Based on a study of historical and contemporary Māori leaders (McClutchie, Mahi Rangatira theory and praxis: a Kaupapa Māori approach to Utu and Rangatira-inspired entrepreneurial Endeavour. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, 2025), this chapter introduces Mahi Rangatira as a distinct Māori leadership ethic and praxis grounded in whakapapa (genealogical ties), utu (reciprocity and balance), tino rangatiratanga (self-determination), and mana (authority and power). Emerging from ancestral knowledge and intergenerational transmission, Mahi Rangatira locates leadership as a relational and collective responsibility rather than an exercise of individual authority. It shows how rangatira (leaders) historically sustained collective well-being through reciprocal and ethical practices—practices that continue among contemporary kaupapa-driven (pro-Māori-driven) Māori entrepreneurs advancing social justice, innovation, and Indigenization. Participants in this study affirmed that leadership is inseparable from whakapapa obligations and collective well-being, highlighting the leader’s role to act with foresight, care, and accountability across generations. Mahi Rangatira weaves together ancestral precedent, cultural integrity, and contemporary endeavor, offering a leadership approach that sustains mana and realizes tino rangatiratanga to enhance community well-being. Beyond its Māori context, Mahi Rangatira contributes to global leadership studies by challenging Western paradigms of hierarchy, individualism, and short-term gain. Mahi Rangatira provides a relational, ethical, and intergenerational approach to leadership grounded in whakapapa and collective responsibility, enriching both Indigenous futures and global leadership theory.