Ireen Rahiman-Manuel
Auckland, August 22, 2021
Ireen Rahiman-Manuel with Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and her husband Ted Manuel at the
Indian Newslink Eleventh Annual Indian Newslink Lecture held on August 16, 2021 (Picture by Narendra Bedekar, Creative Eye Fotographics)
The Eleventh Annual Indian Newslink Lecture held on Monday, August 16, 2021 at Mahatma Gandhi Centre in Auckland City acquired a special status with an impressive line-up of speakers.
Director-General of Health and Ministry of Health Secretary and Chief Executive Dr Ashley Bloomfield was the Guest Speaker, National Party Botany MP Christopher Luxon was the Master of Ceremonies, India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Muktesh Pardeshi gave his ‘Reflections’ of the Lecture, while eMental Health International Collaborative and Health TRx Chief Executive Professor Anil Thapliyal provided the Concluding Remarks, analysing the proceedings of the evening.
Our 1 pm daily Covid-19 National Hero Dr Bloomfield gained the respect of our nation and became a name in every household.
The theme of this year’s Indian Newslink Lecture was ‘Governance and Leadership in Challenging Times’ and Dr Bloomfield shared his experiences as a thought leader.
Key Messages
His key messages included (in no order):
Fundamental to any good health system is good governance.
The power of a collective call to action and good communication is critical. E.g. Stay home, save lives and be kind. It was an invite to act together as a nation.
Be prepared to make sacrifices for those that are vulnerable.
Ensuring the wellbeing and safety of our country, ensuring the safety of our Pacific neighbours, and protecting our healthcare system is important.
New Zealand does have a fantastic public service. We had a clear sense of purpose.
Failure is inevitable
Failure is inevitable. We have to constantly review our practices. We cannot standstill.
This is the hallmark of our collective success.
There is nothing like a global pandemic. It is hard to lead others, lead oneself and lead within context. You can always control your behaviour as it is about your values. When the context is out of your control, think of your values.
Kindness is fundamental and has universal value.
Leading with humility is characterised by admitting to failures, listening to be prepared to say it didn’t go right.
The thing that builds trust is admitting that we did not have all the answers.
Lead with compassion and curiosity. Ask how can we do better.
Kindness is a virtue
Be kind to yourself. Make sure that you are looking after yourself. Resilient people know their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy. Think about those you are responsible for leading and do take time to look after your wellbeing.
Finally, a little note for Fiji.
“Fiji has done extremely well and they will get through this. (Permanent Secretary for Health) Dr James Fong and his team work very hard and they will beat the curve.”
As a nation and as Kiwis, we are proud and thankful to Dr Bloomfield and his family. There is no better way to describe his leadership than that of a great leader who has taught us about resilience, collective effort, integrity, kindness, compassion, a strong sense of strategy and execution, and that of humility.
On a personal note, I thanked him for turning my husband into a fine baker during lockdown last year.
Ireen Rahiman-Manuel is a Strategist, Trusted Advisor and International Development Consultant. She is Founder-Director of Impactdev360 Limited based in East Auckland. She posted the above article on LinkedIn. Following reader-request, we have fine-tuned her thoughts and presented them in this format in our wider reader-listener platforms including our website, forthcoming (September 1, 2021) Digital Edition and social media.
