Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce Cotterill

The farming sector is in a cyclical boomtime at the moment and we’re all hoping it will continue forever. But we’re not hearing a lot from our farmers as the election date nears. So who better to talk to about that than the host of the most popular farming programme on New Zealand radio.

Jamie MacKay is the host of The Country. He’s a quintessential Kiwi bloke. He grew up farming in northern Southland, is a mad keen rugby man and managed to make a living from farming – firstly as a farmer in his own right for over a decade and subsequently with his own radio show which enables him to talk about farming all day.

He talks openly about the tough times, and how Rogernomics forced farmers out of business in the 1980’s and 1990’s, including his own brushes with financial uncertainty.

MacKay’s career has also given him a decent shot at the business of business. His entry into broadcasting came when he purchased a radio station from Radio New Zealand in the 1990’s. He turned 4ZG into Hokonui Gold and added a farming segment which started off at five minutes duration and over time grew to the hour long programme we know today.

He later sold out of the business, and The Farming Show moved on to Radio Sport and ultimately Newstalk ZB where is remains to this day, rebranded as The Country.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast MacKay speaks to Bruce Cotterill about a wide range of topics, from the original inspiration for the radio programme to the current performance of the farming sector and the positive outlook ahead.

There’s also plenty of talk about what the farmers are saying at election time, their desire for a farmer friendly government to continue, improvements in farm technology, and how we can maximise the future opportunities and grow the economy in the process.

This is a fun conversation with a good bloke, a natural story teller and a man who is positive about the future of New Zealand.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 73 with Bruce Cotterill and Jamie MacKay – Host of The Country on ZB

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With the election campaign in full swing, it’s a pleasure to host Finance Minister and Deputy Leader of the National Party, Nicola Willis, for Episode 72 of Leaders Getting Coffee.

When former Finance Minister Steven Joyce resigned from Parliament in the aftermath of the 2017 election, his departure created an opportunity for a relative unknown to enter Parliament from the not-so-lofty position of 48 on the National Party list.

Her name was Nicola Willis. She had just lost the Wellington Central electorate contest to another future Finance Minister, Grant Robertson.

At the time, she was largely unknown to most New Zealanders. But she’d already completed a political apprenticeship that most new MPs could only dream of, working first as a policy adviser to Bill English and subsequently as a senior adviser to Prime Minister John Key.

For the next five years, she had to bide her time in Opposition. It was a period that gave her the opportunity to learn the parliamentary ropes, take on a wide range of portfolios and establish herself as one of National’s emerging leaders.

Then came 2023. National was able to form a government alongside ACT and NZ First, and Nicola Willis was appointed Minister of Finance.

On this episode of Leaders Getting Coffee, Nicola talks to Bruce Cotterill about being at the centre of the coalition negotiations that led to the formation of the current government. She also discusses the state of the government’s finances they inherited, and the rapid-fire decisions required during those early days in office.

There’s plenty of discussion about the performance of the government she’s been part of: the difficult decisions, what they got right, and what they might have done differently.

And then there’s the current election campaign.

Nicola and Bruce agree to disagree on National’s policy for the supermarket sector. And she is refreshingly open when asked about the possibility of National winning electorate seats at the expense of her own position on the party list.

This is a wide-ranging conversation with the Minister who has held the government’s purse strings for the past three years. It provides an informed look behind the scenes of government, coalition politics and economic management — as well as some insight into the person behind the portfolio.

Nicola Willis is bright, articulate and ambitious for the country. She also speaks candidly about the very real personal sacrifices that come with pursuing those ambitions in public life.

It’s well worth a listen.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 72 with Bruce Cotterill and Hon Nicola Willis, Minister of Finance

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In episode 71of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s younger government ministers, Simeon Brown.

He was inspired by his grandfather who worked to support the local community and later, his mother who led the local residents association. That led to him taking an early interest in politics, and while still at school he occupied roles as secretary and treasurer alongside his mother and subsequently a seat on the Manurewa Local Board while still at university.

But national politics soon beckoned, and at the age of just 23 he ran the National party campaign for the Manurewa seat, losing to Labour’s Louisa Wall on that occasion.

Three years later, in 2017 he was better prepared and won the safe National seat of Pakuranga, taking over the stronghold previously held by long time MP Maurice Williamson.

But that meant six years in opposition, a period he used to build his knowledge of our parliamentary process and a work ethic that would serve him well later.

When a National Party led government won the treasury benches in 2023, he was poised to become one of the busiest ministers in the team, and as the parliamentary term closes, he looks back on the wins, the losses and the might have beens.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Simeon Brown speaks with Bruce Cotterill about massive portfolios like transport, health and energy, the challenges he inherited and the opportunities for the future. Those responsibilities came with plenty of damage – remember the mining ban, the potholes and the shambles that was the previous government’s reorganisation of the health system. He’s had three years to address all that. But there’s plenty more to do and the plan for the next parliamentary term is already underway.

There’s also a chat about family. Here’s a guy working 18 hour days, and six days weeks trying to balance a family of four children under eight, and a very understanding wife.

This is a very personable conversation with a young minister doing a good job in a very tough environment. It’s well worth a listen.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 71 with Bruce Cotterill and Hon Simeon Brown, Minister of Health

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In episode 70 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is Alex Martelli, a young innovator who is changing the way people buy real estate.  

She’s a born and bred Aucklander who spent her entire schooling and university years in the city.  But somewhere in there a desire for travel was instilled, and she spent 11 years traveling the world and working with some of the biggest real estate brands.

She admits that her first break was a result of being in the right place at the right time. But she’s a hard worker and that first opportunity led to an international real estate career that many would crave. Her experiences in Sydney, London and Hong Kong formed a desire to innovate and bring her learnings back to the residential property market in New Zealand.

Once back, she founded Martelli Buyers Agents, an agency directly focussed on working exclusively with the buyers of residential real estate.

She’s now three years in and her business is growing faster than the market.

Early on, she was told that her ideas would never work in New Zealand, and so, along the way she’s had to educate the market about the role of the buyer’s agent, a concept new to New Zealand, but well understood, and in some cases compulsory, in other parts of the world. Those early non-believers have since been turned around and she now enjoys the support of the wider industry that she’s a part of.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Alex speaks with Bruce Cotterill about the role of a buyer’s agent in the real estate transaction, the broad spectrum of people using the service and the benefits to buyers. She also discusses how her team works alongside traditional real estate agents to ensure the best outcome all round.

And there’s even room for a robust discussion about the state of the current real estate markets around the world, and the ongoing challenges for New Zealand property, a market that still hasn’t recovered to the heights achieved in 2021.  

Above all, this is an enjoyable discussion with a young leader who is putting the skills she developed overseas to the test in New Zealand’s highly competitive real estate industry, all while introducing a new service that many people will find highly valuable.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 70 with Bruce Cotterill and Alex Martelli, Founder and CEO of Martelli Buyers Agents

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In episode 69 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s most successful business CEO’s, Sir Ralph Norris.  

An everyday upbringing in Auckland’s suburb of Mt Roskill, laid the foundations for the humble and softly spoken manner that typifies Sir Ralph Norris. But don’t let that humility fool you. He was an active youngster and clearly bright enough to further his education. However, like many of the time, the family fortunes didn’t enable university study. But he certainly made up for it when opportunity came calling.

His banking career started in the IT department of the ASB Bank, where he was a beneficiary of the bank’s training relationship with IBM and his own curiosity about technology. The IBM training filled in what he’d missed at university and he became instrumental in enabling the massive change that went through the banking system over the following two decades. He speaks of starting with mainframe computers that occupied their own air-conditioned rooms, and he leads us through the changes brought by the personal computer generation, and now the mobile phone centric life we all lead today. 

Over the course of his career, he led three massive companies. In the first, ASB Bank, he worked his way to the top job. The reputation he built there led to the next two. Firstly he was asked to take the reins at a suffering Air New Zealand in 2001, and subsequently Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2005. In both, he encountered poor customer experience, weak employee engagement, and a flattened growth curve. In both, he led a rejuvenation that still gets talked about.

Norris became the CEO of ASB Bank through that most unusual avenue of the IT department at a time when CEO’s came from sales and marketing. He also became a change manager before there was such a term.

He led ASB Bank from it’s roots as a regional bank, to a national player competing on level terms with the big internationally owned banks. He brought institutional and commercial banking to what was previously a domestically focussed affair. And he created leaders.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Sir Ralph Norris speaks with Bruce Cotterill about turning business performance around. The importance of asking good questions and listening to what the people within the organisation are saying is the starting point. Then comes a good plan, and the need for relentless communication. 

There are lessons in this discussion for every current and aspiring leader. And each one delivered in that quiet and humble way. Sir Ralph Norris is one of our country’s best, and this discussion, a must listen, reflects that.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 69 with Bruce Cotterill and Sir Ralph Norris – Former CEO of ASB and Air NZ.

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In Episode 68 of Leaders Getting Coffee, our guest is former All Black captain and New Zealand First candidate, Taine Randell.

He was appointed captain of the Otago NPC rugby team in 1995 at the age of 19 and All Blacks captain by the time he was 23. Taine Randell says he was lucky, but to plenty of observers, he was a young man with something special about the way he played and the way he led others.

He grew up in the Hawkes bay, and after many years in Dunedin and then London, he and his family have been back there for the last 18 years.

Despite hanging up his professional rugby boots some twenty years ago, he’s still coaching and even occasionally playing the game that he loves.

But business has been his focus since returning home, and he’s built and sold a family owned business as well as working in governance roles to support local businesses and the region at large.

Earlier this year Taine Randell announced his decision to enter politics and he’ll be contesting this year’s general election as a NZ First candidate. 

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Taine Randell speaks about the fact that rugby wasn’t a career option until professionalism arrived on the scene just as he did. And he discusses playing with his heroes in a rugby career that surpassed even his own expectations and a couple of losses that obviously still hurt. There’s also an extensive life in business since stepping off the field. 

Thereafter, the aspiring politician talks to Bruce Cotterill about his aspirations for the country and the reasons he’s putting his hand up for another step in his leadership journey. He has plenty of good ideas too, and we can expect a very active champion for the small business community.

And of course, on the eve of the All Blacks very challenging assignment in South Africa, he has plenty of advice about what his former team are up against and even a prediction of what the outcome might be.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 68 with Bruce Cotterill and Taine Randell

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 67, our guest is Amelia Linzey, Group CEO of Engineering firm Beca. 

Amelia Linzey has broken the mould in more ways than most of us. Firstly, if we think of large-scale infrastructure engineering as a ‘mans world’, then she has truly broken that particular glass ceiling. But her other main attribute is stickability. In an environment where change is rapid and people move jobs with regularity and ease, she’s been with the same company for thirty years. 

She grew up on Auckland’s North Shore, studied geography, and after a brief stint in Council planning, she joined the engineering firm that has been her home ever since. 

She’s a highly qualified and well regarded planner and social impact specialist. And she worked “on the tools” gradually leading larger projects for over 25 years, before the CEO suite came calling.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast Amelia speaks about that wonderful career that shows no sign of slowing down just yet. She is open about the challenges she’s faced and the broader range of opportunities for young engineers today. 

But it is the scale of the work that Beca does that grabs our attention. From an electrical transmission project in New South Wales, to massive integrated resort and office precinct in Singapore, climate resilience work in the Pacific and a giant water infrastructure project in Melbourne, the work is large scale infrastructure with big budgets and big pressures.

