Na whakaaro ka puta mai i te korero is an ancient educational Maori whakatauki (proverb) outlining that through listening, looking and thinking we receive wisdom to speak. This proverb formed the foundation of the establishment of Kohanga Reo in Aotearoa and it also formed the foundation of my ta moko – the taonga (precious gift) I received from my ancestors.
As an international leadership speaker, I have had the pleasure of explaining my taonga to many leaders around the world and now you:
The 1st of March 2004 was an important day for me. It was the day that my whanau and I hosted visitors for the evening. One of our guests, Hemi Te Peeti, was the tohunga ta moko (Ta moko expert) that I had been discussing the development of my ta moko with for the last five years. We had just finished a beautiful roast meal prepared by my wife, and she was serving dessert when Hemi looked across the table and said “Cuz, I have got the gear in my car now. We can do this tonight. Are you ready?”
My children stopped eating their dessert and everything seemed to slow down as I considered this important question. Are you ready? Long before talk show hosts Ellen and David Letterman was a talk show host named Johnny Carson who said “Talent alone will not guarantee you success, neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question we need to answer is…are you ready?”
Many thoughts went through my mind as I contemplated an answer, thoughts like, “a part of receiving this gift is no pain killers so I was going to fast and meditate to prepare myself for the pain; heck I have just finished a full roast meal! Many friends were going to come and support me through the pain, too; Well, they are not going to get here in time. And then I heard a voice, my voice saying, “Yes, I am ready; let’s do this tonight.”
Hemi said, “You have one hour to prepare and invite people that you want to be here.” In that short space of time, I met privately with my whanau to prepare our children for what was about to happen and the paradigm shift this would make to our whanau. We prayed together. I also invited my whanau and friends who I knew would be supportive and understanding. We started the ceremony with karakia at 8 pm, and Hemi did the right side of my face. At midnight he completed that side and we had a half hour break before he continued. The ceremony stopped when Hemi completed my
ta moko at 4:30 a.m. the next morning. It had taken eight hours to place this gift from my ancestors into my face.
So what does my ta moko mean? Every ta moko is different and identifies the characteristics of the wearer. Let’s start with the koru by my ear. The koru speaks of new development and new growth. This design is by my ear because 
of the importance of listening in the development of a person: Na te whakarongo…
On the side of my face are designs that accentuate my eyes and emphasise the importance of looking and observing to learn: titiro.
One of the reasons I have nothing on my forehead is to show the importance of having a clear mind for thinking: whakaaro
From my forehead to my chin is a line that leads to a shark or Mangopare design. This particular shark design represents the Te Arawa Shark, one of the tribes I affiliate with and it is on my chin because of the importance of speaking: ka puta mai i te korero.
One of the outstanding attributes of successful leaders and educators is they listen, look and think before they speak. All of these factors come together on me, and it turns out, I was ready. My final question for you to contemplate is whatever challenge you are facing at the moment, whatever mountain you need to climb…Are you ready?