“How might I bathe others in light?” This was the question that pierced conference thinking from the opening kōrero to the final closing notes. The question is one that opening speaker Precious Clark applies to her role as a leader and it struck such a chord with participants that it’s fair to say it formed a central conference theme.

Precious is of Ngāti Whātua ki Tāmaki, Te Uri o Hau, Waikato, Ngāti Hē, Ngāti Pāoa and Pākehā descent and is the Chief Executive of Maurea Consulting, a Māori- owned organisation with a vision to see Māori culture drive Aotearoa New Zealand forward. Early in her career Precious was privileged to meet Nelson Mandela, with her key memory, shared at conference, being the way he bathed every individual in the room in light.

As part of her leadership mantra, she now asks herself the question: how might I bathe others in light? And it was this question that became a focal point for conference thinking and discussion around leadership qualities. Several other of Precious’s insights contributed to consistent themes that emerged around leaders and leadership. These included the integral role our parents and whānau play in shaping our leadership style through to their demonstration of integrity, consistency, decorum and honesty, and secondly, the need to create opportunities for people, particularly rangatahi, to make mistakes and learn from them.

Precious’s leadership journey has seen her conceive and design the highly acclaimed Te Kaa – Igniting your Māori Cultural Competency training programme and she drives Te Kaa’s mission to help 10,000 people positively identify with Māori culture. She weaves her skills as a facilitator, cultural practitioner, businesswoman, professional director, lawyer, leader and teacher to deliver an engaging and enriching programme that is impacting how New Zealand leverages off our unique cultural landscape.