Elegant Leadership
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Elegant Leadership offers a methodology for leadership practice that is clear, simple and fit for purpose. It brings intentionality to day-to-day leadership, identifies core behaviours that work well and provides a framework for stretching further.
Elegant Leadership is about finding a balance between the styles of pleasing people and needing to be right. Using the ‘knowing-doing-being’ model of leadership, it promotes goal-setting and regular reflection in the quest for self-awareness and insights into what works best in a given context.
Leadership involves more than knowing what to do in difficult times and big moments. Effective leadership is often about the micro-moments, and is usually judged on the basis of small actions that accumulate over time. Elegant Leadership contains A-Z of keywords that promote actions that are simple, clear and effective, and offers workspace for personal contemplation, planning and regular reflection.
“This book is the mirror of the soul of a great leader. When you read it, what reflects back to you about yourself will enable you to map out your continuing path on the leadership journey, a journey that all good leaders will know should never end. Here is an elegant way to unpack the complex function of leadership that is grounded in the practical and applied way only someone who 'walked the talk' could convey.”
- Darren Mitchell
What people are saying
“Enjoying your book immensely … I’m continuing to read with pleasure and with agreement. There’s lots to ponder which is what I want in a good book”
“I have been enjoying [the book]. … Hopefully others pick it up as I have had quite a few ah ha moments where you explain something I have organically grown in my own leadership journey.”
“The book's arrived 🥳 I'm excited! … I'm so happy for you that it all … came together and now you have this glorious book as testimony to your own research and practice - you should be so proud!
Pete [Cammock] wrote a lovely foreword and I love the way he captured (as you reiterate) that you can drown in leadership books but 'how' to do it on a daily basis is something unique. I love your explanation of 'elegant' …
What I love most about the book is that the essence of it is quite condensed and then you're invited to use it as a daily guide to bring the theory into practice. It's so useful and a great mechanism for simply stopping, reflecting, and possibly doing something different. Very helpful 👍
Needless to say i'm enjoying your book.”
“Many thanks again for sharing your story with the network group …. You inspired others to think about who they are BEing as a leader and I loved your ‘KNIT’ action on the evening, as a leader.”
“ I'd love to purchase a few copies of your lovely book for a work thing I'm cooking up - … a prize draw … alongside an … event”
“I really enjoyed your presentation on Elegant Leadership.”
Links to articles
Kia Ora Magazine, December 2025 issue, p 104. Available online via the Kia Ora App. NZ Book Lovers, 5 December 2025: https://www.nzbooklovers.co.nz/post/interview-kris-cooper-talks-about-elegant-leadership
Metropol, 22 January 2026, pp 16-17: https://www.yumpu.com/kiosk/metropol/22-january-2026-metropol/70911260
Summertime with Anna Thomas, Radio New Zealand, 9 January 2026: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/summer-days/audio/2019019009/what-makes-a-good-leader-in-2026
Elegant Leadership event talking and workshops
Contact Kris for more information.
Event talking can range from 20 minutes to 2 hours.
Workshops can range from 2 hours to 1 day.
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Bulk pricing for order quantities of 5 or more; I will email you after your submission to inform you of pricing.
If you’d like me to talk about Elegant Leadership at your conference or leadership event, please use the form below or email me (kjcooper@xtra.co.nz).