Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce Cotterill

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 49, our guest is Sky Television’s sports commentator Tony 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 podcast Tony 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 in Wainuiomata 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the Principal 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of economic, 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.