Board Chairs reflect on outstanding service

As Rector Christine Leighton prepares to retire at the end of 2024, we chat with Garry Moore, Bryan Pearson, and Felicity Odlin, the three Board Chairs she has worked closely alongside during her long 17-year tenure.

A ‘crossroads’ is how former Board Chair, Garry Moore, describes the climate at St Andrew’s College in 2007, when the search began for a new Rector. “We were immersed in some fairly serious cultural change at the time, and knew we needed someone in the role who could give us a fresh start. Christine stood out from the start, with her experience, demeanour, and engaging personality. She was so highly regarded at her previous school, and I knew in my gut she was the right person for the job. However, the Board and stakeholders still needed a bit of convincing that a female could run St Andrew’s.”

Garry, who had been Board Chair for about a year at the time, of course did guide the Board, and Christine’s capabilities were ‘instantly obvious’ when she took on the role, he says. “The green shoots started appearing pretty early on. I did my best to keep out of her way in the day-to-day running of the school and we worked closely together on getting the business side of things sorted.”

As the new Rector, Christine focused on introducing strategy in areas like management and academic achievement, creating performance management systems, and using data as an accountability tool for both the running of the business, and the management of teaching and learning at the College.

An existing Master Plan was in place at the time, with several building developments either planned or underway. Garry remembers during a flight back to Christchurch in 2008, he and Christine writing the four pillars of a new Strategic Plan for the College.

When the Canterbury earthquakes happened in 2010 and 2011, everything changed, he recalls. “All our plans went out the window. We lost several buildings and Strowan House was badly damaged. We ended with a blank piece of paper and had to re-prioritise everything. Who would have thought we would have to rebuild our boarding houses and Chapel, which were never part of the Master Plan?”

Garry’s financial acumen and Christine’s outstanding leadership led the College through this challenging time and this has been a significant contributor to the over $120 million of investment made in the campus over the last 13 years.

The stunning transformation of the campus, including the magnificent Centennial Chapel, and the development of St Andrew’s impressive academic reputation under Christine’s leadership, are two of Garry’s highlights from the decade they served alongside each other. “I never had to worry about anything with Christine at the helm. I was on the Board of ISNZ for a while, and instead of us going to look at other schools, suddenly other schools wanted to come and have a look at what we were doing, which was largely due to Christine’s approach. She is a courageous and sometimes steely leader, but underneath is warm, empathetic, and caring. I’m amazed at her ability to know the name of almost every student at the College.”

With the combination of Christine’s well-established leadership and Garry Moore passing the baton with the College in ‘incredible shape’, Bryan Pearson was expecting a smooth transition when he took over as Board Chair in mid-2017 following the centenary celebrations. But things didn’t quite go according to plan, he recalls. “Some unexpected and significant challenges came up and I saw straight away just how Christine doesn’t shy away from any difficult issue, in fact she walks towards them.”

On the first day of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bryan remembers standing on a deserted Papanui Road outside the gates of St Andrew’s and not seeing a car in any direction. “They were confronting times for the College, and we had no idea what was going to happen. Again, Christine showed her incredible ability to deal with some serious and confronting stuff, yet still effectively do her job as Rector. Her resilience, and ability to lead when there is chaos going on around her is something that will always stick with me, along with her relationship building skills, and patience. She achieves things in a calm and considered way, without creating major upheaval.”

Bryan says trust and confidence between the Rector and Board Chair is critical and was something he was able to establish quickly with Christine. “She has also built strong relationships and trust with the entire St Andrew’s community,” he adds. “Throughout my career I’ve never seen anyone demonstrate more effective stakeholder engagement and relationship management. She also has unreasonable optimism and can find silver linings when no one else can.”

An ability to not only live the College’s founding values of Truth, Excellence and Faith, but evolve them to include Creativity and Inclusivity, are other important legacies Christine will leave, Bryan adds.

Felicity Odlin says when she took over as Board Chair three years ago, she appreciated the strong foundations put in place by Christine, Garry, and Bryan over the years. “Christine and I have a very close relationship and put a lot of thought into what needs to be discussed at Board level from a topical and future focused viewpoint. The meetings are very open and there is space for everyone to bring their skills, ideas, and thoughts. Christine has such vast educational knowledge and it’s important we harness that at Board level and understand and understand what’s happening on the ground.”

Felicity is impressed by Christine’s team approach when working on strategic goals. “She asks many questions, has a knack for knowing the right questions to ask, pulls the team knowledge together, and then leads deliberate actions that embed improvements in a sustainable manner. Christine is intentional about continuous improvement but what’s left an impression on me is the way she always ensures any evolution has longevity and is done in a deliberate and structured way.”

During her tenure as Board Chair, Felicity has enjoyed working alongside Christine during several milestones for the College, including the 30-year anniversary of St Andrew’s being co-educational, and the adoption of the College’s first Cultural Narrative. “The student engagement and success in the extensive sports and cultural programme has also made St Andrew’s a school of choice for many, to the extent it is not easy to secure a place in either the Preparatory or Secondary School."

Celebration is a big part of Christine’s leadership style, adds Felicity. “She goes out of her way to recognise

accomplishments and diversity at St Andrew’s, and encourages staff and students to do the same. Christine has given truly outstanding leadership and service to St Andrew’s College over the last 17 years, and it is a privilege to serve alongside her in the final few months of her wonderful tenure as Rector.”

Garry, Bryan and Felicity acknowledge that while effective leadership is claimed by many it is achieved by precious few. They say, in Christine, the College is blessed to have a Rector who is one of the few.