Key takeaways from Driving Culture Innovation for Impactful Change

Developing organisational culture has never been an easy task for any leader – least of all in today’s world. The uncertainty, chaos, and complexity of the intense period of the global pandemic meant that organisations had to quickly assess, adapt, and innovate.

The first of the Leadership Foresight Webinar Series, Driving Culture Innovation for Impactful Change, was facilitated by Dr. Njeri Mwagiru, Senior Futurist at the Institute for Futures Research.

Conversationalists included Colin J. Browne (Organisational culture and employee engagement expert at Happy Sandpit), Shamim Bodhanya (Director at the Leadership Dialogue) and Gia Whitehead (Chairperson and Co-founder of TSIBA Business School). They discussed how leaders can innovate to create and sustain a healthy organisational culture.

Why is it important to innovate around organisational culture?

“Culture doesn’t live in the abstract,” outlined Dr. Mwagiru. “It is something that is lived out in practice and experience – whether in an online or physical space. It’s about interaction among communities.” Organisational culture is a dynamic concept. It is the organic composition of multiple intersecting factors and influences that are ever-changing.

As a leader, it is crucial to have a sense of flexibility and be willing to learn and unlearn – while fostering a sense of belonging, connection, and trust within your organisation. “You can’t design organisational culture. Culture is very complex and emerges over a long period of time through engagement and socio-historical processes. Organisational culture is a mix of design and emergence. The design side is less in our control as leaders than we think. The emergent processes are actually what drive organisational culture,” shared Shamim.

“The interpenetration of diverse views, backgrounds, experiences, and opinions ultimately leads to the development of an organisation’s culture,” he continued. “In essence, it is this diversity that drives culture. If we were all the same, there’s not much significance for culture. Culture is a dynamic, organic process through all of these interactions that we have on a day-to-day basis with each other.” What is essential is to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion, creating space to prompt everyone to contribute, while highlighting what is important to them in the way that they work.

How can organisational culture develop?

“Organisational culture requires a conscious and deliberate journey,” said Gia. “Purpose, values, and aligned leadership are key, and the employee experience is enforced by these. With the pandemic, there was a catapult of employees into the hybrid way of working. Since then, flexible working spaces have become key – both as an attractor and a detractor. To build that into a culture is more complex. What has evolved with the onset of the pandemic is culture-building in a hybrid way.”

“People returned from the pandemic fatigued, tired, with spikes in depression, anxiety, and loneliness. The focus, therefore, needs to be human-centered, transparent, and open. There needs to be an element of trust, as many people have proven that they can work elsewhere. We can anchor into our purpose, create well-being, and help people to feel included,” Gia emphasised.

This means that leaders need to commit to the co-creational development of organisational culture with their staff. Colin emphasised the importance of the role of leadership in opening up channels that establish trust and good communication towards this. “More than talking, as leaders, we need to listen. We’re going to have conversations that we never really had before. Those are really important now. Evoking a space in which we make it feel great to be around our colleagues again – that’s something that we can build on.”

Spaces for deliberate communication in a safe and inclusive manner enhance organisational culture. As Shamim outlined, for those organisations that have transitioned to a completely remote way of working, these are almost as vital as physical office spaces once were. “We need to shift our investment from physical infrastructure to social infrastructure so that our people can still be part of vibrant organisational cultures they feel they really have a place in.”

The challenges that are faced:

“We tend to know each other in our roles, but we don’t know each other as full human beings,” Shamim continued. “Developing our organisational culture within the community of our team is about the human-to-human connection. It’s about the sense of care that we bring to each other, which surpasses our work.” We lost touch with each other physically, and, inevitably, this has changed how we relate to one another and to our organisations.

Indeed, Colin reminded us that we need to observe how poorly the shift to remote work took place. “Companies constantly say that they had their best year ever in 2020. But that ‘best year ever’ came at the hands and heads of people who put in 17-hour days. It’s not sustainable. By and large, this is because leaders and managers are not equipped to manage this way, they haven’t been trained in this methodology — it’s a whole different game. It hasn’t happened before. We need to get used to listening to what our people have to say, and allowing our people to experiment, innovate, and try new and creative solutions.”

And how do we face these challenges?

“The bravery with which leaders are willing to approach life alters everything,” affirmed Colin. As leaders, we need to acknowledge that there are no easy answers. We need to ensure that our thinking is appropriately positioned for us to build not only our organisational culture, but also our teams and ourselves.

The Leadership Foresight Webinar Series is presented by Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development in collaboration with the Stellenbosch Business School Alumni Association. This free, live series takes place over the course of three events, facilitated by heavy-weight subject matter experts and consultants, with contributions from panels of subject matter experts and industry leaders. Guests from across the African continent and abroad speak about the past, present, and future focus of leadership in Africa.

