Blue Mercury - Leadership

Blue Mercury - Leadership Connect with Blue Mercury Leadership. We are building a social movement to inspire awesome people!

We focus all decisions around our clients, and what is right for them –
concentrating on our three core values -
individual growth, team cohesiveness and organisational prosperity

I was talking with a group the other day about values, and how we take them from words on a page into the way we actuall...
02/06/2026

I was talking with a group the other day about values, and how we take them from words on a page into the way we actually show up.

Because it’s easy to say we value courage, trust, growth, kindness, legacy.

It’s much harder to ask... but realistically, how would someone know?

- What would they see?
- What would they hear?

One of my values is LEGACY.

Not in a grand, build-a-statue-in-my-honour kind of way. More in the quiet, practical sense of wanting the work I do to leave something useful behind.

That the work I do builds a little more confidence, a little more language, perhaps some more trust.

Working with The Rees Hotel over the last three years has been such a beautiful reminder of that.

I’ve watched their team grow through their teamwork development, and now move into the leadership phase of their journey.

I’ve seen people find their voice, think more intentionally about how they work together and I'm starting to see that confidence build, not through one big shiny moment, but through steady conversations, reflection, practice, and commitment.

And honestly, it’s a real joy.

It’s why I do what I do.
(And why my mum did what she did too...)

Because legacy isn’t always something we leave at the end.
Sometimes it’s something we build in the room, one conversation at a time.

There’s something lovely about marking the end of hard work. We really do work better when we acknowledge visual progres...
31/05/2026

There’s something lovely about marking the end of hard work.
We really do work better when we acknowledge visual progress.

I was invited to long lunch to celebrate the end of harvest, and it was such a pleasure to be in the room.

Not because it was fancy, although let’s be honest, good food and good wine never hurt anyone... *(apart from the Sunday hangover...)

It was awesome, tp look around and acknowledge the people, the graft, the early starts, the long days, the problem solving, the weather watching, the teamwork, the tired bodies, and the commitment that sits behind a finished wine season.

We don’t always do that very well in New Zealand, do we?

We are pretty good at getting on with it, head down, bum up, job done....
Straight into the next thing.

But there is something really powerful about creating a moment that says:

That mattered.
You mattered.
This took effort.

Celebration matters.

Not the forced, awkward, let’s-all-clap-because-the-agenda-says-so kind of celebration. The genuine kind.

The kind where people can exhale.
Where the end of one chapter is properly acknowledged before the next one begins.
Where hard work is seen, not just expected.

Watching that harvest celebration reminded me that rituals don’t have to be complicated, to be meaningful.

Sometimes it’s a long table, shared food, a few words of thanks, and the simple act of saying...

Well done.
We got here.

Sometimes we need a face mask and a 90/00s band T-shirt.We don't need another strategy session, or a five-step plan, or ...
28/05/2026

Sometimes we need a face mask and a 90/00s band T-shirt.

We don't need another strategy session, or a five-step plan, or another productivity hack dressed up as self-care.

Just a blimmen reset, and a salad.

I’ve been thinking about how often we make wellbeing sound gosh darn complicated.

As if looking after ourselves needs to be perfectly scheduled, beautifully photographed, and backed by a new morning routine that starts at 5am and involves lemon water, journalling, and becoming a completely different person.

Sometimes it’s much simpler than that.

A face mask, a band T-shirt, a cuppa tea, an early night, a walk around the block, or a moment where nobody needs anything from you....

In leadership work, we talk a lot about resilience - but resilience is not just muscling through.

It is knowing when to pause., noticing when our battery is low, and giving ourselves permission to do something small, ordinary and useful before we hit the wall.

The small things count, because they remind us we are human.
And, you know what? Humans need recovery too, not just performance.

So if today has been a lot, this is your gentle nudge...
You do not need to completely overhaul your life.

You might just need a face mask, an oversized t-shirt and 20 minutes where the world can sort itself out... (you don't need to intervene!)

26/05/2026

Ever invested in something and felt a bit… disappointed?

A training course, new sofa, a leadership programme, a fancy tool everyone told you would change your life.

You hand over the money with a healthy dose of hope....
This will solve the problem, make things easier.

And then it’s… fine...

Not terrible, not a disaster, just not quite what you thought you were buying...
..Disappointment rarely comes from the thing itself, it comes from the gap between the promise and the lived experience.

The training might have been useful, but it didn’t connect to real work.
The tool might be clever, but no one knew how to use it afterwards.
The programme could have had a little more intentional design to it...

INVESTMENT IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY!
The real value comes from alignment.

And the best leadership development in the world won’t land if it isn’t connected to the people, the context, and the work that needs to change.

(Video for attention, namaste from my balcony... IYKYK what the disillusion is connected to...)

Is it better to learn faster, or let it stick?I run leadership programmes in a couple of different formats. - Sometimes ...
24/05/2026

Is it better to learn faster, or let it stick?

I run leadership programmes in a couple of different formats.

- Sometimes it’s one day a month over six months.

- Sometimes it’s two days at a time over three months.

And I’ve been thinking about the trade-off...

Because on paper, the shorter format is often more practical - it gives us less disruption, fewer calendar holds, less time 'out of the business'.

And I get it. Operationally, that totally matters, and makes sense.

But when we are talking about leadership development, culture, communication, trust, emotional intelligence, teamwork, values and accountability, speed isn’t always the best measure...

