Director | Trainer | Leadership & Performance Consultant

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John Woodward brings together a diverse background in leadership, professional driver training, transport, business ownership, operational safety and high-pressure decision-making.

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Before establishing Drive It, John spent 14 years with New Zealand Police, working across frontline policing, supervision, specialist operations and training. His career included the Armed Offenders Squad and Diplomatic Protection Service, along with involvement in major incidents and situations where leadership, communication, teamwork and sound decision-making under pressure genuinely mattered.

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Following Police, John built Drive It into a successful training business, working with thousands of people and businesses across a wide range of industries. His experience spans heavy transport, forestry, driver training and assessment, workplace safety, compliance and adult education, giving him an understanding of both what good systems look like and what actually works on the ground.

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John has also owned and operated businesses across different sectors, giving him first-hand experience of the realities employers and leaders face — managing people, building teams, making difficult decisions, dealing with risk and creating a culture where people are accountable for their performance.

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Today, that experience forms the foundation of the new Drive It.

Whether he's sitting alongside a professional driver, working with a new frontline leader, facilitating a leadership workshop or reviewing the culture and systems within a business, John's approach remains the same:

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Keep it practical. Ask the difficult questions. Develop people. Make things better.

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John's style is straightforward, engaging and grounded in real-world experience. He believes the best training should challenge people to think, create genuine conversation and leave them with something they can actually use when they return to work.

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Through Drive It, John now works with businesses across three key areas:

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Driving & Compliance | Leadership & Performance | Health & Safety & SOPs

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The common thread across all three is simple — helping good people become better and helping businesses build the systems that allow them to perform.

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DRIVE BETTER. LEAD BETTER.