The Next Move Is Yours: Reflecting on a Transformative Leadership Experience
On Friday, 8 May 2026, the doors of Orakei Bay in Auckland opened to welcome a curated group of 100 intentionally selected executive women. They did not arrive to attend a corporate conference, nor were they there for inspiration. They stepped into The Next Move is Yours Summit, with intention, an intention we designed through a premium leadership experience created to provide the clarity, strategy, and negotiation capability to shape the next chapter of their leadership.
The Next Move is Yours Summit - Held at Orakei Bay, Auckland, 8 May 2026
A Room Full of Visionaries
From the moment attendees arrived to barista coffee and mimosas, they felt at ease in an environment was carefully orchestrated to feel calm, deliberate, and elevated. The women in the room represented the highest levels of leadership across the public and private sectors. We were honoured to host a team from GMP Pharmaceuticals, Asthma NZ, Inside Out, and Ronald McDonald House, alongside the COO of Southern Cross Health Insurance, the former CEO of Netball NZ, the Auckland University, The Trans Tasman Business Circle, the GM of Flight Centre. The Founders of Sleep Drops, 40 Thieves and ANTHEA beverages. With leaders from leading businesses across Australia and New Zealand; such as Genesis Energy, Woolworths, Spark, Air New Zealand, Deloitte, Briscoe Group, Fisher Paykal Healthcare and PWC.
Surrounded by their peers operating at the same level of responsibility and complexity, attendees were able to step out of the daily operational noise and engage in high-level strategic planning for their futures.
The Four Pillars of Strategy
Hosted and facilitated by Noa Sheer, Principal of Sheer Negotiations, Cambridge University Press author, and MBA educator, the day moved through four rigorous MBA-level workshops:
Defining True North - “My True Aspirations”: Leaders stripped away external expectations to pinpoint their personal drivers and define what success truly looks like for their own trajectory.
Building the Roadmap - “Proactivity”: Attendees turned ambition into a proactive, actionable plan for their careers.
Articulating “Value”: Moving beyond subjective adjectives, the women co-created evidence-based Value Statements to clearly articulate their differentiators and the validity of their requests.
Mastering “Negotiation Skills”: Noa demonstrated how negotiation skills shift from "soft" skills to "technical" skills, sharing specific, research-backed techniques for women to navigate power, resistance, and visibility. This section focused on advocating authentically, using an interest-based mindset without the fear of backlash.
Noa Sheer Presenting The Workshops.
Investing in Female Leadership
One of the standout elements of the day was seeing how many forward-thinking organisations chose to invest in their top talent. As we highlighted in our lead-up to the day, this event is a great opportunity for corporates to host a table of 10 women stakeholders in their organisation.
By securing corporate tables, these companies moved beyond performative gestures, making a tangible investment in the recognition, retention, and capability-building of their female executives. The leaders who attended returned to their teams clearer, more confident, and equipped to handle complex stakeholder negotiations independently.
Attendees workshopping activities with their peers.
The Next Move Network
Crucially, the conclusion of the experience marked the official launch of The Next Move Network - a formal community committed to developing technical negotiation skills
The most successful leaders do not climb alone; they build micro-coalitions and pre-wire their success.
The Next Move Network is a curated network of professionals who view negotiation as a vital leadership capability.
Through this Network leaders will have exclusive access to each other, to Negotiation-related roundtables, self-development and future networking opportunities.
Submit your expression of interest to join this The Next Move Network here.
The day was punctuated by a delicious catered lunch, designed for sustained mental energy, from renowned chef Nathan McKenzie.
The Next Move is Yours was a strategic pause for women who carry significant responsibility.
For the 100 women in the room, career progression is no longer something that simply happens to them; it is a ship they are now steering with certainty and purpose.
To all who joined us: The clarity has been found. The network is built.
The next move is yours.
To register your interest in attending our next event - please complete this form here.
