Voyages Online

The Pacific Leadership Development Programme 2006 is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health and three Departments at Canterbury University. The Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies provides a Pacific perspective, the Health Services Centre brings a public health perspective and the Department of Management offers expertise in management and leadership.

“The fundamental goal is to support the growth of Pacific leadership. By doing that the health outcomes of Pacific people will be improved. A lesser goal is to provide participants with academic credit, which can be carried forward to other qualifications they are doing. The course is at postgraduate level and is worth a quarter of a full-time year of study.”

Bringing together Pacific culture with contemporary theories about leadership is one of the innovative things about the course. “Most of our current theories of leadership come out of America and they are very euro-centric,” says Ian. “So we are addressing that in two stages. In this first module we are presenting the mainstream, conventional theories. In the second module, we will be specifically seeking to articulate a Pacific model of leadership and then we’ll see how compatible these two frameworks are.

“My hunch is that the result will be like a Venn diagram. There are parts that will sit together very comfortably because people are people. And then, there will be some very specific cultural components that will relate to Pacific people. It’s about having an understanding of where the diagrams meet and where bits are unique.”

Articulating a Pacific model of leadership is new territory, says Ian. At the university they have researched models of Pacific leadership but there is very little material available. “If we can verbalise and document a model of Pacific leadership, that will be a really positive outcome, and a ground-breaking one.”

Professor Andrew Hornblow’s part in the workshop covers the history of the New Zealand health system and the lessons it offers leaders. “The history tells them that the health system, like most organisational systems, is forever changing and evolving. At times, that change has been rapid and dramatic,” he says.

What does this mean for Pacific health providers?

“There is the potential to be actively involved in an evolutionary process rather than just being a passive recipient,” says Andrew.

He says the course also examines the challenges of being a minority voice within a complex, publicly funded system. “Any minority group tends to be marginalised, because any publicly funded system is geared around the needs of the majority. You have to look at how you can influence the processes so that your needs are recognised. We looked at the ways of influencing the mainstream.”

Professor Karen Nero, director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, says the programme aims to present the best of international health practice within a Pacific cultural context.

“Developing this programme has been a very interactive process between the Ministry of Health and the University of Canterbury. There’s been a recognition from the very first that no-one had all the answers. It’s about how we can all work together to solve these issues.”

Karen says the course aims to facilitate change. “In order to achieve change we needed to have the best practice from management, we had to have knowledge of health science and we needed to have strong nationwide Pacific input which reflected the needs of different populations and communities.

“Looking ahead, I’d imagine that there will be change and it will be coming from these people. I think one of things that may emerge is more of a pan-Pacific voice.”

From a management perspective, the programme can achieve two things, says Ian Brooks.

“It can give individuals more self-confidence around leadership. My sense is there is a lot of leadership ability in this room but people are hesitant to call themselves leaders. They might lack knowledge of current leadership theory but my guess is that when they see some frameworks they will recognise the abilities they already have. That will build their confidence.

“Secondly, I hope they will take away from this programme a set of skills around change management. They will know better how to influence the health system, which will make them more effective leaders.”

Functioning successfully in a vast, euro-centric health system – with an annual budget of $10 billion – is a huge challenge for Pacific health practitioners, says Ian. It’s a big challenge for anyone, he quickly adds.

“There are a lot of cultural issues to confront. There are issues around becoming effective advocates of change at a policy level and there are also issues at a more individual level around how Pacific leaders can be more effective in dealing with officials.

Our generation of leaders has been leading the way, getting into mainstream services and processes of government to plant the seed for Pacific people. They have fought the fight. Now it’s time for the younger generation to stand up and continue that.

Fa’amatuainu Tino Pereira

“One in every five dollars spent by government is spent on health and there is a lot of competition for that dollar. There’s an ongoing battle for resources and what we are doing is equipping Pacific people to be more effective in that battle. We need more advocates for Pacific health at the policy level,” says Ian.

Andrew Hornblow has been impressed by the calibre of the group.

“This group of people will undoubtedly be exercising a lot of leadership over the Pacific health sector over the next ten years. To do this though, people need to be nurtured. The pressures of being a Pacific leader are not only the normal pressures of working within the health system. They are also the pressures of being advocates and representatives of a culture.”

He says the workshops have been characterised by openness, optimism and humour.

“There’s a real sense of energy and people feeling they can change and improve things for Pacific communities. It is just a matter of clarifying how to use this enormous energy best.”

Looking ahead, Andrew predicts the group will network effectively for many years to come and provide a valuable source of mentoring for other Pacific health workers coming through the system.

“There is no doubt that what they are learning here will be passed on in a variety of other contexts. They now have the chance to be more actively involved in shaping the system.”

The LEADERSHIP question

Can leadership be taught? One body of leadership theory opinion says you have to be born with leadership traits; another body of opinion says there are a whole lot of leadership skills and behaviours that can be learned. The general consensus would be that all people can be taught leadership skills but some people have personality traits that that will make that task easier than for others. 

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