How are our Alumni leading with what's needed for Aotearoa to thrive in the 21st Century? We sat down with NICK RUANE (Alum 2014) to track his journey and unlock the ways his leadership mahi is making a difference in Aotearoa since graduating from The NZ Leadership Programme (NZLP).
What wisdom and tools from your NZLP experience have you added to your kete?
My year of leadership taught me a bunch of skills, most importantly how to understand myself as a leader before I could possibly lead others. This skill has been put to the test during the last two years of the pandemic. My job, as General Manager Stakeholder Relations for Workbridge, is a very public facing role in a very well-known disability sector organisation, celebrating our 90th Anniversary this year. We have faced some significant challenges navigating our way through the pandemic, foremost protecting our staff and the disabled people we serve.
I have had to ensure that throughout all the health challenges we as a nation have faced, I could keep myself safe, from a health & wellbeing perspective, so that I can be in the best place to make good decisions to put our staff and the disabled people we serve first.
In what ways has NZLP elevated your way of thinking, seeing or feeling the world?
As a disabled person, and a senior leader in the disability sector, the NZ Leadership Programme was important to my personal development. I was the only disabled person in my year group, there have been others and there will be more.
This programme challenged me personally, and it placed me into situations that challenged my personal worldview, which caused me to grow as a person. NZLP taught me to think, feel and believe that I was a member of a wider community of leadership practice that I was a part of, outside of my close family/whānau who would support and back me. This was a new feeling.
I came away with a sense of confidence that I had not had previously. In the first instance I have been able to grow into my role at work with greater confidence, but in a greater sense, this programme has gifted me with a sense of inner calm and confidence as to my greater purpose, and a stronger belief in the pathway of leadership that I have to walk.
What impact has the Programme had on your organisation or community?
The last two years since the pandemic began have been very challenging for the disability community.
My organisation, Workbridge, serves disabled people through providing employment opportunities, which are life changing for disabled people. During the pandemic many disabled people were legitimately afraid to leave their homes, and as an organisation we had to be agile and adapt to how we supported our staff and served our jobseekers.
The skills I learned on my year of leadership in 2014, especially focusing on resilience and taking the time to look after self, served me well when I was constantly being asked to make important decisions that impacted our staff’s lives and our jobseekers’ confidence to engage with Workbridge.
As a Disability Sector leader, if you had one piece of wisdom for future leaders, what would it be?
My advice to other leaders and emerging leaders in my sector, and more widely, is that you should seek to challenge your world view, you should meet & engage with people who have views that may oppose yours.
What I would say to future participants is: Be brave as I was, but also know that you will be surrounded with aroha, as you take a step into the unknown, and embark on a year of leadership.
Personally, I feel it is crucial to lead in my community from a position where I understand our wider society and walk in both worlds. NZLP gifted me this opportunity and I would strongly encourage any current or emerging leaders to challenge themselves to be comfortable in both worlds.
I am still close with my leadership year class, this is a group of people that, had we not met through this experience, probably would have never met.
There is a power from the whakawhanautanga that naturally develops within each leadership year group, and this carries on. I personally witnessed this at a recent NZLP reunion in Te Whanganui a Tara / Wellington where year groups picked up friendships and conversations from years past, as if no time at all had passed.
NICK RUANE is Stakeholder Relations Manager at Workbridge- Te Arawhiti mō Mahi
Did Nick’s story resonate with you? This is one of many courageous, enriching and impactful journeys on The NZ Leadership Programme.
Pūmanawa Kaiārahi Leadership NZ is on a mission to find the committed, visionary, brave leaders who can lead with what's needed for Aotearoa to thrive in the 21st Century. In this time of uncertainty and change, our purpose to catalyse leadership in Aotearoa as a force for positive change has never felt more important.
Are you a mid-level, senior or community leader in New Zealand who feels purposeful to evolve its leadership landscape? Do you know someone who is?
Applications are open for The NZ Leadership Programme 2023
We warmly invite suitable leaders across New Zealand to apply now.