The UK is neglecting its leadership pipeline

New research has found that many of the UK's young leaders are being overlooked. A survey of 1,200 people by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose has found that less that half of people receive leadership development before the age of 25. This is despite the fact that over half of respondents said they had wanted leadership development at a younger age.

The significance of this disparity is underlined by the finding that 60% of respondents had already held leadership positions by the time they reached 25. The survey found that the majority of these leadership positions were in employment. This suggests that there are many young people taking the lead in the UK's workplaces who feel that they are not getting the leadership development they need. That the UK is neglecting its leadership pipeline by failing to prepare its young leaders to become the senior leaders of tomorrow.

Julia Middleton, Chief Executive of Common Purpose says: "We have to redress this imbalance because organisations and society need more young people prepared and able to stand up as leaders.

"You have to learn to lead young because it's a bumpy ride, you inevitably get it right and wrong for a long time, and you have to be able to bounce back, forgive yourself and keep going."

To address this problem, Common Purpose is expanding Frontrunner, its leadership development programme for the UK's young adults. The Frontrunner programme uses real-life situations as its classroom. Participants are taken to a diverse range of organisations where they explore the problems they are facing, alongside the people who are tackling them. This is a rare chance to explore what is required to lead effectively with people already leading change in society. Participants also gain a stimulating new peer network of other leaders across the UK.

Frontrunner is a residential course that will be held five times in 2009:
· 22-25 June 2009, in London
· 6-9 July 2009, in Glasgow
· 13-16 July 2009, in Leeds
· 2-5 September 2009, in Bristol
· 7-10 September 2009, in Belfast

There are over 100 free places on the programme and the application process is now open to people over the age of 18, who may be in full-time education or are in the very early stages of their career, and who have already shown evidence of leadership. The deadline for the Glasgow, Leeds and London Frontrunner programmes is 27 April 2009. The deadline for the Bristol and Belfast programme is 27 July 2009. The short application process can be found online: http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/frontrunner