Future Ready 2026
Future Ready Skills for Adaptive Leadership
12–13 May 2026, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
Our world has changed.
The environment we’re working in is more complex and uncertain.
These changeable dynamics require leaders who are more change able.
Knowing that greater uncertainty can also inspire greater possibilities.
The days of leaders having all the answers are past.
Today’s leaders need to co-create solutions to complex challenges with diverse teams and new digital tools. This workplace adaptation depends on a fundamental shift in thinking – from a fixed mindset to a growth Mindleap.
Why? We can only work in new ways if we can also lead in new ways. Leading in new ways requires thinking in new ways. By developing new thought patterns. New leadership habits.
Resulting in a leading-edge set of skills ready for the future of work.
Ready for today.
Welcome to Future Ready.
Future Ready is a leadership development programme that builds pivotal new leadership skills.
The group format equips you with a Future Ready Leadership Toolkit and expert coaching with Futurist Dave Wild – combined with the support and insight of other future-focused leaders across a diverse community of organisations taking part.
Creating meaningful change doesn’t happen through thought alone. So you’ll also develop and apply within your organisation a set of Future Ready Leadership skills:
Progress confidently forward with Visionary and Strategic frameworks
Leverage valuable resources with Inclusive and Digital capabilities
Expand new opportunities with Collaborative and Innovative methods
Action meaningful change with Adaptive and Impactful outcomes
By the conclusion of the Future Ready programme you will have developed a leading-edge set of leadership skills needed in the modern workplace. Inspiring others with new possibilities. Shifting teams and projects forward. Upskilling your own capabilities and others around you.
Creating a greater future today.
The Future Ready Leadership programme
is supported by the Futurework Guidebook
WATCH: Future Ready Leadership (3 min)
Future Ready Results
CEO, National Local Government Organisation:
“I came into this session trying to only change me, but realised it is about changing or working through others that would have a greater benefit (as well as me). If everyone did this course what a different world of possibilities would open up.”
Executive Director, Research Organisation:
“I have been involved with workshops/programmes before where you learn lots on the course but don't truly have tangible take-aways to action and help put to use the skills learnt. This programme does and the learnings are facilitated in an interactive, 'help to create your learnings' way.”
Cybersecurity Executive Manager, Global Charitable Organisation:
The programme “encourages and teaches you how to expand your thinking to help build a future thinking strategy that benefits the business. It forced me out of my day-to-day grind and made me think differently and then to present the results to the rest of the team.”
CEO, National Health Organisation:
“In the current work and life environs we are experiencing, the skills and habits Dave teaches can help people raise their head above the parapet and actually start to see the future and its possibilities. To be able to look at yourself, your colleagues or team and your organisation and understand why you/they operate as they do and how you can change your mindset and help your organisation do the same.”
The Future Ready Leadership programme equips you with:
Future Ready brings together cohorts of future-focused leaders to work together in person, supported by a series of short video lessons with online group coaching sessions over six weeks.
By applying your learnings to actual work activities during the programme, you’ll learn and develop a critical set of Future Ready Leadership skills for leading in the changed work environment.
Visionary Leadership
Vision means to see. Develop your visionary ability to create clarity from complexity with Futures Thinking and Scenario Planning. Elevate your thinking to comprehend the big picture, while inspiring others to achieve greater outcomes.
Strategic Leadership
Strategy is a plan of action to achieve major aims. Learn how to develop Strategic Foresight that energises and inspires in times of change. Identifying growth opportunities through Systems Thinking while mitigating risks, to leap ahead of fast-changing conditions.
Collaborative Leadership
Collaboration doesn’t simply mean teamwork. Collaboration involves pushing beyond your typical day-to-day interactions – which is why collaborators cross established boundaries. Learn how to detect new trends and signals of the future that are all around us.
Adaptive Leadership
Adapting to changing conditions requires being comfortable with new ideas that don’t make sense at first. Learn how to advance into uncertainty to discover new ways forward. Adapting perspectives and associated decisions to shift with agility in complex environments.
