FROM THE PROGRAMME DIRECTOR An Ecosystem of Leaders
LEADERSHIP NZ <strong>2019</strong> 5 <strong>The</strong> idea of ‘us’ as an eco-system is not just a metaphor for leadership. It’s a fundamental truth that we have somehow forgotten. Our leadership programme stands strong in the belief that when Pacific peoples have access to who we’ve always been – for millennia – we make better leaders. <strong>Mana</strong> <strong>Moana</strong> is an intentional and conscious reclamation of who we are and what our potential is when we are not afraid to show up as ourselves, individually and as a collective. For us, the meaningful exploration of culture, language, ancestral knowledge, ritual and practice is a return to a memory of wholeness. A salient idea that has emerged this year is leadership as an eco-system, not an ego-system. Instead of who is the tallest Leader in the forest, the question of leadership becomes: how do we as an interconnected system thrive? Everyone has something valuable to offer. Growth (this definition of ‘tupu’ growth from Professor Manuka Henare) is the “unfolding of your nature, as all things unfold their nature”. How can we be true to our most authentic contribution? <strong>The</strong> idea of ‘us’ as an eco-system is not just a metaphor for leadership. It’s a fundamental truth that we have somehow forgotten. We are facing very real challenges of climate crisis. If ever we needed to think like the ecosystem that we are, it is now. Rekindling sacred relationships of respect with land is a defining component of <strong>Mana</strong> <strong>Moana</strong>. In Kaikohe with Ted Wihongi and whānau at Puhi <strong>Moana</strong> Ariki grounded us immediately in the sacredness of land. Visiting the oncetoxic Lake Ōmāpere was a powerful experience: it has been regenerating and healing after being desecrated and polluted. We witnessed the site of a new meeting house that holds the vision of a people who have – against all the odds – restored mauri in a context of widespread desecration. Daring Leadership (Leadership NZ’s <strong>2019</strong> theme) is having the bravery to extend our vision of leadership beyond humans, beyond the present moment. It is about making Mokopuna decisions – decisions for our grandchildren – in the here and now. It felt like no accident that our session on mana, power and politics coincided with Ihumātao erupting into a widescale land occupation less than fifteen kilometres away. What is our role as Pasifika peoples? Should we try and show leadership? Is it even our place to try? We are not indigenous to Aotearoa. With Ihumātao, challenging issues of traditional and contemporary leadership, land, state, sovereignty and colonisation displayed a multi-rhythmic and dizzying dance before us. We tried to keep up. We tried to feel into its rhythm, so we could move confidently, but also identify what we will take a stand for. Marcus Akuhata-Brown spoke to us about the Māori word for forest – ngāhere – which literally translates into ‘the ties’ or ‘the bindings’. This references our interelatedness and the ways in which we are all bound to each other. When we think of ourselves as an ecosystem, where the quality of our interdependence and relationships matters, what kinds of leadership serve us? <strong>Mana</strong> <strong>Moana</strong>’s <strong>2019</strong> Cohort gathered around a kava bowl and dived deeplyinto many of these questions. Thanks to the skills of our wonderful facilitator, Pakilau `o Aotearoa <strong>Mana</strong>se Lua, this was not a metaphorical kava bowl. This year, a kava ceremony accompanied the defining Leadership NZ practice of sharing our life stories. It was in witnessing each other’s stories that we experienced transformation. We held space for each other. We witnessed growth. <strong>The</strong> healing of pain. <strong>The</strong> sharing of ourselves. <strong>The</strong> receiving of others with love, acceptance and non-judgement. It has been a beautiful thing to watch us all emerge into a collective radiance of trust, care and compassion. By sharing our own truth and stories, it directed us very clearly to what the work is, if we are looking to heal and lead our society and communities. Louise Marra said to us at the beginning of our journey we need leadership in the archetype of the healer. If anything, we learned that healing begins with ourselves, with us as a sacred system, with us as an eco-system, whereby all of us must heal.
Change language