What people are saying
Bill Roberts / Economic Development Manager, Napier City Council
Working with Darren is straightforward and pleasant – he is easy to deal with and there are no miscommunications or surprises – he delivers!
The audiences were very different – a large crowd of local businesses and a smaller group of council employees. Darren was adept at adapting his approach to each of these in order to give as much value as possible. The success of this approach was clear from the wide-ranging feedback both on the day and subsequently, all of which has been positive. There were different takeaways for different people but as all the theory was grounded in real life experience, much of it played out in the full glare of publicity, there was an undeniable authenticity and authority in his insights.
I would not hesitate in recommending Darren in your business. I have worked in many places, from a global magic circle law firm to a cardboard box factory, and the messages are applicable to all with some solid recommendations to work on.
Rob Kowalski / Chief People & Organization Officer, Novartis, Switzerland
“Know who you are as a leader.” These simple yet powerful words are from Darren Shand, a member of our Novartis Culture Leadership Advisory Board (C-LAB) who recently spoke at our annual People & Organization Leadership Forum. Darren has a unique ability to share critical leadership insights through powerful storytelling, drawing on his experience leading one of the world’s most successful sports teams. Through human-centric insights, thought-provoking questions and memorable real-life examples, Darren along with our other C-LAB members, consistently enables us to hold up the mirror and take the next step on our personal and collective leadership journey.”
Scott Wagenvoord / Regional Manager (South Island), Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
Darren was easy to work with. He made himself available for a briefing call where we discussed the conference theme, audience demographic and what we were looking for in his presentation, I think Darren called it edutainment, where we wanted the members to be educated, but in an entertaining format. Darren absolutely delivered.
The member feedback was very strong. Darren was our final speaker of the day and a half conference and so not the easiest speaking session to deliver. The manner in which Darren presents, very authentic with humour, great stories but with key leadership messages was the perfect balance. The member feedback from Darren’s session was very strong.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Darren for your conference. Although Darren’s background with the All Blacks could be a perceived “lean” towards a male audience, our audience was a strong mix of genders, and the stories were broad, and the appeal and delivery reached all of our members. Thanks for the value you contributed to our conference Darren.
Anderson Lloyd,
Decipher Group
Today Decipher Group, Anderson Lloyd and In Your Corner had the pleasure of hosting Darren Shand at a Leadership breakfast event, which we hope will be the first of many.
Attendance was outstanding, a real credit to Darren's mana. Thank you to all our guests, and to Darren for sharing valuable and inspiring insights as he talked us through his journey in building resilient and adaptable teams. Darren reminded us of the merits of thriving under pressure, and altering mindsets from seeing pressure as a threat, to embracing it as an opportunity. Becoming better doesn't happen overnight, it is a continuous journey. And the importance of a commitment to diversity and inclusion, shared responsibility and continuous learning. We look forward to bringing future events and continuing this journey of learning and growth to our clients and colleagues.
Tony Aitken / Group Chief Executive Officer, Ruralco
Darren worked with us in creating two events – a keynote for our shareholders and a workshop for our management team. In both cases he was genuinely interested in who we were, what we did, and what would land best with the audience so that he could tailor his approach for maximum benefit. As a result of this attention to detail, both our events were very successful, with extremely positive feedback. Multiple shareholders have taken the time to approach me and comment about how valuable the keynote was to them, Darren’s level of knowledge, and importantly how personable he was and the high level of genuine engagement with the audience he had.
The Management team got great value from the workshop, and I am very pleased not only with what we achieved during the workshop, but that it has provided us a pathway forward as a management team. This will be of great benefit to our business for years to come. Several members of the team said that it was the best management workshop they had ever attended.
I highly recommend Darren to anyone who is serious about creating a high-performance team – his insights and teachings are very valuable, tailored and delivered to what you need. Most of all, he’s a genuine nice bloke.
John Scobie / Managing Director, Colliers Otago
Darren was inspiring, sharing his valued experiences and stories from his years of involvement with the All Blacks group. His common-sense, no-nonsense style provided simple yet sensible ideas and key advice that was easy to follow and understand. We look forward to implementing his ideas within our business.
Matthew Mark / Chief Executive, Decipher Group Limited
It was such a pleasure to enjoy Darren as a guest speaker at our recent event. Darren brought a wealth of relevant knowledge and energy that resonated deeply with the room. His approach to leadership, and the juicy practical nuggets captivated the audience and sparked meaningful conversations about fostering trust, empathy, and open communication within our teams.
