Le Tautua emerging leaders

Developing the capacity of Pacific leadership in management

Le Tautua, literally meaning "the service", derives from a Samoan proverb: "O le ala i le pule, le tautua" or "The pathway to authority is through service".

The concept of tautua includes the notion that where in order to lead, one must also serve. This is characteristic of not just Samoan but many Pacific leadership styles, where leadership is not necessarily about leading from the front but about the paradox of status through service.

Le Va is implementing two initiatives under this project.

Emerging leaders programme - focusing on developing capacity in management and foundations for Pacific leadership.
Evolving leaders alumni - ongoing professional and personal leadership development for programme graduates.

Evaluating and reviewing our programmes ensures they remain relevant and useful in meeting the needs of our Pacific health workforce. The Le Tautua programme was reviewed in late 2011 and an enhanced programme is now in place.

Read about Apollo Taito and David Va'ulu's success as part of the Le Tautua alumni.

Le Tautua emerging leaders programme

The Le Tautua emerging leaders programme is intended to develop leadership and management skills for new and emerging Pacific leaders in the health sector, in partnership with the University of Auckland and key Pacific leaders from varying sectors outside of health and disability.

The Le Tautua emerging leaders programme allows participants to focus on:

the role of culture in management and leadership
cultural competency
personal foundations for leadership
executing and delivering positive change through project management
attributes for effective management in Pacific health services
effective communication including developing and utilising leadership networks
judgment - informed decision making and judgment calls.

The 2010 intake for the Le Tautua emerging leaders programme resulted in 18 participants successfully completing the programme in November 2010. Applications for a 2012 cohort will open in July 2012.

Le Tautua evolving leaders alumni

The Le Tautua evolving leaders alumni programme focuses on:

enhancing and refining key leadership and management skills
sharing and updating of knowledge to ensure relevance and efficacy
providing the opportunity to learn from, and debate and discuss with key sector leaders (including Pacific), and peers
provide opportunities to practically apply what has been learnt
networking opportunities to advance professional knowledge.

The first workshop for the 2011/12 Le Tautua evolving leaders alumni took place in Wellington on 28 November 2011. With a nationally represented cohort the participants engaged in an interactive workshop developed to challenge thinking, encourage critical conversations and integrate cumulative learning into everyday practice. The ethos of the Le Tautua alumni is to encourage movement through service towards senior roles.

Through a combination of facilitated learning, networking and group projects the alumni will undertake a journey to enhance and refine key management, community and leadership skills. The 2011/12 alumni members' roles range from programme managers and project development leads, to clinicians and support workers working within district health boards and non government organisations.

Attendees at the 2011 Le Tautua alumni workshop.

The alumni workshop facilitated by Fa’amatuainu Tino Pereira, director of Niu Vision, focused on a fundamental mechanism for change - leadership. With guest speaker Vaaiga Tuigamala, company director of Tuigamala and Sons, the cohort were tasked with the need to understand how innovation and leadership are a means of developing individual leadership skills, which is the point of difference required for leaders in today’s health sector.

Presentations from Shelley Campbell (CEO, Sir Peter Blake Trust) and Robyn Shearer (CEO, Te Pou) gave Le Tautua participants insight into the multidimensional relationship between research, evidence and practice. Participants were able to understand how the need to redesign and improve policies can lead to benefits for the communities they serve.

The cohort were put through their paces in a 60 minute apprentice-style project planning workshop in the afternoon. The session required the alumni participants to break out into project groups to undertake a 'fast and furious' style planning session to bring to life innovative thinking and practice. Project groups have been tasked with developing and implementing projects over 14 weeks around cultural competency in service delivery, integrated service delivery at local levels and adapting mainstream services to meet the needs of Pacific people with the final project outcomes to be presented at Le Va's GPS 2012 - Growing Pacific Solutions for our families national fono.

In addition to the project work, participants complete a 360 assessment, develop individualised career plans and link into a coaching programme designed to enable them to develop specific leadership skills in management and/or community integrated with cultural values. Ensuring a good relationship with employers, particularly the participant’s employer will be key in ensuring adequate support. Each presenter in the programme has been selected based on their skills and knowledge meaning we are able to expose participants to a wider range of learning experiences.

The 2011 cohort of 11 is a smaller number of participants than in previous intakes. This has been deliberate to ensure a more tailored programme can be offered that is better able to meet the needs of participants.

Further information

For all enquiries please email futuresthatwork "at" leva.co.nz.

Page last updated: 15 December 2011