One of the constant themes of our leadership stories with rangatahi was people stepping into gaps to take the lead when no one else was willing or able. Barney Wikitera-Kuki is no exception.
Barney is a proud Westie, moulded by his humble Niue nena and staunch Ngāpuhi kuia. Barney calls his journey one of redemption. Following an involvement withyouth gangs he was sentenced to prison and while inside he studied to graduate with a bachelor’s degree on release.
Like many of the leaders and conference attendees we heard from, Barney credited his parents and whānau with giving him the skills to lead.
Barney used the analogy of umu preparation for the knowledge and leadership skills he received from his father. He talked of being woken early in the morning with his brother to start the umu preparations and then being involved with the discussion about whether the rocks were hot enough, whether there was enough paper and what was the best order for laying the umu. All of these questions are similar to the discussions he has with young people in his role as leader in the Brotherhood Continues Charitable Trust, and their Maka Leadership Programme with its vision to build young men into leaders..
“We have similar discussions and processes when we talk with our young people. The questions might be different but we ask what’s cooking, we identify their passions and we encourage them to lean into the challenge. Put more simply, the questions is: how are you going on?
“The next phase is during the cooking of the food when there is a great deal of time to chat and learn. This is when we have the hard discussions that build strength and resilience.
“When the hakari is finished, we have time for reflection and readjustment before the final step in the process, which includes doing the dishes and cleaning up. This is when we encourage our young people to be more independent and leave a legacy. This is the purpose of the Brotherhood Continues Charitable Trust and the Maka Leadership Programme.
“The Maka Leadership Programme teaches young men vital life skills not available elsewhere. Things like navigating your anger, expressing your feelings and career planning,”
Barney says it’s important to find something to draw the young men into the programme, so each session starts with a kick boxing or fitness session followed by reflection and team building before sharing kai together.
“Our boys don’t think of themselves as leaders when they join. They are often not high achievers academically and they see leadership as an exclusive skill that they don’t share. That’s where the name Maka is so powerful. Maka means stone in Tongan and in Polynesian culture a stone has value. It can be made into a fishhook, an adze or a weapon. So, it might look ordinary, but it has potential and value. This is how we view the young men on the course.
“Everyone is a leader. You need to choose your skill set and build from there. My skill set came from my family. My Niuean grandmother had humility and with that humility came strength. She had a quiet duty to her people without fanfare. My Māori grandmother was the opposite, staunch in faith and would call out injustice, and I am a combination of both. That’s the leadership that I bring to the programme and the Trust.”