Accelerating New Zealand
Receiving a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award has been the tipping point for these Kiwis aiming for the top
Celebrating 10 years of inspiring Kiwi leadership
In June 2014, the Sir Peter Blake Trust will celebrate a decade of outstanding Kiwi leadership, with the 10th anniversary of New Zealand’s most prestigious leadership awards.
The Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards recognise Zealand sporting, business, arts, government and community leaders who have not only excelled in their chosen field, but they have also given back as leaders in their industries, local and wider communities.
Their outstanding leadership has inspired and mobilised others to embark on their own leadership journeys and to further contribute to the success of New Zealand.
Six Blake Leaders and one Blake Medalist are named each year, becoming part of an incomparable leadership network. Members share the same spirit, passion and leadership qualities of one of our greatest leaders, Sir Peter Blake, after whom the awards are named. Here, five Blake Leaders talk what their Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award has meant to them.
2005 Blake Leader: Mark Weldon, Owner Terra Sancta Winery and Chair of GeoOp
Being part of the Blake Leader network, I’m always meeting exceptional new people who are doing stunning things and it reminds you of just how much is possible. The Blake Leaders as a group sit across all sectors of New Zealand society. When that group is harnessed to integrate the energy, which exists in all sorts of strange and wonderful places, it can help accelerate New Zealand forward. It is the potential that the group has to make a difference that is most exciting.
2012 Blake Leader: Rachel Taulelei, CEO and Founder of Yellow Brick Road
Being inducted as a Blake Leader in 2012 has been a true highlight. As a Blake Leader you’ve been given a tap on the shoulder, tantamount to, ‘we like what you have done so far but we think you can do more’, and with that faith and a gentle nudge, you do. The Trust has invested in our future and they do some incredible work with young leaders, which is an area I am also passionate about. It’s a real privilege to be involved.
2005 Blake Leader: Glen Sowry, CEO Housing NZ, Whitbread and Olympic Sailor
Being recognised as a Blake Leader, by such an extraordinary panel, gave me confidence and raised the bar about in terms of what I could and should achieve, and that I shouldn’t just stay put and ride comfortably. I needed to make an effort, to focus and challenge myself. To now be a trustee and on the selection panel myself are all by-products of these extra efforts. From a career perspective I have stepped up to lead an organisation that has the government’s second biggest asset on the balance sheet, housing 200,000 of the country’s most vulnerable people. This is a tremendous responsibility but receiving the award has helped give the confidence that I can do it.
2011 Blake Leader: Julie Chapman, CEO and Co-Founder of KidsCan
It is an honour to be a Blake Leader and, for me personally, it means I have accepted an award that comes with an ongoing responsibility to develop as a leader and to do even more in the field I work in. One of the great things about being a Blake Leader is that it opens up a network to other like-minded people who are all passionate about their contribution to making New Zealand a great place to live.
2006 Blake Leader: Gary Wilson, Director of the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute
When you receive a Blake Leader award you also take on the responsibility to step up and continue Sir Peter’s great leadership legacy, in your chosen field of expertise. This has certainly been the case for me, as I have moved from just focusing on my own scientific teaching and research endeavours to lead one of the most ambitious New Zealand Science Challenges – The Deep South – for New Zealand. Being part of the Blake Leader network connects me to leaders, outside of science, who have provided me with different support and other valuable expertise and skills. They have influenced how I approach my work and what I am trying to achieve with our science and research community. Winning a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award is less about the award and more about what happens next and what you’re prepared to make happen.