When you already own and manage a media business, it can be hard to break out of the operational cycle to have new ideas or imagine new approaches to tackle existing challenges. This is not only true in media businesses. For instance, it applies equally to people in Senior Ministerial positions in government.

GMT Media and its partners have worked with business leaders and governments to help them re-imagine what the future might look like and then support them as they take the steps necessary to make it happen.

It is a non-directive approach which helps leaders decide for themselves what it is they need to do to reach their goals. 

Cambridge University has launched an initiative which in part builds on this methodology.  It is drawing on work that Steve McCauley and Jerry Timmins have been doing.  The new Programme is called The Resilience and Sustainable Development Programme (RSDP) and aims to improve resilient leadership, while supporting policy making that drives institutional innovations. The Programme is based at the Centre for Rising Powers (CRP), Department of Politics and International Studies, where both Jerry Timmins and Steve McCauley are now Senior Research Fellows.   

The programme intends to bring together pre-eminent scholars with leaders who have a track record of making imaginative and sustainable innovations. It is coupling creative processes and thought with practical experience and operational skills.

The programme is drawing on the Adaptive Leadership model pioneered by Ronald Heifetz at Harvard Kennedy School as well as Marty Linsky’s work at Cambridge Leadership Associates. Steve McCauley, who has worked closely with GMT Media, is exploring how adaptive leadership can be applied in development.

Jerry Timmins

Managing Director, GMT Media Ltd