The magic often happens in the space between sessions.

Someone tries a different conversation, they notice an old habit, they come back with a real example. They realise the framework was not just a nice idea on a workbook page, but something they can actually use on a Tuesday afternoon when things are gross or messy.

So maybe the question isn’t:

“How quickly can we get through the content?”

Maybe it’s - What rhythm gives this the best chance of making a difference?
Convenient and effective are not always the same thing.

I'm interested... How do you balance practicality with giving learning enough time to actually stick????

Customer experience is not a department….It’s a feeling.I get the pleasure of delivering a course at the , and every tim...
21/05/2026

Customer experience is not a department….It’s a feeling.

I get the pleasure of delivering a course at the , and every time I walk in, I’m reminded what great customer experience actually looks like.

Not the ‘we have a customer journey map in a folder somewhere’ kind, the real genuine human kind.

The team are exceptional - they welcome me personally, they remember my coffee order (even when it has been months between check-ins). They are kind, thoughtful and generous in the small moments that would be very easy to overlook… Also they always tell me how good (or glamorous) I look!!!

When you are delivering a full day programme, arriving into a space where people make you feel known, creates trust before the work even begins.

I now recommend them to others, not because they asked me to, not because there was a referral strategy, or a glossy brochure.
But because I consistently have a great experience...

THAT IS THE POWER OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE!!! (I put it in capitals so you would actually read it!!!)

When people feel genuinely looked after, they remember it, they talk about it, they come back and they send others your way.

You can tell me you value care, service, manaakitanga, excellence or generosity... But I believe it when I feel it...

And at Crowne Plaza Christchurch, I feel it every time.

A beautiful reminder that the best customer experiences are rarely accidental, they are created by people who care.

Thanks Team!

Because apparently I didn’t have enough on my plate… We’ve added another side hustle.A tiny home Airbnb in Queenstown. I...
20/05/2026

Because apparently I didn’t have enough on my plate… We’ve added another side hustle.

A tiny home Airbnb in Queenstown. It’s designed as a romantic couples’ getaway, a beautiful little space, and possibly one of the most practical project management lessons I’ve ever had.

Because honestly, if it could go wrong, it has tried (and sometimes been successful!)

Timelines shifted, Tiny details became big details, decisions bred more decisions.
The ‘quick jobs’ were absolutely not quick. And every time I thought we were nearly there, another surprise popped up waving politely from the corner, like a sledgehammer to the face.

But that’s the thing about projects, isn’t it?

They rarely fall apart because of one massive issue, they are just an accumulation of all the small things.

So yes, we are creating a gorgeous tiny home stay in Queenstown. But we are also getting a very hands-on reminder that good project management is not about everything going perfectly… It’s about staying calm, solving the next problem, and not setting fire to the whole thing when the tenth ‘minor issue’ appears.

TLDR: Tiny home coming soon. Tiny nervous breakdown pending.

Wanna follow along the chaos?
https://www.instagram.com/lookoutloft/

You don’t service your car only after it breaks down.So why wait until your team is struggling before asking how they’re...
12/05/2026

You don’t service your car only after it breaks down.

So why wait until your team is struggling before asking how they’re really doing? Urgh, I have seen sooooo much of this lately.

The Team Experience Snapshot helps teams understand what is working, what needs attention, and what could be levelled up before the warning lights start flashing.

Because good teams don’t stay good by accident.

They stay good because leaders keep listening.

When I get frustrated one of two things happen...
1 - I cry.
2 - I write a blog.

Here is the blog for you... https://www.bluemercury.co.nz/post/broken-team

I went out for Chinese with my friend Donna recently.Apologies, Donna. You look great in this photo, so don’t be upset.B...
10/05/2026

I went out for Chinese with my friend Donna recently.
Apologies, Donna. You look great in this photo, so don’t be upset.

But you can absolutely see the overwhelm in her face as she looks at the menu.
And honestly, I get it. So many delicious options.

I love choice as much as the next person, but there is a point where choice stops feeling generous and starts feeling like hard work.

I have had no end of frustration with customer experience recently... more broadly, websites.
So many websites are designed around how the organisation works, rather than how the customer thinks, feels, and makes decisions.

The services are there.
The information is there.
The options are there.
But the experience is exhausting.

And if your customer has to work too hard to understand what you offer, where to go, what to choose, or how to take the next step, that is part of the experience too.

Customer experience is not just about what you provide.

It is about how people feel while they are trying to access it.

Clear matters. Simple matters. Emotion matters.

Because these eyes say a lot....

If you want to talk about how your customers want to feel, and how to design an experience that actually supports that, I’m always happy to chat.

07/05/2026

We went to an AFL game in Adelaide recently, and I have to say, I was properly impressed. It was a huge crowd. Big stadium. Lots of noise. All the energy you’d expect from a massive sporting event.

And then came the moment of silence for ANZAC Day.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Not a murmur, or a heckle. Not someone trying to be funny. Just complete, absolute silence.

And look, I say this with some reluctance as a New Zealander, but I’m not entirely convinced we would have pulled that off quite so well, some dick head would have ruined it, thinking they were funny.

There was something genuinely moving about the respect shown in that moment. Thousands of people, all choosing to pause, together.

So, it pains me to say it, but here we are.

Good on you, Australia.

You nailed that one.

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