Wednesday 19 August 2026
In late June three of our senior students participated in AUT’s Shadow a Leader programme.
This programme offered NZ leaders the opportunity to be shadowed for a day by an AUT business or law student and a Year 13 secondary school student. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to join the programme which helps our tamariki become leaders of tomorrow by learning from industry experts.
Jack Harper (Year 13, Marsden) spent the day with the Amova Asset Management team, a multi-national business managing billions for individuals, charities, local governments and corporate clients. In particular, Jack shadowed the Legal, Marketing, Distribution, Fixed Interest & Cash and Equities teams. As someone fascinated by stock trading it was an incredible day that really opened his eyes into how a business works together to service their clients.
Time with the Fixed Interest & Cash team, taught him how bonds and cash form the building blocks of an investment portfolio. The highlight of his day was seeing Bloomberg Terminals in action as stocks were bought and sold in real time by the Equities team and learning how financial models are built for individual companies. Marketing and Distribution showed a different side of the business, where the technicalities of a business operations meet client relationships and how they interact together.
Throughout the day Jack was also able to learn what strong communication looks like in a business environment as well as many tips for interview scenarios. By the end of the day he had subscribed to the Wall Street Journal, signed up for Reserve Bank of New Zealand updates, and had learned the importance of keeping up to date with what is happening around the globe.
What stood out most to him was the culture - everyone took the time to explain things clearly, and it's the kind of team environment Jack reports he would love to work in one day.
A huge thank you to Stu and the whole team at Amova for such a generous day and allowing Jack to see how skills he has learnt in the classroom translate into the real world.
Jetta McKenzie (Year 13, Marion Bruce) spent her day with Tony Falkenstein, CEO of Just Life Group. As a student with a strong interest in business and entrepreneurship, it was an incredible opportunity to experience first-hand how a successful company like this operates.
One of the highlights of the day was sitting in on board meetings and observing how important decisions are made. It was interesting to watch the discussions between the leadership team and understand how much planning, collaboration and careful thinking goes into running a business. Before this experience, Jetta hadn't realised how many different people and roles are involved behind the scenes to keep a company operating successfully.
Jetta also learnt about Just Life Group's production systems, marketing strategy, and the ways the company is adapting to new developments in artificial intelligence. It was fascinating to see how technology is becoming part of everyday business and how companies are looking for new ways to improve efficiency while continuing to meet customer needs.
Throughout the day, she also attended presentations from Richard Conway, Mike Marr and Mark Lowndes. Each speaker shared stories from their own careers and offered different perspectives on leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship. Hearing about their experiences reinforced the importance of being adaptable, taking opportunities and continuing to learn throughout your career.
Jetta reports that the most valuable part of the day was observing how all the different parts of a business come together. From leadership and strategy to marketing, production and operations, every team plays an important role in the company's success. It was an eye-opening experience that has given her a much better understanding of business operations and confirmed her own interest in pursuing business in the future.
Ishaan Patel (Year 13, Parnell) went to Fisher & Paykel Appliances shadowing Sarah Lukins, the General Manager of Ecommerce and AI Enablement.
Ishaan spent most of the day sitting in on meetings which covered a real mix, everything from ecommerce strategy and how the website is performing, to AI tools they are testing, to more general team and operations activities. He also had a tour of the whole site which gave him a much better picture of how everything in the company connects.
Key points that have stuck with Ishaan after his day were, firstly, leaders spend way more time jumping between big-picture thinking and small operational details than he realised. Secondly, AI is such a powerful tool when it’s applied properly, and seeing real projects using it made that clear. And lastly, teams don’t work in isolation, decisions in one area, such as ecommerce, will ripple out to others such as manufacturing and customer service.
Well done to these students for making the most of this fantastic opportunity to see leadership in action.
Sharon Lofroth (HOD Accounting and Business Studies)