Since 1990s, the past two decades changes every year, New Zealand has experienced transition from a centralised and highly regulated economy to an economy that’s open, rapidly changing, and has less intervention by government. Due to the climate of liberalisation there has been an increasing trend of inward immigration, especially from China (New Zealand Statistics, 2006). The Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and China will tend to lead to more Chinese managers coming to New Zealand to pursue leadership roles. They are of course facing huge cross-cultural leadership challenges(House & Aditya, 1997). This study begins with reviewing comprehensive leadership theories and the GLOBE project findings on New Zealand and China, and discussing the main challenges faced by Chinese managerial leaders at Starbucks in New Zealand based on qualitative interviews. Three significant challenges that Chinese managers face in New Zealand are outlined and discussed, which are cultural difference, effective leadership, and work force diversity.