Waikato leadership program bringing businesses and community together

A leadership development program is bringing together businesses and community not-for-profit organisations to increase the leadership capital of the Waikato region.

The Community and Enterprise Leadership Foundation (CELF) is working to build future leaders from all walks of life who can re-imagine a stronger Waikato from a social, environmental, cultural and economic perspective.

Each year CELF welcomes a new cohort of 20 participants, endearingly called ‘CELFies’, in to a nine-month programme. The model is structured so that there are 10 business participants and 10 community organisations, which allows an opportunity to bring both groups together to engage, learn from one another and grow alongside each other.

“Leadership is not necessarily born in us, but it can be taught, so it is a case of working with the willing,” CELF chairman John Cook said.

The programme includes site visits to Waikato businesses such as Gallaghers, Stainless Design and Greenlea, where the leaders within the companies talk about their journey. They also observe leadership within their communities with site visits to the Police, hospitals and prisons. They attend workshops where speakers give guidance and share experiences.  

Participants analyse different types of leadership and implement them in their own working roles, leading by example. 

“It’s about discovering oneself and understanding what your strengths and weaknesses are,” Cook said.

The idea for CELF came about when CELF trustee Peter Sun, a professor at the University of Waikato, invited Prolife Foods founder Bernie Crosby and former Watties CEO and current Chair of Prolife Foods David Irving to speak to students at the university. After the success of the seminar, Crosby and Irving asked the university what they could do to work with them and see if they could develop an association that would bring the business community and the university together.

And so CELF, a charitable entity, was formed. It officially launched in 2014 and their partnership with the university began.

Co-incidentally, unbeknown to Bernie and David, the Waikato Region Economic Development Strategy was being crafted at the time and had identified leadership development as a requirement needed to deliver on the future prospects for the growing region to fill the roles that would be created through growth.

First and foremost, they had to come up with a model structure that would suit not only businesses but also consider not putting financial pressure on community organisations that are often short on funds. They decided on a model based around asking businesses to contribute to a level that would enable business and community leaders to train together.

As a result, local businesses sponsor and secure two seats on the CELF Elevate Programme. The first seat is for a leader within their own company and then they choose a community leader from a not-for-profit organisation to fill the second seat. The key to success is the cross-sector collaboration that occurs through the leadership journey, that will endure beyond the programme itself.

“Businesses and communities have now recognised that they can work together, so it’s a flow on effect that is now multiplying out,” Cook said.

“It’s almost like a pyramid scheme so our sphere of influence has grown exponentially and will continue to do so.”

He said that most leadership training programs are “short and sharp”, however CELF’s nine-month programme has been structured to allow people to form relationships within their group of peers, so they can call on each other for advice.

“We can’t expect to grow our community unless we support all parts of our community, including organisations who are working to deal with the problems that we face.

“It’s our responsibility as businesses to ensure that we engage with them.”

CELF wants to broaden their network of business sponsors.  Some of the founding sponsors are still sponsoring three years on, demonstrating their commitment to and belief in the programme.  

CELF has plans to employ a post-doctorate researcher for tailoring their existing leadership programme to incorporate the latest best practice through international and local research, as well as engaging with CELF alumni to develop new programmes tailored to their needs.

“Our goal is to continue to deliver leadership training on the basis of this particular model and we are motivated to ensure that we are adopting current best practice.”

For more information about CELF see www.celf.org.nz.