What People Say

My philosophy has always been to develop skills and capability internally to deliver any organisation's own learning programmes as much as possible.

To do that you need to develop strong facilitation and coaching capability across teams. journey-smiths helps achieve this by building both confidence and capability, designing and delivering creative and challenging interventions that really push people out of their comfort zone, and into new growth.

I would highly recommend journey-smiths for anyone wanting to explore a more sustainable and effective way to deliver change, develop strong leaders and ensure it connects to the core purpose and values of your organisation.

Chrissy Marshall - Senior Manager - Banking - Repeat NZ Client

Connecting hearts and minds, Jes strength is in his innate ability to align connections between organisational strategy and individual goals to see meaningful change, growth and development occur.

Along with possessing a true skill of building strong relationships with those who participate in his workshops, the approach is always conversational and empowering as Jes draws on the knowledge and experience within the room to find the answers.

For over 10 years the opportunities I have had to work alongside Jes have been fun, memorable, and impactful to the business and team members.

Leroy Sisnett - Senior Manager - Insurance & Retail - Repeat NZ Client

Jes is a world-class facilitator, speaker and coach.

There are very few people who work in this space who offer the talent, integrity and energy that he does.

He’s a master of the art and science of delivering transformational learning experiences.

And he does so with a humour, humility and intelligence that the rest of us aspire to.

Carol Howard - Leadership Coach, Team Coach, Facilitator – NZ Peer

Jes Smith is the living embodiment of the term 'iceberg knowledge'.

What this man doesn't know about how to get a group of people to work together to explore their shared knowledge and experience, get to grips with new concepts and ideas, and then turn it into life and business changing action...isn't much!

Its an absolute pleasure working with Jes and his team on TakeON! in the NZ market. I've learned and laughed a lot!

Kate Billing - Humanist, Leadership Specialist, B-Corp Founder - NZ Peer

Jes has that amazing ability to really connect a group of people to what’s important for an organisation.

Whether it be small group. or large, he really engages them and gets them to understand and get excited about their role in the journey ahead.

Transformation always starts by changing people’s mindsets and that is what Jes is so great at – getting people to buy-in to change and start owning it.

His experience, humour and approach will get your team on-board with change.

Grant Costello - Senior Manager - Assisted Living - Former NZ Colleague

Jes is an intelligent and centred leadership practitioner who demonstrates authenticity, service and integrity in everything he does.

As a facilitator, he is engaging in his style and practical in his approach.

I can highly recommend Jes as a peer who I would trust to be effective in any organisation.

Phillip Ralph - Managing Director, The Leadership Sphere - AU Peer

I have loved many things about engaging with Jes and the work he has completed at BNZ.

In particular I love the deep listening and exploring Jes does when he seeks to understand the problem you are looking to solve, and the flexibility he brings to his facilitation style and content.

It is easy to start with a facilitation plan for the day, but plans can easily go out the window as you discover the big rocks within a team aren’t actually what you thought they were.

Jes is excellent at adapting content to the unexpected moments and given his wide knowledge of frameworks was always able to design an in-the-moment approach.

And very importantly I love his humour, which is great for defusing any awkward team moments.

Elizabeth Hughes - Senior Manager - Banking - NZ Client

I've had the privilege of working with Jes Smith across two different businesses over the last 6 years.

Jes is an amazing facilitator by way of engaging his audience, keeping things rolling whilst combining the ability to embed learning.

His energy and style creates a safe sharing environment and our teams absolutely loved the positive and relevant content that builds on their own experiences.

We have enjoyed some amazing results off the back of this supported learning with improvements in many areas with some lovely surprises thrown in.

Our focus on engagement driven by frontline leaders connecting with the team through meaningful conversations has led to tangible improvements in team engagement, safety, attendance and productivity.

As a leader it's refreshing to have someone like Jes spend time developing future leaders in our business and providing some trusted tools/frameworks for the kete that really work.

Anita Smith - Senior Manager - Supply Chain & Logistics - Repeat NZ Client

Jes from journey-smiths worked with a group of Catholic school headteachers in Sheffield.

We had been working together for many years but had failed to set up an effective working arrangement that would mean we had a positive balance of collaboration and competition.

We spent two days working with Jes in a leadership offsite and the impact has been incredible.

We now share policies, staff and a vision that is having a real impact in all of our schools.

As well as that the experience was inspirational, humorous and enabled us to appreciate each other.

Fiona Rigby - School Principal - Education - Repeat UK Client

Developing a new leadership team within CHUMS was a priority.

Jes from journey-smiths came for two days and facilitated an excellent workshop.

He was warm, engaging and empathic. It was challenging in many ways and we went through a process that helped us to shift our thinking and come together as a cohesive leadership team. Jes switched the pace and offered flexible and responsive ideas. He helped us focus on what we need to do together to create a firmer foundation for the future.

I highly recommend him.

Dawn Hewitt - Chief Executive - Social Services - UK Client

I’d recommend Jes (and I frequently do) as the best in the business at:

Developing The Capability Of Facilitators

As a coach of facilitators myself, Jes is always top of my list to both develop lead facilitators, and someone I turn to for coaching myself. What’s remarkable about Jes is, though we’ve worked together for 10 years, he always manages to keep the input he gives fresh, and he’s tireless as a coach. To me, it’s the mark of an Uber-Coach that I can go out for a pint with Jes, think we’ve had a casual conversation and spend the next week thinking about the questions he’s asked and the insights he’s shared.

Learning Design

Jes excels when there’s time and budget to design a multi-year programme, and he’s adept and nimble when the client needs to take a far more agile, just-in-time approach. There’s real rigour, depth and smarts behind what Jes builds into a development piece, yet from the end user experience, what they get feels natural, easy to engage with and conversational. Typical feedback I get from sessions that Jes has designed, then skilled up internal resources to deliver is: ‘It just felt like a natural conversation, but it’s one of the most important conversations we’ve had in years.’

Remarkable Depths Of Positivity & Self-Control

This too sets Jes apart from many facilitators: from what the client experiences, he’s unflappable. He ALWAYS shows up for the client with positivity, flexibility and grace, yet he’s got a plan, and he gets it done - leading what are often challenging groups toward the required outcome. In the gnarliest of transformations, Jes is the guy you need on your team!

Peter Mack - Senior Consultant - Operational Excellence - UK Peer