Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards

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I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the evening (Sign)

I then specifically greet you: Sir Ron Carter, Chair of the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards Selection Panel and Lady Lewell Carter; the late Sir Peter Blake’s brother Tony Blake and your wife Fiona; Blake Leadership Award Supporters; Blake Leaders; and because there are so many of you in each category, I trust that the description “Distinguished Guests otherwise” will cover the remaining majority satisfactorily; Ladies and Gentlemen. 

It is with great pleasure that Susan and I welcome you all to Government House Wellington for the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards.

Leadership week has already been with us as yesterday Susan and I had the privilege of launching the Trust’s world record attempt for the longest clothesline of socks at the Westpac Stadium.  A pleasing result has ensued with 35,000 socks being hung up.

Many of you will remember that last year’s Awards ceremony took place at Government House in Auckland and that it was a memorable and uplifting occasion.

In what will hopefully be a companion piece, I will have the honour and privilege shortly of conferring six Emerging Leader Awards, the 2011 Blake Medallist and a Special Leadership Award. Just before doing so, I would like to speak on the notion of leadership in maintaining a healthy and prosperous nation and what that means for those individuals recognised tonight.

Leadership remains a difficult term to define. It is a term generally characterised by inspirational individuals who have achieved great things on their own. However, it is often the case that when an individual’s work and success is studied in detail, it emerges that a wider team has played a significant role in assisting that person to achieve their goal.

A concept of team leadership then emerges and is one with which New Zealanders are familiar and I am also certain that will resonate with the lives of the awardees to be announced tonight.  New Zealanders have demonstrated time and again they are creative, talented and innovative people who do not look at possible limitations, but rather strive for the seemingly impossible. It is that trait that lends to efforts and achievements that can be described as ‘world class’ with entrepreneurs, academics, inventors, artists and professionals in many fields. 

At a practical level, as an isolated nation with a relatively small population, New Zealanders long ago realised, that by working together they could collectively achieve far more as businesses and communities, than by working alone.  This notion also resonates with Māori culture, with its focus on placing the needs of whānau, hapu and iwi before the needs of individual tribe members.

It is thus fitting to reflect on the powerful force of the collective strength of New Zealanders which has been amply illustrated in the aftermath of the earthquakes in Canterbury and Christchurch. While so many lives were tragically lost and the fabric of homes, buildings, and roads damaged, the fabric of the community remained resilient and strong. 

The response of the community to those most in need—neighbours helping neighbours, volunteers providing assistance of every kind, and support in donations flooding in from throughout the country, underscored how much New Zealand is a single family bound together by shared connections and values.

Leading a team requires a variety of skills.  Being a leader of a team often calls for hard decisions.  But it also requires respect to be shown for others, for humility, for listening to others and taking advice.  A great leader is one who understands and plays to the strengths of the individual members of the team. 

Sir Peter Blake recognised this idea of power in the collective, and led many team expeditions. In a log entry on 18 February 2001, when Sir Peter and a team were on an Antarctica expedition, he wrote about the importance of team work in succeeding.  The log entry reads as follows:

“Antarctica has its share of tales in its short history.  There have been exploits that have caught the imagination of the world, like Shackleton’s small boat voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia, after his ship Endurance was beset and finally sank, leaving the entire crew on the ice. This was a long time ago now, but is a real-life tale that is still held as a model for leadership and a “never say die” attitude.”

As Sir Peter alludes to, the team was kept together in extraordinary circumstances which resulted in an incredible survival story eventually accomplished by the collective.

As the Māori proverb or whakatauki has it:  Kaua e rangiruatia te ha o te hoe e kore to tatou waka e u ki uta which translates as: Do not lift the paddle out of unison or our canoe will never reach the shore. 

New Zealand has difficult times ahead, in dealing with the tragedies of the past year and in rebuilding of buildings, and also the spirit of affected communities.  It remains more important than ever before for people to work together as one team and one family.

As our time at Government House is drawing to a close, Susan and I have lately had occasion to look back at the last five years.  We have gained a significant insight into New Zealand’s communities in our time in this role. In that regard we have talked about feeling confident that, with the high calibre of leaders that are emerging, and the strength of our combined communities, that New Zealand will emerge from these difficult times stronger than before.

To conclude, I offer congratulations to everyone receiving an award later this evening and add thanks to the team of people who help, under Sir Ron’s leadership, to make the Sir Peter Blake Leaderships Awards possible and who thus continue the Blake vision.

And on that note I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.