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This paper considers the within-country differences in leadership behaviour between the indigenous Maori and Pakeha (non-Maori) New Zealand cultures. Previous research suggests traditional Maori leadership practises still exist in today's New Zealand business environment (Henry, 1994; Love, 1991). Exploring differences between the indigenous Maori and Pakeha leadership behaviour is important as New Zealand's population distribution changes and the Maori economy grows, resulting in New Zealand managers leading increasingly cross-cultural and diverse teams with their organisations. Research suggests that considering cultural leadership differences may be pivotal for effective cross-cultural leadership as culture defines and operationalises successful leadership behaviour (Hede, 2001; Parry, 2001). The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Program (GLOBE), is used as a framework to consider similarities and differences in leadership behaviour. The data suggests some interesting differences among the perceived behaviour and strengths of Maori and Pakeha leaders. These culturally contingent differences are synthesised with the literature exploring traditional indigenous culture and leadership, and contemporary cultural and leadership research to provide a fuller picture of Maori and Pakeha leadership. In considering Maori and Pakeha's differences in leadership behaviours, a new 'cultural fit' model for indigenous and mainstream New Zealand leadership is explored. How this new model can improve our understanding of indigenous and mainstream leadership behaviour and how it can be advantageously integrated in the cross-cultural context is then discussed.

Stream: Leadership, Decision Making

Paper: Leading Diverse Cultures in Aotearoa New Zealand

Dale Pfeifer is a Research Officer for the Department of Communication and Journalism, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. She has a wide range of research interests including cross-cultural leadership, national identity, and indigenous populations and the media.

Matene Love is the Director of the Maori Business Programme and a Senior Lecturer in the Victoria Management School at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. He has a wide range of research interests including Maori history, indigenous peoples' development, and small business and entrepreneurship. Matene is a primary trained teacher, having taught at both the primary and secondary school levels in New Zealand as well as having been a senior manager at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, and a lecturer within the Business Faculty at Massey University, New Zealand.