Unlock your leadership potential with the Queenstown Leadership Academy- a dynamic, results-driven program designed by HALO Training for all levels of leadership including future leaders. Over 6 months you will gain core management skills through a full-day intensive workshop, followed by five monthly 2 hour sessions, ensuring continuous learning and real-world application. Each participant is also paired with an experienced Queenstown Leader as a mentor throughout the program, providing guidance and support.
Queenstown Leadership Academy
Unlock your leadership potential with the Queenstown Leadership Academy- a dynamic, results-driven program designed by HALO Training for all levels of leadership including future leaders.
Over 5 months you will gain core management skills through a full-day intensive workshop, followed by five monthly 2 hour sessions, ensuring continuous learning and real-world application.
Each participant is also paired with an experienced Queenstown Leader as a mentor throughout the program, providing guidance and support.
Structure of Course:
- 1 full day training: 9:30am – 3:00pm
- 5 x 2hr follow up sessions. 1 per month.
- 15 participants max per cohort
- You will also be peered with a Leadership Mentor for the duration of the 5months.
- The course has a layered approach with each session building on the previous, so by the end of the program you will have the knowledge to lead with confidence, as well as tools that you can incorporate into your business immediately. A full set of notes/course material will be provided to you at the start of the academy. If you can’t make a session due to a prior commitment, you will be partnered up with another participant to contact and catchup on the session. A great way to take ownership of your learning and build connections together.
- Each 2hr catch up session will involve learning a new leadership tool and a follow up conversation on how everyone is going with implementing the tools into their workplace
Tony Groves
Co-Founder,
Curriculum & Development Stratergist
Tony is a proven execution leader shaped by sixteen years in military, intelligence and high‑risk environments. From joining the infantry at seventeen to specialising in human intelligence and risk management, he led teams through deployments to Timor Leste, Iraq and Afghanistan, where clarity, trust and decisive action meant survival.
Holding a Masters in Counter Terrorism Studies and a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Leadership, Tony pairs academic depth with lived experience. His journey through PTSD, depression and alcoholism gives him uncommon empathy, resilience and a straight‑talking style that resonates with leaders from the frontline to the boardroom.
Now driven by a mission to lift execution leadership across New Zealand, Tony pushes partners beyond theory into action. He builds trust, sharpens decision‑making and creates the conditions for sustained performance.
Passionate, direct and partner‑focused, Tony ensures HALO delivers what leaders need most: clarity, courage and support when the pressure is real.
Intake Dates
Not for profits
$172.50 thanks to the generous support from Central Lakes Trust
The training addresses key challenges faced by NFPs, including:
– Uncertain funding environment: Equipping leaders with strategic planning and communication skills to navigate financial uncertainty.
– Lack of volunteers: Building a culture of trust and engagement to attract and retain volunteers.
– Need for Strengthening governance: Developing governance and leadership capabilities for effective decision-making.
– Lack of capacity for long-term strategic planning: Providing tools and frameworks for sustainable growth and resilience.
Queenstown Leadership Accelerator
Designed around high pressure, real world scenarios, it gives leaders the structure to translate capability into real performance.
This is the execution engine for leaders who want real impact, not passive learning. This programme accelerates leaders into confident operators who know how to land strategy in the real world, navigate complexity with clarity and lift performance. Participants don’t sit through theory, they step into immersive scenarios that mirror live business pressure, customer dynamics and team expectations while building a practical playbook leaders can use the moment they are back on the floor.
This experience is energising, demanding and focused on real execution readiness. Leaders practise communication, influence, decision making and alignment in a controlled environment that feels close to live operations. Momentum is built through deliberate practice and fast feedback so capability sticks.
If you completed a Leadership Academy – this is your next step UP.
Mentors
Dick Hubbard,
Hubbards Foods, Philanthropist, Previous Mayor of Auckland
Meghan Pagey,
Director and Lead Consultant, In Context
Wendy van Lieshout,
Professional Director, Previous CEO Active Adventures
Angela Spackman,
Managing Director and Owner, Format Joinery
Jenna Adamson,
Chief Executive Officer, Rod Drury Family Office
Julie Scott,
Chief Executive, Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust
Claire Burke,
General Manager, Ferg Burger
Clodagh Hall,
Chief Operating Officer, Sotheby’s International Realty
Jeremy Samuels,
Previous General Manager, Sofitel Queenstown
Michelle Trapski,
Governance Professional
Kayleigh Woodings,
Founder and Director, Blue Mercury Leadership
Andy Kilsby,
Area Manager Southern Lakes, BCITO
Heidi Farren,
Managing Director, Operations, TIG
Chris Brown,
Central Otago Regional Manager, Rubix
Richie Heap,
Sales Consultant and Auctioneer, Colliers
Lou Baines,
Human Resources Lead, Millbrook
Sharon Fifield,
Chief Executive Officer, Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce
Steve Bradely,
General Manager, Lylo Queenstown, Previous General Manager Ferg Burger
Rachel Exell
Contract Human Resources Manager, Sotheby’s International Realty
Amanda Cushen,
Founder Tourism IQ, Business Advisor
Fiona Laryn,
Business Broker and Laryn Health Owner, Baker Business Brokerage
John Molyneux,
Partner, Business Success Programme, Oxygen8
Blair Pattinson,
Project Manager, Gibbons Co
Jim Boult,
Professional Director, Philanthropist, Previous Mayor of Queenstown Lakes District
Cheryl Robertson,
Group Financial Controller, Bungy NZ
Kim Arnold,
People and Capability Lead, Brannigans
Scotty- Clark Scott,
Funding
Regional Business Partner (RBP) Management Capability Fund
This programme is registered with the RBP Management Capability Fund. To explore if your business is eligible for support contact your local Regional Business Growth Advisor Nicola Jones nic.jones@business-south.org.nz. Nicola will advise you on your eligibility for capability development funding. Find out more by visiting www.regionalbusinesspartners.co.nz.
