AEGIS LEADERSHIP
Our Mission
At Aegis Leadership, we bring the precision, discipline, and clarity of military leadership into the modern workplace.
Our mission is simple: to build leaders and teams who perform under pressure, lead with integrity, and deliver results that matter.
We’ve lived leadership where it counts — in aviation, operations, and high-stakes military environments where clarity, cohesion, and courage decide outcomes.
Now, we translate those battle-tested principles into practical, effective leadership development for executives, business owners, and organisations across New Zealand and beyond.
Our philosophy
Leadership is not about titles, rank, or personality.
It is behaviour. It is how you show up when stakes are high and pressure is real.
Great leaders make things clearer, calmer, and more coordinated — not more complicated.
We teach leaders to think with clarity, act with discipline, and communicate with purpose.
Because when leaders perform better, teams perform better — and organisations win.
Our journey
How Aegis Leadership Came To Be
Our partnership began in an unexpected place: the cricket field.
Our bond was forged as the opening bowling attack for the RNZAF Men’s Cricket Team. We both became part of the leadership group of one of the most dominant teams in NZDF history, winning the NZDF Men’s Tournament 14 years in a row.
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That team taught us a lot about leadership culture:
standards, discipline, trust, cohesion, and high performance under pressure.
It was the first chapter in a shared leadership philosophy built not on theory, but on lived experience.
Over the years, we worked together across multiple business ventures, and in doing so we kept seeing the same pattern in organisations everywhere:
Leaders genuinely wanting to grow, but being met with the fluff, hype, and motivational noise of traditional leadership coaching.
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Leadership development simply wasn’t matching the pressure modern leaders were under.
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So we decided to do something about it.
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The world didn’t need another generic leadership coach.
It needed a company built on courage, performance, and the principles that actually create real leadership.
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That’s why we created Aegis, to raise leadership standards by bringing integrity, discipline, and clarity back into leadership.
what makes aegis different
The principles behind the way we develop leaders
01
Leadership is behavior, not theory
We don’t teach models for the sake of models.
We build leaders through habits, standards, and real-world application.
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03
Pressure-tested leadership development
The environments we draw from demand calm, disciplined, reliable leadership.
We bring that same standard to every engagement.
05
Tools you will use the next day
Everything we teach is practical, simple to use, and built for everyday leadership moments — not workshops that are forgotten the next week.
02
Clarity over complexity
Strong leadership makes things simpler, not harder.
We help leaders communicate with precision, remove noise, and create alignment.
04
Discipline and accountability at the core
Lasting leadership improvement only happens when leaders are held accountable and supported through real change.
our approach
We take a disciplined, structured approach to leadership development:
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• Diagnose
We identify the real issues, clarity gaps, communication breakdowns, accountability weaknesses, or leadership behaviours.
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• Develop
We provide practical tools, coaching, and training that leaders can apply immediately in their real-world environment.
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• Embed
We help leaders and teams build habits, systems, and behaviours that last well beyond a workshop or coaching session.
Leadership development is only effective if it changes behaviour — that’s what our approach is built for.
Our Team
Aegis Leadership is led by two experienced leadership professionals with deep military roots and corporate experience.
Chris Turkington
Lead Coach – Marlborough
With over 20 years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Chris has extensive experience in leadership, coaching, and team development. His career includes roles as a Physical Training Instructor, SERE Instructor, and instructor at the Command Leadership School, where he continues to be invited back to teach. He has led teams ranging from small units to over 100 personnel, working alongside international partners and special forces communities in complex environments. A high-level sportsman in cricket and football, Chris draws on both military and sporting experience to build and inspire high-performing teams. Outside of work, he enjoys time with family, personal development, and golf.
Richard raven
Lead Coach, Auckland
Richard is a people-focused leader who thrives on helping individuals and teams reach their full potential. With 11 years of military experience in both aviation and leadership roles as well as 4 years in corporate leadership, he brings a unique balance of calm under pressure and practical know-how. Known for his resilience and ability to always find a way forward, Richard equips others with the clarity and confidence to make strong decisions, build high-performing teams, and grow both personally and professionally.