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Deputy chairperson of Māori Tourism, Dan Te Whenua Walker, has been recognised not once, but twice this year — taking home the Robert Walters Executive Search New Zealand Leader of the Year and the NZ Super Fund Māori Leadership Award at the 2025 New Zealand Leadership Awards.
The recognition Dan says is part of his vision for Māori leadership.
“It’s showcasing the collective and I said it in my speech as well, that this isn’t about any kind of individual accolade or trying to put me above anyone else. It’s about the value of the collective and how New Zealand leadership really prioritises that. And while I say Māori, I certainly push for Māori, I think it’s also a very Kiwi thing and I hope it sends a message to our rangatahi and our youth that while they’re coming into a pretty intense and complex future, they’ve got to navigate identity, culture, technology, AI is going to commoditise all sorts of things like intelligence and work and information, but it can never replace integrity, connection and purpose,”
“So bringing your whole self is so important and that is your values, your beliefs, who you are, into work, into the boardroom and then it can even ripple out to global spaces as well. And it’s valued at a global space, which I already do. I believe it now. New Zealand has something special to offer the world.” he says.
In his role at Māori Tourism, Dan says, “It’s more about knowing who I am and what I represent. I personally try to lead first in small spaces and then try and drive impact through others. Not trying to be the leader if it’s not needed, but helping others to rise.”
“I’ve seen that time and again in terms of our team, in terms of our communities as well. It’s not so much the latest person, it’s those who serve and really have that understanding of how they can help others, own their voice and know your place in that wider story as well. Yeah, I had some feedback from my kaumātua.”
He remembers his uncle giving him feedback about leadership and how he needs to “lead inside before going out”
He says “I think I kind of understand what he means now is that I need to lead in myself first and lead my tamariki, my whānau, my marae, my hapū, my iwi. From there, that gives me a mandate, a social licence to start leading and rippling out globally. When I stand in a global stage representing Māori, I feel like I have that mandate because I’ve led first at home and they’ve got my back.”
“I think for Māori, when it is a collective leadership, separate leadership space, if I call a Western approach of leadership, it just doesn’t work. We’re seeing time and time again that it doesn’t work. It’s needed maybe sometimes for restructures or pushing things into a new space, but over the long term, it dries up and fizzles out.”
It’s clear Dan’s leadership has strong values, whakapapa, and the desire to model a different way forward — especially for his two sons. “I look at my boys. I’ve got a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old, almost 13. When they look at role models, male role models, I don’t want them to think they’re Trump or Musk, even though they’re the most powerful and the most richest people in the world. That’s not the role model I want my kids to take. I think New Zealand offers a different way.”
“We’re going through some tough times at the moment. It’s tough in our communities, it’s tough for so many different areas, in government, even in business at the moment. But I think we need to hold on to what’s special about us. I’m so passionate about New Zealand.” he says.
“That’s why I’m getting an award like this. I really want to make sure that people know that there’s a lot of people who have made me, who have invested time in me, who I look up to as well as role models. It starts at home. In my family, my Māori nana and my Pākehā nana, they were matriarchs of our whānau. Both have just shown me what leadership is and was from an early age. Their hard work, their tenacity, their resilience, their love, their unconditional love, that kind of stuff really shaped me.”
He says “There are some amazing leaders that were recognised. It’s very humbling to be named a part of them, let alone named the winner out of all of them. It was an amazing night of celebration, really, of New Zealand leadership.”
His message to the next generation is simple but powerful: “My wish is definitely for our rangatahi because it is tough for them. They’re getting a lot of things thrown at them, spoken at them rather than to them. Not walking alongside them. I really hope that stuff is valued. If they bring themselves, their passions, their values to these different spaces, it can have an impact. You can have that ripple out effect across, not just locally or nationally, but globally as well.”
