Growing strategic leadership capability through Lead Leaders

With the release of our latest Eke Taumata progress report, we are sharing some examples of how Fire and Emergency is shifting the dial to achieve our culture goal.

For Gareth Hughes, participating in the inaugural Lead Leaders programme couldn’t have come at a better time.

 “I’ve been on my own personal leadership journey as acting District Manager for Wellington. The idea of taking on responsibility for the largest district in the country was daunting, but I learned so much from Lead Leaders that I’m able to use in this role,” he says. “I’ve found that managing people is the key to being an effective leader, so learning skills on how to manage performance efficiently has been really useful.”

Gareth is one of 20 leaders from a diverse range of ranks and roles across all Regions and National Headquarters who participated in the inaugural Lead Leaders programme. The six-month development programme is specifically aimed at those who lead other leaders or those who have a broad impact across the organisation.

“The Lead Leaders programme focuses on showing leaders how to translate strategy into action while building an inclusive, safe, and thriving culture for their teams,” says Delwyn Neill, Manager Leadership Development. “We’ve designed it as a six-month programme so participants can take what they learn from in-person workshops and apply it in their real-life challenges, then share their experiences with other participants. These leaders are committed to continuing their leadership development by learning from their experiences and experimenting with new tools and ideas.”

The programme is the first initiative of its kind at Fire and Emergency specifically focused on developing leaders at this level and aims to strengthen organisational leadership bench strength. For Gareth, this aspect of the course is extremely valuable and well-timed to the launch of Fire and Emergency’s Strategic Direction.

“The course helped give me the tools to build a strategy and direction for my district,” Gareth says, “that I could then use to springboard into the national strategy and strategic direction.”

Even though the first cohort officially wrapped up in August, Gareth remarks that he still refers to the workbooks and programme materials in his day-to-day mahi.

As the first cohort wraps up, the Leadership Development team is already looking ahead to next year. Expressions of Interest for the 2026 cohort have just closed, and the team is working hard to build a programme that continues to build the capability of our leaders across the organisation.  

This story is an example of how Fire and Emergency is shifting the dial to achieve our culture goal: to be a place where people feel they belong, and supported and empowered to thrive, so we can better serve our communities and each other. It supports the culture outcome “strengthening our people leadership capability” (Pou 2).

Read more in the latest Eke Taumata Six-Monthly Progress Report.

If you have an example to share from your team, district, or watch, share it with us via Story Line here.