Last night we celebrated the launch of the second annual Index of Leadership Trust - a joint initiative from the Institute of Leadership and Management and Management Today magazine.

L-R: Barbara Stocking, Matthew Gwyther & Penny de Valk

The index - a survey of 5,000 employees - takes the temperature of trust within UK organisations.  It asks people to rate how their line manager and CEO perform against six key dimensions (ability, understanding, fairness, openness, integrity and consistency).  The results this year revealed that trust had been decimated in organisations who had been percieved to manage their response to the recession badly.

Despite the report being published on the day of Tony Blair's much-anticipated autobiography (an event that kept CG's Kate and Chris, who work with Foyles, busy for most of the day!) the team achieved some terrific coverage, including a splash on page 2 of the Financial Times.

The launch party was held at One Alfred Place and attended by HR Directors and CEOs of organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors.  MT's Editor, Matthew Gwyther, called a temporary halt to the networking and champagne-sipping and heralded the speeches and presentation section of the evening.  He introduced ILM's CEO, Penny de Valk, who explained why trust is important in helping organisations to function better and how the Index reflects ILM's view of good leadership and management - it demonstrates that good leadership is more then just the ability to do your job well, it requires integrity, consistency and clarity of purpose.

ILM's Director of Policy & Research, David Pardey, took guests on a whistlestop tour of the main findings - that trust within the public sector is lower than the private sector, that line managers score better than CEOs, that trust within charities was highest across sector comparisons and that female CEOs are more trusted than their male counterparts.

The latter two points very neatly set up guest speaker Dame Barbara Stocking, Chief Executive of Oxfam.  Barbara made a brilliant speech, sharing her own response to the Index, her views on trust and how to build it, and some insights from the workings of Oxfam - an organisation that has 6,000 paid staff and 20,000 volunteers spread across the UK and many international locations, from Angola to Azerbaijan. Her view was that, in addition to a leader being able to demonstrate their integrity, communication was a particularly important tool.

When asked by a male CEO if she had any pointers, she said her top tip was: 'listen'! "Male bosses may have a perceived lack of emotional intelligence," she said, "But this can be built. I suggest if you think you don't have it - study it, learn it, practice it. Emotional intelligence invaluable for understanding the people who work for you and what drives them."

Thereafter the networking (and champagne!) resumed aplenty, as people shared their own thoughts on the survey, its findings and ILM's recommendations for building trust. For my part, I was pleased to see that line managers in the media/marketing/PR sector had scored highly...

How much do you trust your boss? Try the trust-o-meter and find out!

Blogger: Amy MacLaren

Amidst the barrage of daunting headlines about the tough times facing graduates and school leavers alike, a success story has reached the Campaigning Team at CG that brought excited squeals and smiles all round.

In July, we launched the Association of Graduate Recruiters Summer Survey. Some of the key figures picked up in the media included employers estimating a 6.9% drop in graduate vacancies, the race for graduate job intensifying as applications soar and 78% of employers now insisting on a minimum 2.1 degree.

One of the graduates who did an interview about the survey and his struggle to find work was University of Birmingham graduate Patrick Purcell. Patrick graduated with a First in Maths, and had a job lined up in a Government department. However the job offer was retracted following spending cuts in the public sector.

When Patrick was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, he was temping in the Finance Department at Birmingham City University.

We have just found out that, as a direct result of his interview on the programme, he's been offered a job at Npower as a gas project analyst. Congratulations to Patrick from everyone at CG and the team at the PM programme, who were equally as thrilled when they heard the news!

Whilst it could be thought that demand for information and comment from the AGR and its Chief Executive, Carl Gilleard, would relent a little over the 'silly season' of August, in fact the opposite has been true. Yesterday, Carl issued some sage advice to school leavers: http://www.agr.org.uk/content/AGR-offers-advice-to-school-leavers

And with A-level results out today and clearing just beginning, it may just well get busier still.

Blogger: Scarlett Yianni

As one of Colman Getty's latest intake of interns, my introduction to the world of PR has been something of a whirlwind. Yesterday's Man Booker Prize longlist announcement was a terrific example.

