Tommy Kapai: Chiefs show what it takes to lead

Tanerau Latimer celebrated his 100th game in style. Photo/George Novak

It could have been the perfect storm for me last Friday as two mates sat outside in a rugby stadium, waiting for a hurricane to smash them from above and the Stormers to try and do the same in front of them on the footy field.

It was what Dad would have called a teabag moment when one's real colour comes out when they are stuck in hot water.

You really need to have faith in your team during these teabag moments. Not just the team but equally its chief executives, who run the show from up in the coaches' box.

I guess it was the Lusi factor that gave this game an edge but it was also tempered by the workshop I had been in all day on what makes an effective board member and what makes a successful chief executive.

Somehow the Chiefs' executive officers, aka their coaching team, held many of the answers and they came out in full bloom on Friday night at the perfect Waikato Stadium storm.

On the way back from the game, me and my mate, who is also a chief executive - although I have always longed for my title to be changed to CIO (Chief Imagination Officer) were able to korero about what makes an effective chief executive.

The answers for me were right in front of us on the footy field or should I say up in the coaches' box behind us.

How many teams would finish the way the Chiefs did on Friday night? Not many, if any.

To send Tanerau Latimer out on his 100th game in such style was a shining example of the culture within the Chiefs organisation.

It is very much a whanau as it is a team - and it shows.

There is a lot to be learned from great coaches who create a culture like the one the Chiefs have. If that learning can be applied in to our business world then we will have more chief executives in charge of creating a lot more winning companies.

This will flow on to the shareholders just as it does to us the fans of the Chiefs who have faith in their brand because they carry and believe in each other just like a whanau or family.

The days of predictable straight-up-the-guts-to-get-a-win coaches are over it seems, just as they are for predictable straight-up-the-bottom-line chief executives.

I have always been a fan of CIOs who can explore new talent and try new and innovative ways to get the best out of their staff.

Competitiveness may not be the driving force that we have believed it to be. Does it bring out the best of people and players?

Again I look at the Chiefs who seem to understand and embrace mistakes under a korowai of collaboration.

By doing this they have created a climate of safety that sidelines panic and this influences how they think and act.

The culture of collaboration or manaakitanga in a whanau, family, team or a company brings out the best because it is long term, unlike the culture of competitiveness and comparisons that comes and goes like good and bad weather.

The same could be said of schools and community organisations that have high levels of trust and respect for their leaders, coaches, chief executives, principals and rangatira.

These are the ones doing well. Why? Possibly because they bring these virtues out in their staff or team.

Every time I visit a school I can tell quickly how well they are doing by the way the principal has created a team of teachers who trust and respect him or her. Conversely, there are more than a few who are at the relegation end of the ladder and it shows by the high turnover of staff.

Chief executives of the future should show the qualities of the Chiefs' executive officers. As will the boards that employ them. They should look for leaders who can weather the perfect storm.

If the interview tick list includes the ability to bring out the best with the talent they have to work with - as well as the beatitudes of trust, generosity and reciprocity, then they will have the ability to instil faith and belief in their staff and create a winning team or company. Just like the Chiefs and their executive officers.

Tumeke Tanerau.

Tommy Kapai is a Tauranga author and writer.