Leading with courage and authenticity theme for Whanganui Chamber of Commerce workshops

Sue Johnston will facilitate a series of four workshops in Whanganui, focussing on leading with courage.

Vulnerability may seem a odd topic for leadership training but it's one of the pillars of an "authentic leadership" workshop being held in Whanganui.

Whanganui Chamber of Commerce is bringing certified "Daring Way Facilitator" Sue Johnston to Whanganui to facilitate four leadership workshops over about six months.

"The Daring Way is a curriculum developed by Dr Brene Brown, a researcher who has studied topics around courage, shame, vulnerability and empathy," Johnston said.

"What I love about this work is she decided to move away from 'research speak' and uses a lot of metaphor that can be done in a number of ways. There are two of us Daring Way Facilitators in New Zealand who do it in the organisational and leadership development space, making the world a braver place. It gives leaders the tools to go out and be as courageous as possible in their own space."

The Whanganui workshop series will be based around four pillars of leadership, with the first concentrating on courage and vulnerability. The other workshops will cover trust, values and resilience.

Johnston said she expected participants might feel "a little bit uncomfortable".

"But people who come to these workshops are probably open-minded and have curiosity," she said.

"Those are the only starters for 10 you need coming in. We'll look at how vulnerability and courage are linked and what's important for the leaders and their teams.

"They'll leave with a new appreciation of why courage is important and what it looks like. They'll have something new to try and an understanding of why moments of ordinary or everyday courage make a difference. It gives them a different lens on leadership and on their team."

Chamber chief executive Marianne Archibald said the first of the four-part "authentic leadership" series would be hosted by Nga Tai o te Awa.

"It's for anyone in the community," Archibald said.

"It will be different to traditional leadership workshops. It's about how to live and lead with authenticity. It's a really different way of leadership and a different way to think about ourselves."

The workshop will be on Thursday, July 12. Participants can choose between sessions at 12pm-2pm or 4.30pm-6.30pm. The cost is $100. Bookings are essential. Contact ce@whanganuichamber.net.nz to register.