Seeing leadership in action
In July, 186 students from 40 schools across Auckland and AUT’s Faculty of Business, Economics and Law were exposed to the day-to-day workings of leadership in action.
Now in its seventh year, Shadow a Leader matches a year 13 student, and an AUT business or law student with a business leader.
Feedback from high school students
Louis Wu, Pakuranga School
Shadowed Campbell Rose, Tax Partner, Deloitte
“Shadow a Leader showed me real insight into the possibility of how working at Deloitte could be, and it sparked my curiosity for tax even more. It was really insightful – showing us around the office, and allowing us to enter the 'green room' and talking with people from different sectors within Deloitte, giving us a real sense of the culture and what really motivates people at Deloitte.”
Fatima Imran, Mt Albert Grammar School
Shadowed Julia Jones, Farm Enterprise Specialist, Agri-food and Andrew Watene, Associate Director of Performance, KPMG
“Shadow a Leader was one of the best experiences that I have had so far that relates to my passion for the industry. It is going to be a memory that will just pump me up with passion whenever I recall it. I already looked up to KPMG before Shadow a Leader, but after this event, my drive to make New Zealand better has increased, which increases KPMG even more in my perspective.”
Feedback from AUT students
Holly Sutich
Shadowed Jeremy O’Brien, Regional General Manager Direct and Market Development, Air NZ
“I had such a great day, and it was really interesting getting to hear and learn first-hand about the internal operations across many facets of the company. I loved learning about the sales, marketing, strategy, mission, sustainability, contact centres and Tandem – it was so awesome getting to see so much in the one day. I was genuinely blown away by how passionate and motivated all of the Air NZ staff we came across were. It made me really excited to see how excited team members were about their jobs, and definitely a company culture I love the sound of! Thanks for a truly memorable day.”
Tayla Smith-Tohu
Shadowed Theresa Roigard, Head of Māori Strategy, Policy and Effectiveness, Auckland Council
“It was amazing to see what a day looks like for the mayor and to meet Helen Clarke. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the decisions that Māori help influence. It was definitely eye opening and has helped me figure out which direction I want to head in. Meeting everyone on that day within Theresa’s team has shown me how passionate they all are about Māori and the community. Thank you for everything.”
Feedback from business Leaders
Don Aue, Associate Director - Audit, RSM Audit
“We live in a great place here in Aotearoa and it is important that we continue to support programmes such as Shadow a Leader. I am happy that our discussion on leadership resonated with the students. I believe we all have natural characteristics of great leaders, our challenge however is to nurture and develop this through practice.”
Hana Seumanu-Ikenasio, Regional Manager – Tertiary Education Commission
“I’d like extend our collective congratulations and thank you to the students for coming into the Tertiary Education Commission space with a genuine willingness to learn and ask great questions regarding this complex and vast public sector machinery called government. Everyone enjoyed having young talent in and around the office, and the opportunity to listen and learn fresh and insightful perspectives from their experiences. In addition, a huge and sincere thanks to AUT and your awesome co-ordinator Annie Gandar for making this happen for us.”