But she seems to handle it all in her very brisk stride. 

As you might imagine, Amelia Linzey has a unique perspective on New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit and she speaks with Bruce Cotterill about how we might go about gradually correcting the underinvestment of the past. It’s a massive advantage that we have the knowledge right here in this country, with people who know a lot about building hospitals, water infrastructure, electricity generation and tourism venues.

This is a great discussion that captures many variables. It’s a story of a working mum with an outstanding career, and a commentary on infrastructure construction for today and the future.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 67 with Bruce Cotterill and Amelia Linzey

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We’re half way through the year and “dry July” is underway. So what better time to talk about health, nutrition and diet?

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 66, our guest is Professor Caryn Zinn, Professor of Nutrition at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). 

Her story starts in South Africa, where she was born, and her early University studies were conducted in Cape Town. Upon graduation, she moved to New Zealand for what she thought would be a period of time. But it was to become her life.

Her first job here was as a public health dietician in Whangarei, but academia called and a Master’s degree focusing on Sports Nutrition and a PhD centred on weight loss followed.

A chance engagement in 2014, challenged her conventional nutrition paradigm, and she developed her own nutrition philosophy in light of the emerging science on insulin resistance and metabolic health. Her journey endured multiple challenges from the change resistant establishment, but her conviction ensured that she prevailed. She is now regarded as one of the most recognised leaders in therapeutic carbohydrate reduction, both in New Zealand and abroad. 

Professor Zinn speaks openly about the challenges of leading pioneering change in a sector that often prefers the comfortable route. But her story is compelling and like any scientist who “follows the evidence” her approach is now well accepted.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Caryn Zinn speaks to Bruce Cotterill about how a team effort led to the publication of not one, but five books resulting from their research, including the highly regarded “What the Fat?” Her writing has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers around the world to the low-carb, healthy-fat way of eating. 

There is plenty of discussion about what’s right and wrong with our diets, how we can be better, and how to get help if we need it. There’s also an interesting discussion about how supplements can support our lifestyles and some common sense advice around alcohol consumption.

But most of all, this is a story about a high achiever who dared to believe that another way was possible, and in fact better, and who committed herself to changing attitudes and outcomes in a world challenged by change. 

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 66 with Bruce Cotterill and Professor Caryn Zinn 

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In episode 65 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is the veteran Political Journalist Barry Soper.

Barry Soper is our most seasoned, and arguably most respected political correspondent. He’s covered the premierships of twelve Prime Ministers, all of them very different, across five decades.

It’s a story worthy of a book, and his newly released political memoir entitled “One Last Question, Prime Minister” doesn’t disappoint.

But his life could have been so different. When he pulled out of Police College in his late teens, his mother had a job lined up for him, as a tractor salesman. But an accidental conversation with a correspondent from the local paper, changed his trajectory and his fortunes and a lifetime in journalism was born.

He went on to work with many of the provincial newspapers across the country, and after an OE full of stories that only a man of his experience can tell, he returned to a broadcasting career that continues to this day.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Barry talks to Bruce Cotterill about all twelve of those Prime Ministers. His role has enabled him to get to know them all well, he’s travelled with them, and seen them up close in electoral victory and defeat.

He shares those experiences openly, and with a sense of humour that only the best story tellers can deliver. You might expect him to have strong and well informed views on some of our best and worst Prime Ministers. You might not expect him to be so open in sharing those views.

As this election year gathers steam, this is an opportunity to hear from a man who has been as close to the political action as it’s possible to be. It’s a insightful analysis of the progress this country has made over the last fifty years, and the people who have led us.

The book again. “One Last Question, Prime Minister” by Barry Soper.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 65 with Bruce Cotterill and Barry Soper, Newstalk ZB’s Senior Political Correspondent.

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What does it take to help build world champions?

In Episode 64 of Leaders Getting Coffee, Bruce Cotterill sits down with David Abercrombie – former All Blacks physiotherapist, former CEO of Yachting New Zealand, and one of the people who has worked behind the scenes of some of New Zealand's greatest sporting achievements.

Over a Physiotherapy career spanning more than three decades, David has treated elite athletes across rugby, sailing, basketball and Olympic sport. He was part of the All Blacks environment during one of the most successful eras in New Zealand rugby and worked alongside some of the country's most iconic sporting figures. He was on the spot for, Michael Jones injured knee, Zinzan Brooke’s famous dropped goal, and he kept Sir Peter Blake’s elbows working in San Diego. Four medals in one day’s sailing at the Rio Olympics remains a special memory.

Born in Scotland and raised on Auckland's North Shore, David's journey took him from a young physiotherapist helping establish North Harbour Rugby's sports medicine programme alongside his great mate Dr John Mayhew, to becoming one of the most respected practitioners in New Zealand sport. Later, when the physical demands of physiotherapy forced an unexpected career change, he successfully reinvented himself as CEO of Yachting New Zealand, leading that organisation through 15 years of transformation and Olympic success.

In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, David shares remarkable stories from inside the All Blacks, the America's Cup and New Zealand's Olympic sailing programme. He reflects on the pressure of elite performance, the evolution of professional sport, and how the sport of sailing is changing with the introduction of foiling, women joining men’s crews, the rise of SailGP, and the leadership lessons learned from working with some of the world's best athletes and teams.

This is a conversation about far more than sport. It's about excellence, resilience, reinvention and what it really takes to perform at the highest level.

If you love sports, you’ll enjoy this conversation. But it’s much more than what happens on the field or in front of the TV camera. David Abercrombie brings a genuine insight to our sporting stories and a behind the scenes glimpse into the factors behind sporting success.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 64 with Bruce Cotterill and David Abercrombie.

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In episode 63 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is the Founder of Orion Health, Ian McCrae.

He is regarded by many as one of the early “heroes” of the New Zealand tech sector, but Ian McCrae refers to himself as simply a passionate engineering entrepreneur, and he remains committed to his mission to leverage technology in order to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for every person.

After an undistinguished high school education, he found his way at Auckland University where he graduated with an engineering degree and a Masters. Along the way he took a break to hitchhike around the world, a journey that saw him in London during the sharemarket crash and in Iran during the revolution, a period which enhanced his already substantial levels of resilience.

Back in New Zealand, his Masters thesis led him to Antarctica where he modelled the ice shelf flows long before it was cool to do so. A series of jobs in the tech space led him to decide that the health sector was where the opportunity was and Orion Health was born. 

Ian’s story of establishing a global business, on limited funding and heavily reliant on suitcases and shoe leather, has plenty of lessons for every aspiring entrepreneur. 

During the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast, he speaks with Bruce Cotterill about his combination of sales skills and software knowledge creating a critical combination enabling his success. There’s plenty of chat about the early days of cracking the US market and the ups and downs that followed.

Five years ago, his life was upended with the diagnosis of a brain tumour. And as you might expect from a technology leader with a passion for healthcare, he has piloted his treatment programme via his own software and the AI tools that we all have access to. The result has seen him outlive his original diagnosis four-fold and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

He’s also outspoken about what those same AI tools should mean for the health system, and he sees opportunities to overtake our unaffordable current approach to healthcare and move directly to a new way, one which sees the patient at the centre of their own care and AI providing the interface between the system and the needs of the population. 

This is the opportunity to hear from a man who is a massively successful New Zealand entrepreneur. But that man is also patient in our health system, one with strong and well qualified opinions on the future direction of one of our government’s biggest challenges. 

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 63 with Bruce Cotterill and Ian McCrae, Founder of Orion Health and Brain Tumour patient.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 62, our guest is Caroline Harvie-Teare, who is the CEO of Venues Otautahi in Christchurch, home of the new One New Zealand Stadium.

She started life as a farm girl,but moved to the city as a youngster and became a heart and soul champion for the city of Christchurch. The farm girl lingered though as her passion for horses took her to eventing success.

That start reflects a toughness that has been reflected in every challenge she has taken on. 

When the earthquakes hit her city her job in the events industry was under threat. So she stepped up to join the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, doing her bit to help her city repair itself. Her success there led her to Christchurch International Airport as the city tried to recover its lost sparkle and resultant loss of tourists.

Her return to Venues Otautahi, the city’s main events hub, just a week before the first of the Covid 19 enforced lockdowns, provided another challenging chapter to a career that had already had it’s share.

But she has thrived. Venues Otautahi is now New Zealand’s largest events and venue company, and the organisation owns or manages some of the country’s most sought after venues including the revitalised Christchurch Town Hall, Woolfbrook Arena, Hagley Oval, and New Zealand’s newest and already arguable best stadium, One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha.

Caroline’s story encompasses many characteristics. Resilience and strength are obvious. But she is also someone who thinks very clearly about where her best skills lie and how she can apply those skills to make the best contribution.

She is unashamedly a proud and passionate cheerleader for her chosen city and her story provides countless lessons for any aspiring leader.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Caroline Harvie-Teare speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the tough days after the earthquakes and the memories that return as each step in the city’s recovery is taken. She’s very open about the tough decisions enforced as a result of Covid 19.

But the main story here is about a stadium. One that is so much more than a venue for sports and music. It’s a venue that represents the recovery of a once broken city and provides the ‘icing on the cake’ as that long rebuilding process nears completion.

Caroline Harvie-Teare has a great leadership story, and she tells it well. As is so often the case, the best leadership experiences occur when the circumstances are genuinely difficult. There are lessons aplenty from every step she has taken.

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In episode 61 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is Former Blackcap and Broadcaster Mark Richardson.

There are many elements to the Mark Richarson story. The cricketer who bloomed late. The accidental broadcaster who seemed a natural behind the microphone. And now the Investment Advisor, charting a new path in yet another career.

Even as a boy, Mark Richardson dreamed of playing for the Black Caps. His early years saw him on the pitch as a bowler and over time he transformed himself into a batsman, and then again into an opening batsman. The dream didn’t come true until he was 29, but the story of how he got there is a testament to his determination and resilience.

He was honest enough to hang up the cricket bat when he was mentally burned out, despite the fact that he probably could have gone on. But he didn’t sit idle for long.

The opportunity to broadcast the game he loved opened a door to a twenty year broadcasting career that included “The Crowd Goes Wild”, “The Block NZ”, “The Project” and “The AM Show”. He continued to commentate the cricket, not because of the money, but because of his love for the game.

But the changes in the media industry meant the going was too tough and first Mediaworks and then Today FM closed down, leaving Richardson wondering what might come next.

But he’s nothing if not adaptable, and another casual conversation turned opportunity arose, one which sees him today operating as an Investment Advisor with well known financial services group Forsyth Barr, a topic deserving of some air time given the current challenges in the markets.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast, Mark Richardson speaks with Bruce Cotterill about his passion for cricket, the teammates he loved playing with, the disappointment of being out for 99 and the relief of that first century scoring 115 just a few weeks later. And he’s refreshingly open about the highs and lows of that broadcasting career. 

Behind the blokey persona is a man who takes every step as he did his batting, with careful preparation and just enough nervousness to keep him trying his very hardest to be his very best. It’s a seriousness of intent that he now channels to the task of guiding clients on their investment journey.

Leaders Getting Coffee - Episode 61 with Bruce Cotterill and Mark Richardson, former Blackcap, Broadcaster and Investment Advisor.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 60, our guest is The Right Honourable David Seymour, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand and Leader of the Act Party.

