Turas Consulting & Coaching

It turns out you can be a world away and still feel like someone’s right beside you.

There’s a particular quiet that comes with living far from home. Most days it sits in the background. Then a season lands where a lot arrives at once, and suddenly you feel every mile between here and there.

I’m in one of those seasons.

And then this week, a knock at the door. Flowers, from my auntie, all the way from Scotland.

She’s been there my whole life. Sat up with me through university at the kitchen table into the small hours. She’s where I get my balshiness from. Her sight is failing her now, and it hasn’t stopped her for a second, still tracing the Mackenzie clan by hand, still doing what she loves. That’s who she is. That doesn’t change because it gets hard.

Scotland is the place that made me. So those flowers weren’t just flowers. A piece of home walked straight into my living room.

And it hasn’t only been her. My parents calling to check in. Friends across every time zone reaching in. And home itself, Andy and the kids, just being here. That’s the part I don’t have big words for. It’s precious, and I know it.

None of it came from pity. It came to say, I know this is tough, and I’m here. Recognition, without the pity party. And that is fuel.

👉So here’s your nudge. Someone came to mind while you read this. Tell them. Send the flowers, make the call, write the message.

It travels further than you know. 🌍❤️

The biggest risk in leading in volatile times isn’t resistance. IT’S DRIFT.

We’re all not waiting for a sign.
We’re already moving.

The question is;
are we moving toward what matters most…
or quietly drifting away from it?

As leaders.
As business owners.
As organisations.

Pressure doesn’t create drift.
It reveals it.

And when pressure builds, everything becomes visible.
Habits. Assumptions. Gaps in alignment.

Without an anchor, priorities blur.
Decisions get reactive.
Culture starts to fragment.

Resilience stops being built and starts being expected of individuals.

But readiness isn’t something we wait for.
It’s something we design.

It’s the leadership conditions - the architecture - that holds under pressure, expands what’s possible and creates impact that lasts.

Don’t wait. Design for drift - to see it and bring yourself, your business or your organisation back to your centre.

👉Share this with someone you know who’s experiencing drift and needs to hear this.

THE MOVE THAT FEELS LIKE STRENGTH IS USUALLY THE DRIFT
Four hip replacements. Two spinal fusions. I know recovery.

The bit I’ve actually had to learn is the decision that comes before it.

Yesterday I was at the hospital, ready to go in for my knee. Months of planning behind it.

And I made the call I’d spent the whole drive there swearing I wouldn’t.

Everything in me wanted to push through and honour the plan. I said no instead.

The plan was never the point. The recovery was.

The move that feels like strength, gripping the schedule, absorbing the risk, is usually the drift.

The stronger one is quieter. You anchor to what matters and you let the plan move.

Plans get redrawn. The anchor holds.

HOLDING THE LINE ON THE WRONG THING ISN'T STRENGTH
Four hip replacements. Two spinal fusions. Recovery I know well.
What I've learnt is the harder skill is the decision that comes before it.

Yesterday I was ready to go in for knee surgery, six weeks planned, the business set up to hold without me. A chest infection the week before changed everything, and in pre-op the call came down to me. Pneumonia. A lung collapse. My decision.

Everything in me that had spent weeks getting organised wanted to push through and honour the plan.

I said no.

This is the pattern I watch leaders miss under pressure.

The instinct is to reach for more, grip the schedule tighter, absorb the risk, and call it strength.

But holding the line on a plan that has stopped serving you isn't strength. Anchoring to what matters and letting the plan move around it is.

The plan gets redrawn. The recovery was always the point.

With thanks to the team at Wakefield, whose care and honesty made the decision a clear one.

The anchor held. That distinction is the whole of it.

Good morning everyone! 4.30am start today but as leaders we know that commitment is not always easy but if it truly matters, you’ll go for it!

The opportunity to be in the room with the team and leaders in Brand and Marketing is worth the early start!

I’m off to judge the finalists in the Marketing Excellence category of the Awards. The entries have been diverse, rich in insights and learnings and I can’t wait to discuss them with my fellow judges.

I’m always intrigued about the direct line between strategy and value. In particular how to build help leaders avoid the noise that distracts and causes ‘drift’ away from that line. That drift factor is pretty high given the volatile leadership landscape we now face.

It’s been great to read some truly exemplar examples of Marketing leaders who’ve held that line, creating commercial value despite the market challenges they face..

Thanks to MA for the opportunity to contribute.

I'm honoured that the Marketing Association has asked me back to judge the NZ Marketing Awards 2026 — the second year running.

I'm judging Marketing Excellence: the category that recognises how effective marketing strategy has led to measurable results for a business or brand.

I love being asked back to this one. The MA does real work for the whole profession, not just the winners, and judging means time in a room with people who are seriously good at what they do — pressure-testing real work and arguing about what "excellent" really means. You always leave sharper than you arrived.

The thing I find myself watching for is the line between strategy and the value it creates. It's easy for that line to drift — for a strong strategy to thin out somewhere between the plan and the result. The entries that stand out are the ones where it holds, and you can see the strategy land as something the business can measure.

Thank you, MA, for having me back. Always an honour to be in the room.

fter all the leadership jargon, this is what actually matters.
At the end of last week’s True North Inner Circle, one participant said:

“I’m feeling connected. I’m feeling included.”

And honestly, I think that says more about leadership than most frameworks ever will.

Because whether you’re leading:
• yourself
• a team
• a business
• or an organisation

people are often looking for the same things:

To feel seen.
To feel safe enough to be honest.
To reconnect to themselves.
To feel part of something again.

This week we talked about alignment.
But underneath that conversation was something deeper:

Visibility.
Connection.
Clarity.
Belonging.

Because leadership that comes from who you are is the kind of leadership that holds under pressure, expands what’s possible and lasts.

— Lindsey
Who you are unlocks your extraordinary — every day.

After all the leadership language, systems, strategy conversations and performance frameworks, this is what one participant said at the end of this week’s True North Inner Circle:

“I’m feeling connected. I’m feeling included.”

And honestly, I think that gets to the heart of leadership more than most technical conversations ever will.

Because whether you’re leading yourself, a team, a business or an organisation, people are often looking for the same things:

To feel seen.
To feel safe enough to be honest.
To surface tensions without fear.
To reconnect to themselves and each other.
To feel part of something meaningful again.

This week we explored alignment — but underneath that conversation was something much deeper.

Not forcing agreement.
Not performing certainty.
But creating spaces where people can bring their whole self into the room.

Because when people feel disconnected from themselves, their values, each other or the bigger purpose of what they’re building, drift starts to happen.

And often what restores movement is not more pressure.

It’s visibility.
Connection.
Honesty.
Clarity.

Because leadership that comes from who you are is the kind of leadership that holds under pressure, expands what’s possible and lasts.

— Lindsey

Who you are unlocks your extraordinary — every day.