Well trained leaders can make a difference by inspiring teams [1]
Friday, August 27, 2021 - 17:24
Six members of His Majesty’s Armed Forces (HMAF) took part in a six-week Pacific Leadership Development Programme workshop in New Zealand that will help them deliver the HMAF’s first Lead Teams Leadership course in Tonga in the coming weeks.
While in New Zealand, they did the first two weeks of the workshop online in managed isolation before finishing the course at Trentham Military Camp led by their Kiwi Training Advisor/Leadership Mentor New Zealand Army Captain Geoff Bright.
The workshop was aimed at personnel who manage other people.
Principal Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Milward, from the New Zealand Army, said it was an important course to help leaders understand their impact on their staff.
“While command and management are important, they are about individuals using authority to require others to carry out tasks.
Leadership is about building trust-based relationships and influencing others to want to carry out tasks, he said.
“A team inspired to want to carry out a task will usually outperform a team that is compelled to have to carry out a task. The need for, and effectiveness of, trust-based leadership seems to transcend cultural and organisational differences, especially in our region.”
Tongan Navy’s Lieutenant Tala Mafileo said there was not a lot of difference between the New Zealand and Tongan Lead Teams courses.
“We’ve tweaked it to fit the Tongan culture. We’ve changed some small things, some acronyms and words. Our university leadership training is academic, whereas this framework is more practical. It’s the actual application of leadership rather than the theory of it.”
“We’re learning to be more open,” he said.
"Tongans are good at hiding their feelings, but the environment set by the instructors here means everyone is involved and we are open about things not normally shared."
Warrant Officer Second Class Sili Fafita has been involved in this development process from the beginning, when the first HMAF Leadership courses were developed and is now a facilitator.
Well trained leaders can make a difference, he said.
“After we completed the first HMAF Lead Self course, with 61 students from government agencies, I could see the difference with the leaders using their skills.”
“You could see the open sharing of ideas, and the discussion in groups. When you are a leader you care for people, you treat them like family.”