Futurespace Courageous Conversations: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Do you bring your whole self to work? Can you express your thoughts and ideas freely? Do you feel safe, valued and respected? Does your workplace feel inclusive? Would you recommend it as a great place to work to others?
New Zealand’s demographic landscape is constantly changing. We need to ensure our organisations keep up with this change and reflect the communities we serve by being diverse and inclusive if we are to meet the needs of future generations and attract great talent to our businesses.
At Futurespace 2024, attendees discussed strategies for recruiting and retaining diverse talent, and effective steps businesses can take to genuinely lead inclusive work environments.
Futurespace courageous conversations: Leadership in times of change
Good leadership is always challenging, but it is even more critical in times of uncertainty and change when leaders must be daring and lead with courage.
If we are going to galvanise and empower our teams and clients to thrive into the future, we must know how to lead through change, which is the one constant in our lives today. It’s about understanding the hearts and minds of change, the shifting balance between pace and momentum, and the importance of taking people with you.
Futurespace 2024 keynote speaker Kemi Nekvapil spoke of the four skillsets of daring leaders:
Rumbling with vulnerability: taking emotional risks without a guaranteed outcome. We step into the arena and even if we fail, we fail greatly.
Living into our values as leaders: to do this, we must understand our top three or four values. Do the 100 values exercise here to find out yours.
Braving trust: this is about self-trust and trust with others. Braving stands for Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault (confidentiality), Integrity (choosing what is right instead of what is fast, comfortable, or easy), Non-Judgment, Generosity.
Rising strong: rising above challenges and leading teams through tough moments to build trust and support.
You can also read our interview with Kemi about being courageous here.
At the workshop sessions at Futurespace, we asked attendees for their thoughts on effective leadership during significant changes, such as economic downturns or technological disruptions. ACE Chief Executive Helen Davidson said sharing the diverse insights contributed will help leaders effectively guide their organisations and support employees to build resilience and foster innovation in these changing times.
Futurespace courageous conversations: Navigating economic uncertainty
Are you concerned about your company’s financial future? Do you have a steady workstream lined up for the next six months? Are there areas in which you could save costs? Do you have a long-term plan for managing economic cycles?
We’re coming to the end of another complex year in which we’ve experienced many changes, including a shift from strong economic growth to recession warnings, a new coalition government, and a drop in inflation. These are tough times to navigate and it can be challenging to remain upbeat when you don’t know what lies ahead.
During the workshop sessions at Futurespace 2024, we asked attendees to share strategies and ideas for managing financial challenges such as inflation, boom and bust cycles, and supply chain disruptions, including cost-cutting measures and leveraging technology. ACE Chief Executive Helen Davidson said bringing great minds and diverse experiences together resulted in some valuable discussion, and we’re sharing the insights below to help support you in navigating economic uncertainty, managing financial challenges, and positioning your organisations for long-term success.
The future of architecture, engineering and consultancies: from data as a by-product to a data-driven industry – with Tim Wark
AECOM Global Artificial Intelligence Lead Tim Wark is passionate about helping organisations and individuals become more creative and productive and he thinks the opportunities artificial intelligence (AI) presents are worth getting excited about.
“Organisations will become more relational and strategic and shift the focus to going on the journey with their clients. It gets exciting when you look at it through this lens.”
With over 25 years’ experience in digital innovation in public and private sectors, including digital strategy, product management and commercialisation, you’ll want to be at Tim’s keynote session at Futurespace 2024 this October in Christchurch where he will get you enthused about what the AI disruption ahead means for the sector.
We asked Tim about the impact AI will have on the sector and the opportunities that will result.
How to sell and price like the expert you are – with Blair Enns
“Your first job is to be the expert advisor or practitioner. Your second job is selling that expertise.”
If you’ve ever felt that these two roles conflict, don’t miss Win Without Pitching founder Blair Enns’ inspirational keynote session at Futurespace 2024 this October in Christchurch where he’ll guide you to drop the salesperson persona and sell the way you practice.
Blair’s soon-to-be released third book The Four Conversations: A New Model for Selling Expertise will form the basis of his session at which he aims to change the way attendees think about selling.
“My goal is for the audience to not be intimidated by the second job of selling. I want to set them on this journey of falling in love with it, something most of them would say is impossible. It’s a rethinking of what it means to sell and a framework for how to do this – principles to embody as you use the framework to navigate the sale.”
We asked the Amazon best-selling author of The Win Without Pitching Manifesto how he plans to inspire the audience to make this change and ease the pressure many are experiencing in this challenging market.
Genetically modified and courageous – David Downs on beating adversity with optimism and innovation
Self-titled ‘genetically modified optimist’ David Downs’ experience of finding courage through adversity following his cancer diagnosis makes him a great fit for this year’s Futurespace MC.
An entertaining and inspiring speaker with an uplifting message, we’re thrilled to harness David’s optimism and innovative mindset for the conference, which is focused on courageous change in a challenging market.
From vulnerability to victory – the benefits of embracing courage with Anton Matthews
Hustle Group Director Anton Matthews tells a compelling story about acting courageously. The story is good because it’s based on being vulnerable and taking a leap to bring values intrinsic to his core – his culture and language – to the forefront of his food and beverage businesses and winning.
It’s a story about leading with openness and honesty to try and normalise te reo Māori in his businesses and community and inspire others to embrace Aotearoa New Zealand’s rich cultural heritage. And, as Anton says, the rest is history. The story was a hit, and the growth and opportunities that have resulted for the businesses are ongoing.
Anton is a keynote speaker at Futurespace 2024 in Ōtautahi Christchurch this October. We asked him for a taste of the stories he’ll share.
What it means to dare greatly – with Kemi Nekvapil
Kemi Nekvapil is one of the world’s leading credentialled coaches for female executives and entrepreneurs, a bestselling author and a highly sought-after international speaker.
She has studied leadership and purpose at The Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan and trained with Dr Brené Brown to become a certified Dare to Lead™ facilitator, working with teams and organisations to create daring leaders and courageous cultures.
Courageous change is the theme for Futurespace 2024, the ACE New Zealand conference being held in October in Christchurch, and we are very excited to be opening our flagship annual event with a keynote from Kemi about “daring greatly”.
We asked Kemi about being courageous in the current climate and a key learning the audience will take from her session.
Futurespace 2023 wrap up
Over 170 professional consultants and their clients attended our conference Futurespace 2023 where only a few weeks out from the election we spoke about the big issues like climate change adaptation and mitigation, the infrastructure deficit, housing, immigration and digital innovation affecting our industry. Here’s a wrap-up from the event.
Leading through change – with Auckland Airport chief Carrie Hurihanganui
Carrie Hurihanganui became Chief Executive of Auckland Airport in February 2022, a time of unprecedented change for tourism and aviation as New Zealand’s border began to reopen after the Covid-19 pandemic. Ahead of her appearance at the Futurespace conference, we talk to Carrie about leading through change.