News and blogs

Just about the only thing you can guarantee in life is change. How can we learn to embrace it and become inspiring leaders?

Few things will help you progress your career as effectively as maintaining active and mutually supportive networks. When and why should we call on them for guidance and support?

1,370 scholars from 144 countries were formally welcomed to the Chevening programme at the beginning of an exciting year studying in the UK at Chevening Orientation on 11 November.

For the longest time, the best kept secret of Silicon Valley wasn’t a software or an incubator. It was a vivacious football coach turned sales guy called Bill Campbell. He went on weekly walks with Steve Jobs and the founders of Google said they wouldn’t have made it without him.

When thinking about the UK, if the image that pops into your mind first is of large bustling cities with skyscrapers, many cars, busses, and trains, and generally, an urban environment, you would be correct. But, you would also be wrong. Whilst the UK does have many urban areas in the form of cities and […]

Chevening Scholars gave 3,420 hours of their time to different volunteer causes in the UK during a challenging time for people around the world. 129 scholars gave their time to 329 organisations around the UK, working on a variety of projects from conservation to teaching digital skills, and much more. Normally scholars would have the […]

The news of the Covid-19 Pandemic brought a wave of grief, anxiety, uncertainty and fear to the world in 2020. This was heightened with the imposition of a lockdown in dozens of countries across the world. Maintaining social distancing and leading isolated lives is an additional risk factor for the stress we all are going through, especially for the younger and older population.

‘The past is a foreign country’. That foreign country, which James Southern examines in this fascinating and challenging essay, is the one I lived in from 1968, when I joined Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service from university at the age of 21, until I left 35 years later. ‘So, Mr Wall, have you ever had any […]

Running for over 20 years, the Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence is the UK Foreign Office’s flagship fellowship programme for India aimed at mid-career professionals who are ready to take the next step in their journey towards leadership. My experience as a Chevening Gurukul fellow Over the 25 years I’ve spent working on […]

In my defence, I had made the bookings in a rush. I was in London, and my India SIM card wasn’t working so I couldn’t get the one-time passwords required for online bookings. It was only at the last moment that the problem was resolved, and I did all my bookings in one go, afraid […]