In times of rapid change, leadership that is built on consistency, humility and courage is required, writes Vaughan Payne, the director of Kahu Manawa, a company that works with organisations, in particular iwi, central and local government, to create pragmatic strategies.
If we want public confidence that large-scale reform will deliver real public good, we need a different kind of leadership. Not louder leadership. Not more positional power.
Instead, we need leadership that creates the conditions for others to do their best work – grounded in relationships rather than ego – especially when the path ahead is uncertain.
This kind of leadership is collaborative, adaptive, non-parochial and quiet. It grows people and whanaungatanga – those enabling the reforms to emerge with strength and sustainability. And this kind of leadership is often very uncomfortable to those whose leadership model is based in the past.
I have come to this view not from theory but from lived experience inside some of New Zealand’s most complex change programmes.
Over my career I have had an equal number of private and public sector leadership roles – one focused on profit, the other on public good.
Five years ago, I was offered two senior public sector roles: a chief executive role that would largely reinforce an existing, broken system, and a deputy chief executive role that involved trying to fix one.
I chose the latter.
I wanted to understand, deeply and practically, how ‘systems change’ actually happens in the public sector – not just how it is announced, but how it is led through political complexity, institutional inertia and genuine uncertainty.
That decision took me out of my comfort zone and led to being instrumental in two different, major reform programmes.
This stretched me personally and professionally and fully exposed me to the realities of reform: that leading change makes you vulnerable to politics, timing, and shifting mandates.
And a powerful learning experience.
One of the strongest learnings was that while it is both great and challenging to be a leader through any sort of public policy change, it is much more rewarding to lead through public policy change that requires new and emerging skills to be applied.
As chief executive of one of the former government’s four proposed water services entities, I was offered a generous redundancy when the policy settings changed. I declined it.
Instead, after consultation with iwi and councils, I accepted redeployment into a role that allowed me to continue supporting the kaupapa of improving water services.
Because while governments change, the problems do not magically disappear.
Which brings me to Waikato Waters Limited.
Over the past two and a half years, I have led the establishment of Waikato Waters – a new water services company with seven shareholder councils, working in partnership with local iwi. The programme is complex, highly scrutinised and operating within a rapidly changing legislative environment.
Yet it has also been one of the most constructive leadership environments I have been part of.
Waikato Waters has an ambitious and values-led vision: healthy water and communities, meeting tangata whenua [Maori] expectations, financial sustainability, a capable workforce and customer focus. The transition programme is well advanced.
Simon Watts, Minister of Local Government has acknowledged the Waikato Waters plan as an “unprecedented and impressive collaborative effort between councils.”
A recent review identified several critical success factors – none of which were technical in nature.
What mattered most was strong collective leadership across mayors, elected members, iwi chairs, chief executives and the programme team. What mattered was high-trust relationships that enabled difficult conversations and principled decisions in the face of uncertainty. What mattered was independent, robust advice that gave decision-makers confidence to move forward despite political noise.
In other words, the success of Waikato Waters – like any serious systems change effort – has rested on leadership and relationships, not systems and structures alone.
I have now chosen to step away from the programme, confident that it is in good shape and well positioned for the next phase. I do so with deep respect for the leaders I have worked alongside and a strong belief in what has been built.
My departure has sharpened a question I believe we must ask more openly:
If leadership is the critical enabler of systems change, what kind of leadership does New Zealand now require?
My answer is this: leadership that does not defend the status quo simply because it is familiar. Leadership that understands that stability and stagnation are not the same thing. Leadership that recognises that trust is built through consistency, humility, and courage – not certainty.
Ka pu te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi – When the old net is worn out, the new net is put into use.
Our public systems are asking for new nets. They will only succeed if we are willing to lead differently.