Feedback from our guests was overwhelmingly positive, with many sharing that they were inspired by his insights on building leadership capabilities and the tools to assist in embracing pressure as an opportunity for growth. Darren's ability to relate his learnings and experiences from a competitive sporting environment to a professional context was impactful, leaving a lasting impression on how we view leadership and performance.
If you’re considering Darren to inspire your teams, or for your next event, I highly encourage you to go for it. His engaging style, practical insights, and authentic storytelling make him an exceptional facilitator who will inspire and challenge your teams and audiences to think differently about leadership and team dynamics.
Jeff Riordan - General Manager, The Rural Service Centre
Darren joined us for a member dinner recently. He is a pleasure to work with and his down to earth attitude and humility sets him aside from many high-profile figures. He demonstrated with his presentation that anyone, anywhere can be successful if they have the right attitude and values. He also gave us an insight into the more challenging and lonely side of leadership, and provided both our management team, and our members with some great ideas on how to successfully build teams within teams. Darren will inspire and will also challenge you to set collaborative standards that will hold everyone to account and achieve better outcomes for your business.
Remember, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept!
Adam Portlock / President – Hult EF Corporate Education, London
Our experience with Darren at Hult EF was incredibly positive and impactful. Darren assisted us in developing the team success profile for our newly formed senior leadership team, fostering horizontal loyalty beyond geographic or functional boundaries into one "first team." He adeptly combined insights from 20 years of All Blacks’ rugby success with practical exercises and challenges. The impact was profound. The sessions were engaging, emotive, practical, and inspiring, enabling our team to respect the past while gaining clarity for a better future. Darren exemplifies many All Blacks’ world-class performance qualities: well-prepared, curious, creative, energetic, humble, hardworking and challenging, supported with detailed post-event reflection and follow-up actions. Our team highly recommends partnering with Darren for leadership development, and we would be happy to share our experiences.
David Ferguson / Headmaster Westlake Boys High School, and All Boys Schools of NZ President.
At our recent conference for school leaders from ‘The Association of Boys’ Schools New Zealand’ (ABSNZ), we were lucky enough to have Darren Shand as a keynote speaker. Darren shared his perspectives on leadership and spoke about the lessons he has learned from his career which included 20 or so years as All Blacks Manager. His presentation was relevant, really interesting, and resonated strongly with the delegates. The feedback from Darren’s talk was excellent, I would highly recommend him to any group who wished to develop their leadership expertise or to any conference.
Judith Love / President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMA), Novartis, Singapore
It was a pleasure to work with Darren last month, he listens, is responsive and is open to contribute proactively to ensure the outcome is much better.
We worked together with a group of over 30 senior leaders from very diverse backgrounds and countries to find a common path on how we build exceptional teams and leaders. Whilst we are on a great path Darren helped us crystalize the key behaviors that we need in order to continue to make a big impact. He is practical, has very clear examples that allow everyone to understand the essence of the learning and to internalize it. His open approach makes everyone lean in, contribute and feel comfortable to share.
The impact has been significant, it has got traction from all leaders and they have reached out to engage him for follow up...this speaks volumes to what he was able to achieve in terms of reaching the individual.
I highly recommend Darren as his depth and breadth of experience and his ability to make it practical is behaviour changing...great investment in building stronger teams and leaders of the future. With gratitude thanks Darren!
In Your Corner Ltd
Thanks to all who came to our event on Wednesday, held in partnership with Decipher and Anderson Lloyd. Darren Shand ONZM took us through his 'Leadership Learnings' from managing one of the world's most successful sports teams - The All Blacks.
Some of our takeaways:
A balance of Performance, Learning and Fun makes for high performing teams (also known as the High Performance Triangle)
A high performing team is empowered and capable to make great decisions under pressure (without their leader in the room) It's so important that we learn when things go right, not just when they don't! Creating a culture of continuous learning is critical to creating breakthroughs in performance.
We have been fortunate to have Darren as an IYC Delivery Partner over the past 2.5 years. His passion and experience in building high-performance environments and teams, empowering leaders and unleashing the power of individuals and teams is strongly aligned to the impact we are committed to making at IYC