Can you imagine how it would feel if your working day began with the Prime Minister, and just about every A-lister from the world of music, sport and entertainment wishing you well in your endeavours? Or knowing that you had personally enthused incalculable numbers of youngsters to study science?

This of course was not a dream but reality for Tim Peake; that personable and unassuming astronaut as he stepped into his spacecraft to become the first British astronaut to go to International Space Station (ISS).

And if course as if by magic the whole episode was beautifully rounded off by the launch of the new trailer for Paramount’s new Star Trek movie ... which is set to break all box office records.

A welcome lift and a chance to imagine a better future, coming at the end of a year associated with strife, conflict and more than a little gloom.

Those of us who get to blend our passion with our livelihoods are fortunate; for the vast majority of employees, 'work' is a means to an end, an activity to afford postponed enjoyment or even just the bare necessities of life. Does it have to be this way? Not so argue leading academics who have studied the relationship between employee satisfaction and purpose of work.

Traditionalists like Dale Carnegie argue that employee engagement depends not only trust in immediate line management but also a pride in the organisation you work for.

Gallup have reported extensively on the importance of purpose to explain this need for pride; their research shows a strong correlation between organisations who create, communicate and demonstrate their stated mission throughout the organisation. Their 2013 research shows appallingly low levels of engagement worldwide. http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx

According to them more than one in four Millennials strongly agree with the statement "If the job market improves in the next 12 months, I will look for a job with a different organisation." This makes it more important than ever to focus on strengths and mission to drive down the cost of turnover and prevent the loss of key employees, especially among Millennials. 

I suspect that most of us reading this are familiar with all of the rhetoric and learnings; it takes brave leadership however to put these into practice. 

How do you explain purpose to a team who are reading front-page headlines about how awful their brand is? How do you motivate them to understand their role as brand ambassadors has unique purpose of rebuilding trust, interaction by interaction, simply by being the best they can be?

Some old research from CCA archives demonstrated this perfectly; when asked what aspect of their role frustrated them; a majority of respondents stated that the frustration of not being able to help customers when they knew they could do so - empowerment was the principle factor.

We know that few employees deliberately set out to be unhelpful but by failing to explain the purpose of work (the 'why') and failing to create an environment where human effort can thrive - we set out to, well, fail. 

CCA’s 2016 programme is packed with leadership initiatives; it's our most exciting and challenging yet and I can't wait to get working with so many enthusiasts in our network.

So if this week has taught us anything it's about the importance of imagining a better future; dispelling the myths of why we can't do those things which we know in our hearts will make the difference.

So here's to Tim Peake and Star Trek Beyond!