My Story At A Glance

The Early Years

Raised on a family sheep farm in Southland, NZ.
Educated at Gore High School, Southland, NZ.

Military Experience

25 years in the NZ Army (Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers).
Practical military engineering (vertical and horizontal construction, and field engineering).
Leadership and tactics instructor (officer training school).
Programme & project management (force modernisation office).
Training deployments to various Pacific Island, Australian, and South East Asian locations.
Unit & sub-unit command (command, management & leadership).
International coalition project leadership (force protection and operational evaluation).
Military attaché (strategic relationship management).

Civil Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts in Management & Geography, University of New South Wales, 1988
Executive MBA (with Distinction), Massey University, 2014

Military Operational Experience

United Nations mine clearance instructor, Cambodia, 1992.
United Nations civil-military liaison, Timor Leste, 1999.
Humanitarian reconstruction, Iraq, 2004

Military Education

Australian Defence Force Academy, 1986-1988.
Royal Military College Duntroon, 1989.
Singapore Command and Staff College, 2000.

Honours & Awards

Additional Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM), 2006.
Long Service & Good Conduct Medal, 2000.
Various United Nations and NZDF service medals.

Senior Lecturer at Massey University, 2011-2013

Lecturing in command and leadership, joint operations, & military campaign planning
Relationship management, Royal Brunei Armed Forces Command and Staff College

Free-Lance Consultant, from 2014

Leader and leadership development
Business & strategic design
Design thinking & co-design facilitation
Strategy & innovation education
Research

Recent Community Service

Regional Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) liaison to the NZDF.
Deputy Chair of Environment Southland’s Regional Forum (for water quality).
Chair of a community heritage windmill restoration committee.
Regional Government
- Elected as Councillor to Environment Southland (Regional Council) in October 2022.
- Co-chair of the Murihiku Southland Regional Climate Change Working Group (from February 2023)

Family Support

And none of this could have happened without the support of my fantastic wife (Jah), two crazy adult kids (Tanee and Neunglatai), my parents and wider family. Thanks guys!

My Values

Integrity

Be honest.

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Service

Be helpful.

Strive for excellence of outcomes
in the service of others.

Diligence

Be hard-working.

Attend fully to all obligations
and responsibilities.

Courage

Be bold.

Morale courage underpins
physical courage.

Wisdom

Be mindful.

Pursue integrated knowledge, suspend judgment, exercise compassion, critically reflect.

Humility

Be playful.

Take the job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously, frequently laugh at yourself.