Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: Enjoy your work, or don't do it

At dinner many years ago with an American change management consultant, brought to New Zealand to work with one of our government departments about to make hundreds of people redundant, she asked me what I wanted to do with my life.

I answered that politics had always held an interest for me. She asked what I was waiting for, why hadn't I done anything about it? I had done my homework and confessed that I didn't think I could handle the nastiness and personal undermining that goes with the territory.

I hadn't pursued my dream any further. She let me have it. Why would I allow someone else's awful behaviour to influence my long-held wish to try politics?

If politics is where I thought I could make a difference wasn't that worth making the effort to work hard to achieve the goal.

She then proceeded to lecture me, kindly, about why we should refuse to let other people's behaviour influence us and our thinking. We are only responsible for our own behaviour and that's what we need to focus on. What people may or may not think about us is not our business. She insisted I make time once a year to ask myself - "am I spending my days doing what I enjoy"?

The whole evening she never let up. By the end of dinner I wished I had never brought up my long-held aspiration.

Lorrie and her advice came to mind this week when I read that Christchurch City Councillor Peter Beck is not standing for re-election in October this year. He was elected in a by-election in February 2012.

He says he has struggled with the political infighting since he was elected as well as the unexpected high workload. Councillor Beck was elected when long-serving councillor Chrissie Williams quit in September 2011 fed up with the poor relationships between councillors, the dysfunctional culture and the lack of leadership.

It's no secret that all has not been well with Mayor Bob Parker's Christchurch council for a number of years. If it hadn't been for the earthquake, friends in Christchurch tell me Bob Parker would be history. Former MP Jim Anderton would be mayor.

Perhaps after 12 months Councillor Beck did, what Lorrie suggested, asked himself "am I spending my days doing what I enjoy, knowing my work can make a difference"? Politics in New Zealand, whether local or central government, is not for everyone.

You have a diverse range of people from many backgrounds all bringing their own "world view" to issues as they arise. Robust debate is healthy, but when a combative culture is viewed as "the way we do things around here" then good decision making will be harder to achieve. Once trust and respect have gone from relationships they are very difficult to regain. But determining a constructive and positive work culture between councillors is not the responsibility of a mayor alone.

All councillors have a role to play.

There's a huge difference between the opportunity to "have your say" and the opportunity to "be heard". Diligent councillors understand the distinction, creating a culture that allows everyone the opportunity to be heard and, ultimately, for the best decisions to be made.

Having had experience on a board where half the members are elected by the community at large with the other half, including the chairman, appointed by a Minister of the Crown I find this to be more positive and effective for trusting working relationships. We attempt to strip away the clutter and just focus on the areas that will continue to move us forward.

The ministerial appointments add their high-level skills and experience to the elected, knowledgeable community input. Combined we have the patience and discipline to attain extraordinary results. Perhaps we may one day see local government move in this direction.

If mayors and councillors can't demonstrate the behaviours they want to see in their citizens they need to confront the brutal facts to see what steps must be taken.

This could include walking right out the door in October.