E57 - Guests: Professor Michael Mainelli, Lord Mayor of London

It was a great privilege this week to have Professor Michael Mainelli, the 695th and current Lord Mayor of London, as my guest on Leading 4 Life "Stories".  Michael has had the most fascinating career, with a host of executive and non-executive roles on his CV, as well as his journey through the ranks of the City of London Corporation as an Alderman, Sheriff and now Lord Mayor.

We had a really interesting and diverse conversation, and listeners will learn a great deal about the historic City of London Corporation, and the role of the Lord Mayor.  We talk about Christ's Hospital school, where we both have a long relationship and a great deal of personal passion, and we also cover a great deal of the leadership points coming from Michael's long experience and very diverse portfolio career.

You can find Michael here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmainelli/
Twitter / X: https://x.com/mrmainelli or https://x.com/citylordmayor


The focus of Michael's mayoralty, which runs from 10 November 2023 to 8 November 2024 is on a theme called Connect To Prosper and he and his wife Elizabeth are seeking to use the role to deliver benefits for the City, London, the UK and beyond for those with whom they connect.  You can find out a great deal more detail using the links below:

The ‘Connect To Prosper’ theme, is posted with details at www.connect2prosper.net.  

There are several initiatives within the programme:

• The 695th Lord Mayor’s Ethical AI Initiative
• The 695th Lord Mayor's Space Protection Initiative
• The 695th Lord Mayor’s Smart Economy Networks Initiative
• The 695th Lord Mayor’s Constructing Science: Offices To Labs Initiative in conjunction with, www.constructingscience.com
• GALENOS - mental health research project with MQ Mental Health
• … and like all Lord Mayor’s for over seven decades, sustainability - Connect To Prosper – Sustainability

There are also three series:

• The 695th Lord Mayor’s WebApp of Walks & Wonders – VeraCity.London
• Our online webinar series –

Chapters

• 2:33 Michael's career journey
• 9:07 Early motivations
• 11:30 The City of London Corporation & the role of the Lord Mayor
• 36:35 Relationship with the Greater London Authority and others
• 41:47 The link with Christ's Hospital School
• 45:57 Leadership style and the variation between executive and non-executive roles
• 58:03 Role models
• 1:02:23 Advice to a school age Michael!
• 1:03:28 Highs and lows! What would Michael do differently?
• 1:07:08 Most important achievement
• 1:09:18 Career low point
• 1:10:36 Managing work : life balance
• 1:16:50 Improving the public perception of the livery companies and the work of the City
• 1:25:40 Most memorable event!
• 1:27:59 Most difficult question!