Helping leaders lead while ensuring they support their teams, Kānuka Wellbeing and Leadership is ready to ensure local businesses achieve their potential, company director Wiremu Matthews reveals.
For almost a decade, Kānuka Wellbeing and Leadership has been supporting wellbeing and leadership development in the Bay of Plenty.
During this time, we’ve identified a key obstacle to growth – avoidance of conversations often labelled as critical, courageous or difficult. These words often discourage people from engaging in such essential kōrero, creating a cycle of avoidance with significant consequences.
The ripple effect of avoiding these conversations is massive, yet often underestimated. Leaders who sidestep addressing issues find themselves overburdened, taking on additional responsibilities and tasks to ensure projects are completed. This pattern emerges because team members grow accustomed to their leader doing things properly while failing to take proactive responsibility for their own work.
The fallout is costly. Leaders sacrifice their wellbeing, working late nights and weekends, disrupting their sleep and ultimately harming their health. Relationships with their whānau suffer and frustrations build. The emotional toll erodes their capacity to manage other stressors effectively and leads to tensions with team members that may remain unaddressed.
That’s when resentment creeps in. Team members sense a leader’s frustration and withdraw further, diminishing their confidence and performance. This withdrawal confirms their leader’s perception of poor performance, widening the gap between them. The entire team feels the strain and a negative cultural shift begins to take root.
This cycle of avoidance isn’t confined to workplace hierarchies, it manifests in peer-to-peer dynamics, interdepartmental relationships and even in home life. Family gatherings, especially during holidays, often highlight unresolved tensions stemming from unspoken truths.
Efforts to address these issues often miss the mark. Leaders turn to communication courses, management workshops and books filled with acronyms, yet the real problem remains unaddressed as such interventions manage symptoms rather than tackling the root cause.
So, a new approach is needed, one that encourages more frequent, meaningful conversations. Leaders must lean into these kōrero, reframing them so they’re not considered difficult or challenging, but rather as opportunities to strengthen connections. This shift in mindset changes the entire dynamic, fostering understanding and deeper engagement.
At Kānuka Wellbeing and Leadership, our approach centres on reframing these conversations as Connecting Kōrero. This ethos focuses on connection and understanding rather than conflict. The goal is to see the world from another person’s perspective, encouraging mutual respect and deeper relationships.
To support leaders in this shift, our Connecting Kōrero online course provides the following, clear framework:
- Reframe: shift your mindset from fear to curiosity
- Take responsibility: own your emotions and responses
- Understand impact: recognise the consequences of avoidance
- Be well prepared: approach conversations with clarity and purpose
Our process doesn’t rely on flashy acronyms but emphasises ongoing practice. Regularly engaging in these conversations, and receiving feedback through the supportive group environment this course provides, builds confidence and skill. This practice cultivates accountability with a commitment to oneself rather than a reaction to external pressure.
Some may dismiss this reframe as merely semantic – it’s not! Shifting from ‘difficult’ to ‘connecting’ reflects a fundamental change in perspective, energy, and behaviour. The difference is transformative, unlocking new ways of thinking, feeling, and engaging.
We invite leaders in the Bay of Plenty to embrace this new approach to move beyond the outdated idea of challenging conversations and step into a leadership style that prioritises genuine connection. You’ll create an environment where those you lead feel valued, understood and appreciated. This develops a stronger sense of belonging within teams and organisations, and the benefits don’t stop at work as they extend into personal and whānau relationships, enriching all areas of life.
The best part of all this is that you don’t need to wait for the New Year or for others to make the first move. The power to lead this change lies entirely within you, so take the first step now and watch the ripple effects transform your team, organisation and your own leadership journey.
Join the waitlist for our Connecting Kōrero online course and learn how to approach such conversations with clarity and confidence.
