Being (im)polite in New Zealand workplaces: Ma ¯ori and Pa ¯keha ¯ leaders Stephanie Schnurr * , Meredith Marra, Janet Holmes School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand Received 6 March 2006; received in revised form 21 September 2006; accepted 28 November 2006 Abstract This paper investigates the ways in which leaders in ethnically diverse workplaces in New Zealand construct themselves as effective leaders in interaction with subordinates, whilst also taking account of the politeness norms of their specific workplaces. Case studies of two leaders, one from a Pa ¯keha ¯ and one from a Ma ¯ori workplace, illustrate that shared ethnic values and attitudes impact on the behaviour of all members of the leaders’ communities of practice. The analysis of meeting openings and the use of contestive humour demonstrate that what is considered appropriate behaviour in one organisational context, and what is perceived as constituting polite behaviour by group members, may be considered inappropriate and even impolite by members of another organisation. By behaving in ways that are in accordance with the norms developed in their ‘ethnicised’ communities of practice, leaders and other organisational members reinforce, maintain and shape these politeness norms. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Workplace discourse; Meetings; Leadership; Humour; Ethnicity; Cross-cultural interaction 1. Introduction New Zealand workplaces have become increasingly multicultural in recent years as a result of repeated waves of immigration from a wide range of countries. However, Pa ¯keha ¯ (New Zealanders of European (mainly British) origin), still constitute the largest proportion of the New Zealand population (80%), with Ma ¯ori, the indigenous population, the next largest www.elsevier.com/locate/pragma Journal of Pragmatics 39 (2007) 712–729 * Corresponding author. Present Address: School of English, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China. E-mail addresses: sschnurr@hkucc.hku.hk (S. Schnurr), meredith.marra@vuw.ac.nz (M. Marra), janet.holmes@vuw.ac.nz (J. Holmes). 0378-2166/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2006.11.016