The recording for the second event, “All Roads Lead to DATA”, facilitated by Prof. Martin Butler, is available here. In it, we embrace the opportunities that current information technology trends present.

Don’t miss the next event in the series, “We’re all in this TOGETHER”, facilitated by Dr Natasha Winkler-Titus, in which she and industry experts will unpack the importance of embracing the UBUNTU philosophy in businesses, and how leaders can make this shift. Register here for this event taking place on 27 October 2022.

Posted in Leadership, Talent Development | 13 Comments

Good Company Cultures: The Answer to Everything?

When I entered the world of business, I thought “culture” was merely one of many important components that defined a company. However, through the years, I’ve learned that it isn’t simply another component – company culture is the company.

Company culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage that is completely within the control of the company. With a good company culture established, engagement, productivity, innovation, well-being and the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) all improve. Good company culture promotes a positive, collaborative, and effective working environment.

What is company culture?

Company culture refers to the underlying beliefs, assumptions, values, and ways of interacting that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment within a company. Stemming from the leadership team, it is created and passed on to employees through consistent, authentic communication and behaviour. Employees are also responsible for contributing to the company’s culture in their own way too. Their attitudes, perceptions, and thought processes all have an impact on it.

Company culture is based on shared attitudes and customs, along with both the written and unwritten rules that have developed over time. It affects all aspects of business, from conversations and employee benefits to levels of well-being and even contract terms.

What is a GOOD company culture?

A good company culture exemplifies positive traits within the workforce and leads to happier employees who feel more comfortable, supported, and valued. On the contrary, a dysfunctional company culture brings out qualities that hinder performance and – ultimately – affect the company’s bottom line negatively.

Companies can elevate their internal culture to become part of their external identity. They can then leverage this to gain a competitive advantage when attracting and retaining both talented employees and valuable customers. This presents an opportunity to increase revenues.

Ultimately, company culture directly impacts performance. 

The benefits of establishing a good company culture include:

• Improving employee wellbeing: A positive culture and working environment leads to increased mental and physical well-being amongst employees and decreased levels of stress, anxiety, fatigue and burnout. This leads to healthier and happier employees which are more inclined to succeed at work.
• Increasing employee engagement: Engagement levels are based on the strength of the mental and emotional connection between employees and their colleagues or workplace. High levels of engagement leads to better communication, more positive interactions, and higher rates of teamwork.
• Decreasing employee turnover: Employees are far less likely to leave a company in which they feel valued and respected. This saves the company both time and money in the recruitment process and enables them to foster growth. It serves as an important way for companies to groom talented individuals into key roles and leadership positions. 
• Elevating employee productivity: In simple terms, this means that companies can get more done (increased output) with the same amount of resources (input). The increased efficiency enables the company to cut costs and/or generate greater revenues. 
• Building strong brand identity: This has positive impacts for both internal (employees, directors, etc.) and external (clients, partners, etc.) stakeholders. Companies with strong brand identities are able to attract more clients and job candidates that share similar values and support their long-term vision. 
• Motivating top performers: Individuals that are top performers understand the value of their skill-set and are quick to leave companies in which they feel unappreciated or undermined. Companies that recognise and support their top performers’ efforts are able to retain them for longer periods of time and encourage them to continue succeeding.
• Improving the Employee Value Proposition (EVP): This leads to a workforce that feels valued, supported and motivated. It also increases a company’s ability to attract, engage, and retain top talent.

On the other hand, a few warning signs that your company’s culture is dysfunctional include:

• High turnover and absenteeism rates.
• Unhealthy levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout.
• Unclear or uncommunicated core values.
• A lack of transparency and a large amount of office gossip.
• Managers that do not lead by example.
• Inconsistencies between what people say and do.
• Unfriendly competition between employees.
• Lack of adequate acknowledgement and rewards.

How do I establish a good company culture?

Every company’s culture is unique. There is no one-size-fits-all culture that is best for every company and factors such as size, structure, and industry need to be considered. 

Within this, establishing a good company culture involves integrating the core components of a company culture and the qualities that embody a high-performing company culture.

Here are four simple steps to help you to establish a good company culture: 

1. Be open-minded: Consider how your company’s people, vision, values, processes, environment, incentives, and heritage are positively or negatively impacting your company culture. Observe the ways in which employees engage with one another on a daily basis and assess how authentic their communication is. Adopt a curiosity mindset and attempt to understand the cultures of organisations which are similar to yours.
2. Communicate, openly: Connect with your company’s leaders to discuss how you could adopt a proactive approach to improving these components. Create an open space in which employees can share their thoughts and feedback on your current company culture. You’ll need to empathise with employees of various levels in order to understand the culture from their perspectives and identify components of your company culture which require the most attention.
3. Focus on employee wellbeing: Create a culture of health within your company by prioritising your employees’ mental and physical well-being. This can be done by educating them on its importance and facilitating engaging wellness initiatives such as wellness days or webinars as well as campaigns and challenges. Ensure your employees have access to well-being content and medical professionals or counsellors.
4. Be consistent and encouraging: Ensure that your communication and actions are consistent and authentic. Encourage your team to prioritise alignment, appreciation, trust, resilience, teamwork, and innovation. This can be achieved through motivating them to connect frequently on both a formal and informal basis. Ensure that the team celebrates successes (both big and small), remains supportive, and approaches all situations with curiosity.

