The 'New' New Zealand

There’s a saying in New Zealand: He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata — it is the people, it is the people, it is the people. People have always been New Zealand’s greatest resource. We’re stuck out in the middle of the Pacific, a long way from markets, and we have to compete. The best competition we’ve got in this country is our people.

What I’m seeing in what I call the “new” New Zealand is a movement from executives concentrating solely on high performance to actually building in a very deep values base in what they do. Māori professionals in particular are really leading the way in shaping what the “new” New Zealand looks like. Not only do they have the skill sets and competencies to compete anywhere in any sector, but they also have a very deep values base that speaks to contributing back to the betterment of iwi, back to equity, and back to their people.

The “new” New Zealand is changing, and it’s changing very fast. I would highlight the importance of values, diversity, and inclusion as being some of the key qualities we look for in executives in New Zealand. Because when you connect people’s values—their reason and their purpose—alongside their professional competencies, you get a truly top leader.

That is what New Zealand is producing at the moment, and it’s very exciting. The “new” New Zealand is already here, and the challenge for candidates is to really understand that and to build in experiences that deepen both their competencies and their values.