Executive Coaching Auckland
Executive coaching isn't a perk. It's a strategic investment that should be wired directly into your business outcomes. At Five NZ, we coach senior leaders and high-potential talent in Auckland across three integrated service streams: Executive Coaching, Traction Labs, and Outplacement Support.
Our Approach
Executive Coaching: The Values to Outcomes Approach
Our coaching model starts with a simple truth: coaching only matters if it moves the business needle.
We use the Values to Outcomes model to connect individual coaching directly to organisational strategy and measurable business results. This isn't about self-discovery in a vacuum. It's about translating leadership capability into competitive advantage.
The Triad Structure
Effective executive coaching involves three players: the coachee, the coach, and the line manager. We bring all three into alignment from day one. Your line manager stays in the loop, ensuring accountability, embedding what your executive learns back into the work, and removing friction. This triad model eliminates the silo effect and makes coaching stick.
Two Tiers
High-Potential Coaching (6×90-minute sessions)
For emerging leaders stepping up into bigger roles. We work through strategic thinking, stakeholder influence, delegation, and decision-making. You'll leave with clarity on your leadership identity and a playbook for your next level.
C-Suite Coaching (6–12 months, typically fortnightly sessions)
For senior executives navigating complexity, scaling teams, and making high-stakes decisions. This includes midpoint check-ins to recalibrate, a final review session, and an ROI report showing what shifted. We go deeper and wider.
Who Does the Coaching
Your coach won't be a generalist. They'll be a senior strategy or transformation leader who's solved the exact problems you're facing. They bring commercial reality into every conversation—because coaching that ignores context is just talking.
Traction Labs
Traction Labs: Intensive Leadership Acceleration
Sometimes one-off coaching isn't enough. You need a more concentrated burst of work.
Traction Labs are intensive facilitated leadership sessions designed for leaders in transition—stepping into a new role—or established senior leaders who want to sharpen their strategic impact.
How It Works
We run deep stakeholder interviews before you arrive. This isn't a generic programme. Every Traction Lab is completely bespoke to your situation: your team dynamics, your market, your growth challenge.
Over the intensive work, we cover:
- Growth mindset and capability stretch
- Talent alignment and capability building
- Priorities and focus
- Stakeholder engagement and influence
- Adaptability and resilience
- Your strategic roadmap for the next 12–24 months
After the intensive work is complete, you move into monthly executive coaching for 6 months to lock in the gains and navigate what emerges.
Who It's For
Traction Labs work for anyone in transition—stepping into a new chief-level role, moving into a significantly expanded brief, or taking on a turnaround. They also work brilliantly for established senior leaders who want to level up their strategic presence and impact without waiting for a crisis to force the issue.
Outplacement & Differentiation
Outplacement Support: How You Treat People Matters
Here's a philosophy: how you treat people on the way out says everything about your organisation.
Departing employees shouldn't be left to figure things out alone. And organisations shouldn't just hand someone a checklist. Outplacement Support is a holistic, coachee-led, flexible approach that helps people move forward—whether that's into their next role, or into starting their own venture.
Three Tiers
Outplacement (3×1-hour sessions, virtual)
Practical support navigating the job market: positioning, resume, interview readiness, networks, mindset.
Outplacement Plus (4×1-hour sessions)
Deeper work. We help you clarify your direction, build your narrative, work through the emotional transition, and reconnect with your network strategically.
New Entrepreneur (4×2-hour sessions, in-person)
For people exploring starting their own venture. We work through business viability, market validation, go-to-market strategy, mindset for entrepreneurship, and how to set yourself up for success.
Why This Matters
Your departing employees will either become your best advocates or your critics. They'll speak to investors, potential hires, and your market. Investing in their next chapter—regardless of where it leads—builds loyalty and reputation.
How Five Works Differently
We're not a massive global coaching firm. We're a 19-person boutique consultancy in Auckland where everyone in the room understands both strategy and execution.
We coach from commercial reality. Our coaches aren't detached observers. They've built teams, navigated boards, driven transformations. They ask the hard questions because they understand the stakes.
We embed coaching into strategy. Coaching only works if it's tied to what actually matters—revenue, growth, market position, capability. We connect the dots between your leadership capability and your business outcomes.
