BLACKSMITH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Development Director
- Executive
For more than 25 years I have worked in the people, culture and leadership space building a reputation for sharp insights, compassionate challenge, warmth and energy. Over that time I have worked with a wide range of CEOs and Executive Teams, the best of whom have demonstrated the awareness, willingness and courage required for deep and meaningful growth.
I believe it no longer serves us to compartmentalise leadership development, personal development and leadership wellbeing. Instead, I believe now is the time to combine these foundation elements for creating adaptive performance into what I call FULLY HUMAN development - supporting leaders through a whole-person+whole-life philosophy.
Like a lot of kiwis, I grew up in a small town in provincial New Zealand and after returning from four amazing years of travel overseas I got my big break in Auckland and landed a role at IBM. The learning curve was intense - I didn't know what cut & paste meant and here I was working for the biggest IT company in the world.
When I think about that time and why I was successful, I have to attribute it in part to having a great manager who connected with me and channeled my passion and enthusiasm into the results that mattered. Unfortunately I have found that generally this is the exception not the norm.
Having managed teams myself, I understand the frustration and isolation one can feel when there are limited resources and support for how to get the best out of your team and align them to the overall business strategy, purpose and brand promise. This is why I am so excited about being part of Blacksmith and the results I know we have delivered for clients across New Zealand and Australia by doing just that.