To many of us, it seems like David Seymour has been in the public eye for so long that we feel like we know him. And yet, as it turns out, we know very little.

He grew up in a Whangarei family, with working parents and a personal ambition shaped partly by a mother who suffered from a disability.

As a youngster he was exposed to business and voluntary work, all of which drove a unique work ethic and a passion for the freedoms his generation took for granted.

He left the family home for life as a boarder at Auckland Grammar and soon he was at Auckland University studying for degrees in Engineering and Philosophy. He had to work his way through university to make ends meet and talks of forty hour weeks bookended by lectures and assignments.

His early career focussed on engineering until the opportunity came to work for a Canadian think tank and a new career path was formed, one that would ultimately see him return to New Zealand, becoming an MP and Act party leader in 2014.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast, David Seymour speaks with Bruce Cotterill about the loneliness of his early years as parliament’s sole Act MP and his focus on working with other politicians, many of whom were not natural bedfellows, to get his End of Life Choice Act passed into law as a result of a referendum in 2020.

That led to him ushering in nine additional MP’s in 2020 and Act’s role in parliament has been secured as a result.

David Seymour speaks proudly about taking on some of parliament’s tougher challenges, including charter schools, regulatory reform, and the treaty principles bill, as well as the End of Life legislation.

This is a man who is passionate about personal freedoms and making New Zealand a better and more productive place for its people. And as one of parliament’s best communicators, he is very clear on some of the challenges ahead.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 59, our guest is Lisa King, the inspirational founder of Eat My Lunch and more recently alcohol free cocktail brand, Free AF.

She was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Zealand at the age of two. Her hardworking parents instilled a passion for education and an enthusiasm for entrepreneurial flair.

Lisa King didn’t waste that business oriented zest for life. A couple of university degrees provided her ticket to her dream jobs, in big corporate organisations that could show her the world.

The New Zealand Daily Board sent her to the Philippines, Unilever took her to the UK and the arrival of her first child brought her home. Roles in the heart of FMCG business followed at Bluebird, Cadbury and eventually back to the newly named Fonterra.

But a need to do something with purpose was stirring and, inspired by an advertisement for shoes – buy one get one free – she set up a school lunch programme that followed that same model. If sponsors would pay for a school lunch, her team would deliver that and another to students in need. It was called “Eat My Lunch” and it arrived at a time when some schools had 50 kids going without a midday meal.

They prepared the lunches in her lounge at first, and at its peak her team were delivering 2,600 free lunches and the same number of paid ones, across 45 schools, every day. 

With the arrival of the Government’s school lunch programme, her work there was done and another purpose was waiting.

Lisa had decided to give up drinking alcohol, and was astounded by the social pressures and the awkward questions. She’d decided that the conversation around not drinking was broken.

And so, in 2020, despite Covid and lockdowns and plenty of reasons not to, she assembled a team and created a brand, developed recipes, and launched Free AF, an alcohol free cocktail brand with a goal to reduce the alcohol in people’s lives without sacrificing the experience.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Lisa King speaks to Bruce Cotterill about, not one, but two entrepreneurial journeys, the lessons she’s learned and the opportunities ahead. Free AF now features in more than 4,000 stores across the USA, including Whole Foods, Target and Walmart and she is very open about the hard work involved in getting established in a massive market, including the importance of keeping her team small and action orientated, jumping time zones and the funding challenges associated with order sizes you don’t expect.

This is a case study in purpose from someone who is in the process of building a global brand. It’s a must listen for every aspiring entrepreneur. Spoiler alert… it’s a lot of hard work!

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 58, our guest Sharon Zollner,Chief Economist at ANZ Bank.

At a time when the economic recovery in New Zealand is threatened, yet again, by a major international shock, we thought it was worthwhile to host one of the Country’s leading economists on Leaders Getting Coffee. And we weren’t disappointed. This week’s guest is one of the most entertaining economists we could wish to speak to.

A self-confessed geeky kid, and cricket tragic, Sharon Zollner grew up in rural Canterbury in a farming family near Methven. She excelled at school, particularly it seems in English and Mathematics, capabilities which influenced her decision to study English Literature and Economics.

She left Canterbury University with a Masters in Commerce and majors in Economics and English Literature, and headed to the New Zealand Reserve Bank to start what has become an amazingly successful career.

A stint with Norway’s central bank followed, where her work included developing a macro economic model for the Norwegian economy.

Returning to New Zealand, her climb up the ranks of Bank Economists has been rapid and she speaks openly about becoming the Chief Economist at ANZ in 2017, just ahead of a change in government and prior to the disruption created by Covid 19.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Sharon Zollner speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the current state of the New Zealand economy, which she suggests is more resilient that many of us might expect.

She is also refreshingly open about the impacts of war in the Middle East and the associated panic around oil prices and supplies, and the likely stages that economies will go through as the conflict continues.

As you might expect, Zollner reels off economic terms and statistics in an uncomplicated manner that is easy to understand and entertaining to listen to. Her lessons from Norway are interesting given the similarity of that economy to that of New Zealand, and the differing constraints that the two countries must operate within.

Most importantly, she is positive about the current state of New Zealand, despite the obvious headwinds, and one wishes that her enthusiasm for our future should be contagious.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 57 part 2, we continue out chat with The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Following on from last week, we get deeper into his past two years as Prime Minister, the recent India Free Trade Agreement, and whether he would work another term alongside coalition partners Winston Peters and David Seymour.

There is no escaping Christopher Luxon’s aspiration for New Zealand nor his passion for the role that he now occupies. He’s driven by outcomes rather than slogans and that reflects in his attitude about the election campaign ahead.

And if he could flick a switch, what’s the one thing he would like to change?

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 57, our guest is The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand.

A typical Kiwi upbringing was a hallmark of young Christopher Luxon’s life. The oldest of three brothers, he grew up in Christchurch and later Auckland, with working parents and a work ethic that was obvious early.

He was a sports mad kid, but it didn’t stop there. Walking home one afternoon he decided to cold call the neighbourhood homes to see if he could sell his services as a window cleaner. A business was born. It’s owner-operator just 14 years old.

He returned to his hometown of Christchurch for his university studies before his corporate career took hold. 

Starting as a management trainee with global consumer goods giant Unilever, it was a company and a career that took him around the world. He worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA before his eventual appointment as President and CEO of Unilever Canada.

In 2011, he returned to New Zealand for a senior executive role at Air New Zealand and a year later he was appointed CEO, a role he held for seven years.

That he walked away from such a spectacular business career is a story in itself. Within four years, and after just three years as a Member of Parliament, he became New Zealand’s 42nd Prime Minister.

In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Christopher Luxon talks openly with Bruce Cotterill about his short but spectacular rise in New Zealand’s political scene. He is surprisingly open about his successes and failures in government to date and equally forthright about the assembly and operation of a coalition that has held together better than many expected.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 56, our guest is the founder and CEO of Resonate Health, James Whittaker. 

James started life in the UK and began his career in one of that country’s most iconic companies, British Airways. The story of how he became an entrepreneur on the other side of the world is both entertaining and inspiring.

He came to New Zealand with his young family as tourists, and they returned a year later with the intention of settling and staying.

He continued his corporate career in New Zealand, working with Private Equity to turnaround the fortunes of a company specialising in hearing aids.

But he thought of a better way, and after a couple of false starts, Resonate Health NZ was born.

Resonate brings a totally new approach to the business of hearing loss, and with an ageing population, the possibilities seem endless. From a startup in 2022 to 31 hearing studios today, the business is on a mammoth growth curve.

At its centre is world class technology and a driven entrepreneur determined to build the world’s best health care company.

In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, James Whittaker talks to Bruce Cotterill about a vision that sets his business apart, the extremes he goes to in order to attract talent, and the importance of building trust with his customers.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 55, our guest is the former National Party Minister, Speaker of the House and Ambassador to London, Sir Lockwood Smith. 

Sir Lockwood Smith is one of those people you feel you know before meeting him. He first stepped into the public gaze as a television presenter of science programmes aimed at school age children. What started as a university holiday job delivered some early name recognition, helping him to win a seat in the old first part the post political system.

He grew up on the family farm that he still runs today. He learned the ropes early and developed the skills necessary to run the farm before leaving school. A Bachelors and Masters degree (with honours) in Agricultural Science put the theory alongside the practical skills he’d already developed.

At first, he followed what most of us would observe as an academic career, lecturing at Massey University and wining a scholarship to attend theWaite Agricultural Research Institute, at the University of Adelaide, where he studied for his PhD in ruminant metabolism. He tells of studying Opera, as a sideline, while he was there.

While in Adelaide he took up rowing, winning five state championships and leading the Adelaide University Boat Club as it’s captain.

Back in New Zealand, politics was calling and he was elected to parliament as the MP for Kaipara in 1984. He became one of our longest serving MP’s, staying for 29 years, the last five of which were spent as a most respected “Speaker of the House”.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast with Bruce Cotterill, Sir Lockwood speaks of the highs and lows of life in politics. There have been many achievements and the occasional disappointment, and he is refreshingly open in his discussion, including the behind the scenes conflict surrounding leadership appointments.

And he reflects on his time as Speaker of the House and his disappointment at today’s parliamentary behaviour.

He also covers off his five-year stint as ourHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ghana & Nigeria, and Ambassador to Ireland and the various roles he conducted on behalf of the UK government after his post was completed.

Today, he’s back on the farm that he has operated throughout a busy life, breeding Belgian Blue bulls, a breed that he has continued to develop and enhance over his entire life. He’s a happy and contented man with a wonderful story to tell. And he tells it very well.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 54, our guest is the CEO of realestate.co.nz, Sarah Wood.

As the real estate market starts to show some long awaited green shoots, it’s timely to have a discussion about the real estate market. As the leader of New Zealand’s only dedicated real estate portal company, Sarah Wood is uniquely positioned to share her insights into the changes in the market.

Her early life was as one of 6 children in a farming family. That’s where she learned the value of hard work and the need to earn her own money.

She completed a diploma in advertising and a university degree in marketing, all while learning the ropes in retail business before heading for the media sector with the Company then known as Wilson & Horton. Thereafter, the FMCG world came calling and she led a range of projects across some of the major brands at Goodman Fielder.

As her husband’s medical career started to take off, she then found herself in the USA for seven years and she talks of a different way of life and new business opportunities. There she met an influential woman and she discusses the impact that relationship had on her.

But the return to New Zealand was inevitable and after a stint back with her old employer, by then named APN, she found her first CEO role in the real estate advertising business.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast with Bruce Cotterill, Sarah shares her insights on building teams, developing a can do culture and getting things done. And she talks about her love of working with highly successful real estate agents and their clients, and the current state of the real estate market, with record numbers of listings and increased buyer activity.

This is a leadership story that is still developing. Sarah Wood is a CEO of the future, someone who understands how to make technology, people and customers come together to create outstanding experiences.

It’s well worth a listen.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 53, our guest is the former CEO of both Auckland International Airport and Spark New Zealand, Simon Moutter.

Simon Moutter is one of New Zealand’s best CEO’s of recent times, with a track record of growth and transformation that few can match.

As you listen to Simon tell his story, one of the things that strikes you is how logical every step seemed to be. He started his own business as a young man working within New Plymouth’s energy sector, but moved on to run power stations and eventually lead the power company he worked with.

But it was at Telecom, where he was to make his mark. As he describes it, stepping backwards to go forwards, he quickly rose up the ranks to become the COO in Theresa Gattung’s well established leadership team.

