Leaders are not cut from the same cloth
Three hundred secondary school students selected for their leadership attributes meet committed achievers - including NBR publisher Todd Scott.
Three hundred secondary school students selected for their leadership attributes meet committed achievers - including NBR publisher Todd Scott.
Hamish Carter knew he wanted to be an Olympic gold medallist at the age of eight.
AUT University Business School honours student Afra Abdeen has plenty of opportunities in front of her but is still experiencing a career dilemma as to which one to choose as she approaches graduation.
National Business Review publisher Todd Scott has been through four career transitions from butcher to Lotto co-host to arrive at his calling, taking the NBR into the next 40 years of its life.
All have their unique interpretation of what being a leader means.
Three hundred secondary school students, selected for their leadership attributes, gathered at the Fuji Xerox Inspire 2013 event as part of Leadership Week to learn from a selection of New Zealand leaders, both emerging and established.
Hosted by the AUT business school and in collaboration with the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Trust, the event was designed to give students an insight into what it takes to be a leader once exiting the secure environs of secondary school.
Sarah Trotman, Blake leader and director of business relations at the AUT business school, says students who understand and embrace leadership opportunities within AUT excel.
Significantly greater
As a result, their opportunities for employment and contribution to the economy can be significantly greater.
"If the AUT business school can help prepare secondary school students to actively seek out these opportunities, we will all be better off,"she says.
"The AUT business school is working with secondary education providers and business owners to identify emerging leaders early and provide them with the necessary skills and support to reach their full potential.”
Leaders do not necessarily take traditional routes through education.
Todd Scott jokes about leaving school a week into the 5th form after a short stint working in the tuck shop.
This may have been the catalyst in him becoming trained as a butcher and winning the country’s young butcher award in 1989.
He reinforced his deeply engrained philosophy - “I am willing to do today what others will not do so I can do tomorrow what others cannot do” - at the event.
Continually reaching for an ambitious vision two to three years out, Mr Scott went on to become one of New Zealand’s most successful media people on air, screen and in sales.
It was he businessman Barry Colman sought to transform the NBR’s online revenue streams in 2008. A few years on, having weathered the GFC and with Mr Colman’s full support, he took over the reins of New Zealand’s pre-eminent business publication.
Another approach
Hamish Carter’s story reflects another approach.
With a vision of winning a gold medal close to his heart for most of his life, he approached the big race in Sydney in 2000 full of excitement - only for his heart to sink once he hit the water.
“I came 26th on the day. It was extremely disappointing. It showed me how brutal the Olympics are.
"Only three people get recognised, the rest are losers. In the food hall that night many people were crying into their dinners.”
It took Mr Carter time to want to go back. With the help of his coach he started to realise his downfall had been too much focus on his vision of success - something he ultimately had no control over.
Redesigning his approach, he went into Athens focused on things he could control: being a great team contributor, his equipment and his technique at each stage of the race.
The result? Gold.
On reflection, he sees the keys to success are having a "terrifying" vision, focusing on the things people can control which will help them reach that vision, and ultimately throwing all the passion they can muster into reaching that goal.
Early in the pursuit of her dreams is Afra Abdeen.
Now ready to graduate from the AUT business school, she questions the pressure put on young people to know where they are heading.
“It’s OK not to know where your career is ultimately heading. How can you know what opportunities are ahead of you at the age of 20? The important thing is to have the self-confidence to grab them when they come along,” she says.
Elected AUT’s president of ENACTUS, a global not-for-profit organisation of student entrepreneurs, she found herself out of her comfort zone.
For her it was a crash course in accepting mistakes are OK and when someone is passionate about something, people will follow.
By taking up this extracurricular responsibility she is closer to discovering her passion and is doing her masters on the current perception of corporate social responsibility.
Colin Bass is founding director of BusinessLab, a business consultancy, and is a member of the Institute of Accredited Business Consultants.