Gary Cookson

What happens when an organisation multiplies in size within just a few years? Opportunities expand. Complexity rises. And the way the senior team works together becomes critical to sustaining success. Today Dani and I delivered a programme to a progressive Executive Team that isn’t waiting for cracks to appear. They’re building on their success by optimising how they function, anticipating the challenges ahead and strengthening the capabilities needed for the next stage in their journey. The Executive Team is the team of teams. Each member represents their own function – and the enterprise as a whole. That dual responsibility creates unique challenges: balancing functional priorities with enterprise outcomes, avoiding duplication or gaps and ensuring decisions are made to deliver for the long-term good of the business. Dani and I were really impressed by the constructive, proactive approach each team member took today. They know that if the big conversations don’t happen in the room, issues surface elsewhere – in misaligned priorities, corridor decisions or bottlenecks that slow growth. The focus today was on building discipline to: 🔸 Slow down when rushing to conclusions or stuck in circular debate 🔸 Name the taboos that quietly undermine progress 🔸 Ensure every voice in the team is heard and carries weight 🔸 Make time for the big strategic conversations away from operational noise 🔸 Balancing the needs of “absent voices” in the room – stakeholders, the board, customers and their own teams These are the classic pressure points for executive teams in high-growth businesses. Growth tempts leaders to keep running, but the smarter move is to press pause, create space for the difficult conversations, and strengthen collective leadership. We can't wait for the next session where we’ll explore how this team extends that strength into the wider system – so alignment and coherence grow alongside scale.

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Something's been bugging me, and I want to call it out. L&D are so much more than 'just training'. As someone who has operated across the full spectrum of talent development, from apprenticeships to succession planning, organisational design to digital transformation, I've witnessed first hand how misunderstood the L&D function often is. So let's talk about what L&D actually do and the strategic value we bring to organisations: We're business partners, not just workshop facilitators (or event planners) at your away day: The modern L&D professional doesn't just deliver training. We analyse business needs, identify skill gaps, and create learning ecosystems that directly impact business outcomes. We're as concerned with ROI and performance metrics as any other business function (and in my experience, MORE tuned into this than most departments) We touch every stage of the Employee Journey From designing onboarding experiences that reduce time-to-productivity for new hires, to creating leadership pipelines that ensure business continuity - when done right, we're present at every critical talent milestone: - Attracting talent through apprenticeship and early career programs - Developing capabilities that keep organisations competitive - Retaining key talent through growth opportunities - Building succession plans that safeguard organisational knowledge (because again, we're saving knowledge AND money and we often think further on ahead than most leadership teams in this area) We're strategic workforce architects: When organisations need to pivot, restructure, or upskill at scale, L&D professionals are essential partners. We don't just respond to change, we help orchestrate it, ensuring people have the capabilities to execute new strategies. We bridge the present and future: While some departments might focus on current performance and ops on immediate needs, we in L&D always have one foot in the future. We're anticipating skill requirements, technological changes, and evolving ways of working before they become urgent business problems. So I am done with hearing: ❌ "L&D is just a cost center" - Actually, we're performance multipliers who can demonstrate clear ROI when properly positioned. ❌ "L&D is responsible for all training" - Our real value is in creating systems where learning happens continuously, not just in classroom settings. ❌ "L&D work is 'soft' and unmeasurable" - Today's L&D teams are well versed in sophisticated analytics to demonstrate impact on retention, performance, and business outcomes. I speak to so many L&D professionals who've been hired into roles and positioned incorrectly, pulled into things that aren't high value long term activity, and treated like a nice to have. Isn't it about time leadership understood the critical impact our roles have? Let me know your thoughts 👇

