I was delighted to present this year's Chief Executive of the Year accolade to Monica Fogarty of Warwickshire CC at The MJ Achievement Awards.

The impressive list of nominees, including Monica, were judged by an equally impressive panel of local government chief executives: Ade Adetosoye (Bromley LBC), Alison Griffin (London Councils), Alison McKenzie-Folan (Wigan MBC), Carolyn Downs (Brent LBC), Joanne Roney (Manchester City Council) and Kate Kennally (Cornwall Council).

Under Monica's leadership, Warwickshire CC has impressed with its excellent performance, innovative approach and visionary thinking.

Central to the way the council delivered its services was the way Monica ensured the wellbeing of her staff and fostered collaboration with wider regional partners. Monica has had a phenomenal year in which she has advanced the objectives of the council with agile working and financial resilience while maintaining the best and highest standards of quality for residents and service users.

She has led on their work around inclusion with compassion and openness, and this was praised in the feedback given by the people who work for her at all levels in the organisation.

Monica was humble in her acceptance of the award and dedicated it to the people of Warwickshire. Having spoken to the elected members at the council, as well as staff, management and their strategic partners, it is clear she is the very essence of leadership and commitment that we need in local government.

Thank you to all the finalists who continue to demonstrate incredible attributes of leadership, resilience and commitment, and thank you once again to The MJ for allowing us to be such a part of the ceremony.

Dawar Hashmi is director, executive search at Penna

@dawarhash