This year we have been profiling a member of the Dunstan Manukura and sharing their assembly message with our school community. At our last assembly on the 14th May we heard from our Pou Māori Wahine, Elsie Jack.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari kē he toa takitini.                                                                                                                                                                                     My success should not be bestowed onto me alone, it was not individual success but the success of a collective.

Today I’d like to talk to you about leadership: Hautūtanga. 

The first thing that comes to mind when leadership is mentioned is often an image of one person in front of a crowd, guiding and advising them. Being that sort of leader is quite intimidating to many people - I know it is for me - as many of us can’t imagine getting up in front of our peers. However, while that is one example of leadership, there is actually another sort of leadership that is far more achievable for every single person in this room. 

Leadership isn’t always about getting up there in front of a group, although it is sometimes necessary, but rather, leadership is about the small everyday habits and routines that often seem to go unnoticed. Things like arriving to class on time, greeting others, throwing your rubbish in the bin, and even just completing your work before the due date may seem mundane, but in reality, they set a standard of respect and consideration for both others and the environment around you. Small things like this encourage and inspire others to act respectfully as well.

And leadership doesn’t just come from within. Leadership is something much bigger than you or I. It comes from the people and mana we surround ourselves with - the people who choose to stand with us and support us when we need it. When we choose to surround ourselves with people who demonstrate those small everyday aspects of leadership, we reinforce our own habits regarding leadership - it’s like a positive chain reaction!

While writing this speech I came across a quote from the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” While not explicitly focused on leadership, this quote pretty much sums up what I’m trying to say. When we all decide to demonstrate leadership through the small everyday things, we create an environment of leaders - not necessarily the big flashy speech-making leaders, but leaders nonetheless.

So keep on doing the small things that you might think go completely unnoticed, because what you’re actually doing is setting the standard for leadership within our school.

Mā te mōhio ka mārama, mā te mārama ka mātau, mā te mātau ka ora.                                                                                                                                               Through knowing comes understanding, through understanding comes wisdom, through wisdom comes life and well-being.

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.