Editor’s Letter: Celebrating new thinking

I can’t think of better time to be back on Management magazine. Just over four years ago I stepped down as editor of the magazine. My thinking, such as it was, was driven by desire to focus more fully on writing.
Now my new role is different but the issues that New Zealand leaders face remain the same. And what better time to be back than for the Top200 issue, the culmination of year’s worth of painstaking work by the combined Deloitte/Management magazine team to identify and celebrate the best thinking that New Zealand business has to offer?
When publisher Toni Myers first spoke with me about this new role, she made no secret of the fact that magazines face challenging times. What Toni and I didn’t quite nail in our discussions was how invigorating it would be to be back.
Seven working days into my new role, I was privileged to be in Deloitte’s downtown Auckland offices, listening to this year’s Top 200 Awards judges as they trawled through page after page of company figures and fine-sliced company strategies with insight and aplomb.
Management magazine has long and distinguished history. It’s 58 years old. It’s seen the rise and adoption of the very idea of management as career path, and championed the blossoming realisation that authentic leadership is the cornerstone of strong organisations.
It continues to craft strong and meaningful relationships across business networks, and for all that support and guidance I am truly grateful.
The magazine has seen more than its fair share of rivals come and go. But all products are only as good as their most recent iteration. We may have laurels but we’re not going to rest on them. We have plans for the magazine. Expect both evolutionary and revolutionary change.
For now, enjoy this issue. Enjoy delving into the thinking behind some of New Zealand’s most successful business people and companies.
Then, as you head off for your summer break, forget all about business and work, strategies and executive plans. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be swimming in the sea, rediscovering your garden, savouring simple summer food, learning to sail.
I’d argue we have collective responsibility over summer to do whatever it is that unfurls our creativity and re-energises us. That way, we’ll come back refreshed and reinvigorated for yet more new thinking in the New Year.