New Zealand is going in exactly the wrong direction - one man's opinion
I make no secret of the fact that I'm a bleeding heart, sickly white, liberal lefty. Always have been. Always will be.
Now, just to clear up a possible source of confusion, let's address something directly. What on earth is a namby-pamby lefty doing in the ever-so-serious world of business advisory?
The explanation is simple. Despite the very common misconception that to be a successful business owner you need to be a flinty-eyed hard arse, I'm telling you that's nonsense. Not just common garden nonsense but dangerous and destructive nonsense.
Just sharing my own experiences in business over many decades and through observation of countless businesses owned and run by other people, I've seen a pattern too clearly defined to be just coincidence.
Don't get me wrong. It is possible to make a lot of money by being a complete pig, but if you think that's the source of the success, you're deluded. You can always count on there being a sub-section of the workforce who are so scared of not having a job that they'll put up with any amount of abuse and humiliation.
There's another cohort of people who have grown up in an environment where being treated badly is actually all they know and all they're really comfortable with.
There's people starting out in their career path who just think that's what working life is like. The thing about them you can be sure of is that they will pretty quickly sort themselves into two groups. Those who become captive to the toxic environment like some kind of demented inoculation and those who wise up and look to get out as soon as they can.
The flaw in this sorting process is that it's the ones who wise up and leave that are probably the best of the bunch.
My own experience of being a leader is that most people respond extraordinarily well to - guess what? Prepare yourself a laundry list of human qualities -
kindness (yes, Jacinda was right about that)
loyalty
honesty
generosity
authenticity
frailty (you don't have to be perfect)
forgiveness (they don't have to be perfect either)
At the risk of being accused of anthropomorphising business, it is true that a business is very similar to a family. No need for gender roles, but as the boss you are mother/father and your team are members of the family.
The senior team members are like your eldest children and get more responsibilities as befits their stage in life. The younger members get less responsibility because they don't have the body of experience to process more complex issues.
But here's the thing. A good parent takes their responsibility to their kids very seriously. That means that you're constantly and consciously looking for their wins and triumphs, big or small. Someone once said something to me that I've never forgotten. I wish I could remember who it was so I can credit them with it, but I can't. They said this - "always be scanning to catch them out in a success and find any legitimate excuse to praise and thank them".
I appreciate that this may seem a bit counter-intuitive. Find excuses to praise and thank them? Doesn't that lead to a coddled team who only respond to being stroked. No and here's why.
The second rule of being a parent in business is that you have a deep responsibility to catch your team members early when they are going off the rails or you think they may be about to. I don't mean scolding and demeaning. I mean using such opportunities as moments to teach and guide.
Good parenting doesn't involve shouting and rubbishing kids efforts. As parents we are here to do our level best to raise the most well-adjusted, functional, happy and productive adults as we can from our young ones.
Now, you might ask what all this has to do with the subject of this article? Well, first of all and I can't stress this enough, I have no time for the barren and reductive argument that running a country is the same as running a business.
I've got plenty of experience in governance in the not for profit sector, or as we now more accurately call it the "for purpose" sector. Just taking a moment to explain this slightly tortuous linguistic gymnastics - the sector is changing. It used to be that "charities" waited patiently for handouts and grants from benefactors and the thought of doing things for profit created the need for a fainting couch and smelling salts.
In 2025, profit is not a dirty word. For organisations that provide services to the vulnerable, being pure and unsullied by commercial activity is only an option for those that truly have nothing of commercial value to offer. For those that do, it is irresponsible to not exploit those opportunities.
Here's the thing. Profit in itself is not a bad thing (even for old lefties like me). The distinction is what you do with those profits. In a for purpose organisation, those profits should be used specifically for the enhancement of the quality and depth of services provided.
So, what I'm saying is that Government is not like a business. It is like a social enterprise and its vision, mission and values should be all about enhancing the quality and opportunity for the population.
When I hear that we don't provide Halal certified school meals for Muslim kids because it's not economic, I get a little anxious.
When I hear that the meals being provided to schools fall spectacularly short of being delicious and nutritious, I start to worry.
When I hear our PM saying that "if they don't like it, Mum and Dad can make them a sandwich and chuck an apple in the bag" I am disgusted. By the way, I forgot to mention that as well as being a liberal lefty, I am also a dedicated godless heathen atheist, but funnily enough, much of what I base my personal values on are very closely aligned to what I thought were Christian values.
So that makes me wonder what sort of Christianity allows for such callous disregard for the very real and existential issues that bedevil the poorest and most vulnerable in society. New Zealand is not an airline or a global soap and deodorant company. We are a very complex community comprised of people with vastly different needs and drivers.
The truth is, the wealthy will be fine no matter what the marginal tax rate is. The ambitious will be ambitious no matter what they are faced with. Some may look at the economic settings and go overseas because they see greater opportunity there, but don't be fooled. There are any number of ambitious people who would just love to be a part of the NZ infrastructure because they've experienced far less benign environments than ours.
I have to freely admit that I am still traumatised by the wanton destruction of community that occurred in the Douglas/Richardson era of the late '80's and 90's and from what I can see, that is where we are rapidly descending into again.
Do you know what gives me some hope? A majority of Kiwis are calling bullshit on the right-wing aspirations of our current government and miraculously, despite the many and painful failures of our incredibly disappointing previous government, they are searching for something better than this horrendous mess.
I don't have the answer to what ails NZ but I have a set of principles that guide me and I want to see a government who sees their role as being guardians of a beautiful and privileged social enterprise called Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Appreciating that this article will be triggering for many (ironically as too right wing for some and too left wing for others) I welcome all feedback. I don't mind if it's supportive, dismissive or abusive. I'm up for the debate.