Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Russell Bell: Cut down our 'tall poppies' and we are left with weeds and thistles

By Russell Bell
Whanganui Chronicle·
11 Sep, 2018 07:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Don't cut down Whanganui's tall poppies. Photo / File

Don't cut down Whanganui's tall poppies. Photo / File

There are few things in life which make my stomach churn and I think I have a reasonably robust constitution.

But there are some things which really get me going.

If you are a regular reader you might have picked up that I have strong feelings about how our city is portrayed and the, at times, negative flow on to the business community.

And, in a positive way, I am passionate about a number of things – for example, I get excited about strategic mentoring and the positive impact that it can have in improving your business.

But last week I encountered an example of "tall poppy syndrome" which has me fired up.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It involved a comment made about another individual but I am sure people who put their head above the parapet have also felt the draft of the blade as others try to bring them back to earth.

Many theorists have likened the behaviour to traits deeply rooted in the New Zealand psyche.

Visitors to this country remark about us "not being like Australia" in an effort to say that we don't have an environment in which success can thrive – although recent evidence (particularly on the sporting field) shows that we are getting some things right.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

My message to Whanganui is that we need to encourage those among us who are excelling to go on to bigger and brighter things – and not return to the pack.

And there should be no pay-off or satisfaction from bagging others who are doing really well.

Invariably, those that make these types of negative comments ignore all the hard work, sweat and tears that went into achieving success – not to mention the risks taken.

To wield the sword against our "tall poppies" is to indulge in ignorance, plain and simple. And to think that it gains some kind of competitive advantage to do so is flawed thinking.

Discover more

Business

Business Zen: Cyber security an ever-present threat to business

15 Aug 01:00 AM

Business Zen: Deals to stream EPL games don't make sparks fly

29 Aug 05:00 AM

Peter Lyons: Economics: Trump may have a point on free trade

10 Sep 03:00 AM

Named top small place with big ambition

10 Sep 09:00 PM

It is particularly unhelpful when we live in a community which needs every positive break it can get to weather the challenging economic times we find ourselves in.

Much has been said recently about low business confidence, and I tend to agree with the sentiment, but in this atmosphere we should be doing more to encourage rather than discourage those making progress.

And the thing is, without these "tall poppies" we wouldn't have the advanced society we have today and many of the things we now take for granted would either not exist or not have been bettered.

There are "tall poppies" here and we need to give them all the encouragement they need to grow and bring value back to our community.

Otherwise we will be left with weeds and thistles — the things which should be cut down and removed so that the rest of New Zealand can admire and want to visit (or live and prosper in) our garden of success.

*Balance Consulting is a Whanganui consultancy specialising in business strategy, process excellence and leadership mentoring — contact Russell Bell on 021 2442421 or John Taylor on 027 4995872

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Whanganui Chronicle

'Time to lead': Airline founder hands over to son after 40 years

Premium
OpinionAnne Gibson

Property Insider: Foodstuffs' $380m expansion with new Pak'nSave sites in the works

Premium
Property

All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

'Time to lead': Airline founder hands over to son after 40 years
Whanganui Chronicle

'Time to lead': Airline founder hands over to son after 40 years

Craig Emeny founded Air Chathams in 1984, alongside his wife Marion.

03 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Property Insider: Foodstuffs' $380m expansion with new Pak'nSave sites in the works
Anne Gibson
OpinionAnne Gibson

Property Insider: Foodstuffs' $380m expansion with new Pak'nSave sites in the works

24 Jun 12:00 AM
Premium
Premium
All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1
Property

All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1

17 Jun 11:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP