In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Belden Menkus speaks withJim Islam, Chief Executive Officer of OneFamily, one of the UK’s leading financial mutuals. With a 50-year history and 1.5 million customers, OneFamily exists to inspire better futures—helping individuals and families build long-term financial resilience through inclusive savings, investment, and protection products.

Jim shares how OneFamily has reinvented itself while staying true to its founding purpose—diversifying its offerings, investing in technology, and redesigning customer experiences to make long-term financial products more accessible for new generations. He reflects on the challenge of leading transformation in a sector built on trust and long time horizons, and why collaborative strategy, people-centred innovation, and cultural alignment are essential to sustainable change.

In their conversation, they explore:

·       How mutuals and purpose-led organisations are experiencing a cultural resurgence.

·       Why deeply collaborative strategy-building creates genuine buy-in during transformation.

·       How people-centred process design can drive innovation across an entire sector.

·       The role of financial institutions in enabling social mobility and long-term resilience.

·       How to adopt new technologies, including AI, without compromising customer trust.

·       Why a possibilist mindset is essential for leadership in periods of uncertainty and change.

One Family: https://www.onefamily.com/

MenKus & Associates: https://www.menkus.com/

Supported by Norman Broadbent: https://www.normanbroadbent.com/

Belden Menkus, Managing Director of Menkus & Associates, works with CEOs and senior leaders to align their strategy and purpose. Working with organisations where leadership is shared rather than centralised, Belden's work is defined by intellectual clarity, collaboration, and a commitment to practical results. Drawing on his experience at McKinsey & Company and decades spent advising complex organisations, he supports mid-sized institutions—particularly law firms and membership bodies—as they navigate strategic inflexion points and build enduring value during periods of uncertainty.

He is a public speaker and strategic thinker with a wide intellectual range, bringing together business insight, historical perspective, and cultural curiosity—combining the instincts of a consultant with those of a historian and an explorer of ideas. In addition to consulting, he hosts The Purposeful Strategist, a weekly podcast discussing how business leaders themselves bring purpose into real strategic action.