Developing Future Ready Leadership skills
builds the organisational capabilities needed to adapt in fast-changing uncertain environments
The Future Ready programme integrates pivotal insights and capabilities from our AI Leadership masterclasses
Future Ready’s unique 1:1 design means every paid booking also
enables a leader from a charitable organisation to participate at no charge.
This blend of commercial and community perspectives
equips leaders to better understand and advance the world around them.
Charities proudly supported have included Accessible Properties, Auckland City Mission, Canteen, EcoMatters, Heart Kids, Hospice, Housing First, Keep NZ Beautiful, KiwiHarvest, Medical Research Foundation, Neurological Foundation, Ngāti Porou Oranga, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Māia, Pasifika Futures, Pathways, Tokona te Raki, TupuToa, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Starship, Hato Hone St John, Surf Life Saving, World Vision, World Wildlife Fund and Youthtown.
Programme Format
The Future Ready Leadership programme gives you an inspiring new perspective on the world, by developing your ability to strategically Mindleap forward.
In 2026 you can join a cohort beginning in May.
You’ll be expertly coached across the full set of Future Ready Leadership skills using the programme content and toolkit. The interactive and inspiring hybrid format begins with two in-person development days. Followed by three further 90-minute online masterclass sessions – which provide inspiring and energising community interaction, workplace application and shared learnings.
As well as developing your own skills, the Future Ready format and resources equip you to develop the capabilities of your own team. Learning how to move others forward from states of being resistant and reactive, to being Future Ready.
Future Ready – May 2026
The 2026 Future Ready Leadership programme runs over six weeks, designed to support your work and key priorities
Begins with two in-person Future Ready development days
in Auckland, Aotearoa New ZealandTue 12 May 10am–4:30pm
Wed 13 May 9am–3:30pm
Followed by three recommended online group coaching sessions (90 min)
Mon 25 May 2pm NZT
Mon 8 Jun 2pm NZT
Mon 22 Jun 2pm NZT
Between each coaching session you apply Future Ready Leadership skills as part of your everyday work, sharing learnings across the group
Concludes with an open-book multi-choice assessment and Future Ready Leadership Certificate of Completion
Supported by six months’ access to an extensive Future Ready Leadership Toolkit including coaching videos, worksheets and the Futurework Guidebook
Our Future Ready venue at Generator in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is designed to inspire and energise with a light-filled creative environment
Investment
To join the Future Ready Leadership programme and gain everything outlined here, your investment is $2,800+gst per person.
Super Earlybird bookings are available until 18 December 2025 at $2,100+gst per person.
We find when colleagues attend together they benefit from deeper shared learnings, so you’re welcome to book additional places. The 2026 Future Ready programme is limited to a cohort of just 18 forward-thinking leaders.
Future Ready’s unique 1:1 design means that every paid booking also enables a leader from a charitable organisation to take part at no charge. Charities proudly supported have included Accessible Properties, Canteen, EcoMatters, Heart Kids, Hospice, Neurological Foundation, Whai Māia, Pasifika Futures, Pathways, Tokona te Raki, Red Cross, Starship, Hato Hone St John, Surf Life Saving and Youthtown.
Inhouse Development Programme
Future Ready can also be delivered as a tailored inhouse leadership programme.
Ideal for:
- Leadership development
- Talent programmes
- Executive retreats
Formats include:
- Group sizes from 9 to 36
- Programmes from 3 to 12 months
For more details see Future Ready Leadership
or get in touch to explore further.
Our development programmes and events have been attended by leaders from across society including…
WATCH: Futurist Dave Wild Showreel (4 min)
Internationally renowned Futurist Dave Wild is a world-leading expert in developing Future Ready Leadership skills.
Living on the edge of the world in Aotearoa New Zealand, he works with leaders and teams across the globe – creating a greater future for their organisations, customers and society at large including:
Visioning with the Digital Government Leaders of the United Kingdom, South Korea, Estonia and New Zealand
Coaching Digital and Innovation Leadership Labs across sectors including Finance, Environment and Technology
Facilitating the NZ Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council to explore the Future of Work
Delivering Futurist keynote presentations on stages and screens across the world from South Auckland to Sydney to San Francisco
Through this work with a diverse range of leaders across all levels, Dave has built deep expertise in the Future Ready skills needed to confidently lead into the future.
