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In 1948, leaders across the UK started the National Health Service. It was a bold act that created what has since become a symbol of the values that unite the UK. They were remarkable leaders who left an enduring legacy.

Young people today will be the leaders—of their organizations, in their communities, and of the UK– when the NHS turns 101 years old, in thirty years’ time.

That’s why three organizations have come together to support today’s younger generation, through the UK101 Leadership Programme: so that these young people can match the ambition of the leaders who founded the NHS, and shape their generation’s own unique legacy.

Inspired by the leaders of 1948, the UK101 Leadership Programme (UK101) is a free online programme offered by international leadership organization Common Purpose. Open to all young people aged 18-25 in the UK, it offers participants the chance to connect with each other and explore the model of UK101 Leadership, which was co-created by 1,000 young people from across the country. UK101 Leadership brings a fresh perspective to what it means to be a leader with its focus on four interconnected leadership characteristics: Radical, Embracing, Strategic and Resilient.

After UK101 launched in June 2020, Common Purpose, the UK Chapter of the International Coach Federation (UK ICF), and Know You More partnered to provide free coaching sessions, delivered virtually, to UK101 alumni, and further amplify the programme’s impact.

Through this collaborative partnership, alumni of UK101 are matched with a UK ICF credentialed coach through Know You More’s innovative platform. Through one-on-one sessions, UK101 coachees work with their coaches to deepen their skills and confidence, and develop ideas on how they would like to take UK101 Leadership forward in their lives.

The first round of coaching relationships was piloted with the first cohort in July and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the coachees. 98% of coachees said they are likely to recommend the experience to a friend.

Image: a tweet from Harriet, a UK101 coachee

Sangeeta Bhopal, one UK101 coachee passionate about youth leadership and empowerment, found new confidence from her coaching sessions.

She said, “One of the areas I worked on with my coach was building assertiveness skills and having confidence in my own voice, particularly when it comes to confrontational situations or situations where I need to present an alternative point of view in a group setting. I feel much more confident now about using my voice in settings where I might have otherwise held back in the past.”

Another UK101 coachee, Nabeeda Bakali, found more clarity through her coaching sessions on the next steps of her leadership journey: “I got the coaching sessions at a time in my life when I was looking to understand what my next steps would look like, where I want to go, and what I want my end goals to be. Each session helped me break things down, think outside the box, and think about how I would get to those things I was aiming for. My final session ended with a project plan for the next 6 months and how I would get to that goal I had set myself at the start of the first session.”

Felicity Hodkinson, 2020 President of the UK ICF Chapter, said: “Working with a coach is a fantastic way of anchoring and transforming knowledge and insights gained from training into beliefs, habits and actions. The feedback from the pilot evidences that by matching UK101 alumni with ICF credentialed coaches we unlock a little more of the potential of this inspiring programme, and contribute to activating a new generation of leadership in the UK.”

Given the positive feedback and demonstrated impact of the coaching sessions, Common Purpose, the UK ICF, and Know You More are scaling the coaching offer to continue to offer sessions for future alumni of UK101 free of cost. The ambition is to be able to provide these coaching sessions to every participant who expresses interest in the opportunity.

Tim Mart, CEO of Know You More said, “We have been super excited to work with Common Purpose and the UK ICF as this innovative and exciting initiative aligns perfectly with our Know You More social purpose of supporting young adults, from all backgrounds, through our “Level Up” Programme. As we have demonstrated success through the pilot first cohort in July 2020, we are working actively to enable scaling and access to a wider reach of young people. This will allow them to match their ambitions and shape their generation’s own unique legacy, so exciting times ahead!”

Applications for the next cohort of UK101, which will run from 18 January to 28 February 2021, are now open via commonpurpose.org/uk101 .

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