates. Some were lawyers, others were management consultants, someone else used to be an engineer or like me having owned my own small management and consultancy in the creative industry. The thing that brings us together is the passion for social enterprise. It is very stimulating to be surrounded by like-minded people and I can truly say it gives me a real buzz. It is a special feeling to be part of a select group of people whom you will spend a year together with, developing new skills and learning everything about the social enterprise industry (however you want to define it). Besides getting a clear picture of how the year was going to look like, we also got to work in teams trying out new problem-solving techniques and ways to give feedback. This is something really practical, which can and should be used at work. At the same time it gave me a good sense of how the year is going to be like.

[caption id=”attachment_3842" align=”aligncenter” width=”300" caption=”Tom and the new Associates at the first week of training”]

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Placement

I am currently placed with Spice, a social enterprise that develops agency time credit systems for communities and public services that engage and empower the many rather than the few. These time credits encourage people to give time to build communities and run local services. It is a fascinating concept. In the first week Spice threw me in the deep end by sending me out to Wales, Wiltshire and all around London (incl. City of London) to meet the people and getting familiar with the company. By the end of that week, on the Friday, I finally went to the office for the first time. I have just started my second week, but I am already getting into specifics about my actual projects. I already love the organisation.

I can tell it is going to be an amazing year full of challenges and opportunities!