As accommodation partner of The Sir Peter Blake Trust, InterContinental Hotels Group New Zealand demonstrated its commitment to encouraging future leaders through a number of leadership events and activities recently.
An internal Leadership Workshop was held at Crowne Plaza Auckland, at which Sir Peter Blake Trustee and former Chief Executive of Business in the Community, Sarah Trotman, shared her ideas about great leadership with 20 members of the IHG management team.
This was followed by a highly secret afternoon tea prior to the Trust’s annual Gala Dinner, at which the hotel hosted the Board of the Sir Peter Blake Trust and this year’s Leadership Award winners.
The exclusive 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner itself was a star-studded affair held at Shed 10 and was attended by IHG’s Area General Manager – New Zealand, Wim Ruepert, and Area Director of Sales and Marketing – New Zealnd, Franck Hesse.
“As one of the world’s leading hotel groups our aim is to create ‘Great hotels guests love’,” said Hesse.
“In order to do this, good leadership is vital and we invest a lot of time and money in developing future General Managers and department heads.
“We are extremely happy to be able to support the Sir Peter Blake Trust in its quest to inspire future leaders throughout New Zealand.”
Then, Kristine Kilpatrick, Area HR Director for IHG, who is based at Crowne Plaza Auckland, and one representative from each of the five IHG hotels in New Zealand, joined the prestigious Sir Peter Blake Dream Team.
Led by New Zealand’s Governor-General, Lt. Gen. The Rt. Hon. Sir Jerry Mateparae, the close to 300-strong Dream Team of leaders spoke to classrooms throughout New Zealand in a bid to inspire young Kiwis to ‘make it happen’, the theme of this year’s Sir Peter Blake Trust Leadership Week.
In addition to Kristine, Sam Swaffield (Holiday Inn, Auckland Airport), Kent Breeze (Holiday Inn Rotorua), Guy Robinson (Crowne Plaza Queenstown) and Jason Eade (Intercontinental Wellington) were joined in the 2014 Dream Team by other high-profile leaders. These included business leaders, Sir Ron Carter and Sir Eion Edgar, politician and TV personality Tamati Coffey, television psychologist Nigel Latta, scientist and inventor Sir Ray Avery, TVNZ presenters Rawdon Christie and Toni Street, ZB radio host Rachel Smalley, Air New Zealand Chief Pilot Capt. David Morgan, sporting greats Hamish Carter and Beatrice Faumuina and a wide-ranging list of New Zealand adventurers, CEOs and business leaders, doctors, politicians and community champions.