Top 5 takeaways from Davos

1. There is real frustration with the lack of effective bipartisan political leadership around the world and unless leaders come together to collectively solve the world’s most complex problems, the frustration will get significantly worse over the coming years. Business leaders need to step up to fill some of the void. We should each ask ourselves: is our purpose clear (beyond profit), and are we living it?
2. Properly harnessed, the Fourth Industrial Revolution offers great potential to help solve these complex problems. This gives cause for optimism and is an opportunity we need to grasp. This also reinforced for me the wisdom of the digital appointments and acquisitions we have made in our own business at JLL, and how much more we have to do.
3. We are very late in the economic cycle. The biggest geographic risk is the UK, with the mood around Brexit downbeat. The trade wars between the US and China were also featured heavily, and noticeably the top leaders of the three key countries were not present this year. However, more than ever, JLL has many pathways to growth that should not be dependent on GDP growth rates – faster product innovation and greater client centricity are key for us through the cycle. 
4. The clients I met with all have enterprise-wide transformation efforts underway and understand that the nature of work is fundamentally changing. This pushes CRE up their agendas, making their relationships with partners like JLL all the more important.
5. The week is also a motivating reminder of how much potential awaits JLL as we go Beyond.

John Forrest is JLL’s Global CEO, Corporate Solutions.

For more on our presence at the World Economic Forum, please visit JLL’s Davos 2019 page.