When Gattung departed, rather than push himself for the top job, he assisted the new CEO with the transition and left to run Auckland International Airport, a move that saw one of New Zealand’s most important infrastructural assets refocus around the needs of it’s wide-ranging customer base.

Four years later, he was back at Telecom, this time as CEO, and hatching a plan to reposition a company that was once one of New Zealand’s most loved and successful brands. Despite advice from business leaders and customers, he led the change to Spark New Zealand, a change designed to reflect the move to the digital age.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast with Bruce Cotterill, Simon tells the stories behind those decisions in a way that provides countless lessons for everyone from young aspiring leaders to well established current executives.

And the story doesn’t stop there. When a newly installed Prime Minister called, Simon Moutter took his skills to the country’s housing provider as Chairman of Kainga Ora. And so the Moutter transformation machine keeps on rolling.

This is an inspiring and educational story about business, tough decisions, and how to be sure of turning those decisions into successful outcomes.

Make sure you have your notebook ready.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 52, our guest is one of the original partners of advertising agency Colenso and the founder of the Dressmart Outlet stores and man’s brand, Rodd & Gunn, Gary Gwynne.

Gary enjoyed the freedom of life as an only child in pre-sixties Otago. That freedom created a mindset that believed anything was possible and authority was to be avoided.

Fresh out of Otago Boys High School and with an Otago University bachelor’s degree in his toolkit, a young Gwynne headed for the up-and-coming business of advertising, with a goffer’s job organised through the contacts of his father, who was a radio announcer at the time.

Three short years at the so-called “university of marketing”, Nestle, followed. But it wasn’t long before he was asked to return to ad- land, with a company named Colenso. There he stayed for sixteen years, becoming a partner and ultimately joint Managing Director alongside the legendary Roger McDonnell.

But he left all that and mid-career, became an entrepreneur. 

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast with Bruce Cotterill, we hear of his aspirations and adventures into a wide range of businesses including Men’s apparel, land subdivision and commercial property development.

Gary Gwynne speaks with great affection for the advertising industry and the colleagues he left. But his subsequent story is highly relatable to current or aspiring entrepreneurs. He highlights the challenges of getting established, the need for the right partners, and the importance of brands.

A keen fisherman and hunter, it was only a matter of time before Rodd and Gunn was born as a part of the Outdoor Heritage brand he built. And as Dressmart celebrates 30 years since its launch, we hear what prompted the arrival of outlet stores to New Zealand in the aftermath of a harsh recession.

Recently New Zealand lost another entrepreneur in Sir Michael Hill, and having worked with him for more than 20 years, we are treated to a wonderful tribute to Sir Michael from our guest.

Gary Gwynne’s story is one of a good Kiwi bloke who had a crack and succeeded. 

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 51, our guest is the founder of one of our most influential public relations firms, Deborah Pead.

Deborah was born in the UK, grew up in South Africa and moved to New Zealand with her young family in the mid 1990’s. She’s earned her resilience the hard way and has thrived despite a bomb blast at her employer’s flagship store, a gun held at her head, and a house fire that robbed her of family mementoes and possessions.

But this one woman force of nature shone through it all to build a new life for her family in New Zealand and an influential firm that specialised in creating brands and building reputations.

With a psychology degree in her toolkit, a young Deborah Pead stumbled into the PR business managing publicity for a suburban department store. Her impact was immediate and resulted in a move to head office where she continued to build her expertise and her influence. That influence eventually saw the establishment her own business in Johannesburg.

But the violence was getting closer, and with a husband and young children in tow, the decision was made to move to New Zealand.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast with Bruce Cotterill, Deborah Pead is refreshingly open about what prompted the move and the challenges of starting over in a new country. But failure was never an option, and after several years establishing a PR arm for a well known advertising agency, she cut her ties and went out on her own once more.

The rest, as they say, is history. The big brands followed her, and she’s been influential in the creating and success ofNew Zealand Fashion Week, the New Zealand Music Awards (the Tuis), My Food Bag, 42 Below Vodka and even Xbox.

As if all that is not enough, there’s another chapter too. A family farm, 90 minutes drive north of Auckland, where something special is happening with the humane treatment of animals and premium angus beef.

Deborah Pead’s story is one of resilience, family bonds and professional success. You get the feeling there is more to come.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 50, our guest is the Mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown.

Wayne Brown is probably New Zealand’s most colourful and best qualified city Mayors. His has been a fascinating life, with experiences ranging from building a mine in Australia to chairing not one but three of our District Health Boards.

He grew up in Auckland and went to Auckland Grammar which he says he didn’t particularly enjoy. But an engineering degree from Auckland University set him on a course that would take him around the world and back to New Zealand where his fifty years in business and politics has seen him make a substantial impact.

Along the way, he established his own engineering firm and he was good enough at surfing to participate in competitions and good enough at rugby to play on Eden Park. 

Engineering turned into property development and following a move to the north of Auckland, he developed subdivisions and built factories, apartments and commercial buildings.

He developed a reputation for ‘sorting things out’ which led him to chair not one, but three district health boards, a semi political forerunner to him winning the mayoralty of the Far North region, a role he held for two terms.

And then came the big one. He ran for the Auckland Mayoralty in 2022 with a promise to “Fix Auckland”. He won by a margin few had predicted and despite some setbacks, including the Cyclone Gabrielle flooding in early 2023, has made consistent and steady progress against his goals for the city.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Wayne Brown talks to Bruce Cotterill about a very full life, the decisions he’s made and his hopes for Auckland’s future. He speaks with enthusiasm about two major pieces of infrastructure that will be completed in 2026 – the Central Rail Loop and the Convention Centre at Sky City – both long overdue but both set to make a major impact on the future of the city.

And he talks about a health and fitness regime that sees him going into an election where he is seeking office for a term that will take him into his eighties.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 49, our guest is Sky Television’s sports commentatorTony Johnson.As you might imagine, we’re talking sport, but we’re also chatting about the country’s highways, the Sounds murders and Prostate Cancer. 

Like many young sports mad kids of his time, Tony Johnson lay awake in the wee small hours, listening under the bed covers to radio commentaries of the All Blacks playing on the other side of the world. There, to the tones of commentator Bob Irvine, a love of radio was born.

He grew up in the idyllic surroundings of the Marlborough Sounds, and as his father drove his delivery vessel around the famous waterways, those peninsulas and islands became his playground.

A Radio New Zealand cadet programme launched the young Johnson in an industry that would see him become a household name. He talks of lucky breaks leading to opportunities, but one gets the impression that his modesty is underplaying the impact he was making, even at a young age.

After four years overseas working as a news and sports journalist for Radio New Zealand, he returned home to stints as a sports presenter with the Paul Holmes breakfast on Newstalk ZB, and as TV3’s sports anchor, before his dream job came along. And so, twenty five years ago he joined Sky TV’s commentary team.

As you might expect, this is a high energy and fun discussion about sport. Of course there are the All Blacks, who Johnson has toured with 25 times, but we also share a bird’s eye view of the America’s Cup, Wimbledon and his numerous appearances at the Olympic Games.

Like all good media people, Tony Johnson is a storyteller. He talks fondly of memories of his late father and the special affection he has for the rebuilt Kaikoura highway on State Highway 1. There’s even a unique interchange with America’s Cup legend Dennis Conner that most of us won’t have known about.

And then there was the afternoon out boating in the Marlborough Sounds with friends on New Years Eve in 1997, a day which culminated in a few hours at the famed Furneaux Lodge, on the same evening that Ben Smart and Olivia Hope disappeared, in what has become one of the country’s most intriguing murder cases.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcastTony Johnson shares with Bruce Cotterill that his career hasn’t all been plain sailing and he is refreshingly open about his health challenges, He’s had mobility issues since his late twenties, the result of a neurological condition. And a prostate cancer diagnosis seven years ago has led to him using his profile as an ambassador of Blue September. And the message could not be made more clear. Fellas, get a regular check up.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 48, our guest is the Deputy Leader of the Act Party and Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke Van Velden.

A young Brooke Van Velden walked into a pub with a group of friends to celebrate a concert they’d just given. In doing so they stumbled across a get together of Act Party members and a relationship that was to change her life was born.

Van Velden is now the Minister of workplace relations and the Minister of Internal Affairs as well as deputy leader of the Act Party. She tells the story of her grandfather’s journey to New Zealand after world war two and of a comfortable upbringing in Auckland.

Her shyness at school was eventually overcome when the school’s choir master worked out that she could sing. The music department became her hangout and a shy schoolgirl became a confident performer, a skill that was to suit her forthcoming political career.

That political career started in the back office of the Act Party as she worked behind the scenes on a signature policy, the End-of-Life Choice Act, which passed into law in 2019, and she speaks respectfully of the touching stories she encountered traveling the country as that policy developed.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Brooke speaks to Bruce Cotterill about a wide range of topics, including life in the opposition benches in the 2020 – 2023 term and the transition to government for the current term.

We go behind the scenes and find out what it’s like to be a part of the coalition negotiations, and we learn that she only found out about her ministerial appointments when those negotiations were complete.

Business owners and entrepreneurs will enjoy her comments about her desire to create a high wage growth economy with a flexible labour market and creating both the opportunities and the confidence to invest in our country. 

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 47, our guest is the Mayor of Hutt City, Campbell Barry.

At the time of his election, and at the age of just 28, Campbell Barry was the youngest ever Mayor of a major city in New Zealand. 

He’s a local boy who has never moved that far away from home. He grew up inWainuiomata and went to the local high school where he was the First XV captain and Deputy Head Boy. He still lives there today.

On leaving school Campbell soon found himself elected to the Wainuiomata Community Board at the age of just 19, and so began an early local government political career. Two terms as a Councillor at Hutt City followed before, in what he says was a decision made out of frustration, and he threw his hat into the ring for the Mayoralty. A trusting public voted him in and, it seems, they have benefitted from doing so.

Those six years as Mayor have seen him focus on one of Wellington’s biggest issues, water infrastructure, where they’ve increased new pipeline installation tenfold during his term. He’s also overseen the introduction of the living wage among Council employees, an overhaul of rubbish and recycling management, and the completion of the Te Ngaengae pool complex.

But it seems his greatest source of pride is the RiverLink project, a project encompassing flood protection, transport improvements and urban revitalisation, enhancing the riverbank with parks, pedestrian-friendly pathways, outdoor dining and street markets.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Campbell talks to Bruce Cotterill about the range of challenges facing Councils and the recent showdown with central government over spending levels. He also speaks about his own ideas to raise additional revenue to meet the needs caused by years of under-investment in Council infrastructure.

His comments don’t go unchallenged either, with host Bruce Cotterill raising some of the wasted spending we’ve seen from Councils in recent years. Campbell Barry is up for the lively debate however and an entertaining conversation ensues.

Campbell Barry is departing at this year’s election, and one wonders where he will go next. We don’t often get access to the inner workings of a Council and this discussion on the eve of his departure provides for an interesting commentary on the challenges facing local government.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 46, our guest is Shamubeel Eaqub, Chief Economist at Simplicity.

Shamubeel Eaqub came to prominence in New Zealand as a sought-after economist explaining his complicated world in simple terms to readers and viewers through the New Zealand media. At the time he was thePrincipal Economist at the NZ Institute of Economic Research.

