At this cuppa we had a yarn about the quality, or qualities of a leader who has a role of leading others.

Nau mai, haere mai - welcome to our newcomers to our cuppa and yarn space this week, and acknowledging almost 600 subscribers and 73 of you registered for our cuppa sessions.   

We have always envisioned getting a community involved in this idea and to innovate and create new ways towards achieving 100,000 cups of tea.  If there are ideas, individuals or groups of you who want to join the mission and collaborate, please get in touch with us and let’s co-create together.  

Introduction

Leadership is a multifaceted concept, applicable across various settings, across our cultures and languages, from informal groups to large organisations, from whānau to marae, to your Iwi.  

At this cuppa we had a yarn about the quality, or qualities of a leader who has a role of leading others.  

We shared our perspectives on leadership, and shared a couple of things that generally grab us and help us to say, ‘this person is a good leader’.  

Keywords: Self-reflection, Organising, Self-reflect, Kindness, Effectiveness, Emotional intelligence (EQ), Rangatira, Weaving spaces and People, Vulnerabilities, Listening, Leading from the front, middle, or behind, Leadership, Leadership through circumstance, Visibility, Kindness, Identifying strengths and weaknesses, Empathy, Understanding people, High trust relationships, Servant leadership, Articulating a compelling vision, Communication, Instilling hope, Active listening, Active sharing

Self-Reflection and Self-Awareness:

The first part of our discussion emphasises self-reflection and self-awareness as necessary  leadership traits and understanding how they impact those around them. - "The ability to know yourself and how you impact those around you... as a person is learning and growing and willing to do what's needed rather than having all the answers."

Organising Others and Being Effective:

The second perspective delves into the essential quality of organising others, starting with self-organisation. - You've got to have some kind of concept and idea around organising others, which starts with organising yourself."  There was also an emphasis on the balance between empathy and results-oriented leadership. It is thought that being kind and empathetic is valuable, but effectiveness is equally crucial. "Emotional intelligence is good, but if you're not effective, then people start to get frustrated." 

Rangatira: A Māori World-View:

This insight helped us to understand a way of looking at leadership through the Te Ao Māori and weaving lenses. - “Being a Rangatira from a Te Ao Maori perspective… kind of taking apart the words from that; e.g Raranga meaning weaving, and Tira meaning a larger group of people together. The job of a leader is to create a weaving space to allow the ability to lead by being resourceful to happen, of owning where it is that we do have the answers and can guide and facilitate. But it is also owning the vulnerabilities of one’s self, not having it all but being able to find or to resource the part that is missing, which sometimes includes bringing out the parts in our team or our respective group that make it work, so the contribution is sometimes serving, absolutely. But the contribution is also sometimes identifying others, their skills and strengths, and how they can be part of it all. And that's really what a weaver does. 

Leading from Different Positions:

Another theme offers perspective on the various ways leaders can operate, whether from the front, middle, or behind. - "You can lead from the front, you can lead from the middle, or you can lead from behind. Just know who you're doing it for when you're doing it and do it in the right way."  This took us on another pathway thinking about the significance of knowing who you're leading for and adapting your leadership style accordingly. This distinction is crucial, as they also acknowledge that leadership can be driven by ambition, desire, design, or circumstance. 

- "There's leadership through ambition or desire or design, and then there's leadership through circumstance."

The Power of Kindness and Empathy:

Kindness and empathy emerged as recurring themes in the discussion, and ones that everyone seemed to nod at.- "Empathy and understanding people, who they are, where they come from, and what they bring with them." There was acknowledgement that understanding people on a deeper level, considering backgrounds and what they bring to the table puts relationships at the forefront opening up spaces for leaders to support growth - “identify the strengths and weaknesses in their team while encouraging strengths and building on weaknesses”. 

Instilling Hope:

We talked about the role of inspiring hope. Sometimes leading from the front is that role of uplifting people. - "Leaders must also instil a sense of hope, that things can be resolved, can be made better, and that we can move forward."

Active Listening and Sharing:

The last point was about active listening and active sharing. - "Active listening is just hearing from one person and you being a listener. Active sharing means that you're both participating in a way and creating the climate for that participation."

We will leave you with this whakatauki - a Māori proverb which acknowledges and values the importance of both the leader and the followers and that together they are both essential and have a co-dependent relationship. 

Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua.

Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead.