How are our Alumni leading with what’s needed for Aotearoa to thrive in the 21st Century? NICOLA SEMENOFF (Alum 2018) shares with us her journey and how her leadership mahi is making a difference in Aotearoa since graduating from The NZ Leadership Programme (NZLP).
What wisdom and tools from your NZLP experience have you added to your kete?
There is a lot of peace to be gained in knowing you can say goodbye to the feelings that aren’t helping you. Learning a practise to acknowledge, accept and release all those thoughts & emotions that previously would block or derail me has been invaluable.
Understanding how to use inquiry techniques was a breakthrough, especially in learning to understand my triggers. Do I get still get triggered? Absolutely, but I sense and feel it with more wisdom these days, and doing the internal inquiry into ‘why’ generally means I respond in a way that I hope works out better for everyone.
One of the most unexpected and valuable sources of wisdom is having a new whanau, one where many people hold very different worldviews to mine, yet none of those views are adversarial. There is an acknowledgement that as a cohort we hold space for each other with aroha and respect. The connections and bonds of the NZLP whanau means having a group of friends and alumni who will see a situation differently and have alternative insight to your own. That wisdom is truly helpful when you get stuck in your own echo chamber. Being able to reach out to someone who you know will have a completely different take on a situation, and most likely do the opposite of what you would, is both unique and precious. It’s a bit like having a safety net, when you don’t know if you’re seeing a situation in the best way you could.
In what ways has NZLP elevated your way of thinking, seeing or feeling the world?
NZLP helped me to truly understand you can lead from anywhere and when you bring your essential self to a space, your wisdom will show up when it’s needed. From that I realised I don’t need to over prepare, nor lead each conversation. If we listen and tune into the energy in the room, our contribution will emerge in the way it should, authentic and often more impactful than when we’re part of the noise or only ever trying to lead from the front. I’ve developed a little mantra of “lead last”, it's a reminder to myself to sit and wait and hold the space for others, in that practise the space you can step into becomes very clear.
How has your time on the NZLP impacted your experience of work and life over the last couple of years, through this time of disruption?
During my NZLP year, I moved into a C-suite role, it was an interesting step up with a lot of challenges, but ultimately after a while it also confirmed that the traditional employer-employee structure doesn’t hold much interest for me any longer. I want to craft my own mahi, and work on assignments I feel I can contribute my best skills and my best self to. Without NZLP I don’t know if I would’ve had the confidence or curiousness to step away from executive roles.
My husband and I took a few months out to travel overseas and after, I launched my business as a Freelance Consultant and Contractor. The vision for my mahi is outcomes that matter for a better Aotearoa. It drives me to choose work across a broad range of sectors and kaupapa, the assignments might be social, or infrastructure or business, but ultimately if I think the outcome will improve life in Aotearoa, I’m in.
My first engagement was with Air NZ, 8 weeks after starting, Covid-19 hit. The whole organisation went into chaos and survival mode. During the many tumultuous months, I really drew on my NZLP kete, one of the most beneficial things I was able to do, was centre in and be the calm in the storm, I tried to create small moments of joy in some pretty tough days. I focused my leadership on what people needed to keep themselves going. Sometimes it was little things, relieving a stressful situation with a joke and a chat about how they were doing, often it was much deeper mentoring or coaching, helping to give colleagues space to reach in and find that next level of resilience. I remember Pat Sneddon saying to us, “there is no one to fix, but there is much mahi to do” – that has really stuck with me. Amongst the chaos of solving complex problems, I can honestly say the journey was a good time. It was crazy, mad busy, and some weeks felt like being a washing machine, but the grounding techniques I’d learnt and knowing that the collective wisdom would show up meant it never felt unsurmountable.
Two and half years on and AirNZ is still a client I’m working with, alongside others. The airline is now into a revival phase and the focus has moved to a transformation agenda. This space feels completely different, it‘s lighter, it has that spring fresh feeling about it. I’ve been involved in a lot of transformation work during my career and would often see it as a project with so much work to do. These days I tend to view it as a fun new journey of discovery. I don’t know if that mindset shift was only due to NZLP, but I do know that without my NZLP journey, the pandemic years would have seen me focus all my energy on the problems and not the people. The end result would’ve looked like high levels of stress and burnout rather than being able to reflect and marvel at how truly remarkable people can be in tough times.
If you had one piece of wisdom for future leaders, what would it be?
Whanaungatanga, over kaupapa, over putea. Invest in strong relationships, they help you traverse the difficult terrain much easier. There is no point in knowing the most or having the sharpest pencil if no-one in the room knows or trusts you. Over many years, I’ve learnt a great relationship has the power to both open a door or help you put out a fire much faster than anything else. While you’re building your career, invest in getting to know the people around you and let them see you too.
NICOLA SEMENOFF is a Freelance Consultant and Contractor.
Did Nicola’s story resonate with you? This is one of many courageous, enriching and impactful journeys on The NZ Leadership Programme.
Pūmanawa Kaiārahi Leadership NZ is on a mission to find the committed, visionary, brave leaders who can lead with what's needed for Aotearoa to thrive in the 21st Century. In this time of uncertainty and change, our purpose to catalyse leadership in Aotearoa as a force for positive change has never felt more important.
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