Talofa Lava, Tena Koe
It has been a whirlwind quarter full of rich experiences and opportunities to engage and connect in conversations focussed on stretching our thinking and activating new ways of leading!
During Leadership Week, in July we embraced our creative spirits at the Dinner with a Difference – a diversity of creative leaders challenged, inspired and encouraged us to in Welby Ings words “challenge the inner critic sitting on our shoulder, to be disobedient and use our imaginations to serve society and the world” (You can see videos of the presentations at www.dinnerwithadifference.co.nz).
In August, at our annual Bishop Sir Paul Reeves lecture, Dr Mary Quin (CEO of Callaghan Innovation) talked about “Dairy, Digital and Drones – looking at innovations creating our futures. She believes Aotearoa can become an innovative and creative nation that is high tech and high touch; a nation that collaborates, and leverages the diversity human capital to reimagine our futures together; a nation that can influence and help solve some of the planet’s most pressing problems.
The NZTE Design-Thinking workshop we participated in during Session 6 of the 2014 Leadership Programme gave us a perfect opportunity to tap into our creative and innovative core. The session was highly valued by the group - in Darrin Brinsden’s words “it gave us the opportunity to be centred while holding opposing ideas”; as a method for inquiry we were challenged to use creative tools and techniques, movement, and going out into the environment to talk to real people. What came out of our day’s worth of experimentation and prototyping uncovered wonderful solutions and ideas for building leadership capability at local level with younger leaders. We are all excited about the next phase!
Keeping in the global frame, in the same month, a group of Leadership NZ Programme participants, Alumni and Trustees had breakfast with Jim Donegan (US Consul General) where he talked about ‘U.S. and NZ Leadership in the Pacific Region and Beyond.’ His remarks centered on the lessons individual leaders might draw from examples of broader U.S. and NZ leadership in selected geo-political contexts. It was great to get his insights into global issues of environmental challenge and the health of the oceans, regional issues such as the United States’ trade and security-focused Pacific Rebalance, and at New Zealand’s bid to win a seat on the UN Security Council and its likely outcomes – all in the light of the motivations for, and consequences of, taking a leadership role.
Our newsletter is full of reflections from leaders across our network – Supporting Partners, Alumni and current Programme participants sharing their ideas and experience of connecting and leading in space and places across Aotearoa. I’m always inspired by the generosity of spirit and ethos of contributing to the greater good of our society that our leadership programme engenders and catalyses in people. I hope you will enjoy the stories of Alumni reaching out beyond their immediate worlds to make a difference to the lives of others.
Diversity is a key enabler to achieving higher levels of societal engagement, creativity and innovation. We are proud of our legacy of excellence and innovation in educating on the basis of diversity of thought and perspective and are seeking nominations from leaders ready for the challenge, who would like to participate in our 2015 Leadership Programme.
All the information you need to apply is on our website application page. If you’d like to discuss the opportunity further, please contact me directly.
Wishing you all a successful final quarter of 2014 (can’t believe it’s gone so fast)! Please stay connected with us - we value getting your ideas, feedback, and for those of you online, you can find us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter @LeadershipNZ.
Sina
Sina Wendt-Moore
Chief Executive