IN TOUCH : As I see it

Mary-Jane Daly, Chief financial officer, NZI

What are the values that you will not negotiate on?
Professionalism and delivering to high standard are really important to me. Early in my career I focused more on delivery but now I look more to taking people with me on the journey. NZI’s values – integrity, transparency, teamwork, meritocracy and social responsibility – are closely aligned with my own and I am proud to be role model for using the values to guide behaviour and make decisions. I strive to be open to new ideas and to being approachable and supportive.

How would you describe the New Zealand identity?
The New Zealand identity is undoubtedly diverse these days – but I think overall we’re as innovative and pragmatic as we’ve always been. We have high standards, love to learn, and we take pride in doing good job and being part of something successful. Kiwis like balance; we work hard but family and leisure time are important to our quality of life. Sometimes our tendency to consider and balance things means we can be bit hesitant when we could just get on and do it!

What sort of leadership model is going to take us to successful future?
The world is changing so rapidly that I don’t believe there is only one ‘right’ way to do things. leadership model that embraces openness, flexibility and an ability to look at things from different angles is required. As CFO at NZI, I’m responsible for leading number of high calibre professional teams. This gives me diverse range of ideas and perspectives to draw on as leader.