Last year was the most extraordinary of years. Rocked by the spread of the coronavirus, chief executives had to deal with everything from keeping their businesses afloat to dealing with the health of employees and customers, making arrangements for staff to work from home within a matter of days, all while not losing sight of the bigger strategic picture.

Asked to nominate what new skills they are learning as they head into 2021, it is perhaps no surprise that CEOs such as Evolution Mining boss Jake Klein is teaching himself to meditate in order to block out the “mental noise”, while Telstra boss Andy Penn is determined to ask people how they are – and “really listen to the answer”.