New Zealand business leaders have shared insights into their COVID-19 strategies and learnings from 2020 in a new book called Human: Bold leadership through crisis and change.

The second edition of an annual publication series curated by global tech recruitment leader Talent, Human provides insights from 20 top leaders into the biggest challenges currently facing our world of work and how they have responded to the COVID crisis.

Featured in the book are Microsoft’s Managing Director Vanessa Sorenson and Global Co-Chair of Indigenous Dan Te Whenua Walker; ASB Bank’s Chief Internal Auditor Paula Steed; CEO of RUSH Pavan Vyas, Architect of the 4 Day Week Andrew Barnes, and Simplicity's Managing Director Sam Stubbs.

The book highlights a different side of leadership and provides a vulnerable and authentic take on the topic from some of New Zealand’s and the world’s top leaders. Their stories offer no holds barred accounts of the personal obstacles they have encountered in their leadership journeys, providing readers with insights and strategies into leadership in the new world of work.

Talent’s Auckland General Manager Kara Smith said the New Zealand leaders featured in the book all embodied empathetic leadership.

“One thing that has been most evident over the past year is the importance of leadership, and the enormous impact good leadership can have on a company, its people and our community. The leaders in Human have offered raw and vulnerable accounts of their personal journeys and their many learnings from this year. What comes through most loudly is the need for “empathy” – something that has always been an essential component of leadership but is now more important than ever.”

This is the second edition of Talent’s annual publication series Human. Last year, Talent produced Human: Global perspectives on diversity in tech which featured first-hand accounts from individuals, offering insights into what the technology community is doing to create more inclusive environments from the perspective of the individual.

Human: Bold leadership through crisis and change is available for download here.