How he came to that position, from an immigrant boy at age 10 is a worthy story in itself. But this discussion is so much more. A typical Kiwi upbringing followed his arrival, and as a soccer mad kid he found his way quickly. He studied economics at Lincoln University in Canterbury and then launched a career that has seen this passionate economist make a massive contribution to his adopted country.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Shamubeel talks to Bruce Cotterill about his journey, new jobs in foreign cities and eventually success.

But it is the study of the local and global economy that makes this story compulsive listening. The conversation covers topics as broad as local school funding and global military spending.

Eaqub says that there is no question that New Zealand’s post covid recovery has been slower than other countries, and he cites our low productivity, slowing migration and fiscal weakness as key causes. And having researched and written extensively on New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit, it is this topic that makes for a most interesting discussion.

But there are plenty of positives too. And in a world threatened by war and America’s tariffs, he cites the unique strength of our relationships around the world and the value we can provide to other countries as the platform from which our recovery can develop. 

This is a highly informative and entertaining conversation about New Zealand’s challenges and it’s opportunities, between two people who think and care about the future of New Zealand.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 45, our guest is Andrew Stone, former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and one of New Zealand’s most influential advisors to CEOs.

Andrew Stone is steeped in advertising. He makes it his business to understand businesses and the consumers they seek to attract. And he’s good at doing so.

So much so, he’s led some of New Zealand’s most influential advertising agencies at a time when they’ve been at their peak, with some of our biggest companies and even bigger campaigns.

He cut his teeth in the advertising business with some of the best advertising agencies of the time. He learned the trade with Colenso in New Zealand and Saatchi & Saatchi in London before returning to New Zealand and eventually leading Saatchi’s in his home country.

Along the way there’s been plenty of lessons; lessons that he proudly shares with experienced CEO’s and young people starting out. There’s a family man in there too, and you sense that the dinner table conversations over the years have left his two sons well equipped for their own future.

In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Andrew speaks to Bruce Cotterill about some of the big brands, and big personalities, he’s worked with. There’s some reminiscing about campaigns for Lion, Toyota, ASB Bank and others from the heyday of the industry in New Zealand. But there’s room for a thoughtful discussion on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on consumer behaviours and the advertising industry that will drive that behaviour.

In his post advertising life, Andrew Stone has re-imagined himself as a consultant to CEO’s and Boards, helping to lead major transformation projects across rapidly changing industries. So there’s a great discussion about Telecom’s transition to Spark and many years later, Vodafone’s move to One NZ. Again, it’s the people who make the difference.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 44, our guest is Dr. David Teece, one of New Zealand’s most successful entrepreneurs and a highly decorated university academic.

David Teece left New Zealand as a young man having completed his Master’s degree at the University of Canterbury. His destination was the University of Pennsylvania where he would study for a second Master's degree and ultimately a PhD in Economics.

That was the start of an amazing career in academia, one which included some of the top universities in the world. He taught at Pennsylvania and then Oxford and Stanford, before a professorship at the age of just 32 took him to University of California, Berkeley.

That career has seen David Teece ranked as the worlds most cited scholar in the combined fields of business and management and Accenture’s list of the world’s Top 50 business intellectuals.

But his career as an entrepreneur, managed in parallel with his academic career is where his success and influence are equally prevalent. He has built not one, but two global consulting firms specialising in the provision ofeconomic, business, and financial consulting services to businesses and governments around the world.

Along the way, he’s maintained his links to New Zealand. He participated in the Knowledgewave conference in 2001 and worked with Sir Stephen Tindall in the creation of KEA – Kiwi Expatriates Abroad – to leverage the networks, experiences and talents of the more than one million Kiwis who live overseas. And his extensive interests in farming and winemaking in the South Island keep him attached to his original roots.

In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Bruce Cotterill speaks to David Teece about his unique and fascinating career, one which has earned him Royal honours in the form of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. And there is also plenty of discussion about the importance of good leadership from one of the world’s leading management thinkers, and some commentary on New Zealand’s place in the world, the current state of Donald Trump’s USA, and his thoughts on a troubled world.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 43, our guest is the CEO of the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, Ah-Leen Rayner.

It would seem that a career in the creative arts would suit the skills and interests of Ah-Leen Rayner. And indeed she headed off, after what she admits was an unspectacular school life, to pursue an Arts degree.

But it was anthropology, the study of humanity, that captured her attention. You get the sense that it still does.

That study led to an early career in sales, selling to supermarkets. But that was before she was captured by global conglomerate 3M, a company she worked with for 17 years. Her tenure there included a period during which she was responsible for one of the Company’s biggest products. The Post It Note.

Next came a six-year stint in the blokey environment of Kiwirail, where she was responsible for creating tourism opportunities out of what was predominantly a freight network. She calls it ‘creating an asset that connected our scenery with an international audience.’ That’s how creativity is applied to business.

But as Covid came and went, she wanted to do something that aligned with her strong purpose orientation, something that did good for the community. About that time, the Breast Cancer Foundation was looking for a new CEO. The rest is history.

In our latest Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Ah-Leen Rayner speaks to Bruce Cotterill about that leadership journey and her four years at the helm of one of our largest, and most important, charities.

The messages are well known. The importance of breast screening, mammograms and early detection. But there is more to the Breast Cancer story and we learn of the never-ending battle for funding, the unwillingness of consecutive governments to invest in the best drugs available, and the good news, the new initiatives and technologies being introduced.

With our host calling the Breast Cancer Foundation as “by women, for women” we also get plenty of insight for how we can get men taking their own health as effectively as the women do. And here’s a hint, we blokes need those women to help us.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 42, our guest is Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley, of Massey University.

Paul Spoonley is a career academic with a remarkable ability to explain complex matters in very straight-forward terms.

But that straight forward manner is less surprising when we hear about someone who spent five years working in the freezing works,and later started writing his PhD thesis on that topic before abandoning it under pressure from the industry.

And so a career in academia followed, and the independent thinker shows through in Spoonley’s discussion and in his attitude to the future of the country. If only the politicians would listen.

Drawing heavily from his recent presentation entitled “The future of New Zealand: Demography as Desitny” Professor Spoonley conducts a wide-ranging discussion on the make-up of New Zealand and the challenges for our growing population.

We learn that Auckland’s population is set to grow by up to 700,000 people in the next 13 years, and we discuss the implications of that growth for infrastructure, health services and education. Professor Spoonley discusses the reasons behind the most rapidly growing regions in the country. And we hear about how an ageing population at a time of declining fertility rates threatens the way of life we have come to enjoy.

But there are solutions too, and plenty of advice for governments around the world who are grappling with immigration issues. Education, in particular, could become more relevant if greater access to apprenticeships was available and digital literacy more widely taught.

This is a fascinating discussion, filled with insights from a man who has made the make-up of our societies his life’s work.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 41, our guest is real estate’s Martin Cooper, the principal of Harcourts Cooper & Co.

Most will know him as the man on television shouting “the North Shore, what a great place to live.” But Martin Cooper’s story started in Queenstown where he grew up and where he admits to taking the magnificent landscape around him for granted. He was not the most committed student, but he enjoyed sports and the outdoors adventures that his natural surroundings offered.

His father was a cabinet minister, and his work saw the family move to Mosgiel in Dunedin while Martin was at high school. Upon finishing school, and a couple of jobs that saw him away from home a lot, his desire to play senior rugby resulted in him returning to Dunedin and looking for a regular and local job.

That search led him to real estate, a business naturally suited to his energetic and charismatic personality. He found it tough at first, but after three years, he decided it was to be his career.

Despite the recession of the early 1990’s he established his own real estate business and, after a few tough years, learned that he was suited to recruiting, motivating and developing great people.

Success followed in the Dunedin market, but Martin soon found it hard to resist the opportunities afforded by a bigger market and he moved to Auckland, intent on establishing himself and his business on the North Shore. Again, he found the early going tough, but he’d been there before.

The result is Harcourts Cooper & Co, a 20 office, 480 person real estate business and a personal profile to match.

Martin Cooper’s journey is an inspirational leadership story. On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, he talks to Bruce Cotterill about building resilience through the tough times, the importance of good people, and of putting a little bit of Disneyland into the aspirations of his team. He speaks openly about the pressures of keeping his business going through the Covid lockdowns and the toll of a recent complaints process.

But the real value is in his view of how to be successful in a business that rewards success well. And of course, there’s plenty of advice on the state of the real estate market, and what lays ahead for first home buyers.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 40, our guest is Lawyer turned Novelist, Rachel Paris.

Success is a recurring theme in the life of Rachel Paris. With degrees from Auckland University in Economics and Law, and the Law Society’s prize for the top law student under her wing, she joined one of the country’s most prestigious law firms, Bell Gully.

A spectacular law career in New Zealand and around the world followed. Along the way she completed her Master of Law degree at one of the world’s most prestigious law schools, Harvard Law. Her dissertation there was cited as ‘influential’ by the Wall Street Journal.

After her Kiwi OE via a law firm in London, she returned to New Zealand, quickly becoming a Partner back at Bell Gully where, she became an expert in Banking and Finance law in the free lending days before the GFC, and she oversaw much of the post-crash restructuring that became the aftermath of those heady days.

Uniquely, she put that career aside and left the law partnership, as her family moved to London, following husband Jason’s career at Vodafone. There, she created her own boutique law firm specialising in Blockchain technologies and supporting her global client base part time while organising a growing family in a new part of the world.

But, having returned to New Zealand, it is her latest adventure that is the most fascinating. A masters degree in creative writing back at her old stomping ground at Auckland University and now a new book. And not a book about the law or even blockchain. But a novel, a twisting turning thriller about toxic rich people behaving badly!

The book, published in New Zealand and Australia, is called “See How They Fall” and has already attained Number 1 Bestseller status, while a Hollywood production company has optioned the rights for the big screen.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Rachel Paris talks about her amazing career and the lessons in leadership she has learned along the way. We learn more about Bitcoin, Harvard Law School, and the importance of making an impact, while balancing a family with three busy children and a CEO husband.

And, as you might expect, there is both support and strongly worded advice for a government with plenty on its plate.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 39, our guest is the brains behind the four day week, and Founder of Perpetual Guardian, Andrew Barnes.

Andrew Barnes survived the hurly burly of London’s investment banking world in the 1980’s, the result of which saw him sent to Australia to manage the exposures held downunder by his banking masters in the UK. He moved to Australia for a month and stayed for twenty years.

After returning briefly to the UK in the mid 2000’s, the GFC saw him head to New Zealand and a unique opportunity with the business that became Perpetual Guardian.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Andrew Barnes speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the lessons he’s learned from a highly varied career and how re-defining risk led to his ability to make better investment decisions.

Barnes came to prominence a few years back when his book, “The Four Day Week”, was launched during the covid lockdowns. Born of an article in the Economist, and time to think on a long flight, the concept of a four day working week and resultant improvements in productivity has been adopted by companies and countries around the world. His view that people can be more productive in four days than in five makes for a compelling conversation.

Barnes, who these days splits his days between the UK and New Zealand also offers his thoughts on the different challenges being faced by each country. He cites the failure of politicians pursuing a change agenda to “take the people along with them” as a primary reason for the unravelling of our once cohesive culture.

As for what he would do if he was Prime Minister for a day, his answer should be compulsory listening for every parliamentary MP.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 38, our guest is the Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich.

