Hastings leaders to debate with their Manawatu counterparts

Business and civic leaders from Hastings and Palmerston North are set to do battle during Leadership Week.

Teams from the two cities are to meet in the Hastings District Council Chamber to debate ‘that this house prefers 1840 to 2040”.

The Hastings team will be led by Mayor Lawrence Yule and will take the position that 1840 is preferable to 2040. Mr Yule says “Debating is great fun and this event will have greater meaning as we try to get the better of our near neighbours. The world of politics is ever changing and there are huge differences between what happened in 1840 and how politics will run in 2040. I will have to brush up on my history before the debate.”

The leader’s debate will be preceded by the Hawke’s Bay-Manawatu/Central Districts schools debate.

Leadership week begins with a lecture by Professor Sarah Leberman from Massey University in the Council Chamber on Friday June 22nd at 6pm. Sarah Leberman is Professor of Leadership and Associate Head of School of Management (Manawatu and Wellington) at Massey University and is involved in research on leadership in sport and academia.

Her lecture will be an interactive session discussing the questions ‘What does leadership mean to you, how can you prepare to be a leader and what do you want to do?’ Sarah will focus on how you can make a difference in the communities you engage with, drawing on examples from her own practice in sport and academia and she leave you with some strategies which will help you move forward. This lecture is of particular relevance to school student leaders, young business leaders and those in tertiary education.

The second Leadership Week event is the ‘Women in Business’ breakfast with IronMaori organiser Heather Skipworth on Tuesday June 26th at 7.15 am in the Hawke’s Bay Opera House. Later that day, the leader’s debate will be held in the Council Chambers.

Leadership week events continue on Thursday 28th June with the Mayoral Leadership Summit where the guest speaker is Kiwibank CEO Paul Brock. A workshop on ‘How to Develop Leaders within your Organisation’ with Sue Whiteley from Grow HR wraps up Leadership Week at the Havelock North Community Centre on Friday June 29th.

More information along with registration and booking details for Leadership Week events is available at www.visithastings.co.nz/leadership

Sir Peter Blake red socks and pins are on sale at Hastings District Council reception.