Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Reception

Kia ora koutou.  Nau mai, haere mai rā ki Te Whare Kawana o Te Whanganui-a-Tara.  Greetings to you all, and welcome to Government House Wellington.

I’m pleased to welcome you all to Government House for a fire-side chat.  I well remember meeting the 2012 RYLA participants and the interaction we had.  I’m sure that the enthusiasm for the programme that they voiced is shared by 2014’s cohort, and that all of you are finding your experience both positive and stimulating.

I do not intend speaking for too long.  Rather I will make a few remarks and then open the forum for questions.

The American athlete and evangelist, Billy Sunday once said that, “Men fail through a lack of purpose rather than lack of talent."   I assume that your selection for RYLA is an indication that other people have seen that you have some talent - potential.  The question you need to answer for yourself is, what are you going to do with it?

Decide to be a Leader.  We often think of leadership in terms of great men and women doing glorious deeds.  That is one kind of leadership but it’s not always about making the biggest splash.  A well-known playwright of the 19th century, Henrik Ibsen, said: “A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” 

There are leadership opportunities everywhere – in the home, in the workplace, at church, in your sports clubs, and in your community.  The places where leadership is required are innumerable, but in each and every case, someone has to take the decision to step up.  When you decide to be a leader, understand you accept that you will work harder, longer and better.

Leaders Lead.  In my view, good leaders lead.  They make tough choices and decisions, and tell the people who work for and with them uncomfortable truths if that is required.  Having a set of core values, principles against which you are comfortable being “assessed” by yourself and others is, to my mind, essential.  They help to keep you grounded and assist keeping you committed and purposeful in your work.  Leadership and leaders are dynamic, in the sense that things are always happening.  As the American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr once said:  “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Leaders lead with a Purpose.  Leaders combine the talent they have with a purpose in the belief they can make a positive change.  It is the belief that one person can make a difference that underpins good leadership.

Some leaders have been not so much ordinary as unlikely.  An apparently disheveled rock star on a supposedly downward career slide, Bob Geldof was an improbable charity figurehead.  However, his Live-Aid initiative to combat famine in Africa united the Western world in a way that had never been seen before.  As Life magazine said “Did God knock at the wrong door by mistake and when it was opened by this scruffy Irishman think ‘Oh, what the hell – he’ll do’?”

It is the initial decision to be a leader that is the important one.  Rather than sitting back and saying ‘Someone needs to do something about this’; you need to take the step forward to be that someone.  The first step is sometimes as simple as participating, and finding something that you can put your weight behind.  As the 1960s radicals would say ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.” 

Some of our most remarkable feats of leadership in New Zealand have been carried out by ordinary people.  People like Sam Johnson who organised the Student Volunteer Army in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes.  Sir Murray Halberg, a modest man, overcame physical adversity to become an Olympic champion.  Through his Halberg Disability Sport Foundation, Sir Murray’s example links sporting excellence, active recreation and people who have had the most beneficial effect on the advancement of sport in our country.  Both Sam and Sir Murray used the celebrity-status they achieved from focusing their talent to go on and contribute in the wider community. 

An example of Leadership.  The founding document of government in New Zealand provides a wonderful example of and lessons about Leadership.  Two weeks from today, we will be celebrating Waitangi Day here at Government House.  We will mark the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi – Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and its significance on our society since 1840. 

On 6 February 1840, our forefathers, Māori and British, came together to create an environment where both peoples could live together.  The Maori leaders who signed the treaty chose to accept a partnership whereby they would work together with “tau-iwi” new peoples in this land.  Their signatures and marks indicated their commitment.

For his part, Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson, representing the Crown, was entrusted to act with sincerity, justice and good faith.  His signature represented a commitment on behalf of a Queen and government in the United Kingdom to act in partnership to form a new nation and a fair society. 

The Treaty of Waitangi has had a mixed history.  In the recent past successive Governments demonstrated leadership of a different kind.  Based on reports from the Waitangi Tribunal, and acting in good faith Governments have sought to settle historic grievances and ensure the intent of the original document is adhered to.

Although the Treaty was first signed at Waitangi, copies of the Treaty were taken around the country and signed by Māori.  In the lower North Island, represented by Rotary District 9940, the treaty was signed at Waikanae, Kapiti and Motungarara Islands, Otaki, Wellington, Whanganui and the Manawatu.

The Treaty is also notable in that it was signed by 13 women leaders.  In an era, when European women were regarded as men’s inferiors, leadership roles in Maoridom were not the sole preserve of the male.

Conclusion.  And that to me represents the best thing about leadership – there are lots of opportunities and it can be exercised anywhere.  Leadership is gender blind, colour blind, class blind and age blind.  All it needs to flourish is a person who has a principled approach to a purpose and a will to succeed.

Kia ora, kia kaha, kia manawanui, huihui tātou katoa