Oliver Hartwich was born in West Germany and talks of growing up in the 1980’s in a country shaped by the two World Wars that had until that point defined it. As Europe reshapes its defence strategies in response to the Ukraine crisis, his surprisingly frank conversation about his youth offers a stark reminder of the long-term impacts of war.

But it is as an economist, specialising in thinking about government strategy, that he has made his career. That career has seen him working in the House of Lords and in think tanks in the UK, Australia, and ultimately, for the last twelve years, in his adopted home in New Zealand.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Dr Hartwich speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the state of New Zealand, a country which he says has so much going in its favour, and yet continuously fails to live up to its potential.

Using the extensive research base of the NZ Initiative as his base, he discusses the state of our housing market and explains in a simple and no-nonsense manner the reasons why such a small country at the end of the world has some of the world’s highest house process.

And while on the local themes, his insights regarding our education system, excessive centralisation, infrastructure and the opportunity for direct foreign investment are as refreshing as they are direct.

Dr Hartwich has made quite a name for himself as an international columnist, and his comments about the current state of the USA, Europe and the UK are so insightful that they should be regarded as compulsory listening for the millions who are relatively uninformed on matters of international geopolitics.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 37, our guest is Emeritus Professor of Health at Auckland University Medical School, Des Gorman. 

An Otahuhu schoolboy who applied to enrol at Auckland Medical School, because his friend was applying, turned that accidental decision into one of the most distinguished medical careers in New Zealand.

That medical career nearly went off the rails when his disillusionment resulted in a change of career and a change of life, leading to seven years in the Australian navy. He credits those years in the military with the development of leadership and people skills, valuable capabilities that many in the medical sector don’t develop, and that he says added greatly to his career when he later returned to medicine.

Ultimately Professor Des Gorman became the Head of the Auckland University Medical School and he was enlisted to multiple government appointments where he has been an instrumental member of the various teams working to improve our health system, including ten years as the Executive Chair of the Health Workforce Review and 6 years as a Director of ACC.

But it is his desire to challenge the things that don’t make sense that is a feature of his medical research into brain injuries and which overlaps into his critique of the health service that New Zealanders rely on.

He came to greater prominence as one of the few outspoken commentators concerned about the manner in which we were managing the Covid 19 pandemic.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Professor Gorman speaks to Bruce Cotterill at length about our Covid response, the cruel constraints on our way of life and how they could have, and should have been avoided. And he discusses the current state of the health system, the issues around Maori health, and his view on Robert F Kennedy’s appointment as Health Secretary in the USA.

And what would Professor Des Gorman do if he was Prime Minister for a day? His answer will make you wish he was appointed for a full term.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 36, our guest is TVNZ CEO, Jodi O’Donnell. 

She took over as the CEO of TVNZ just a few months before having to front the announcement of the company’s disastrous financial result, a process that ultimately led to a restructuring programme that included the loss of loved TV shows such as Fair Go and Sunday.

Despite her baptism of fire, Jodi O’Donnell is remarkably open about discussing those early days in the job she has now occupied for a little over a year. And she seems comfortable in taking on the challenge ahead.

And so she should be. O’Donnell has been at the flagship state owned television company for almost her entire career, twenty five years in total. Refreshingly, she comes from the sales and marketing side of the TV business, a commercial upbringing that sees her unapologetically focussed on the customers, both advertisers and viewers.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Jodi covers topics such as the government ownership model, the importance of winning trust from viewers and the recent merger talks with Radio New Zealand. And she talks about the challenges to the 6pm news hour, the dearth of international news coverage, and the challenge of getting the balance right.

And she is remarkably frank about her early days in the role and those decisions to cut top ten programmes in order to ensure that the business was set up as a media business fit for the rapidly changing future.

Jodi O’Donnell is the leader of a business that is, perhaps, the most influential in the land, and one which is critical to the effective functioning of our democracy. Her story will leave you certain that she is up to the task.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 35, our guest is Olympic High Jump champion, Hamish Kerr.

He describes himself as too tall for a runner. So it was just as well that a young Hamish Kerr scuttled down to the High Jump enclosure after his 800 metre race ended. There he found a natural ability and reduced competition; a combination that saw him develop a passion for this highly technical event at a remarkably young age.

Hamish Kerr’s is the classic Kiwi story. After winning the NZ Secondary Schools title for Auckland Grammar School, he headed off to Massey University and forgot about athletics for a couple of years. But the passion still burned, and an opportunity to attend the World University Games rekindled a love affair with the sport through which he would become a world an Olympic champion.

With his degree completed, he moved to Christchurch to follow the coaching and worked part time in a hardware store while he worked on the physical and mental techniques that would make him successful.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Bruce Cotterill talks to Hamish about his gradual journey to the top of the Olympic podium, a journey that now includes Commonwealth Games and World Indoor titles alongside his Olympic triumph.

And he takes us step by step through that agonising Olympic qualifying session which saw him almost leave the competition prematurely, and a finals day filled with the drama that can only be delivered by an energy sapping one on one jump off for the gold medal.

And he’s not finished yet. Hamish Kerr has an aspirational message for our future leaders and an agenda that will see him attempt to defend his title in Los Angeles in 2028.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 34, our guest is Foodstuffs CEO, Chris Quin. 

The supermarket industry is never far from the headlines. Whether we’re talking about grocery prices, retail crime or allegations of monopoly pricing, the supermarket is front and centre.

But they are also massive businesses playing a critical role in our daily lives and our communities. 

Chris Quin is the CEO of Foodstuffs North Island, the largest grocery business in New Zealand. His leadership experiences have seen him through an outstanding career that includes over two decades at Telecom/Spark, before joining the grocery giant.

He grew up in a family that moved around a lot but ultimately settled in Wellington where he attended St Pat’s Silverstream College near Wellington, where he became Head Boy. An accounting degree from Victoria University followed, while working part time at a supermarket (what else?) to pay his way through his studies. 

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Chris Quin speaks passionately about the twenty-four years he spent at Telecom and Spark, his passion for technology and his two failed attempts at winning the top job there.

But it was the challenges of the grocery world that ultimately saw him sit in the CEO’s office, and from where he has made his mark for the last decade.  We talk in detail about the drive to keep groceries affordable and the efforts to merge Foodstuffs’ North and South Island businesses in order to continue the search for maximum productivity. Quin is forthright in his views of the importance of the merger and his reaction to the Commerce Commission ruling that it should not proceed.

We also discuss the alarming boost in retail crime over recent years, and how facial recognition technology is one of many technology-based tools helping to win that fight.

Chris Quin is the leader of one of our biggest businesses, and one with which we all interact more than any other. In sharing his experiences there are plenty of lessons for aspiring and established leaders alike.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 33, our guest is Australian rugby referee Angus Gardner.

When a back injury forced a young Angus Gardner to give up contact sports at the age of 15, he thought his involvement in the game he loved was at an end. But thanks to a dedicated school teacher who suggested he take up refereeing as a way to stay involved in the sport, that injury created a pathway that would see him become one of the world’s leading rugby referees.

Angus Gardner is Australia’s leading rugby referee having officiated in 49 test matches and 118 super rugby matches. Those matches include the 2018 Super Rugby final between the Crusaders and the Lions, the same year in which he received the World Rugby Referee of the year award, and the semi-final at the 2023 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and Argentina.

With a Bachelors of Property Economics, with honours, under his arm, his career started in property development while he balanced a flourishing refereeing career throughout his twenties and early thirties. But the opportunity to become a full time professional in 2015 enabled him to pursue his passion and he has been a full time presence on the global rugby calendar ever since.

Angus talks to Bruce Cotterill on the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast about the game he loves and his view from the centre of the action. He talks openly about rugby’s hefty rule book, how long advantage should be played, and the lengthy post-match review that all participating officials go through after every game. And he discusses the memorable players, coaches and teams he’s had the pleasure to work with.

Angus Gardner also talks about the challenges for a dedicated family man, who is sometimes traveling for one hundred nights in a single year, and the team behind this one man band that keeps his mind and body on the road.

And this passionate Australian has a unique answer to what he would do if he was the Prime Minister of that sports mad country for a day.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 32, our guest is Kiwibank CEO, Steve Jurkovich.

Banks play an important role in the economy and our everyday lives. And yet, it’s the first time we’ve had a bank CEO as our guest on the podcast.

And he doesn’t disappoint. From growing up in Paeroa and Auckland’s North Shore, and a boyhood dominated by sports at Glenfield College, we hear of a fast moving career supported by the mentorship of some of New Zealand’s most well-known business leaders.

After leaving school, Steve started at Teachers training college, before deciding to pursue a law degree at Otago University instead. Upon graduating he spent a few years practicing law, but the business of banking beckoned and a move to ASB settled him into a long and enjoyable career.

Steve is a passionate leader with a heavy emphasis on purpose, in particular the need for Kiwibank to make a real difference to the lives of New Zealanders. And he believes in the value of a common vision for the country he cares deeply about.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Steve Jurkovich talks to Bruce Cotterill about the importance of helping businesses to stay afloat during tough times. He notes that the Covid-19 pandemic was not the fault of business owners and talks about setting up outbound call centres during lockdowns to enable the bank to proactively engage with and support struggling businesses.

He’s equally passionate as he talks about the impact of Covid-19 on our kids, and how business leaders can play a role in helping today’s graduates catch up on what they missed when the country was locked down.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 31, our guest is The Right Honourable Winston Peters. 

Deputy Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Winston Peters has confirmed that he is keen to run again in the 2026 election, citing the need to finish the job they’ve started. The New Zealand First leader will be 81 when the next election comes around, but he spoke about legendary American investor Warren Buffet, among others, as testament to his belief that age and experience should be viewed as a positive.

Blessed with an encyclopaedic knowledge of New Zealand politics that can only come with 45 years of parliamentary life, Peters’ insight into how we can improve the country’s economic fortunes should be compulsory listening.

Speaking candidly with Bruce Cotterill on episode 31 of the podcast, Leaders Getting Coffee, Mr Peters canvassed a wide range of issues including the election of President elect Trump, the importance of small countries at the United Nations, and the examples set by other small nations such as Ireland and Singapore that New Zealand should follow as we seek to get our economy back on track.

He also speaks about the current geo-political issues facing the world, and his disappointment at the race debate that has resurfaced in New Zealand in recent years. And after last week’s debacle in the house, we hear about his views on the importance of the re-establishment of standards in parliament.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 30, our guest is New Zealand Country Manager for Xero, Bridget Snelling.

Bridget completed her law degree at Auckland University before settling into the traditional first job of graduate lawyer at one of the city’s prestige law firms. Then everything changed.

To everyone’s surprise she left the law after only a couple of years and hasn’t looked back.  A career that has included a stint at one of the country’s premier Public Relations firms led to seven years at TVNZ where she handled multiple roles before eventually moving to ANZ bank and becoming the head of Brand Marketing and Business Marketing. She moved to Xero as Marketing Manager four years later.

The Xero story is one of New Zealand’s great business start-up successes and there is no doubt that Bridget sees her role as something of a privilege. With over 3,000 New Zealand based staff, it’s a massive leadership challenge with people with varied needs and a fast-moving industry.

Bridget talks to Bruce Cotterill about the challenges of being a corporate leader and a mum of three children, the oldest of whom is about to embark on high school. She has plenty of lessons for busy parents including an acknowledgement that life is seldom perfect.

And we hear her views on productivity, talent, boundaries and what she calls “making accounting cool”.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 29, our guest is business leader Sir Robert McLeod.

