With ‘diversity’ under attack, what kind of leaders do we need?

Original op-ed published in the NZ Herald

The shock waves of Trump 2.0 pulling away from ESG, DEI, WFH, free trade and all things not ‘American’ continue to roll through boardrooms across the world. Leaders of all stripes, including here in New Zealand, need to decide what they stand for, what they will do to advance the interests of their country, company, community or cause?

Meanwhile, as businesses and households struggle out of the downturn, the Government and Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ agenda is all about economic growth, including taking on New Zealand’s long-standing productivity challenges. The Reserve Bank has just reminded us that productivity is now well below the OECD average compared to more advanced economies, and that aside from policy settings the private sector really needs to lift its game. Step ups range from adoption of tech and innovation through to reinvesting and management capability.

This year’s challenging operating context for New Zealand businesses raises some searching questions – what style of leadership should New Zealand directors, CEOs and managers adopt in 2025? Switch to Trump’s authoritarian/coercive style? Pump Zuckerberg’s ‘masculine energy’? Adopt Jacinda’s approach as an empathetic leader? Hold steady or double down on a more inclusive, equitable approach?

Current pressures need to be read in the wider context. In past decades, the role and requirements of the CEO have changed – the job of the CEO has shifted from being widget-driven to more people-driven.

The range of styles of successful CEOs has broadened, and different contexts call for different styles. CEOs today must be adaptive due to more complexity, transparency, tech/AI, demographics, remote work.

I’m on a mission to diversify the CEO talent pool. Thinking differently and applying a range of different life experiences increase your chances of business success. The more people from diverse walks of life that we can inspire to aspire to senior leadership, the better for New Zealand. And although different industries and organisations require different specialist skills, in my opinion there are three key attributes for a successful CEO, all of which are attainable by future leaders.

Here is the CEO formula for 2025:

Inspirer

This is about inspiring your people around a vision. The key to all great breakthroughs, inspirational leadership can unleash talent and create momentum in the right direction. Top talent wants to be on board, people are engaged, and innovation can flourish. Inspiration literally means ‘to breath into.’

Breathing innovation into business is how we catalyse the Government’s plan to power growth in order to unlock New Zealand’s potential. Inspiration fuelled by Kiwis who split the atom, pioneered aviation, changed filmmaking, revolutionised accounting, turned waste gas into ethanol, sent rockets into space and more. Real growth demands next level innovation.

Realist

In business, once inspiration is in motion, a CEO still has to merge dreams with reality to ensure that plans have a realistic chance of success. Leadership styles in this category may be more decisive, which can be good in high pressure situations and when you need to make the unpopular but necessary calls.

Occasionally this means administering a cold dose of realism to the wildest dreams. It may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s an important intervention to ensure innovation can succeed before the money runs out. For example, as CEO of an investment management company, I put a stop to an app which our customer and growth team loved because the rest of our technology was too far behind. I hated pouring cold water on innovation but had to get real about weighing up short term customer gains with long term technological debt.

Listener

When you have the right people aligned with the vision, instead of telling them what to do, find out what they think needs to be done. Stand back and allow your team tocollaborate and drive productivity and growth.

Active listening is a hidden growth engine that builds morale, develops relationships, earns respect, uncovers insights and improves the CEO’s decision-making. At its most profound, active listening enables you to notice what is being left unsaid and interpret what that means too. As management ace Peter Drucker said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.”

Diversity of people, experiences and approaches is at the centre of today’s leadership formula. You will encounter the inspirer, the realist and the listener in people from all walks of life and everywhere from the office to university to farm to stadium to nursery. It’s everyone’s job to urge New Zealanders who have these qualities to step up and lead – regardless of their background. New Zealand’s productivity, growth and wellbeing depends on it.