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 performance, culture change, management effectiveness, succession.
- Improving people and organisation systems, e.g., talent, performance, inclusion, engagement.
- Creating spaces for learning, challenge, and growth, e.g., individual and team 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, whole teams, or individual team members – with connection, understanding, and a focus on what makes you different. 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.
How I can help
Solutions for people and culture challenges
It’s easy to see where something in your organisation needs to shift, but much less easy to figure out what to do. I can help you to 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.
Helping people and teams move forward
Often what people need isn’t a plan, it’s space, structure, and accountability – a place where they can think, be honest, and work out what’s next. A coach can help with that. 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.
Teams are similar, except they need a clear, self-generated plan for improvement, and high levels of accountability as they work to get there. I work with teams on their alignment and cohesion, so that as a collective, they get results than are more than just the sum of their individual contributions.
You’ll get: support and challenge when it counts, so you or your team can perform at your best, grow, and move forward with purpose.
Building skills and mindsets
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
- Coached people in senior, mid-level, and first-line leadership roles and technical specialists, working in professional services companies, local and central government, charities, regulators, and Crown entities.
- Issues recent individual coaching clients have worked on include launching a new business, working through personal performance challenges, and tackling the challenges of an expanded leadership role.
- Coached teams in insurance companies, central government, and Crown entities. Focus areas recent team clients have worked on include re-forming after a restructure, improving team dynamics, and getting clear about the next step for team effectiveness and performance.
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 consulting work, coaching, or facilitation, let’s talk. No pressure, just a conversation about what could be useful for you and your team.
I have different approaches to pricing work, from hourly rate to packages, depending on what you’re after. My goal is to make sure you get value from working with me.
Email: toby@tobycooper.nz
Phone: +64 21 0234 5272