Written by Theresa Lealofi, Ministry for Pacific Peoples
Cynical. Unmotivated. Unknown.
Feelings I felt before the first retreat of the inaugural Tū Mau Mana Moana leadership programme.
Cynical – because I have done a few other leadership programmes (one being Māori and Pacific focused) and was unsure if it would be the same – transactional, 360 surveys and understanding your strengths.
Unmotivated – leaving the busyness of work was going to be difficult. There is never a perfect time for a retreat, but that week wasn’t it.
Unknown – I hadn’t bothered to ask others what the leadership programme was like so I went into the retreat with little expectations of what I would get out of it.
What I committed to doing though, to ensure that I was going to make most of the opportunity and the funding that was sponsoring me to do the programme was to have an open mind and remain teachable and grateful.
The feelings I felt quickly left because of the warmth of the vā that was established from the beginning. I was privileged to be in a space with awesome leaders across the public sector – people who had similar objectives – where we were in the position to influence better outcomes for our Pacific families and communities.
I felt more of a responsibility as a leader in the public servant to also be a healer of a system that has underserved our communities for so long whilst working in that very system. However, I feel empowered by the knowledge and concepts of our ancestors that make it possible to influence change.
It is an absolute privilege to journey alongside my cohort to learn more about what binds us together as Pacific peoples and how to better shape (or heal) the system we work in. I am excited and honoured, to say the least, to malaga on this programme.
Theresa wrote this about Va Tupu, the first retreat of seven in Tū Mau Mana Moana.
Tū means to stand, arise, be, to be upright in 48 of our languages – it is Austronesian in origin and one of our most ancient source languages. At its zenith, Tū or Kū is the archetype of humanity - of the god of war, of the realm of humankind.
Mau is in 47 of our languages and is linguistically categorised as Polynesian in origin. It refers to seeking, finding, persisting, holding on to, firmly and tightly. Mau is a well-known movement of liberation and a calling cry to reclaim power.
Together, these words create Tū Mau – to stand and hold, to be firm and seek. The approach and orientation of this programme is designed specifically for Pacific peoples seeking to lead in the public sector.
Find out more about Mana Moana here.