On the 8-9th of June, we, Dhara and Nescy, had the opportunity to attend an amazing opportunity called Festival for the Future at the newly built Tākina Event Centre. Inspiring Stories are the magic-makers of this annual event. They are a Kiwi charity founded with a bold vision to back young people to change the world.

They are a tiny but mighty team of core staff who work with a range of contractors, interns and volunteers every year to bring Festival for the Future to life. We had the opportunity to network with corporate executives, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and emerging leaders at this event designed to bring together present and future leaders from the business, government, and community sectors. People from all over the world and from all age groups were invited to attend this spectacular opportunity. This two-day event was jammed packed with panel discussions, workshops, lectures, performances and much more. It was an enlightening experience where we were able to broaden our mindsets on leadership, innovation and the impact we have on the people around us.

There were a variety of workshops that attendees were able to choose from. Each focuses on a different topic and how we could implement them in our lives to enforce change. The workshops were: Innovation Skills, Circular Life, High-Performance Leadership, Climate Justice, Government Engagement and Mindfulness and Wellbeing. The diversity of their workshops ensured that everyone had something that would spark their interest. In addition, they provided attendees with top-class panellists where the audience could ask questions to the speakers and engage with them. We attended a Tech Future panel where we were able to witness Elle Archer, Dr Masha McAuely and Emeline Paat-Dahlstorm where they talked about their experience with technology and how their knowledge helped them build a career in technology.

The highlight of our experience was this influential workshop, “High-Performance Leadership” presented by James Laughlin. He challenged and taught us how to learn the habits and mindsets of high-performing leaders like Nelson Mandela, Serena Williams, and many more. He emphasised “Mindset matters more than skills set” and to be a high-performing leader the key is teamwork and collaboration, “To perform above the standard norms consistently over the long term whilst maintaining positive relationship and well-being.” Another noteworthy technique he taught us is the TRICK principle/ philosophy, where each letter stands for T-trust, R-respect, I-independence, C-collaboration, and K-kindness. This idea allows people to perform at a high level, allowing them to concentrate on their goals and objectives regardless of the challenges they may face. For us, this was very inspiring and empowering as it encouraged us to think about how we can find the motivation to pursue our dreams and missions, especially as Year 13 students heading into the big wide world/ university.

Dhara Patel and Nescy Delacruz