by business editor Trevor Sturgess

The best leaders work on developing their own skills, according to the new chairman of Kent’s Common Purpose Advisory Group.

Simon Russell, managing director of John Lewis Bluewater, attended a Common Purpose programme in 2002 and says it transformed his view of leadership, improving his skills and making him a more rounded, outward-looking individual.

He is now steering a group of business and public sector leaders who monitor and guide the Kent and Medway branch of the independent charity.

Common Purpose encourages leaders from private, public and voluntary sectors to work more closely together for the good of all. It aims to improve the way organisations and society work, and operates across the UK and internationally.

Programmes have been held in Kent and Medway for more than 10 years, developing hundreds of managers from various walks of life.

"Successful leaders for me are those who constantly invest time in their own development and refine themselves," Mr Russell said. "They regularly hold a mirror up to study themselves but they also see and learn exactly what’s going on around them. They achieve more. Those who think they have made it tend to go stale or get left behind."

Working in isolation poses dangers, he warns. "Often leaders don’t see the synergies and perhaps unknowingly work against each other."

But thriving communities can be created by good leadership and collaboration: "The exposure to others has helped me understand how the community I do business in ticks. Seeing beyond my own business helps me make better decisions."