Make work better, for you and your team
Coaching, consulting, and facilitation grounded in reality, so people and organisations can grow, thrive, and succeed.
Working life can be messy and demanding. I help people, teams, and organisations find focus, clarity, and better ways forward. Whether you need new perspective in leadership, support for your team, or practical tools to improve how things work, I partner with you to make change that lasts.
About me
Kia ora, I’m Toby, a consultant, coach, and facilitator. I’ve spent my career helping people and organisations find a way through the messiness and complexity of working life so they can focus, grow, and succeed.
Experience
I’ve worked at every level – from team member to leader of leaders – across private and public sectors, multi-nationals to small business, in New Zealand and overseas. I know what it’s like to be inside organisations and to partner from the outside. I’ve worked with executives, middle managers, and frontline teams in complex, shifting contexts.
Expertise
My work usually touches on three related areas:
- Developing leadership and culture, e.g., leadership development, culture change, management effectiveness, succession.
- Improving people and organisation systems, e.g., talent, performance, inclusion, engagement.
- Creating spaces for learning and growth, e.g., coaching, facilitation, learning and development.
Approach
I always begin with your reality. What’s really going on? What’s needed now? From there, I’ll work with whoever I need – OD and HR specialists, executives, managers, or individual team members – with warmth, connection, and understanding. My job isn’t to bring you pre-packaged answers, but to help you find the ones that fit your people and your context.
What I believe to be true
After more than three decades of working with people, teams, and organisations, a few truths guide how I work:
Leadership is about noticing and responding
Noticing what’s happening and asking, “What’s needed from me right now?” And this isn’t just for managers – it’s for everyone.
Change sticks only when both systems and people shift
Focus on one without the other, and it unravels.
None of us ever sees the whole picture
We all hold partial perspectives, so bringing them together is the only way forward.
People first, customers follow
Focusing on your people isn’t optional or secondary. If your people aren’t properly supported, your customers will feel it, every time.
Services
Consulting
When something in your organisation needs to shift, I help you see the system clearly, spot the real opportunities, and take practical steps that stick. I’ve worked in OD and strategic HR for decades, so I can help you figure out what will work – and what won’t. My style is collaborative, evidence-based, and always anchored in your reality.
You’ll get: clarity on the system, options that make sense, and a clear path forward – with challenges that push you beyond business as usual.
Coaching
Sometimes what’s needed isn’t a plan, it’s space – space to think, be honest, and work out what’s next. My coaching is practical, human, and grounded in reality. I work with people who feel stuck, stretched, or ready for growth, helping them gain clarity, confidence, and the motivation to act.
You’ll get: support and challenge when it counts, so you can perform at your best, grow, and move forward with purpose.
Facilitation
Discovering the right things at the right time can really change things. I design and facilitate workshops, learning programmes, and team sessions that are engaging, grounded, and tailored to your context. Whether it’s a programme designed for you or one of my proven approaches, I make sure people leave with energy and insights they can apply.
You’ll get: learning experiences that make sense, stick, and feel alive – delivered with care, energy, and skill.
Examples of my work
Consulting
- Developed a systemic approach to lifting capability and performance of mid-tier leaders for a public service department.
- Built internal skill in organisation development for an automotive business.
- Advised how to extend content from a learning programme into people systems and processes for an insurance company.
Coaching
- Clients in senior, mid-level, and first-line leadership roles and technical specialists.
- Clients from professional services companies, local and central government, not-for-profits, regulators, and Crown entities.
- Issues recent coaching clients have had include launching a new business, working through performance challenges, growing a new venture, and tackling expanded leadership challenges.
Facilitation
- Learning design and delivery focused on leadership and team coaching skills for insurance companies, automotive business, local government, public service, Crown entities, and regulators.
- Team development work for both leadership and operational teams, in insurance companies, public service, and Offices of Parliament.
Let’s talk about how we might work together
If you’d like to explore working together, whether that’s a piece of consulting work, coaching, or a facilitated session, let’s talk. No pressure, just a conversation about what could be useful for you and your team.
Email: toby@tobycooper.nz
Phone: +64 21 0234 5272