The Vital Leadership Series - Women & Leadership New Zealand

Important update from Women & Leadership New Zealand about program delivery during 2026.

The Vital Leadership Series

Sharpen Your Leadership Edge in 90-Minutes
8 interactive masterclasses – choose one or complete the series

 

Series Snapshot

8 x 90-minute live online masterclasses

Enrol in one or more masterclasses to suit your needs

Best-practice leadership strategies and proven frameworks

Practical tools you can apply immediately

Suited to leaders of any gender

A head shot of Karen Surmon smiling and a red background

We know you’re busy – you’ve told us! – and yet boosting your leadership skills and capacity is as important as ever. This series of bite-size masterclasses will give you the support and insights you need, with minimal disruption to your day. Join us for a powerful leadership boost.

Karen Surmon
General Manager, Women & Leadership New Zealand

Real-World Leadership for a Rapidly Changing World

Tap into practical strategies, flexible sessions, and fresh insights to grow your influence and energise your leadership.

Make time for growth with bite-sized, high-impact learning

Tackle real-world challenges with tools you can use straight away

Learn in a flexible, high-impact format that fits your schedule

Grow your impact and inspire those around you

Lead with purpose, and the confidence to make bold, clear decisions

Masterclass Topics

 

Managing Stress: Protecting Against Burnout

Managing stress in the workplace is key to enhancing wellbeing and protecting against burnout. This masterclass explores how leaders can leverage self-awareness, create a psychologically safe environment, and understand the stress response to proactively care for themselves and their teams.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Explore practical ways to reduce burnout
  • Support your team’s wellbeing and psychological safety
  • Understand and harness your surge capacity

 

 

Decision Making: Leading in Uncertainty

In times of change and disruption, decision making can become even more complex and challenging. This masterclass explores how leaders can understand the basic needs of the brain, take responsibility for their actions, and make good decisions in the face of uncertainty.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Understand the role of emotions in decision-making
  • Learn how to mitigate complex decision fatigue
  • Gain practical tools for better decision-making

 

 

Team Dynamics: Leading With Empathy

Harnessing team dynamics is key to leading a high-performing team – even more so for diverse teams, and those working in hybrid and flexible workplaces. This masterclass explores how leaders can build empathy, connection and trust in diverse teams, and apply social awareness to understand and strengthen team dynamics.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Explore social awareness, diversity and inclusion
  • Gain practical tips to improve team dynamics
  • Discover how the Pyramid of Trust applies to your team

 

 

Resilience: Reclaiming Your Leadership Mojo

Resilience is a leadership superpower in complex and challenging times. This masterclass explores how leaders can rebound from set-backs, enhance personal and team resilience, and creating spaces for wellbeing, rituals and recovery.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Discover the five core elements of happiness and well-being
  • Practical tips to build social capital
  • Harness the ‘third space’ for recovery and wellbeing

 

 

Leading Change: Supporting Teams Through Transition

Change is constant. How leaders respond can make all the difference. This masterclass explores how leaders can understand common mindsets and team responses to change, apply practical tools and actions, and reflect on how their own strengths and responses shape their leadership during change.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Understand common mindsets and your team’s responses to change
  • Use practical tools and take targeted leadership actions to support your team during times of change
  • Reflect on how your strengths and responses shape your leadership during change

 

 

Constructive Conflict: Tools for Powerful Conversations

Unlock the power of embracing conflict and build capacity to tackle conflict with confidence. This masterclass explores how to reframe conflict, understand it more deeply and provides practical tools to equip leaders to have conversations that create clarity, connection, and real change.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Reframe how you see conflict and recognise its potential as a leader
  • Analyse your own experiences of conflict and compare different approaches to managing conflict
  • Apply practical tools to confidently prepare for and lead conversations that address conflict

 

 

Confident Negotiations: Prepare to Succeed

People who prepare are four times more likely to succeed in negotiations. This masterclass explores how leaders can effectively apply common tools to prepare for a successful negotiation, so that you can enter situations with confidence and a clear understanding of what you want to achieve.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Prepare for a negotiation by identifying interests and common ground
  • Use proven techniques to create clarity for yourself and the other party
  • Open the negotiation confidently and apply appropriate leverage strategies

 

 

AI for Leaders: Leadership in an AI-Enabled Organisation

AI in organisations is not a matter of if, but when. As its influence grows, so does the responsibility of leaders to ensure outcomes are strategically aligned, ethically sound and human-centred.

In this 90-minute session, leaders will explore what matters most as AI becomes embedded in their organisations, where value is created, where risk is introduced, and how leadership shapes responsible adoption.

In this masterclass you will:

  • Understand the implications of AI for your organisation and leadership role
  • Identify where leaders create value and where AI can amplify risk
  • Examine how data, context and bias influence outcomes
  • Deepen your understanding of responsible leadership in AI-influenced environments.

 

Office Background Woman at laptop

How the Vital Leadership Series Works

The Vital Leadership Series is a flexible program of eight high-impact, 90-minute masterclasses led by an expert facilitator designed to equip you with the practical skills to lead with confidence, resilience, and clarity. Each session hones in on a critical leadership skill, from leading change and managing conflict to leveraging AI. Join one or complete the full series, and walk away with fresh tools, sharper insight, and greater impact as a leader.