EDITOR’S LETTER : So much to say…

One of the privileges of this job is that you get to talk to some pretty amazing people – and this particular edition of the mag seems to be chock full of them.
Our cover story features six New Zealanders who can truly be classed as world leaders in their fields, from science to software, creativity to commerce. Engaging, articulate, boundary breakers and innovators, they’re an exceptional lot and I don’t envy the judges who this month will have to decide who gets the ‘supreme’ winner designation at the World Class New Zealand Awards presented by KEA and NZTE at the March 15 ceremony (see www.keanewzealand.com). They all deserve it.
All six proved both dream and nightmare to interview. dream because they just have so much to say that is interesting, inspirational and informative. Nightmare because trying to shoehorn it all into the editorial space available proved impossible – which is why we’re featuring fuller versions of some of these interviews as part of our online Print Plus feature.
But it doesn’t stop there. Last month brought bunch of interesting offshore speakers to New Zealand – including the founder of Ikea, Goran Carstedt, who offered lot of experiential wisdom to those attending the Global Leaders Forum, and MIT’s labour relations expert Tom Kochan. Both feature in our InTouch section.
And this month’s in-depth management interview is with CEO whose tendency to tout himself as very “ordinary” Kiwi bloke only manages to highlight the qualities in Kiwi leadership that have proved effective worldwide. You can discover what Meridian’s Keith Turner has to say not only about his own career track but about his passion for New Zealand – and its potential.
On the subject of that potential, we ask (p36) whether our immigration policies are able to help unlock it by boosting the inflow of skilled workers. We also continue our new series of interviews with Kiwi ex-pats. Around 580,000 of us are now living and working elsewhere in the world – but as these interviews reveal many high-flying Kiwis are still very attached to their New Zealand roots.
With special features on executive health, and project management, as well as an illuminating case study of how one Kiwi company has successfully grown its offshore presence through judicious acquisitions – this month’s issue is big read.
And don’t forget – there’s more online.