About Alicia McKay

About me

Hi, I'm Alicia McKay. I write books and essays, train leaders, and speak to teams and conferences. I tackle big ideas in practical ways, which makes my work useful for any thinker, leader or professional who wants to understand and influence the world around them. I help you with questions like: Why are things the way they are? Who does that serve? Can we do it better? How?

My work is primarily for decision-makers, advisors, and strategic thinkers. I offer frameworks and tools to make good decisions and navigate high-stakes environments - a bridge between academic waffle and self-help platitudes.

My motto: No buzzwords, no bullshit.

I've been obsessed with power since I was a teenage foster kid

I’ve been obsessed with power since I was a teenage foster kid, watching adults and government agencies make a hash of things. That experience, and a belief in my capacity to beat the system, has shaped everything I’ve done since.

At 17, a baby on my hip, I talked my way into uni to study law, politics, and media. I wanted to understand how decisions get made - and by whom.

I started my career as a policy analyst and strategic planner before becoming a business case consultant. I learned how money moves, how rules are made, how choices - and how to influence that. I saw the gap between bureaucracy and public value and watched good people trapped in flawed systems.

I help senior leaders in government and business become more strategic and effective

For the past 15 years, I've worked as a strategic advisor, consultant and trainer for companies, Councils and government officials, helping them to make smart decisions, spend money well, and turn good intentions into action. I've led strategic planning, organisational transformation and leadership development for organisations across New Zealand and Australia.

I've partnered with over 100 public and private sector organisations to deliver change and leadership programmes like Strategy to Action, Not an MBA, Meetings that Matter, Strategic Public Leaders and Local Legends and advised elected and executive leaders at all levels of government.

Highlights include delivering large-scale strategic leadership training for organisations like Woolworths, and partnering with New Zealand's Solicitor General on the future direction of Crown Law. Read and watch case studies.

Local government expertise

I've worked with over 50 Councils across New Zealand and Australia and spoken at local government conferences around the world. In 2025, I was named one of LGIU's Top 25 Thinkers in Local Government, and travelled to the USA to speak to the ICMA Annual Conference and Global Engagement Committee. I created the Local Legends Toolkit, delivered through local government member associations across the world, to teach Mayors and Councillors strategic leadership skills. Read more about my work with local government.

Themes of my work

My cynicism is always outweighed by my compassion. Everyone is usually doing their best, even when the outcomes are unjust or ineffective. We can design systems and support people to shift toward value and impact.

Strategy and Decisions

Shaping the future isn't easy - in our lives, work, or communities. We need to be clear on our values and priorities and understand how systems, people, and stories interact. Strategy helps us see patterns and align people and resources to turn ideas into action.

Decision-making is a teachable, learnable skill. When we know how to make better decisions, we deliver better outcomes. I'm fascinated by how people make tricky, subjective choices with no right answer.

Public leadership

The public sector aims to deliver public value, but that doesn't mean they will. Leading in the public sector requires different skills than business: navigating bureaucracy and politics, serving diverse and conflicting goals and stakeholders, and delivering on the promise of democracy.

Power, systems and stories

Our default thoughts are rarely our own. Ideas, beliefs and norms aren't neutral, and they have a powerful impact on how we live, work and lead. I'm interested in how we see, survive and shift the systems we live in and the stories we tell.

What I do

I write books and essays, train leaders, and speak to teams and conferences. I run public and partnered training and deliver workshops online.

Writer

I publish newsletters, essays, articles and op-eds. I've written three books on strategy, change and leadership and I am working on a new project focused on power - how to see and shift the systems we live in, and the stories we tell. Subscribe to receive my writing directly to your inbox.

Speaker

I speak on stages and screens across the world to audiences from over 20 countries. I deliver keynotes and workshops, MC conferences, and moderate panels.

Strategist

I partner with a select few organisations each year to offer support and advice on strategy, decision-making, leadership and systems design. This includes in-house and online workshops, strategy sessions and leadership training.

Check out training here, or contact the team if you have a project in mind.

Current projects

Local Legends Toolkit

The Local Legends Toolkit builds on the book and in-house programme to offer self-paced strategic leadership development for Mayors and Councillors around the world. Available in New Zealand through LGNZ and elsewhere via your local members' association.

Power literacy

I’m currently working on a new body of work around power literacy. Who has it, what is it made of, how can we see it, and how can we shift it? I want people to have the tools to understand how power works - and how to use it well.