Bringing kindness to work...
Little Orange Director and Mondrem Group Chief Executive, Mike Astbury, sees every day what bringing kindness to work does for Mondrem Group colleagues, for their clients and for their clients' own customers.
Mike founded Little Orange to share stories about the successes and experiences of leaders who practice inclusive, nurturing and supportive leadership, and to encourage and help others to follow them.
Bring kindness to work
Help others to shine
Their brilliance will light your life
This simple poem guides everything we do.
Little Orange Director, Mike Astbury.
News and updates
What we do
We work with leaders in politics and public service, in social enterprise, in education, and in business.
We help leaders to:
o Practice inclusive, nurturing and supportive leadership.
o Develop sustainable organisations where people want to work, that deliver a faster, better customer experience, and that deliver better value.
o Turn intention into action, and action into positive impact.
We provide practical tools and support.
We challenge kindly, tenaciously and bravely.
We tell stories about the successes and experiences of leaders who practice inclusive, nurturing and supportive leadership.
We encourage and help others to follow them.
We connect people who can help each other.
Why 'Little Orange'?
Our name comes from Antione de Saint Exupery’s book, Terre des Hommes - called Wind, Sand and Stars in the English translation.
Having crashed his plane in the desert, Saint Exupery begins walking not knowing whether he is heading to rescue or to death. In what he knew might be his final moments, he finds an orange in a pocket. Tasting that orange in his state of peril and uncertainty brings an unexpected, powerful and uniquely precious moment of joy. It keeps him going a little longer - and rescue follows.
At Little Orange, we want to share that same precious and powerful joy that keeps us going when we need it.
Nurturing student and graduate talent
Our approach builds on Mondrem Group's award winning work employing, developing and supporting students and graduates from our base at Keele University, from Staffordshire University, and from other universities in the UK and the US.
We help other employers to create inclusive, supportive and nurturing places where students and graduates can thrive and grow.
"Employerability"
Students and graduates are rightly encouraged to understand and develop what makes them great employees - their "employability".
But what should employers understand and develop to make them great employers of students and graduates? We call that "employerability".
In this Keele University video, Little Orange Director and Mondrem Group Chief Executive, Mike Astbury, talks about the things that employers can do to create nurturing places where students and graduates can thrive and grow.
An award-winning approach
Mondrem CIC were presented with the award for ‘Cultivating Talent’ in Keele University’s Breaking the Mould Awards 2020.
This award is particularly special to the Mondrem CIC team, because it wouldn’t have been possible without their student interns.
Little Orange believes that students and graduates bring new and exciting perspectives and innovations to organisations.
What is sometimes seen as lack of experience can also be openness to new ideas and challenging of old habits. Together they can be tranformative and rekindle the passions and energy that organisations sometimes lose.
This award encouraged us to share the approach and fueled our ambition to inspire students and graduates, like they have inspired us.
Mondrem CIC's award, handmade by artist Jessica Mcmillan
Collaboration
Together with Keele University and the team at Keele Careers and Employability, Mondrem CIC were awarded the ‘Best Collaboration Between a University and Employer’ in the 2020 National Undergraduate Employability Awards.
Little Orange draws on this experience to help other employers benefit from collaborations like this.
We're a new company. This website, will grow as we do, so please check back soon for our latest Little Orange updates.