What makes a modern day CEO?

Change is constant. We know that much.

Leaders and aspiring leaders must, as David Bowie said, turn and face the strange, changes, in order to keep up with external factors of the present day.

Raconteur have named 50 faces leading their teams into tomorrow with candour, agility and empathy. It's an impressive cohort of UK CEOs across the B2B and B2C landscape.

There is a definite theme around how these people demonstrate a personal and committed approach to lead with purpose. Bright Space Principal Ingrid Brown has plucked a few favourites from the list.

"I recently watched a great video about Douglas Lamont and how Tony’s Chocolonely delivers on its company’s purpose. It’s integrated across the whole business and brings along its advocates, employees and partners to eradicate exploitation across cocoa supply chains."

"Ikea and Marks and Spencer’s CEOs have both worked in and walked the floors of their stores. They recognise their people and their role in delivering the companies brand promise. Both have raised profits and not only lead their companies through tough times but their people too."

And your top picks? Let's chat in the comments below. Until then, here's the Friday Five.

1. The Raconteur 50

?? Here's the list - and here's Raconteur's analysis on the role of the modern CEO.

2. A (Sales)force to be reckoned with

?? Salesforce has a relatively new wind in its sails. One that is steering the professional services company in the direction of better representation in leadership. Zahra Bahrololoumi started as UK CEO in 2021 and set a precedent that "people can’t be what they can’t see."

It's not hard to see why she's been included as one of Raconteur's Top 50. Read how she adapted recruitment processes to increase the number of women and ethnic minority hires, along with evening out representation in the C-suite.

3. Embracing imperfections

?? This week's podcast pick leans into the notion of strategic imperfectionism. It's an episode of Inside the Strategy Room between Rob McLean (former dean of the Australian Graduate School of Management) and Charles Conn (Patagonia Chair and environmentalist) on the tiny steps one can take to reach audacious goals. Take a listen here.

4. With or without you

?? Is this statistic surprising or in line with your experience?

1/3 of brands don't have a marketer in their leadership team.

This year's Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey found that of the 3000 marketers surveyed, nearly 35% of say their company doesn't have a marketing director or CMO in leadership. In the B2B space the number climbs again with 40.5% of leadership teams going without marketing representation at the top. Take a read of the research here.

5. Rituals

?? The idea of a team building exercise or ritual, more often than not, makes one recoil with second-hand embarrassment. Michael Norton is a Harvard Business School professor who has been researching personal and work related rituals for more than a decade. In his new book The Ritual Effect he reveals three key insights that in his words, "might change the way you think about their value." Read his Harvard Business Review article here.

Until next week,

The Bright Space Team