“Dave challenged us to move our modes of thinking towards longer-term future possibilities and away from just the obvious and immediate. Dave’s impact on our organisation has been profound. We have aimed to develop a more free-thinking, creative approach to problem-solving and really try to continuously imagine what the future could look like and determine how Bluelab will evolve and thrive in that future state.”
“What I love most about Dave is his flexibility in adapting to the requirements of the culture of the organisation and the desired outcomes. He offers fresh perspectives and exposes you to global trends and innovations. Dave brings a huge array of tools and I have seen him take people through a journey where even people who don’t consider themselves to be creative or innovative start making connections and generating new ways of thinking to start doing things differently for their business.”
“My experience of Dave is that he inspires and delivers. One of his key strengths is his flexibility – he can work with a wide range of people and organisations and at different scales, timeframes and on disparate problem spaces. Nothing scares him, nothing bores him. Dave couples a high energy, hands-on and inclusive style with a sharp strategic brain. I have always had fantastic feedback about the impact that Dave has made.”
“Dave Wild is a genius. A futurist, strategist and provocateur. One of the things I love about his style is his ability to project thinking into the future in a pragmatic, relatable way – he connects the information to the audience, making the future relatable and relevant to their world. He is generous with his knowledge and keen to help other people navigate their path to better thinking. He’s one of those people that you can relax and let loose on a group knowing it will go well and deliver outstanding results.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Future Ready Leadership programme designed for?
This leadership programme is ideal for Senior and High-potential Leaders along with others who need to collaboratively lead into an inspiring future. Participants have included a diverse range of future-focused leaders ranging from next-generation managers to Chief Executives.
When does the programme start and finish?
The 2026 programme commences with a two-day in-person workshop experience on Tue 12 + Wed 13 May 2026. Over the following six weeks you can also participate in three online group coaching sessions (2pm NZT on Mon 25 May, Mon 8 Jun and Mon 22 Jun) and an open-book multi-choice assessment for a Future Ready Leadership Certificate of Completion. All sessions are personally facilitated by Futurist Dave Wild.
How long is the programme? Will I have time for this?
The Future Ready programme combines two development days with short on-demand videos and three online group coaching sessions (90 mins) over six weeks. Rather than having to complete additional projects, you will apply the new tools and techniques learnt as part of your everyday work – advancing your leadership capabilities while building Future Ready Leadership skills.
When do I need to be available?
Tue 12 + Wed 13 May 2026 for the two-day in-person workshop. Mon 25 May, Mon 8 Jun and Mon 22 Jun are the dates for the recommended 90-min online group coaching sessions. You can undertake the assessment whenever it suits.
Do I have to take part in the group coaching?
The support of the group coaching environment facilitated by Futurist Dave Wild extends your development. You will benefit from ideas and learnings from other leaders across different industries within the group coaching. The online group coaching sessions are highly recommended but not mandatory.
Can I get personal 1:1 mentoring?
Yes – you can broaden your development with Mentoring, which extends your learning with online personal 1:1 Futurist mentoring sessions.
How do I access the programme materials?
Ahead of the first workshop you’ll be able to access the programme materials, including the Future Ready Leadership Toolkit resources. The Futurework Guidebook will be available at the first in-person workshop.
How long do I have access to the programme materials?
Your programme access gives you six months access to all Future Ready Leadership coaching videos so you can re-watch at any time. This also includes access to private community discussions and support. In addition printable Future Ready Leadership Toolkit resources can be downloaded for lifetime access. The Futurework Guidebook is yours to keep and refer to for life!
How much does the programme cost?
To join the Future Ready Leadership programme and gain everything outlined here your investment is $2,800+gst. Super Earlybird bookings are available until 18 December 2025 at $2,100+gst per person. There are 18 places available for booking in May 2026.
What if I register but can’t attend all the sessions?
Attending all the sessions is optional, as you’ll still have full access to the toolkit, videos and support of the group.
Cancellations received by 31 January 2026 will be refunded in full, or by 31 March 2026 refunded 50%. Beyond that no refund can be made, however someone else from your organisation is welcome to attend.
Other questions?
If you’d like to know anything else please contact us