Stu Van Rij
Stu helps leaders and teams perform in the conversations that matter most. High-stakes negotiations. Stakeholder relationships. Difficult conversations. Everyday influence.
A former specialist technology lawyer with more than twenty years of commercial and public sector experience, Stu has spent the past decade coaching and training leaders and teams across New Zealand and internationally. He works with his clients in the moments that test them, helping them navigate what’s hard, gain buy-in and strengthen relationships. Because, after all, the quality of the conversation drives the quality of the results.
Wellington Keynote: Confidence Shift: It’s in the doing, not the wishing or the waiting
The last few years have knocked confidence around for a lot of people, and Business Analysts feel that pressure more than most. You sit at the intersection of change, complexity and competing stakeholders, where the pressure to have the answer is constant and the appetite for ambiguity is low.
This keynote looks at what it actually takes to build and protect confidence, for yourself and for the people you work with. We’ll cover how to stay grounded in the moments that test you, how to bring more calm to high pressure situations, and how to encourage confidence in others without slipping into false reassurance or over-control.
Auckland Keynote: Influence – When Logic Doesn’t Land
We all know the frustration. People who resist, shut down, or just don’t see it. When logic doesn’t land, pushing harder won’t help, and neither does a better slide deck or one more round of data.
In this keynote, we’ll explore a fresh approach to getting through to the stubborn, sceptical, and stuck. Not by turning up the volume, but by shifting what they see, the place where influence actually happens. This is a session for BAs who want to cut through noise, work with resistance instead of against it, and move people toward real change.
Auckland Panellist: From AI hype to measurable value: are NZ organisations solving the right problems? Have we simply replaced ‘digital transformation theatre’ with ‘AI theatre’?