Show Notes
What happens when someone with deep operational experience steps into the Chief People Officer role? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley sits down with Nicki Mackay, Chief People Officer at FMG, to explore leadership, trust, resilience, culture, and the future of People & Culture. After 17 years at FMG across operational and leadership roles, Nicki brings a practical understanding of the business. She shares how moving between roles has challenged her assumptions, strengthened her commercial understanding, and shaped her approach to executive leadership. A central theme is perspective. Nicki explains why technical expertise builds credibility while leadership builds influence, and why People & Culture must help people thrive while keeping the business moving. She also explores trust, self-awareness, and constructive challenge, reflecting on the Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. Experiencing a year's worth of claims in just two weeks taught her valuable lessons about staying calm, supporting teams, and leading through uncertainty. Nicki discusses decision-making under pressure, why perfect information rarely arrives on time, and how leaders must combine data, judgement, and instinct while remaining ready to adapt. The conversation also covers career agility, performance, motivation, generational diversity, mutuality, and Nicki's leadership philosophy: be your story, own it, live it, love it. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 • How operational experience strengthens People & Culture leadership and commercial understanding • Why changing roles challenges assumptions and broadens perspective • Why technical expertise builds credibility while leadership builds influence • How People & Culture can maintain organisational momentum • What CEOs and executive peers need from a Chief People Officer • Why relationships and respectful challenge strengthen executive teams • How self-awareness and active listening improve leadership • What Cyclone Gabrielle taught Nicki about trust, resilience, and crisis leadership • Why leaders must make decisions with incomplete information • How career agility creates opportunities beyond rigid career plans • Why performance issues may reflect role fit, strengths, or motivation • How beliefs, values, and individual drivers influence behaviour 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 • Perspective matters. Moving across an organisation builds context and improves judgement. • People & Culture should enable progress. Early involvement, commercial understanding, and strong relationships help businesses move forward. • Trust is built before a crisis. Everyday relationships provide the foundation for extraordinary moments. • Resilience means moving forward. Crisis leadership requires calm, awareness, judgement, and support for others. • Decisions can't always wait. Leaders must act with incomplete information and adapt as circumstances change. • Careers aren't concrete. Flexibility creates opportunities that rigid plans may miss. • Performance depends on context. Strengths, motivation, role fit, and individual circumstances all matter. 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐲 Nicki Mackay is Chief People Officer at FMG. With more than 15 years at the organisation, she has held operational and leadership roles across area management, agribusiness, claims, recovery, and executive leadership. Nicki joined FMG's executive leadership team as Chief People Officer in 2023, bringing extensive operational experience to the People & Culture function. Her leadership approach centres on trust, curiosity, connection, practical judgement, and creating conditions for people to perform at their best. She is passionate about leadership, culture, resilience, organisational agility, and helping people navigate change while staying connected to their strengths and values. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 People & Culture leaders need more than HR expertise. They need commercial understanding, operational awareness, str
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