Paul Dupuis is Inspiring a New Era of Future-Ready Leadership
In 1990, Paul Dupuis arrived in Osaka, Japan with nothing but a backpack, 20,000 yen to his name and a sense of adventure. For more than 10 years, Dupuis worked in international education, driven by a passion for shaping minds. His calling soon led him to the business world. “I didn’t want to just get into business for the sake of making money,” he reflects. “I wanted to do something that had meaning.” This ethos would guide him through an extraordinary career in leadership.
Now, after publishing a best-selling book and graduating from the corporate world, Dupuis is poised to help instill more courage, purpose and power into the minds of emerging leaders everywhere with his new, innovative leadership development program, the ‘Future Ready Leadership Gym’.
True North: Finding Purpose in Your Leadership

Dupuis’ impressive corporate career spans multiple continents. He began his journey at a boutique recruitment firm in Japan, eventually moving to Singapore, and ultimately joining the Dutch recruitment giant Randstad as their CEO in India. Leading a team of 75,000 people in one of the world’s most complex markets—during a global pandemic, nonetheless—was a pivotal moment for Dupuis.
“My time as CEO in India, especially during Covid, was quite a challenge, but I grew a lot as a person and as a leader,” he says. “When you’re in a very challenging situation as a leader, it’s so important to solidify what you stand for. This was an important moment to crystallize what I call my True North.”
For Dupuis, “True North” symbolizes purpose and principles that remain unwavering, much like the North Star. “Your True North is written in pen. Everything else is written in pencil,” he explains. This clarity helped him navigate the complexities of leadership in India during the pandemic, a defining test of leadership for Dupuis. “It’s one thing to be the captain of a ship when it’s sunny outside,” he says. “But the true test of a leader comes when there’s unpredictability. How do you perform as a leader under stressful circumstances, in times of crisis? How do you steer your ship from choppy waters to calm ones?”
Dupuis’ experience in India was bolstered by his enrollment in an intensive, transformative leadership program at London Business School. This gave him a timely opportunity to reflect on and crystalize his own leadership principles, a process that would later give birth to the E5 Movement.
The Birth of the E5 Leadership Formula

On the back of various leadership models and from observing leaders along his journey, Dupuis developed a framework that he calls the ‘E5 Leadership Formula’. Each of the E’s represents a critical aspect of leadership:
- Envision: Crafting a vision rooted first, in why, not what. Dupuis emphasizes starting with the purpose, reaching the heart first to connect emotionally, then moving to the mind. He draws on Jim Rohn’s quote, “When the why is clear, the how is easy,” as a foundation for purpose-driven leadership.
- Express: Communicating the vision effectively through an omnichannel approach. Modern leaders must leverage diverse platforms to share their message, ensuring it resonates deeply with both the hearts and minds of their audience.
- Excite: Inspiring others to act by creating a sense of ownership and enthusiasm. When done right, people lean in, engage proactively and begin to see themselves as integral to bringing the compelling vision to life.
- Enable: Fostering an environment where everyone can thrive. An enabling leader removes barriers, allowing individuals to shine by leveraging their natural talents and becoming the best versions of themselves.
- Execute: Bringing the vision to life with measurable impact. Execution remains the ultimate test of leadership, translating ideas into outcomes that deliver tangible and lasting results.
This framework is built on the belief that these five E’s are like muscles that can be developed and strengthened over time. “I started to realize that leadership is actually, in a way, like a series of muscles,” Dupuis says. “Muscles can be built. So, wouldn’t it be great if there was a gym where we could go to build those muscles?” A year ago, Dupuis embarked on a mission to provide such a place.
A New Chapter: the Future Ready Leadership Gym
Dupuis’ E5 Future Ready Leadership Gym is a three-pillared program aimed to mentor and coach leaders through a series of customizable, online and in-person sessions. The innovative program helps leaders build the “muscles” needed to navigate an unpredictable world defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) and brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible (BANI) challenges.
The program is built on three pillars:
- Online Video Series: A 15-episode, self-paced series hosted by Dupuis that introduces key leadership concepts and exercises. Each video is 5–7 minutes long, focusing on a specific “leadership muscle,” with themes aligned to the five E’s framework and beyond. Episodes conclude with the phrase “Now it’s your turn,” encouraging reflection and actionable exercises, such as self-awareness, brainstorming, constructing game-changing ideas or strategic thinking.
- Future Ready Leadership Gym Workshops: Interactive half-day or full-day workshops tailored to individual companies, offered at Tokyo American Club or an off-site location. These private sessions allow leaders to delve deeply into building the necessary skills and strategies to navigate a VUCA and BANI world. Participating companies receive a customized workbook designed to address their organization’s unique challenges.
- One-on-One Coaching: A six-month program combining coaching and mentoring. Leaders work directly with Dupuis 1:1 to set and achieve specific, personalized goals. Through individual sessions, Dupuis leverages his extensive leadership experience to provide tailored guidance, blending traditional coaching with actionable advice to enable leaders to be future-ready.
Dupuis emphasizes that being “future-ready” is about flexibility and agility. “Future-proof on the other hand, implies rigidity,” he says. “We need to be ready to adapt to what’s coming.”
A Mentor Who’s Been There

What sets Dupuis apart is his empathy and experience. He hasn’t just studied leadership—he’s lived it, rising from entry-level roles to the CEO suite of a global corporation. “I haven’t just studied leadership, I’ve been in the game.” he says. “I understand the challenges leaders face because I’ve faced them myself. That’s why I created this program—to help others navigate their own leadership journeys.”
Just in the first year of the E5 Future Ready Leadership Gym, Dupuis has worked with companies across the APAC region, including India, Korea and Japan. He’s mentored small boutique consulting firms of 10-15 people and multinational corporations facing challenges in succession planning. “Regardless of where we’re at in our journey, whether you’re a young up-and-coming leader or you’re a seasoned veteran, we all have some leadership muscles that we’ve built,” he says.
With the guidance of his mentor and friend, Marshall Goldsmith, Dupuis has crafted a program that combines practical tools with deep introspection. He encourages leaders to embrace vulnerability, seek advice and continually evolve. “Asking for advice isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a sign of strength,” he says.
Dupuis’ own leadership journey has been defined by his willingness to embrace challenges, seek advice and crystallize his own leadership principles. His experience parachuting into India as CEO, leading a complex organization through unpredictable circumstances, underscored a crucial truth: great leadership is about asking the right questions and defining your own path. Through his E5 Future Ready Leadership Gym, he aims to help emerging leaders define their personal versions of leadership, empowering them to face the future with purpose, clarity and confidence.