The Art of Leadership

Leadership is expressed in many different ways. Recently our team welcomed to Employability Matters four very different leaders, who are at the top of their respective games, to share their own journeys, definitions and experiences of leadership.

Rakesh Nauhria, General Manager of South Auckland Business Nauhria Precast and Reinforcing, and AUT MBA grad reflects on his journey from slightly lost 22-year old who wasn’t sure what he wanted to where he stands now. When Rakesh graduated from AIT in 1999 (Auckland Institute of Technology and now AUT), he was offered and worked as a bank teller for a year but the role didn’t make sense to him. “I realised it’s not where I wanted to be. I wanted to move into the business world. My whole definition of leadership has changed and developed. I used to think it was all about working hard but it’s so much more.”

Partnering with his Dad, Roshan, they built their company on hard work, teamwork and strong family commitment. Rakesh’s leadership direction is simple. “Creating a truly innovative culture is about creating a team where difference is embraced and explored. Concrete is what we love but the true foundations of our business are great people and innovation.”

AUT Environmental Science graduate Angela Waru brings her own leadership style to her role as Programme Supervisor in the Policy, Communications and Workforce area for Auckland Regional Public Health Service. A big part of her style recognises that people approach situations in different ways. “For me, leadership are a bit like shoes. I like to wear high heels and someone else many like to wear crocks. Everybody has their own role and pathway and they’ll all be different. You want people to feel comfortable in what they doing. There’s no one size fits all in terms of leadership.”

In her own experience, Angela encourages students to take advantage of every opportunity and don’t be afraid to fail.  “Failure presents an opportunity to learn. Things won’t go right all the time but that’s okay as you can learn from it. Leadership is a marathon, not a sprint – it’s about lifelong learning”.

Jacinda Ardern, Deputy Labour Leader, MP for Mount Albert and Spokesperson for Justice, Arts, Culture and Heritage, Children, and Small Business Associate Spokesperson for Auckland Issues agrees. For Jacinda, a single act of volunteering kick started a whole world of opportunities and so began her entry into leadership world. “I started out as a leaflet deliverer and door knocker. You never know where that free offer of help will take you”.

“I originally thought leadership was the ability to exert confidence and assertiveness. For a long time, I think I denied that I was any form of leader because I thought I had to fit a particular mould of what I believed it should be. But we see leaders at every level of our lives – they are the people who identify problems, try to find solutions and are great at bringing people together and bring the best out in people.”

AUT Marketing and International Business grad and CEO & Founder of Socialites and Start Social, Wendy Thompson entry into the world of leadership came about completely by accident. “I wanted to do social media for businesses and I grew a team around me. By being around inspiring people, I’ve learnt that energy goes such a long way. Most entrepreneurs I know don’t sleep a lot.  We have huge amount of energy but it doesn’t come from food and water – it comes from our passion. It’s because we’re really excited about what we do. It can change the world, move mountains and get people to Mars”. As with all of our speakers, Wendy agrees that leadership is about being YOU. “You’ve really got to know and embrace your own style”.

At the end of the day, “you just take to everyone the same whether they are the president or the garbage man”.

Keep updated on our Facebook page for our next round of leadership speakers across all of our AUT campuses.