We focus on delivery. We're not interested in warm conversations that feel good but don't change anything. We measure progress, adjust as we go, and hold you accountable to the outcomes that matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does executive coaching typically take?
Most programmes run 6–12 months with fortnightly sessions. High-Potential coaching is typically 6 sessions over 3–4 months. Traction Labs intensive work is usually 2–3 days, followed by 6 months of monthly coaching. It depends on your starting point and what you're trying to achieve.
What should I expect to change as a result of coaching?
That depends on your focus. Leaders typically report sharper strategic clarity, stronger stakeholder relationships, more effective delegation, better decision-making under pressure, and stronger confidence in their leadership identity. We measure this—you'll get feedback from your stakeholders and a clear sense of what shifted.
Can you run Traction Labs remotely?
The intensive work is most effective in-person (it's full immersion - 1:1 in a lab), but we can explore remote formats if needed. Follow-up coaching is typically in-person.
Is coaching confidential?
Yes. Your coach works with your line manager to ensure alignment, but coaching conversations are confidential. Your line manager hears what shifted, not the details of what was discussed.
What's included in the C-Suite ROI report?
The report captures what you set out to achieve, the progress you made (both measurable and qualitative), stakeholder feedback, and the business impact. It's useful for your board, your line manager, or your own record.
How does outplacement work if an employee doesn't know what they want next?
That's the whole point of Outplacement Plus and New Entrepreneur. We help you clarify your direction. Some people know they want a CEO role but need to build credibility. Others are exploring a complete change. We work with where you actually are, not where you think you should be.
Ready to Invest in Your Leadership?
Executive coaching should move the needle. If you're a senior leader or emerging executive in Auckland looking to sharpen your impact, let's talk.
Get in Touch →Our Team
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Bottom line is this. If you can see something, and other people can’t (or won’t) see it, then it’s always the right thing to call it out. Politely. With care. With love. With respect. The intention of giving feedback must always be that you care about the other person; That you care about better outcomes for you, them, the organisation, and everyone around them.
Nick Mackeson-SmithEmployers - get ready for your future employees
Education today is changing. It’s different to what many of us grew up with, and may feel unfamiliar or “loose” to those of us who had a more formal and structured education. These days, knowledge can be accessed instantly and doesn’t necessarily need to be committed to memory for ever. The skills our children will need to be successful in this world are demonstrably different to the ones we developed at school. The rate of change has increased significantly, and our approach to education has had to make some pretty big leaps to stay relevant.
Nick Mackeson-SmithUnbelievable new joiner experiences
In my whole career of joining and saying goodbye and then joining organisations again, I’ve only experienced an unbelievable new joiner experience once. I also met my wife in the process, so it obviously sticks in my memory! The great thing is, this sort of experience isn’t actually that hard to replicate. The bad thing is, organisations and hiring managers often get in the way of making it a reality for their new people.It’s actually a lot easier than people think.
Nick Mackeson-SmithOne on one conversations that spark joy
One on ones don’t need to be a chore. I often hear from leaders that they struggle to get themselves motivated to have the repetitive weekly or monthly 1:1 conversation with their teams… and worse still, it feels like they are compelled to have them. I’ve been asked by leaders for templates for great 1:1s… and been shown templates for conversation flows that provide a rigid structure and boundaries for the conversation.
Nick Mackeson-SmithFuture skills for New Zealand
Nick took time out at the ATEED Future Ready Summit 2019 to share his thoughts on what skills every Aucklander (and beyond) should be looking to develop now to prepare themselves for the future.
Nick Mackeson-SmithA new kind of leadership
For years, I've been pre-occupied with a very simple question: what makes a great leader?I've observed many leaders, but great ones have been harder to find, and they seem to be becoming more scarce in the workplace. What's caused this leadership drain?
Nick Mackeson-SmithTake empowerment back
The critique of empowerment has become deafening, and it’s frustrating.
