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Nick Mackeson-Smith

Chief Curiosity Officer, Founder and Director
+64 (0) 21 933 397
nick@fivenz.comSchedule a call

Nick is an expert in leadership development, executive coaching, learning strategy design and implementation, culture change and employee engagement. He's led transformative programmes in agile, technology implementation, diversity and inclusion, mental health and wellbeing, mindset and behaviour change, ways of working and learning enablement, and is very interested in building great employee experiences to drive great customer experiences which drive great business outcomes. He's a highly skilled facilitator and public speaker, and has a knack for spotting and unleashing the potential in those around him. He's got over 20 years of experience in doing the small stuff and the very big stuff at some of the world's and NZ's leading organisations - in financial services with Barclays Capital, Barclays Wealth Schroders, Lloyd's of London, and Goldman Sachs. In consulting services with Deloitte. In the public sector with Auckland Council, and most recently in digital services and telecommunications with Spark New Zealand.

You can talk to me about:

AI & Digital Transformation
AI Strategy & Enablement for Business
❇️ Performance
Discovery
❇️ Performance
EX and CX Mapping
❇️ Performance
Ways of working and agile
💗 Culture EX
CultureXpert
💗 Culture EX
Culture Discovery
💗 Culture EX
Culture Advisory
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Strategic and Transformation Advisory
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Organisational Design
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Board and ELT Advisory
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Leadership Lab
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Executive Coaching
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Executive Traction Labs
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Strategy Design
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Transformation
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Programme Leadership
🟤 Strategy & Leadership
Innovation Design Sprint
🟪 Technology
WalkMe Discovery

I've recently written about:

August 4, 2025
Performance

Clarity counts - why goals and measures matter

With everything that's going on aroun them, it's easy for teams to lose sight of what success really looks like. Clear goals and meaningful measures matter more than ever. It isn't just about tracking performance, but about creating focus, building alignment and supporting learning. You will find practical advice on how leaders and teams can build clarity around outcomes, make progress visible and create a shared understanding of what good looks like. Whether you use OKRs, KPIs or something simpler, this piece will help you make measurement meaningful in real organisational life.

August 1, 2025
People

The strategic lever most organisations are missing

Many organisations invest heavily in strategy, but overlook the most critical enabler of delivery: people. In this article, we explore why human capability and experience should be considered from the outset – not as an afterthought – and how mapping these needs early can drive better decisions around investment, structure, systems and workforce planning. Learn how capability-led design can turn strategic ambition into practical, people-powered execution.

March 31, 2025
Performance

You can do anything, but not everything all at once: how to be smarter with your yes

The pressure to “do more with less” is unrelenting. But overcommitting time, people, and budget leads to burnout, poor delivery, and declining quality. In this article, we explore two powerful perspectives: how leaders can make better strategic choices using the iron triangle of time, cost and scope — and how teams can protect quality and wellbeing by shifting from automatic “yes” to more thoughtful responses like “yes, if” and “yes, when.”

February 4, 2025
Technology

Leveraging affordable AI for enhanced productivity

AI is no longer just for tech giants—affordable AI tools now empower businesses of all sizes to boost productivity, automate tasks, and enhance decision-making. Rather than replacing jobs, AI acts as an enabler, freeing up time for strategic work.

April 18, 2024
Culture

What's psychosocial legislation all about, and what can we do about it?

On a recent business trip to Sydney, one topic emerged with striking consistency - the new psychosocial legislation. For the CPOs we were talking to, it wasn't just a matter of legal compliance; the conversations revealed a deep-seated concern for the well-being of their workforces, which reflects an increasingly significant shift towards a more holistic approach to workplace safety. Interestingly, this wasn't something we’d heard of at all in our conversations with CPOs in New Zealand. Not yet, at least! After day one of our trip (and three separate conversations where CPOs asked us “what are you guys doing about Psychosocial?”), we realised that our knowledge needed sharpening up, and that there was a clear need being articulated by leaders in the Sydney business community for something to help them address their challenges. Inspired by these discussions, we wanted to share our insights on psychosocial legislation in Australia, and offer insights to New Zealand businesses who may proactively choose to adopt similar frameworks for their employees here. From what we’ve seen and heard, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before this kind of legislation becomes more commonplace.

March 18, 2024
Strategy & Leadership

(Why) should we return to the office?

It’s a consistent theme we’re hearing right now - “it’s time to get people back into the office”. But is it? Are we prepared to erode all of the gains we’ve made in new ways of working over the pandemic and post-pandemic years? Employees have been empowered to work with new levels of trust and freedom, and have incorporated work into their life routines. What should we do next? Nick Mackeson-Smith shares his thoughts and observations.