What3Words Leadership Locations Report - A celebration of leaders everywhere and their personal journeys 2023 - Final Design - Flipbook - Page 2
welcome.
2023: the year to recognise, celebrate
and listen to leaders everywhere.
For us at Star昀椀sh, the year has perhaps marked the 昀椀rst time since 2020 that we’ve seen chief executives at large
stop to think about doing something positive for themselves. Having been forced to react to events three years ago,
reshape and stabilise teams in 2021, and only now in 2023 embarking on new direction with organisations 昀椀rmly
back on track, they – or perhaps I should say ‘you’ – are ready for a new challenge. By the time you read this report,
at least 10% of participants will have changed their jobs: one or two in addition to that will have retired. And those
are just the moves we know about.
When we decided to complete this project the What3Words idea was met with quizzical looks. Yet our purpose
at Star昀椀sh is to travel the journey with the busy leaders we work with, day in day out. Whatever the background.
Whatever the sector. Whatever the experience. The highly experienced professionals in our team have, in many
ways, grown with this group of leaders, helping them to navigate an increasingly complicated and demanding
world. In many respects, we have had to navigate it ourselves to understand what is expected of us in supporting
you as clients and candidates.
What is certain is that the nature of leadership – how it manifests, how we describe it, what matters – is changing.
What it means to be an e昀昀ective leader in 2023 is starkly di昀昀erent to 2013; yet a sign of the times we’re all living in
is that expectations and pressures are also very di昀昀erent today compared with 昀椀ve and possibly even three years
ago.
This cohort of leaders has recognised the value of learning and the value of generosity. These were the two sets
of words that overwhelmingly characterised over 100 responses. Perhaps this is no surprise given that, as you
also say, this is the generation of leaders charged with tackling equity, diversity and inclusion as well as climate
emergency. As one participant put it: “it is time to change the world”. Re昀氀ecting on the conversations we have with
CEOs daily through our work, we observed a slight restraint in your acknowledgement of the realities of modern
leadership. In an age when absolutely nothing is a given, we know that strength of character, humour, and a
willingness to live with imperfection ultimately enables leaders to make progress.
We hope you can join us at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in February 2024, when we will continue the
conversation about the themes that have emerged through your words. As ever, thank you for taking part.
Juliet Taylor
Chief Executive, Starfish Search
We would like to thank W3W for lending us their brand to underline this project.
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What3Words Leadership Locations Report - A celebration of leaders everywhere and their personal journeys 2023
