Effective leadership
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has a
strong internal culture with an
extraordinarily committed whānau
whānui. However, we also have a
highly complex business model
with 96 different programmes
being delivered at 120 sites in 50
towns and cities across the country.
Although every kaimahi has ideas
about how we might achieve
success, our first steps must be to
review the structure and leadership
of our organisation to consolidate
our focus, improve workflows
and remove inconsistencies in
resourcing. We will refine our
organisational structure to support
the right mix of managers who will
be empowered through a system of
high trust and high accountability
that emphasises an attitude of
‘the buck stops here’. Further
development of our leadership
team will require a shift in thinking
based on a collective commitment
to doing the right things at the right
times to achieve the right results.
Our managers will be supported
by a formal strategic leadership
development programme designed
to produce a defined and consistent
adaptive leadership style.
Strengthen our brand
After having intentionally ‘flown
under the radar’ for a number
of years, our brand is not widely
recognised in Aotearoa New
Zealand and we are generally
considered one of the country’s
best kept secrets. Our desire to
keep a low profile has arisen from
a risk-averse culture with a focus
on reinforcing the ‘status quo’.
However, it is now time for Te
Wānanga o Aotearoa
to demonstrate that we are a
leading Māori development
organisation with both
international and nationwide reach
and strong networks that include
iwi, Tertiary Education Institutes,
Industry Training Organisations,
businesses and communities.
We must use our brand to clarify
what it is we stand for – ‘Whānau
transformation through education’.
We must begin portraying a more
progressive, capable, high-value,
and confident organisational
attitude. Our new brand position
will emphasise a unified approach
and will portray us as a resilient
and innovative organisation that
produces high quality education
augmented by unique, positive and
inclusive Māori elements.
Innovation
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has a long
history of innovation within the
confines of the tertiary education
funding system. Our future
business model will be adapted
to meet changing government
policies, declining traditional
revenue streams and the changing
expectations of our tauira and other
external stakeholders. It will also
be designed to enable us to bring
alternative revenue streams into
our core business and to nurture a
culture of innovation.
Communication
Clarity and simplicity of key
messages are essential elements
in unifying our whānau whānui
with a single purpose of ‘telling our
story better’ and more effectively
communicating our unique
contribution to the tertiary sector
and our wider communities. We
will bring accountability to our
communications and cohesion to
the messages we communicate –
both internally and externally. We
will consolidate our organisational
communications function to ensure
that key information is shared with
all kaimahi in a clear, consistent and
unambiguous way.
In closing, I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Te Mana
Whakahaere for entrusting me with
the position of Te Taiurungi to lead
this next phase in the development
of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
I would like to acknowledge
the efforts of those who led Te
Wānanga o Aotearoa before
me, founder Dr Rongo Wetere,
and my predecessor Bentham
Ohia. These two leaders laid
the foundations and built an
organisation that has changed the
lives of hundreds of thousands
of people, many of whom had
experienced only failure through
the mainstream education system.
I also acknowledge and humbly
thank our kaimahi for the passion
and commitment they provide that
stands Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
apart from all other tertiary
education providers. Finally I would
like to acknowledge the tens of
thousands of tauira who are at the
heart of everything we do - who
are the whānau we help transform
through education.
Nei rā te mihi maioha ki ā koutau
katoa.
JimMather
Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tuhoe
Te Taiurungi
BU I LD, ADAPT, SUCCEED
10 TE PŪRONGO 2013
