Kiwis seem to be debating the big issues more than ever before. Whether it’s house prices, the state of the economy, or the performance of our political leaders, most of us aren’t lacking for an opinion.
One of the things we don’t talk about that much is the need for good leadership. And it’s not just the politicians that need to take note. Whether you are running a sports team, a small business, a big business, or even a school, good leadership will see goals achieved and better outcomes generated.
Join company director and business adviser Bruce Cotterill as he talks to leaders about leadership.
In episode 71of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s younger government ministers, Simeon Brown.
He was inspired by his grandfather who worked to support the local community and later, his mother who led the local residents association. That led to him taking an early interest in politics, and while still at school he occupied roles as secretary and treasurer alongside his mother and subsequently a seat on the Manurewa Local Board while still at university.
But national politics soon beckoned, and at the age of just 23 he ran the National party campaign for the Manurewa seat, losing to Labour’s Louisa Wall on that occasion.
Three years later, in 2017 he was better prepared and won the safe National seat of Pakuranga, taking over the stronghold previously held by long time MP Maurice Williamson.
But that meant six years in opposition, a period he used to build his knowledge of our parliamentary process and a work ethic that would serve him well later.
When a National Party led government won the treasury benches in 2023, he was poised to become one of the busiest ministers in the team, and as the parliamentary term closes, he looks back on the wins, the losses and the might have beens.
During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Simeon Brown speaks with Bruce Cotterill about massive portfolios like transport, health and energy, the challenges he inherited and the opportunities for the future. Those responsibilities came with plenty of damage – remember the mining ban, the potholes and the shambles that was the previous government’s reorganisation of the health system. He’s had three years to address all that. But there’s plenty more to do and the plan for the next parliamentary term is already underway.
There’s also a chat about family. Here’s a guy working 18 hour days, and six days weeks trying to balance a family of four children under eight, and a very understanding wife.
This is a very personable conversation with a young minister doing a good job in a very tough environment. It’s well worth a listen.
Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 71 with Bruce Cotterill and Hon Simeon Brown, Minister of Health
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2 Sept 2026
Episode 70: Founder and CEO of Martelli Buyers Agents, Alex Martelli
In episode 70 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is Alex Martelli, a young innovator who is changing the way people buy real estate.
She’s a born and bred Aucklander who spent her entire schooling and university years in the city. But somewhere in there a desire for travel was instilled, and she spent 11 years traveling the world and working with some of the biggest real estate brands.
She admits that her first break was a result of being in the right place at the right time. But she’s a hard worker and that first opportunity led to an international real estate career that many would crave. Her experiences in Sydney, London and Hong Kong formed a desire to innovate and bring her learnings back to the residential property market in New Zealand.
Once back, she founded Martelli Buyers Agents, an agency directly focussed on working exclusively with the buyers of residential real estate.
She’s now three years in and her business is growing faster than the market.
Early on, she was told that her ideas would never work in New Zealand, and so, along the way she’s had to educate the market about the role of the buyer’s agent, a concept new to New Zealand, but well understood, and in some cases compulsory, in other parts of the world. Those early non-believers have since been turned around and she now enjoys the support of the wider industry that she’s a part of.
On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Alex speaks with Bruce Cotterill about the role of a buyer’s agent in the real estate transaction, the broad spectrum of people using the service and the benefits to buyers. She also discusses how her team works alongside traditional real estate agents to ensure the best outcome all round.
And there’s even room for a robust discussion about the state of the current real estate markets around the world, and the ongoing challenges for New Zealand property, a market that still hasn’t recovered to the heights achieved in 2021.
Above all, this is an enjoyable discussion with a young leader who is putting the skills she developed overseas to the test in New Zealand’s highly competitive real estate industry, all while introducing a new service that many people will find highly valuable.
Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 70 with Bruce Cotterill and Alex Martelli, Founder and CEO of Martelli Buyers Agents
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19 Aug 2026
Episode 69: Former CEO of Air New Zealand and ASB, Sir Ralph Norris
In episode 69 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s most successful business CEO’s, Sir Ralph Norris.
An everyday upbringing in Auckland’s suburb of Mt Roskill, laid the foundations for the humble and softly spoken manner that typifies Sir Ralph Norris. But don’t let that humility fool you. He was an active youngster and clearly bright enough to further his education. However, like many of the time, the family fortunes didn’t enable university study. But he certainly made up for it when opportunity came calling.
His banking career started in the IT department of the ASB Bank, where he was a beneficiary of the bank’s training relationship with IBM and his own curiosity about technology. The IBM training filled in what he’d missed at university and he became instrumental in enabling the massive change that went through the banking system over the following two decades. He speaks of starting with mainframe computers that occupied their own air-conditioned rooms, and he leads us through the changes brought by the personal computer generation, and now the mobile phone centric life we all lead today.
Over the course of his career, he led three massive companies. In the first, ASB Bank, he worked his way to the top job. The reputation he built there led to the next two. Firstly he was asked to take the reins at a suffering Air New Zealand in 2001, and subsequently Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2005. In both, he encountered poor customer experience, weak employee engagement, and a flattened growth curve. In both, he led a rejuvenation that still gets talked about.
Norris became the CEO of ASB Bank through that most unusual avenue of the IT department at a time when CEO’s came from sales and marketing. He also became a change manager before there was such a term.
He led ASB Bank from it’s roots as a regional bank, to a national player competing on level terms with the big internationally owned banks. He brought institutional and commercial banking to what was previously a domestically focussed affair. And he created leaders.
On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Sir Ralph Norris speaks with Bruce Cotterill about turning business performance around. The importance of asking good questions and listening to what the people within the organisation are saying is the starting point. Then comes a good plan, and the need for relentless communication.
There are lessons in this discussion for every current and aspiring leader. And each one delivered in that quiet and humble way. Sir Ralph Norris is one of our country’s best, and this discussion, a must listen, reflects that.
Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 69 with Bruce Cotterill and Sir Ralph Norris – Former CEO of ASB and Air NZ.
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Who has been a guest on Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce Cotterill
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Andrew Stone
Dr David Teece
Ah-Leen Rayner
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
71,726,188
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
4.4 / 5
15 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
35
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
81
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