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At a time when the importance and value of DE&I is being challenged, we need to remind ourselves why it matters. So this latest TA Disruptors podcast from Arctic Shores on what is the state of Neurodiversity in recruitment today, with the brilliant and energetic Theo Smith, couldn't be more timely. Theo is one of the best people in our space on the topic and we had a great discussion. Some of the key take-aways for me were: 🫴 Neuroinclusion starts long before the apply button. By the time a candidate reaches your ATS, they’ve already faced countless barriers: vague job descriptions, inaccessible language, unclear expectations.  📲 Technology can be a bridge… or a wall. Used well, AI can empower neurodivergent jobseekers to prep, reframe, and pace themselves in the process. Whereas a 'deter and detect' approach can put barriers back up. ⚖️ We need to balance recruiters' needs for efficiency with a candidate's need for choice. Theo gives some great examples of how small interventions can make a big difference and that it is possible to balance these apparently opposing needs. We cover a broad range of topics around neurodiversity from understanding the nuances behind it to what is a “reasonable adjustment”. Theo gives a frank, personal and thoughtful perspective for why neuroinclusion should remain high on our agenda. #arcticshores #neurodiversity #recruitment #tadisruptors

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One of the real joys of group mentoring is the questions that surface. They’re often the ones we’ve all quietly wrestled with, but don’t always say out loud. This morning, halfway through the Fletcher Building mentoring programme, Bernice Cumming emailed me and asked me about exposure, the part of the P.I.E. model (Performance, Image, Exposure) that accounts for 60% of career success. Her reflection was so powerful: “I’ve just received significant recognition for my work and while I’m grateful, I also felt uncomfortable with the attention. Why do women hang back from promoting themselves, and why do we feel awkward being recognised?” This is exactly the tension so many women experience: ➡️ Social conditioning to be modest and collaborative. ➡️ Workplace penalties for being “too self-promoting.” And here in New Zealand, the added weight of tall poppy syndrome makes standing out feel even riskier. What I shared with her and with all my mentoring programmes is that the discomfort is normal. It’s not a signal to shrink back, but rather that you’re stretching into new territory. Exposure isn’t just about you; it’s about making your work, your team, and even your profession visible. A few strategies I invite everyone to explore: 🌱 Treat recognition as collective, not just personal. 🌱 Practise gracious acceptance: “Thank you, I appreciate that recognition.” 🌱 Build your “exposure muscles” in small steps. 🌱 Anchor it to purpose—visibility as impact, not vanity. And for those who like homework: Herminia Ibarra on networks, Sylvia Ann Hewlett on Executive Presence, and Adam Grant on recognition are great places to start. Thank you Bernice for naming what so many feel—you’ve given others permission to explore it too 🙏 And... how incredible that after I replied to Bernice (and before I drafted this post), I bumped into her while waiting for coffee with a former mentor on the programme, and she gave me permission to name her! 🙌 #womentoleadership #mentoring #groupmentoring #careerexposure

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Skills skills skills..... The subject of a desire to become a "skills-based organisation" is nothing new. Tools like Gloat have underpinned how companies are moving towards this and with agile methodology, a skills-based organisation is a natural direction. In a team meeting we had here this morning with Camilla Bergman, Assoc. CIPD, Trina Cassie and Katie Daubeney a client had recently asked us about skills and capability leaders. Many remain in core talent or OD roles. I recently listened to an interview with Nickle LaMoreaux, CHRO at IBM, on the role of AI in HR. Expecting to hear a lot about AI and hoping for real use cases (I'm always looking for real-life examples not theory) I was surprised that it was skills that actually stood out. Nickle said that "skills are the currency of the future". IBM is moving from performance-only assessment to a model that measures business results, skills, and behaviours such as curiosity and adaptability. Organisations we speak with are focusing on this. For IBM the cultural shift was evident: embedding skills and behaviours into performance management, training managers for speed and vulnerability, and reframing AI not just as a productivity tool but as an engine for ambition and growth. How is your organisation approaching the intersection of skills, AI, and culture? AI is not an outcome, it helps produce an outcome. Helping organisations identify, understand, cultivate then deploy skills is an unlock and can be powered by AI. HR leaders - do you agree skills are the currency of the future? Or is this re-packaging of learning & development strategies, powered by AI?

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