Nick Mackeson-SmithLeadership development for our time
Great leaders are everything, and can be the difference between a performing organisation, and a high performance organisation. They can inspire people to be at their best, even when the outlook is challenging. They can create magical relationships which are based on deep trust and respect, and unlock significant amounts of discretionary effort in the workforce. They can be a force for positive cultural change, and can turn around long-standing issues in double-quick time. In short, they are awesome, and every organisation should do whatever they can to attract/develop/retain them. Trouble is, lots of organisations fall short in developing their leaders. There is another way…..
Nick Mackeson-SmithGetting agile right
There are so many aspects to agile, and it’s really important to understand what they are all about and why each of them are necessary. Some are structural, or procedural - things like having a very disciplined cadence of times when teams come together, or having really well defined set of objectives and expected results within a defined period of time. The structure allows teams to build upon their work in a repeatable and incremental way, and means that massive programmes of work can be broken down into much smaller and more manageable chunks.
Business strategy: Hunker down or pivot?
Businesses everywhere are facing new headwinds and constraints - conflict in Ukraine and geopolitics elsewhere are having enormous impacts on financial markets, consumer confidence, and supply chains.
In times like this, it's easy to be fearful and hunker down to protect yourself from the coming storm... but is that the best thing you could do? What if there was a smarter move to make - one that would see you ride the wave instead of duck and cover?
Nick Mackeson-SmithThe critical connection between organisational culture and strategic success.
The success of an organisation is heavily reliant on the alignment between its culture and strategy. While strategy defines an organisation's long-term direction, culture determines how things get done within the organisation. A misalignment between culture and strategy can have severe consequences, both financially and reputationally. Despite this link, many organisations fail to develop a deep understanding of what their culture is, could be, or needs to be in order to drive their strategic ambitions. It’s time to dig deeper.
Nick Mackeson-SmithReimagining outplacement.
Outplacement support has been around for as long as I can remember. Organisations soften the blow of a redundancy or restructure by offering the departing employee some help in finding the next role; CV writing, LinkedIn profile updating, reviewing key achievements. The list goes on. Now, it’s different. Consider the organisations who are cutting hundreds - or thousands - of jobs. A little bit of CV prep and interview practice isn’t going to cut it for those people leaving… there simply aren’t thousands of jobs available for people to move on to. Something else is needed.
Nick Mackeson-SmithDoing it all: Addressing 2023’s C-suite wishlist with WalkMe
As we move into 2023, the C-suite's wishlist is becoming increasingly clear. Companies want to do it all - improve efficiency, enhance customer experience, and drive innovation. And it's no secret that the key to achieving these goals is digital transformation.
Digital transformation is about more than just technology - it's about changing the way a business operates and interacts with customers. And the cornerstone of a successful digital transformation is a robust digital adoption platform.
A digital adoption platform, such as WalkMe, can help businesses streamline processes, provide users with instant support, and eliminate the need for extensive training. This leads to increased productivity, improved user experience, and enhanced customer satisfaction - all of which are essential in today's fast-paced, digital world.
But implementing a digital adoption platform is not a one-size-fits-all solution. That's why it's important to choose the right partner to help with the implementation. FiveNZ has the experience and knowledge to ensure a successful implementation, allowing companies to achieve their digital transformation goals and stay ahead of the curve.
Nick Mackeson-SmithThe dangers of a communications vacuum in times of change.
Don't let a lack of communication lead to disaster during times of organisational change. Learn about the dangers of a communications vacuum and how to prevent it in our latest blog post. Our team at Five NZ provides practical tips and insights to help you navigate the challenges of change management and keep your employees engaged and informed. Read more now on the Five NZ Blog
Nick Mackeson-SmithDigital transformation. The time is now.
Digital transformation is becoming increasingly critical for companies in New Zealand to remain competitive in their respective industries. As competition grows and customer expectations evolve, organisations must keep up with the latest technological advancements to ensure that they can deliver a consistent digital experience. Digital transformation initiatives can be complex and challenging, with potential obstacles such as employee resistance, lack of expertise, and cost overruns - that's where a comprehensive and effective digital adoption platform like WalkMe can help. Here, we explore the importance of digital transformation for organisations, the benefits of a digital adoption platform like WalkMe, and the role that Five NZ, New Zealand's first and only certified delivery partner for WalkMe, can support organisations in achieving their digital transformation goals.