As I sat in a taxi chatting with Ion Trewin, the  Literary Director  of the Man Booker Prize, I had a few moments to reflect on my situation. Unlike many of my friends in similar positions, I was not making tea, running errands or photocopying, but sitting next the Literary Director of the Man Booker Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the country, and working for the company which has organised the prize for the last eighteen years.  My reaction was one not only of awe but also gratitude to CG for allowing me to experience real PR and not just the inside of the photocopy room.

After Ion and I had delivered the  13  longlisted  novels back to the CG office, I began to research the authors. It was fascinating to read the stories behind their success and sneak a peek at the books themselves. As the converted pile of books lay on my desk, I compiled a list of the first line from each novel for a Front Row broadcast taking place  that night . The task inevitably took longer than it should have, as it was difficult to close a book once it was opened. I began by typing out the first line of Skippy Dies: "Skippy and Ruprecht are having a doughnut-eating race one evening when Skippy turns purple and falls off his chair." I would challenge anyone who claims not be curious about Skippy's fate. Well, 10 pages later, and with a firm grasp of Skipppy's future, I realised I had an additional 12 books to get through and quickly returned to the task in hand. I do however remain hopeful that we have a spare copy of the book floating around somewhere for my train ride home!

The buzz from yesterday's announcement spilled over into today as the print coverage of the longlist appeared. The response has been phenomenal and it was great to observe the process by which a concise press release had been transformed overnight into a front page story on The Times. Lucy and Jill's desks have been awash all day with cuttings  from various newspapers detailing the announcement. As for me, I spent my morning trying to keep up to date with the twitter coverage. However, as the page updates itself every time I print it, this has not been easy.  So I am left wondering, if this is what the longlist response is, quite how busy will we be when the shortlist is announced? And what about the winner?

Blogger: Anna Montgomery

David Mach's man-size coat hanger crucifixion sculpture swung from the articulated lorry and hung in front of St Giles Cathedral yesterday morning while Barcroft media took photographs. The snap-happy tourists soon joined in as did photographers distracted from their job of covering a big case at the High Court across the road. Then the crucifixion was attached to scaffolding and remained centre stage in Parliament Sq for five hours set against a threateningly grey Edinburgh sky.

David Mach with Coat Hanger Crucifixion (c) Alan Wylie

Everyone's response was different. Some amazed at the use of coathangers; one fixated by the shiny bolts in the feet and before it was taken down we had a call from the registry office complaining that the sculpture might put off those getting married!

After the huge success of David's coat hanger gorilla in the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition, this was the first opportunity to see work from his next project which is inspired by and will mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. The year-long project will culminate in this crucifixion sculpture and The Tower of Babel collage, currently on show in the Summer Exhibition, returning to Edinburgh in a large exhibition of David's work at the City Arts Centre in July 2011.

www.davidmach.com/works/kingjames.asp

Blogger: Kate Wright-Morris

The UK's biggest gardening show was back in full bloom this summer.

Organised by the Royal Horticultural Society, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (6-11 July) has become a much-loved British institution, having gained a reputation for providing some of the world's best conceptual gardens and a feast of grow your own attractions.

We've been working with the fabulous PR and Shows' teams from the RHS since March and were so excited to finally be on-site for its build up and launch.

Donning our high-vis vests and (very) sensible shoes, Hannah and I started work at the Show first thing on Saturday morning.  Getting to know the site took a little bit of time: the show covered a mighty 34 acres and featured 16 Show Gardens, 13 Small Gardens, six Conceptual Gardens, five Sustainable Gardens, six Shakespeare's Comedies Gardens, a massive 2000m² floral marquee, Home Grown exhibit (fields of golden crops, chickens, bee hives and vegetables by the truckload), a cookery theatre, and a rose festival.  The comfy shoes really came in handy.

The whole team was on site for Press Day on Monday the 5^th of July, when we welcomed over 600 journalists and photographers down to take note of everything from Judi Dench receiving a rose to a nine-strong vegetable orchestra in the Tyrrells Harvest Celebration garden.

The show was a great success (complete with lots of hot sunny weather).  Once we made it back to the office, after very reluctantly handing in our walkie-talkies, we have all resolved to grow something (or at the very least, play a carrot flute).

Blogger: Kirsten Dennis