Rob grew up near Gisborne on the East Coast of New Zealand and over the last forty years has become one of New Zealand’s most influential business leaders of our time.

His career started as a tax specialist at KPMG and subsequently Arthur Andersen before he settled into the firm then known as Ernst & Young. There he became the Chair of the New Zealand Partnership, and subsequently CEO before later becoming CEO of EY Australia.

His influence across government policy grew as he took on appointments across a wide range of government appointed taskforces and commissions including Tertiary Education, Justice and an organisational review of the Inland Revenue Department. Most notable was his appointment in 2020 to theTreaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and in 2001 to the Chair of the New Zealand Tax Review, in what became known as the McLeod tax review.

His ability to stride both sides of the pollical spectrum is summed up by the fact that he was also the Chairman of the NZ Business Roundtable, a role supposedly not compatible with the Labour Government of the day, and yet he commanded both the Tax Review and the Roundtable with equal measures of independence and pragmatism.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Rob speaks with Bruce Cotterill about the wide range of issues affecting the New Zealand economy, including the recent interest in a capital gains tax, the escalating debate about Maori sovereignty and the current challenges within our debt laden economy, including the need to reduce the size of government before implementing meaningful tax reform. And as you might expect, there’s plenty of discussion about what constitutes good leadership.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 28, our guest is the former ACT Party Member of Parliament and NZCPR Founder, Dr. Muriel Newman.

Dr. Newman moved to New Zealand with her family as a young girl, and brought with her an approach to her education typified by her desire not to let her parents down. That education led to a career teaching in New Zealand and subsequently the USA, before returning to New Zealand to bring up her young children.

Her work as a part of Sir Michael Hill’s Whangarei team led to a position as President of the local Chamber of Commerce and subsequently as a founding member of the ACT party.

After nine years as an MP, she founded the New Zealand Centre for Political Researchan independent public policy think tank that provides research-based analysis and commentary on matters of national interest. 

NZCPR is guided bya firm belief that informed citizens are at the heart of a well-functioning democracy.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, she speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the enormous challenges for the New Zealand government in the aftermath of the Ardern Hipkins Labour government, in particular the implications of unravelling the failed centralisations, bloated bureaucracies and inflated expectations of those who were set to benefit from government decisions based on race.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 27 we take a close up look at how governments and local authorities spend our tax and rates money.

Our guest for this quest is Jordan Williams, co-founder of The Taxpayers Union, a purpose driven organisation established over ten years ago with a view to campaigning for better value for money from government spending.

Jordan graduated from law school at Victoria University and spent his first five years working in the law firm founded by former Act Party MP, Stephen Franks. We hear how he ‘picked up the bug’ of defending taxpayer dollars and the vision that led to the creation of The Taxpayers Union.

Former Prime Minister Sir Bill English has described the Union as follows:

“One of the principal tools for restoring value for money for the taxpayer is transparency. The Taxpayers’ Union has been remarkably successful simply by exposing the actions of government to the hard light of day”.

We’d all like to think that such transparency results in better politicians, better behaviour and better public services. But the job is still a long way from being done.

The conversation doesn’t stop at government spending either. The Prime Minister’s speech to Local Government New Zealand a few weeks ago gets some attention during  the podcast as does the recent local body spending news about steps to the $263,000 beach at Milford in Auckland and Wellington’s now famous $500,000 plus bike rack.

Jordan Williams is at his animated and enthusiastic best discussing the wasted spending in our public organisations as he celebrates the organisation’s annual “Jonesie Awards” for the worst examples of wasteful spending.

Episode 27 of Leaders Getting Coffee is a wonderful opportunity to understand more about where our tax and rates dollars go, and we share the story of those who are trying to make that spending more responsible.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 26, we are back into the topic of education, this time with an entrepreneurial CEO with a vision for a better world through education.

Dr. Jamie Beaton is the 29 year old co-founder of Crimson Education Group. He has carried a passion for education, borne of an entrepreneurial mother who hung her own university degrees, three of them, in his bedroom when he was a small boy.

He went on to excel at Kings College in Auckland, before leaving our shores to study at Harvard University in the USA. Now, some ten years later he has a double degree from that most esteemed of universities, as well as eight other university degrees from the who’s who of prestigious education, including Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Oxford.

His own entrepreneurial efforts led to the creation of Crimson Education, an organisation that supports high school students to gain offers to the world’s most competitive universities, including those he has attended. Crimson Education now has  a network of over 20,000 students and with over 2,300 tutors and mentors around the world.

In this episode, Bruce Cotterill talks to Jamie about what makes the best universities and how an aspiring student should select a university. Their conversation is littered with tips and ideas for those considering studying abroad. And parents might be pleasantly surprised at the cost of doing so. If you look in the right places, it might not be as expensive as we think.

There’s also plenty of discussion about the state of the New Zealand education system, how we can improve it, and why we should.

Episode 25 of Leaders Getting Coffee is a “must listen” for any students and parents  considering University as a next step, and how to maximise that opportunity. And we hear the story of a fascinating young New Zealander who lives and breathes education. 

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Hard on the heels of the Paris Olympics, our guest for Leaders Getting Coffee episode 25, is Nigel Avery, Chef de Mission of our Olympic team.

Inspired as a seven year old watching John Walker’s Olympic Gold medal race in 1976,  Avery set his sights on going to the Olympic games. He became one of those most unique New Zealanders who went on to represent the country in three very different sports, namely Track & Field athletics, where he was a national champion, bobsled racing, and Weightlifting where he won two Commonwealth Games gold medals and five medals in total.

And yes, although he didn’t get onto the podium, one of his own sporting highlights is that he did get represent his country at the Olympic Games. 

Nigel Avery talks about his own sporting career, including the highs of Commonwealth gold and the frustrations of missing Olympic selection, and how those highs and lows influenced his approach to the role he now plays. We hear about the appointments process to becoming Chef de Mission and the high quality group of leaders and managers put in place to support the New Zealand Olympic team. And we learn about the effort that goes into making sure our athletes feel a sense of belonging in the Olympic environment.

The 2024 Paris Olympics saw New Zealand compete at our most successful games ever. A total of 20 medals, including 10 golds, was probably unexpected by most of us.

And you’ll be surprised at just how hands-on the Chef de Mission role can be, as he shares his unique perspective on the athletes that represented us, the moments of glory, and the disappointments.

There is nothing quite like sport to demonstrate success and failure. Elite sport in particular, can be brutal in it’s honesty. Bruce and Nigel chat about the fine line between first and second in Hayden Wilde’s Olympic triathlon, the celebrations of a medal winning performance and the frustration of fourth place. 

And what do you think a celebrated sporting champion would do if he was Prime Minister for a day? You might be surprised.

In episode 25 of Leaders Getting Coffee we hear another great New Zealand story about an intensely competitive athlete, who became the leader of our best ever Olympic team.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 24, we’re talking technology with the founder of one of New Zealand’s most innovative software engineering companies.

Like all good tech stories, this one started in a garage 14 years ago. That was when Danu Abeysuriya founded Rush Digital, a software development and engineering business that can be found working with numerous organisations in New Zealand and around the world.

Born in Sri Lanka to teaching parents, he spent his primary school years living in Zimbabwe before his father’s vision and timing led the family to New Zealand. They settled in South Auckland where Danu went to school and ultimately university. It’s a story well worth listening to.

Rush was the Company that delivered the Covid tracing app in New Zealand, at a time when people were scared and the government was under pressure. We hear about the time pressures and the wide range of issues that had to be dealt with as the mobile phone app landed in everyone’s phone, in just three months.

And then there is artificial intelligence, or AI as we now refer to it. Abeysuriya is rapidly cementing himself as one of the country’s foremost experts on the topic and we discuss the challenges, the opportunities, and the pitfalls of bringing this exciting development in technology, into every aspect of our lives.

Finally, we hear what at technology leader would do if he was Prime Minister for a day. You might be surprised.

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Forty years ago one of the most transformational governments in New Zealand history was sworn in. That government, led by the larger than life David Lange, who was accompanied by financial architect Roger Douglas, had the task of overhauling the country’s fragile economy.

Sitting in the inner sanctum of that government was Dr Michael Bassett, who became the Minister in charge of a run-down health service during an economic downturn. Sound familiar?

Dr Bassett has a unique perspective on the fourth labour government and the Muldoon led National government that preceded them. Those days saw rapid inflation, a wage and price freeze and a run on the currency immediately before the 1984 election. Rogernomics was the new Labour government’s fiscal response, as critical a part of their legacy as their introduction of our nuclear free legislation.

Since his political retirement Dr Basset has gone on to become one of our most important historians, with fifteen books to his credit, including multiple political biographies. And in 2018 he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for his services to history.

There is no one better placed to reflect on New Zealand’s greatest Prime Ministers.

And he has plenty to say about our recent governments, and some advice for the current coalition.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 22, we speak to the newly appointed Chairman of the Financial Markets Authority, Craig Stobo.

 Craig is perhaps best known in investment and financial circles, and as a Chair of various and corporate organisations. But his leadership story runs deep – from mountaineering to the boardroom. His experiences across the financial and investment sector make for compelling listening.

Craig talks to Bruce about dealing with death in the Himalayas and a failed summit attempt. But they quickly move on to the state of the New Zealand economy, and in particular our lack of productivity.

 He has solutions too, and a clear desire to see us become better at attracting the foreign investment we so desperately need. Using the success of the Irish economy as a model, he notes the natural advantages that New Zealand could bring to a foreign direct investment strategy of it’s own.

 The lively discussion navigates a wide range of issues including infrastructure, education, and how war and immigration are driving changes in the world economy.

 And of course they discuss the Craig’s new role, the importance of the Financial Markets Authority and the need for good conduct in our financial community.

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In this episode, we put a broadcaster on the other side of the microphone and meet recently awarded journalist Rachel Smalley.

Some people become leaders because of the teams they lead. Others are leaders because of the causes they champion. Rachel falls into the latter category. She wanted to be a journalist straight out of high school, but her belated acceptance into journalism training meant her journey was delayed by a few years.

She started on the sports desk, but quickly migrated to the world of foreign affairs and global audiences. She worked internationally before returning to New Zealand during the global financial crisis.

Notably she led coverage of the Syrian refuges crisis and she spearheaded “The Forgotten Millions” fundraising campaign, raising $2 Million for World Vision. It was a chapter in her life that changed her outlook and began her quest to make things better in a troubled world.

More recently, she has led the campaign to improve access to life-enabling or life-saving medicines for New Zealanders with serious illness. Her relentless questioning of Pharmac, and numerous articles bringing our attention to the genuine failures of our national medicines body, has directly contributed to some patients receiving life changing medicines that were otherwise out of reach.

Rachel discusses her experiences in the media, life on the front line of the Syrian refugee crisis, and the challenges for a television broadcast media that has lost the trust of the people they serve.

And of course, we hear about her hopes for a refreshed national medicines body under a new government.

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In this episode, our guest is the former Managing Director of advertising powerhouse Saatchi & Saatchi, Mike Hutcheson.

 Mike’s advertising career started in the “Mad Men” era and continues to this day. He was one of the founders of Colenso BBDO and subsequently led his own firm Hutcheson Knowles Marinkovich.

 He’s also a perpetual entrepreneur having founded businesses in home building, real estate, organic fair trade tea and coffee and a Waiheke Island vineyard.

