Future Purpose: A Unique and Personal Guide to Building your C-Suite Career

In this book, Chris van Melle Kamp provides individual executives with deep insights into how they can take charge of their own careers and strategic capabilities on a journey to the C-Suite and beyond.

This profoundly holistic view of executive career development and the inevitable transitions that people experience sets this book apart from any others in its genre. It takes the reader on a unique and deeply researched journey of discovery that points to the key building blocks required to develop knowledge, experience, strategic capability, and critical thinking skills.

The book celebrates the curiosity that resides in all of us, but also leads with powerful themes of renewal and the pursuit of meaningfulness. The theme of renewal plays out in what Chris presents as the emergence of massive changes sweeping through every aspect of the global social, economic, environmental, and political landscape. Although the book focuses on business executives, it is appropriate reading for anyone who wants to develop their career, no matter what sector they find themselves in.

Endorsments

“This book draws on a lifetime of experience in diplomacy, business education, and the corporate world. It presents a practical model that gives readers a way to organize their thoughts and to focus on the key elements for leading a purpose-driven life. The five-dimensional framework deals with issues such as building capability, dealing with context, managing the stages of a career, and clarifying one’s purpose. It is highly recommended for managers and executives as they navigate their personal and professional journeys.”
~ Professor Karl Hofmeyr – Gordon Institute of Business Science

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“I have had the privilege of collaborating with Chris on different initiatives over many years. I remain inspired by his personal journey—spanning diplomacy and business education to executive search, senior leadership development, and conservation, all of which uniquely qualify Chris to advise anyone aspiring, and brave enough, to take on increasingly complex senior leadership roles, or wanting to change career direction. This book comprises a lifetime of insights. Coupled with real life anecdotes, extensive academic research, and his Five-Dimensional framework, it provides a practical compass to help navigate deeper self-understanding, nurture personal growth, and ultimately forge an exhilarating, purposeful, and meaning­ful career and life.”
~ Marina Bidoli, partner at Brunswick Group in Milan, Italy

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“I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Chris over the course of two years, observing him implementing his ‘Future Purpose’ methodology. I’ve witnessed the radical transformation in our organization and its people. It is a powerful way of finding true purpose and implementing it while keeping a wise balance where everyone feels safe and heard. Having the book Future Purpose to guide this complex process is a great gift.”
~ Craig Foster, Foster Brothers Films and co-founder of Sea Change Project

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“An excellent roadmap for any aspiring executive. Set out in an easy and logical manner, the journey unfolds with ample examples. Definitely a road worth traveling. I wish I had access to this career planning framework when I was starting my executive career journey.”
~ Reinher Behrens, previous CEO of McCann, South Africa

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“Chris has been a mentor to me since I was a teenager. I have turned to him for guidance throughout my career, when I was asking myself important questions or had difficult decisions to make. He has always encouraged me towards a more meaningful and authentic path that serves me both creatively and materially, and is aligned with my love for nature—a passion that we share.

Twenty years later, Chris is guiding our organization, Sea Change Project, with the same principles of care and authenticity, ensuring that each member of our team is able to play to their individual strengths and passions, while operating in alignment with the purpose of our organization as a whole. His book Future Purpose captures the essence of his work.”
~ Pippa Erhlich, filmmaker and nature journalist (Oscar winner for best documentary My Octopus Teacher)

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“Career decisions and transformations, by their very nature, are life-changing. The self-perceptions we carry pertaining to the value we can, and must, add to the organizations, groups, and society in which we belong will always shape our lives and guide our decisions.

I worked with Chris during a particularly critical time of self-reflection and decision-making regarding my career—my Future Purpose. Having experienced his program firsthand, and now reading his book, I firmly believe that understanding what has shaped, and still can shape, you into a successful individual (whatever your endeavor) is only half the battle. What can be truly fulfilling is acting smartly on developing this understanding while continually searching for (and following) your purpose.

Understanding, shaping, and planning your response to your origins, your development path, the context in which you do all of this, the stage of life you’re in, and ultimately your purpose, might just change the way in which you view the world. Not only for you personally, but also for your team members, and especially your children.

Programs that give you a sense of processing awareness—where you constantly review your place in your own career and the choices you make—and structured tools to help you do just that are few and far between. This book provides you with the full picture and total context that allows you to think about much more than just yourself in developing purpose for the future. I have not read anything similar or in the same vein before.”
~ Pieter du Preez, advisor on strategic technology applications and former MD of WNS Global Services.

Watch Chris van Melle Kamp’s eNCA TV interview with Gareth Edwards

About the author

Chris van Melle Kamp is the founder and CEO of Future Purpose, a consultancy that focuses on business performance, leadership advisory, strategic talent management and executive succession planning. He holds 15 years’ experience with a leading international executive search firm, five years as an executive coach working with senior executives and CEOs on strategic skills alignment in top teams, and experience in designing world class executive programmes with lecturers from leading business schools in Europe and the USA. He is a founding director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science, an associate consultant with Bioss Southern Africa, sits on numerous boards, and is the Chairman of Sea Change, the organisation that produced the Oscar-winning documentary “My Octopus Teacher”.

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