Reflecting on Leadership Lab’s 2023 impact

In our first Pānui of 2023, we reflected on 10 years of Leadership Lab mahi and shared our 2022 Impact Report and now, here we are with our first Pānui of 2024, reflecting on 2023 and sharing our 2023 Impact Report. This Impact Report gives an overview of our core beliefs and then shares a wide range of impact stories of some amazing people whose journeys reflect our vision and values.

You might wonder why we bother writing these impact reports and communicating impact; we’ve certainly taken some time to think about that in 2023.  On one level it’s important for accountability to funders and also to increase visibility of our mahi (which has multiple further impacts as we become more well known for what we do and we create opportunities for new work to realise our vision, which also enables us to create opportunities for our Leadership Lab team members).

But actually, the primary purpose of evaluating and communicating our impact is to:

“Scale our impact by sharing our learning and approaches so that others can also create impact towards the same vision”

You will see in our impact reports and our website that Leadership Lab has an aspirational vision for ‘equitable and flourishing communities and organisations’ in Aotearoa New Zealand. We recognise that we can never reach that vision alone which is why we draw on a diversity of incredible team members and why we share our stories with you so you can also contribute to this vision in your own way. That’s what collective impact means to us.

We continue to be inspired by these words from Margaret Wheatley, “Is it possible to use our influence and power to create islands of sanity in the midst of a raging destructive sea?”  We have seen our role as working alongside communities and organisations to, firstly create these islands of sanity and secondly, to connect the network of passionate and competent humans on these islands to enable wider systems and societal change.

Over subsequent pānui this year we will share more about this journey with you and invite you to get involved and provide your feedback and wisdom to contribute as many of you have already. Some of these exciting conversations will include:

• Pou Herenga – our guiding vision and practice which guides the mahi of all team members in Leadership Lab
• The process we have been on to apply to become a B-corp (purpose-led business) and the learnings that are emerging from this process
• Why we have set up a Charitable Trust called the Leadership Lab Foundation to complement what we do in Leadership Lab
• Our own internal leadership development processes and succession planning
• The ‘Leaders’ Buffet’ – a self-managing curated Leadership development video series

If you would like to find out more about Leadership Lab’s projects, contact info@leadershiplab.co.nz 

Fi Deehan, Leadership Lab Impact Communication Lead

You can also connect with stories of impact from across our Leadership Lab ecosystem by signing up for this monthly pānui (see bottom of www.leadershiplab.co.nz ), connecting with us on LinkedIn and Facebook and browsing our website.

Thanks heaps for your interest and support.