This sociolinguistic inquiry shows that the New Zealand (NZ) English pragmatic marker eh is used by six mid-aged Maori, Cook Islands Maori and Pakeha male managers in NZ workplaces (wp) in slightly distinct ways for strategic interactional aims, and by two Maori men to build their leadership identities. Using Eckert’s notion of indexical fields, it is argued a helpful linguistic wp-tool, given its links with informality, rapport and harmony principles.