 But it is advertising land that is nearest his heart. Hutch talks about the best ads from his era and chats about the creativity like most people discuss the day’s events. He’s incredibly well informed and extremely passionate, a combination that is informative and entertaining to listen to.

 Listen to him speak to Bruce Cotterill about the importance of creativity, the lack of critical thinking in our young people and the egos and agendas of politicians.

 And he discusses the importance of reading. No matter what your career choice, reading a wide range of material provides a level of perspective from which you can variously create, compete and communicate.

 And we learn about the Guinness world rocking chair record. Who would have thought there was such a thing.

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This week our guest is the former Member of Parliament and Minister of Health, Dr. Jonathan Coleman.

Dr. Coleman spent almost 13 years as the MP for Northcote, and during that time was a key member of the inner circle in John Key’s National Party led government. During his parliamentary career he held Ministerial responsibility for health, broadcasting, sport & recreation, immigration and state services.

His early career saw him practising medicine in New Zealand and overseas and he even had a stint as a doctor on Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, he speaks to Bruce about the importance of local communities, why centralising health decision making is wrong, and the newly announced funding for Pharmac.

As a former Minister of Health, Coleman has a unique perspective on the state of our health services, the things we do well and the areas where we under-perform. He openly discusses the financial constraints in the health sector and  the challenges of recruitment in the international marketplace for talent.

 Finally, he discusses the decision to go from the top job in the Health Ministry, back to life as a suburban GP.

 As someone who once put his hand up to be Prime Minister, in the wake of John Key’s resignation, we hear what he would do, if he was PM for a day.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 18, our guest is the CEO of the NZ Olympic Committee, Nicki Nicol

 Nicki spent almost 20 years with global giant BP where she worked around the world in a wide range of executive roles.

 She returned to New Zealand and took up the role of Chief Financial Officer at NZ Rugby, where among other achievements, she led the Respect & Responsibility Review.

 She subsequently became the Deputy CEO of NZ Rugby, until a new challenge arrived and she was appointed as the CEO of the NZ Olympic Committee two years ago – at a time when the Commonwealth Games and Winter Olympics of 2022 were both less than three months away.

 Nicki is surprisingly forthright on the state of sports in New Zealand and the opportunities that sport provides across the board, from a showcase of the country, to a learning ground for our school age children.

 She talks to Bruce about the challenges of sports funding and having to raise money from sponsorship and philanthropy in order to get a team of almost 400 people to the Games.

 She also discusses a resurgence in New Zealand’s track & field athletes and our emerging crop of top swimmers. And then there is the ongoing battle with the drugs cheats, and in a troubled world the concerns and resultant plans, regarding athlete safety.

 Finally, we even get a preview on where she thinks New Zealand might be in the medal hunt.

 Episode 18 of Leaders Getting Coffee provides another great story about a New Zealand woman who learned her trade in one of the world’s biggest companies, and who brought those skills home to add to our already remarkable sporting pedigree.

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Bruce Cotterill: Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 17 – With Mike Bush

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 17, our guest is former Police Commissioner, Mike Bush.

Mike Bush joined the Police at the age of 18 and stayed for 42 years. He spent six years in the top job before retiring in 2020.

Over recent years we’ve seen crime on the increase, particularly that perpetuated by younger people. Mike talks with Bruce about the growing crime problems in New Zealand, the challenges of dealing with imported crime that comes with immigration, and the war on drugs and gangs.

He offers an interesting perspective on the challenges in dealing with young offenders, and how so called “boot camp” policies can be amended in order to become more effective for the young people who have much to gain from such programmes.

There is also an interesting discussion about the much maligned Oranga Tamariki, and the challenges faced by the young people who come into contact with that organisation as well as those whose job is to try to help them.

And we learn about policing as a career, one which Mike Bush would highly recommend to any young person thinking about an alternative to a university education or a trade.

Episode 17 of Leaders Getting Coffee provides another unique leadership story. A story about a young man from Rotorua, who wanted to be a cop.

Download it here.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 16, our guest is Webster, the CEO of Tourism Holdings Limited.

Grant was named CEO of the Year at the 2023 Deloitte Top 200 business awards last year and his leadership story is both impressive and inspiring.

Of course the tourism industry has taken a hammering in the wake of the COVID 19 enforced lockdowns and Grant gives us a unique perspective on the status of our recovery and the future outlook for the sector.

The discussion covers the role of the government in enhancing our tourism offer, the customer experience we deliver for tourists, and the age old argument about the benefits of high value short term tourists versus long term low value visitors.

And we learn how to continue to grow the tourism pie, including the opportunity to embrace the stuff that is uniquely New Zealand, namely our cultural identify and our authenticity as we seek to attract increasing tourist numbers to our shores. 

And with tourism businesses operating around the world, you might be surprised to hear about Grant Webster’s favourite camper van trip.

Yet again, Leaders Getting Coffee unveils a unique and fascinating leadership story with one of our longest serving CEO’s.

Download it here.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 15, our guest is Tim O’Connor, the 11th Headmaster of Auckland Grammar School.

Tim’s career in education has taken him through some of New Zealand’s best known schools for boys including Nelson College and Palmerston North Boys High, before joining Grammar in 2012.

It’s a rare opportunity to speak to a leader in a sector that is so important for the future of the country, while at the same time having grave concerns for the current state of that sector. O’Connor confirms that our fears are well founded, but the good news is that he has a prescription for what the future needs to look like.

As a result, the discussion covers topics like the suitability of NCEA, the current curriculum and whether teacher training is fit for purpose. There’s also the needs of the primary school sector that feeds our colleges, and what they need to do to be better.

And then there are the unique aspects of life at Auckland Grammar School where "old school" values reign supreme, and where respect and discipline are to the fore.

Yet again, Leaders Getting Coffee unveils a unique and fascinating leadership story, one that will, at some time, affect most of us, and our children.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 14, our guest is Tenby Powell, who founded Kiwi K.A.R.E. (Kiwi Aid & Refugee Evacuation) which was established in response to the humanitarian and medical crisis unfolding in war-torn Ukraine.

A Retired Colonel in the NZ Army, he’s also a former CEO and investor who, dissatisfied with the lack of progress in his hometown of Tauranga, successfully ran for the Mayoralty in 2019.

Tenby talks with passion about the role of the military in our lives, how the army can help youth offenders programmes, and the need to provide for those young people once such programmes are completed.

The discussion covers the transitions from military man to corporate leader and the process that saw entrenched positions in Tauranga resolved within a few short months of his appointment as Mayor.

Finally, we learn about what is going on, on the ground in Ukraine, and how Kiwis are making a big difference to the people they touch.

And as always, we wrap up the podcast by asking Tenby what he would do if he was Prime Minister for a day? His answer sounds like a lot of fun.

Tenby Powell is another impressive leader with a fascinating leadership story. Tune in to Leaders Getting Coffee, episode 14, with Bruce Cotterill and Tenby Powell.

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This week on Leaders Getting Coffee, our guest is Theresa Gattung. Former CEO of Telecom NZ, co-founder of My Food Bag, and Chair of Global Women.

Theresa’s story is unique. A chance meeting led to her joining Telecom, where at the age of just 37, she became that company’s youngest ever CEO and the first woman to lead a NZX listed company.

She talks about the importance of a strong leadership team, what she looks for in building a team, and the decision to sell one of Telecom’s biggest assets.

It might seem difficult to follow a corporate career like that, but Theresa became an entrepreneur and alongside Nadia Lim and Cecilia Robinson, she was one of the drivers behind the launch and rapid success of My Food Bag. She talks openly about managing in that high paced environment and has plenty of great lessons for young people with big aspirations.

Theresa speaks with refreshing honesty about the highs and lows of her career, and the things that drove her to become a passionate advocate for women and a lifelong supporter of women in the workplace.

And as always, we wrap up the podcast by asking Theresa what she would do if she was Prime Minister for a day?

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This week, Bruce's guest is, Jason Paris, the CEO of One NZ, formerly Vodafone.

Jason has worked across New Zealand’s corporate tech sector, with leadership roles at Nokia, TVNZ, and Spark, before joining Vodafone as their CEO five years ago.

He speaks in detail about the rebranding of Vodafone to One NZ. The reasons for the name change, how they came up with the new name, and of course, the reaction from key stakeholders. And he gets into his great passion – the customer experience – explaining why he gives his email address out to every One NZ customer.

With rugby league’s NRL season about to get under way, who better to speak to about the Warriors chances, than the CEO of their main sponsor. The Vodafone / One NZ sponsorship arrangement is one of the longest in the NRL. And this CEO is a life long league fan. His view from the changing room demonstrates the commitment of the company to the club and vice versa.

As always, we wrap up the podcast by asking Jason what he would do if he was Prime Minister for a day? His answer is one of our best yet.

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This week, Bruce's guest is, Mike Bennetts, the former CEO of Z Energy and a previous winner of the Deloitte Top 200 CEO of the year. 

Bruce talks to him about his corporate career, one that started off in sales and continued working around the world to the corner office, and discuss the importance of culture and good conversations, fuel prices, and Mike's new book. 

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Bruce's guest is Dion Nash, former New Zealand cricket captain and the founder of grooming business Triumph & Disaster.

They talk cricket, cover the transition from being a professional athlete to owner/operator of a business, and explore the influence of Rudyard Kipling's poem If.

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Bruce's guest is award-winning entrepreneur Carmen Vicelich. She's behind multiple data-driven, industry-leading businesses including Valocity and Data Insight. 

Vicelich is a regular global speaker, sharing her story of innovation, and serves on boards including the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

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Bruce's guest is Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson. The real estate group is a family company which recently celebrated one hundred years of operation. Bruce and Peter discuss the property market and the expectations of the new government’s likely impact.

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This week Bruce is joined by former National Party minister turned Joyce Advisory founder, Steven Joyce. The two discuss the state of politics and Joyce's career in and out of the Beehive.  

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Bruce chats to Dr Nina Hood, founder of The Education Hub. Nina is an outstanding educator, with genuine concerns and innovative solutions for the New Zealand education system. She is passionate about improving educational outcomes and shares constructive advice for politicians, teachers and even parents.

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For his next chat, Bruce is joined by Zuru Toys cofounder Nick Mowbray. They discuss how he and his siblings took their toy company to the world and even cracked China, and what motivates their approach to business. Plus, with the election campaign underway, they dig into all things politics. 

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This week, Bruce is joined by Simplicity CEO and founder Sam Stubbs to talk how his corporate career gave way to running a not for profit Kiwisaver scheme. 

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In our third edition of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is Cecilia Robinson. She is a serial entrepreneur, from Au Pair Link to My Food Bag, and now her latest venture Tend Health, she continues to challenge the status quo and how we deliver services to customers.

A combination of enthusiasm and logic prevails in her conversation and her aspirations for the country. And she offers a very simple solution for our crisis ridden health system.

Join Bruce Cotterill and his guest Cecilia Robinson in episode 3 of Leaders Getting Coffee.

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For his second guest, Bruce is joined by the former Reserve Bank Governor and National Party leader Don Brash, to talk about his experiences in the public sector, politics and his thoughts on recent fiscal hole drama. 

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For the first episode of Leaders Getting Coffee, Bruce is joined by former TV presenter turned sports animation pioneer and Animation Research Limited founder Sir Ian Taylor, to discuss leadership advice, how Ian got got his company off the ground and through Covid, and thoughts on some recent headlines.

Read Bruce's column here

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