The power of curiosity – Tee Hale Pennington’s career

The power of curiosity

Tee Hale Pennington’s career has taken her from environmental science to local government, from the building and construction sector to leading Aquaculture New Zealand, often stepping into industries she was unfamiliar with. But rather than seeing the unknown as a risk, she’s always seen it as opportunity.

Ask Tee about the biggest lesson she’s learned throughout that journey, and she doesn’t talk about strategy, influence or expertise. She talks about curiosity. It’s a mindset that has shaped every career move she’s made. “If something has purpose and there’s an opportunity to make a difference, I’m interested,” she says. “Sometimes career moves don’t make sense in the moment. You just have to ask yourself, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’”

It’s advice she has lived by.

One of those opportunities saw Tee relocate from Australia to New Zealand to help lead Auckland Council’s submission to the Royal Commission that ultimately shaped the Super City. She later led the New Zealand Institute of Architects before becoming Chief Executive of Aquaculture New Zealand, representing an industry with ambitious plans for growth and an increasingly important role in New Zealand’s future.

On paper, these career choices may appear vastly different, but to Tee, they make perfect sense. “When you dig beneath the surface, the similarities are often greater than the differences. Every sector is about people, relationships, regulation, science, strategy and helping organisations make good decisions.”

Leading with questions

That perspective has also shaped the way she leads. While some leaders may feel pressure to arrive with all the answers, Tee believes leadership begins by asking the right questions. “When you’re new, you see things others may no longer notice because they’ve become part of the way things have always been done. That’s a real opportunity.”

When Tee joined Aquaculture New Zealand, she immersed herself in the industry. She visited farms, met with farmers, researchers, emerging leaders and industry experts, deliberately seeking out different perspectives. With a major industry conference only weeks away, she carefully prioritised where she could learn the most, knowing she couldn’t meet everyone straight away. “As you move through leadership, your role becomes less about having all the technical expertise and more about asking really good questions.”

A career shaped by curiosity

For Tee, leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about connecting ideas, understanding different perspectives, and helping others see opportunities they may not have recognised on their own. “Leadership is a privilege because you hear things other people don’t, and your job is to join those pieces together”.

That mindset has served her well throughout her career. When she arrived in New Zealand to work on Auckland’s local government reform, she was told achieving unanimous agreement across eight councils would be almost impossible. Months later, after bringing together different perspectives and building understanding, that unanimous submission became reality. For Tee, it reinforced an important lesson; “You should never assume the first response is where you’ll end up.”

She has also learned that good ideas don’t succeed on their own. Looking back on major projects, she says she would spend even more time communicating the ‘why’. “You can never do enough storytelling,” she says. “By the time you think you’ve said something too many times, people are only just starting to understand it.”

Making space for the unknown

Whether leading organisational change, building industry confidence or navigating uncertainty, Tee believes people need time to connect with an idea before they can support it. That philosophy proved invaluable during Covid-19. Years earlier, Tee had led a strategic exercise asking a simple question: what if the sky fell in? When the pandemic arrived, her organisation already had a framework for responding. While others were working out what to do, they were able to focus on supporting people through uncertainty.

For Tee, preparation isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about creating enough clarity that when uncertainty arrives, you’re ready to respond. Perhaps that’s why she has become so comfortable stepping into unfamiliar territory. Where others see uncertainty, she sees possibility. “The unknown doesn’t worry me,” she says. “It helps me think more clearly.”

She acknowledges that not everyone is wired that way but believes curiosity can be cultivated. “We’re never going to know everything. The important thing is being willing to ask questions, learn from others and make the best decision you can with the information you have.”

It’s a simple philosophy, but one that has guided a career spanning countries, industries and leadership roles. In a world where leaders often feel pressure to have all the answers, Tee offers a refreshing reminder that sometimes the most valuable thing a leader can do is ask a better question.