PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR NZ LEADERS
We believe the people around you can change the way you lead
The right conversation can shift your thinking. A different perspective can help you see something you couldn’t from inside your own organisation. Bring the right people together, build enough trust for honest conversation and everyone around the table gets better.
A room like this didn’t exist. So we created one
In 2020, founder Simon Whyte set out to create the kind of leadership community he wished he’d had access to as a Chief Executive.
A place where New Zealand leaders from different businesses and industries could bring what was actually happening in their organisations, learn from each other and hear perspectives they wouldn't necessarily get inside their own business.
That idea became Weave Leadership.
Made for the way Aotearoa leads
Weave was created here, for leaders working in New Zealand businesses and organisations.
The conversations are shaped by the realities of leading here, while keeping an eye firmly on what’s changing beyond our shores.
There’s an openness to the conversation
People share what they know, ask what they don’t and are prepared to say what they really think.
Different careers. Different industries. Different successes, mistakes and lessons learned along the way.
Everyone has something to learn. Everyone has something to contribute.
The work of a leader is to weave people together
Te kai a te rangatira, he kōrero.
The food of chiefs and leaders is communication.
Te tohu o te rangatira, he manaaki.
The sign of a chief or leader is how they look after others.
Te mahi a te rangatira, he whakatira i te iwi.
The work of a chief or leader is to weave the people together.
These words from the Rev. Manuhuia Bennett ONZ CMG sit at the heart of what Weave believes about leadership.
They speak to a way of leading grounded in conversation, care for others and bringing people together.
Like the threads of a weave, different experiences, knowledge and perspectives come together to create something stronger.
It’s where our name comes from.
Meet Simon Whyte, Founder & Director
Simon knows the job because he’s done it.
His career has spanned Chief Executive, senior executive and governance roles across energy, infrastructure, gaming, tourism, industrial supplies and distribution and for-purpose organisations.
Looking back, one thing he wishes he'd had was access to a trusted group of leaders outside his own organisation
People who understood the role, brought different experiences and were prepared to tell him what they really thought.
Weave is the room Simon wished he’d had.
What happens when you put yourself in a room with people who think differently?
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A perspective from another industry or another leader can change how you see something you’ve been looking at for months.
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Good conversations challenge assumptions, stretch your thinking and give you more to draw on when it’s time to make the call.
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An idea. A connection. A new approach. Something worth trying when you’re back in the day-to-day.
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The more you get to know the people around you, the more valuable their experience, perspective and honesty become.
There’s always more to learn from the people around you
Emerging Leaders Programme
For senior leaders stepping onto an executive team, or preparing to, who want to think more strategically, lead beyond their own function and make their mark at the executive table.
Business Leader Group
For Chief Executives and experienced senior business leaders who want trusted perspectives outside their own organisation and a group of peers who’ll challenge their thinking.
Curious to know if Weave is right for you?
Tell us a little about your role, where you’re heading and what you’re looking for.
We’ll help you work out what makes sense from there.
Weave Whakapapa
Weave® brings together and interweaves the knowledge, experiences and insights of New Zealand’s Business Leaders.
There are many parallels in the metaphorical weavings that happen between members of our Leadership Groups and in the Māori living art form of Raranga (Weaving) and this is how the brand celebrates the bicultural aspect of our Kiwi national identity.
Raranga is passed down from the ancestors and a strong symbol of the survival of Māori culture. There are traditions involved in every aspect of Māori weaving, including the passing of knowledge from one weaver to another, and from one generation to another.
The visual identity celebrates the act and art of Raranga; where many different threads are brought together and interwoven in intricate formations. Where individual pieces are bound to make a whole; something supportive and stronger than its parts. And like the process of Raranga, the Weave® experience is dynamic; constantly evolving and developing as more threads are added.
Whāriki (woven floor mats) are a treasure of the Māori people; these are exclusive spaces that bring people to come and sit together, in a safe, friendly and collective environment, to share knowledge and stories. Our Leadership Groups offer a similar experience to their members, Weave® works hard to ensure there is mutual respect and trust within our intimate groups.
Once a mat is finished it may be connected to another mat to expand the piece, this can be seen as a representation of the way we bring our Leadership Groups together to form a larger Weave® community. There are different methods for joining new strips and the complicated techniques are mastered under the guidance of an older, experienced weaver. We see parallels here in the experience and knowledge of our Leadership Group Chairs.
Raranga also has a practical side. It is used for making strong and supportive everyday objects such as kono (food baskets) and kete (bags). Like these receptacles our business offer is pragmatic but also aspirational. The woven baskets can be symbolic and represent containers of knowledge and wisdom to be held and shared.
Māori mythology has the tale of the three baskets of knowledge. The god Tāne climbed to the citadel Te Tihi-o-Manono in the highest of the 12 heavens, here he retrieved three baskets of knowledge: te kete-tuatea (basket of light), te ketetuauri (basket of darkness) and te kete-aronui (basket of pursuit). Interpreters suggest that the basket of light is present knowledge, the basket of darkness things unknown, and the basket of pursuit is the knowledge humans currently seek. We feel this is a fitting analogy for the Weave® experience.
REFERENCE:
100% Pure New Zealand. https://www.newzealand.com/nz/maori-weaving/
Te Papa Tongarewa: Museum of New Zealand Archive https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/
Te Papa Tongarewa: Museum of New Zealand https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/maori/maori-weaving
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-weaving-and-tukutuku-te-raranga-me-te-whatu
Toi Māori: The Eternal Thread. Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, September 24 – December 22, 2005.