Welcome to 2005. And though month has come and gone already, it seemed right to kick off this particular year with considered look at our new leaders, those who are stepping up to the plate to play the leadership and management game. They are, according to Vicki Jayne who wrote our cover story this month, confident and competent bunch and they will need to be all that and more. Despite the outward manifestations of progress and success, there are some serious and increasingly hard core issues out there that will need inspired leadership to manage and resolve.
The styles of successful new leaders are distinctly different from managers of the past and for good reason. Managers are, writes Jayne, moving away from the autocratic approach on to more “emotionally intelligent” tracks. “The hectoring bully who treats workers like separate class of being are marked for extinction.” There are, of course, several fundamental and quite pragmatic reasons why leadership is changing. The pace of change in every aspect of our lives is major influence. The diversity of skill required to respond to more challenging and competitive workaday world is another. And the expectations of clever, articulate and ambitious young people joining the workplace is at the top of the tree of considerations leaders must take into account.
The change in leadership styles reflects, in large measure, changing societal values, many of which are being shaped by perceptions of the problems societies and economies face. To reflect the state of change Jayne chose five individuals as examples and expressions of new leadership thinking, motivation and aspiration. The five she selected come from different backgrounds and work in different industries but, she writes, each touched on the “common themes of empowerment, inclusion, respect, openness and integrity” now necessary to ensure teams work together to solve issues, realise potential and deliver their organisational futures.
This issue of Management also marks personal change. After picking up the editorship for brief stand-in period almost three years ago, I am again simply the publisher. Ruth Le Pla, for six years editor of sister magazine Marketing Magazine, takes up the keyboard and the case for building outstanding managers and leaders from the next issue. I have enjoyed the experience and the pleasure of getting to know many of our loyal readers, contributors and supporting advertisers. My departure is tinged with additional sadness because my colleague of 30 years and the person who alone made it possible for me to both edit and publish this magazine, Susan Peach, died of cancer as we were putting this issue to bed. As Profile Publishing’s event manager, Susan also organised all 15 of the Deloitte/Management magazine Top 200 Awards we stage each year. As my mentor and right hand she is irreplaceable.
2024 Māori business leaders shaping Aotearoa’s future
Aotearoa’s Māori business leaders who are driving change were honoured at the 2024 Ngā Tohu Kaiārahi Pakihi Māori o Aotearoa | Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards recently. A macadamia pioneer,