Last Updated April 2026
I'm Your Host
Me being silly...
Kia ora
I can be super silly, but I'm dead serious about workplace environments and whether they are good for us.
This space is evolving to shed light on people-first leadership. When I found out that ONLY an estimated 30% of organisations across the world believe that culture is their defining edge - I knew that my own struggles with painful structure or office-politics could actually become my purpose.
And... I believe I had a turnaround story like no other!
"Clients do not come first.
Employees come first.
If you take care of your employees
they will take care of the clients."
- Richard Branson
Like any good story, to get here today, mine had a beginning, a pretty rocky middle and I'm still working on the ending 😏- but so far it's epically awesome!
I needed tools quickly to work out what was happening in a team without knowing them, their work or the business.
I didn't have a degree, a mentor, a pathway. I had experience, a passion for people and an instruction...
'See what you can do'.
'What's that mean?'
'Just do something'.
'Like what?'
'Like. You'll work it out'.
I had just accepted a permanent position, and a Senior colleague and our Manager resigned within two weeks of each other. Can you imagine the impact. I had no idea if I wanted to stay, what was I missing? How could the current management team allow that to happen? I had fallen for the team, the way they rallied and got the work done. A serious committed group of women who just wanted to have a good day at work. I wanted to hear from everyone.
I gathered what I could, put myself out there and began a journey to my best workdays ever, with team members I'll never forget and that I'll always be grateful for.
My ideas and methods were different. But I was given grace and the results were extraordinary.
A team that was burnt out, desparate to be heard, had ideas, opinions, who knew the work inside and out. Written off as a group, doing incredibly well considering their workload. Operationally, near jurassic.
A few months later - a team united. Clear values, a shared vision and energy pointing in the right direction. We got ahead of the business and started to be prepared and proactive. RIDICULOUS. In all the best ways 🥳
People were recommending family and friends. Salespeople and contractors emailing to ask if we had vacancies.
At our first review meetings with senior managers, every single team member said they had never experienced a team vibe like it. The respect, the co-operation and the acceptance of people as individuals - astounding.
Not to mention the productivity gains, the resilience to change, the ability to pivot quickly, the creativity, increased engagement and solutions.
The turnaround kings. In this case, queens.
Change happened quickly. It wasn't perfect. I definitely made mistakes. But it was evidence in my mind - YES! absolutely people-first.
Simple concepts that seemed outside the box made a real difference. To us, as people.
I have refined and replicated the system and offer it as
The Olive Tree Method - for any leader. It will continue to evolve but right now it's able to be picked up, adjusted to your environment and implemented. Step by step.
You will end up somewhere different. And it will be good.
I'm so excited to offer this up.
Jump to the podcast to start hearing me talk talk talk about how to bring your workplace to life - or start with the Leadership Self-Assessment if you haven't already.
So good!
Get in touch if you have any feedback or have questions.
I'm so passionate about this topic. About people connecting and living well in the place they work 9, 10, 12 hours a day.
It's so important as a leader to frame your responsibility well, and focus in a way that brings out the best in who you look after. In the end loyalty comes back and your team look after themselves, each other and you; in a way that feels truly magical and...
...the way it should be.
Josey