Part four of the Project Auckland series looks at 'Prosperity and Profile'
What a great opportunity our region and country now has with the Super City. The planning and strategising is almost over, we have most of the key people in place, now we have to get on and execute. Are we brave and smart enough to focus on what matters?
It is generally accepted our country's relative wealth has slipped significantly over the last few decades. We have been focusing on a multitude of "tasks" rather than recognising we must nail a few core fundamentals.
One of these core fundamentals is international business success. Living at the bottom of the world does not give us access to enough customers to create wealth. We need more of our Kiwi innovators and companies forging export markets, taking their businesses to global success. If we do this well we will create jobs, pride and wealth. Think Air New Zealand, Icebreaker, M-Com and Lanzatech.
How do you make this happen? My company, The Icehouse, has worked with nearly 3000 business owners over the last nine years. We believe the answer lies largely in the people who drive these businesses. When their competence is increased it leads to increased confidence which generates economic success. Another way to think about this is that we need to invest in our people, support them on their journey and the results will speak for themselves. This could be the greatest lever our new Super City could impact.
The Super City provides an opportunity to create scale, focus and energy to address challenges. I hope this organisation focuses on the "drivers" to get us out of our malaise. The people inside the new Auckland local government structure must remember they are facilitators of the show. They need to recognise the strengths in our region and help them grow. They also need to align with central government and not replicate resources. Small local government is good, big bureaucracy is bad.
On the positive side, the various groups who will make up the economic unit of the Super City seem to recognise the opportunity and have been working collaboratively with the major economic development drivers over the last few years. There will be priority sectors like marine, tourism, food and beverage and creative - which is good because out of this focus will come scale, and clusters which can feed off each other. Again, however, it is the people that make this work in the businesses.
So what do we know?
Auckland recognises how bad our economic performance has become.
The Kiwi diaspora are falling over themselves to contribute to our performance.
Auckland has fantastic universities which are powerhouses of talent.
Auckland is heavily reliant on the rest of New Zealand for success and vice-versa.
New Zealand has an extraordinarily strong "lifestyle" brand but a poor "business" brand
New Zealand has some successful international companies and a raft of emerging companies.
I am very hopeful for our region. Over the last 10 years considerable work has been done to understand our strengths, our differentiation and what we need to focus on to turn us into an economic powerhouse. We have great raw material in Auckland - an incredible fusion of cultures, beautiful landscapes and a highly creative group of people who are learning the importance of building international success of our business community. We also now have a scaled infrastructure which can help our companies.
To the entrepreneurs and business owners of Auckland: now more than ever, we need you out there creating international success.
Finally, one of our unique advantages is our people - we are extraordinary and most people who visit us and get to know us see that. Most days I am fortunate to spend time with some remarkable owner/managers and entrepreneurs. They come from all walks of life, from all industries and from many different cultures. They are determined, committed and slowly they are building up their belief that they can succeed internationally. Some are hitting it out of the ball park.
The challenge for the people in charge of the new, amalgamated Auckland will be to keep a strong focus on developing this raw talent so these business entrepreneurs can earn the international income we need. It is these people that will ultimately make the difference for Auckland and New Zealand.
Andy Hamilton is CEO of The Icehouse, a business growth centre founded by the University of Auckland Business School to increase the number of internationally capable Kiwi businesses.