By establishing a good company culture, you’ll increase your chance of attracting and retaining talented individuals which will drive your company forward and ensure its long-term success. 

Author: Joshua Fillmore

Joshua Fillmore is a Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development faculty member and facilitates the business module in the Future Managers Development Programme (FMDP).

Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development’s brand-new Future Managers Development Programme (FMDP) helps graduates and graduate interns/trainees master the first step in their overall development, management of self, and become well-rounded young leaders within an organisation. ​It is the responsibility of the organisation and its leaders to help them understand who they are within the broader business environment, enhance their communication and leadership abilities to ensure employee engagement, unlock their potential, and help them proactively plan and manage a long, fulfilling, and sustainable career path.

Posted in Leadership | 467 Comments

Future Managers: Improve Your Workplace Communication

With the emergence of remote work, it is now common for managers to operate virtually with teams dispersed globally. In this new normal, organisations are reshaping how they communicate. This directly impacts how future managers must view and understand communication in the modern workplace. Indeed, oral, and written communication proficiencies are consistently ranked in the top desirable skills by employers across the globe.

Communication, in all forms, is essential to effective communication for future managers – be it conveying messages to your team, reporting back to your manager, or engaging with project team members and other stakeholders, like your customers and suppliers. Future managers know that effective communication is about embracing cultural diversity, understanding different channels of communication, and the role of one’s posture and tone, both vocal and written, when communicating with their audience.

Given the global pandemic, and the subsequent impacts of COVID-19, there’s been exponential growth in the use of non-traditional channels. Face-to-face meetings are being substituted for their virtual counterparts. With these new demands, future managers need to improve communication and the flow of information in their respective workplaces. In addition to this, it is critical for them to understand the policies and procedures that govern communication and the sharing of information in their organisations – especially within the legislation that has been introduced to regulate communication practices [Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA)].

Below are 5 tips for you as a future manager to improve your communication in the workplace:

1. Be Ethical:

As a future manager, you need to consciously adopt the highest standards of professional behaviour by communicating with sensitivity to cultural values and beliefs. You need to follow the law, act and communicate without deception, and enable mutual understanding and respect. Along your career journey, you’ll request information from others, discuss operational problems, lead and give instructions, work in project teams, and interact with colleagues, customers, and external third parties. You, therefore, need to represent your organisation truthfully, fairly, accurately, and communicate concise and consistent messages and put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

2. Know Your Audience:

This is the single most important aspect of effective communication. Knowing the audience that you are communicating with includes understanding their interests, position, function, influence, education level, language, culture, and so forth. Audience analysis helps you to identify the audience, including your manager, colleagues, project team, customers, regulators, and suppliers, and adapt your communication to their interests, level of understanding, attitudes, and beliefs. Your communication becomes far more effective when you tailor your message to fit your audience’s profile and align your communication to their preferred communication channels. This demonstrates to your audience that you’re considerate, courteous, and respectful.

3. Be Clear:

It is important to be clear about the purpose of the message you’re delivering. Clarity is a vital part of communicating effectively and engaging with your audience. Keep your message simple, stick to the point, focus on the core points of your message, avoid slang, jargon, and unfamiliar acronyms. Clear content, regardless of the channel of communication – written emails and reports or delivered speech during meetings – removes space for confusion. Your points should be based on irrefutable data, solid facts, and opinions from credible sources. Don’t leave scope for assumptions, misrepresentation, vagueness, fake news, and gossip. Give the audience the information they need to follow your line of reasoning and reach the same conclusions you have.

4. Listen Attentively: 

Effective communication fosters trust with others. Your ability to listen attentively and embrace different points of view helps others trust that you’re making optimal decisions for your audience. Listening carefully, being empathetic, and offering quality feedback helps people to feel heard and understood. The key is to remain calm, increase engagement, resolve any conflict, and find constructive solutions – whether dealing with customer complaints or complaints from colleagues in the office.

5. Provide and Receive Feedback:

Effective communication is a two-way process that requires feedback to complete the loop. Feedback should be spontaneous and regular. It needs to become part of day-to-day encounters to encourage a conducive environment in which people generally feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback. As a future manager, you have to both receive and provide feedback effectively. Positive feedback is easy to give out. Negative feedback is a difficult task. As a future manager, it is important to nurture your communication skills to be able to give and receive feedback gracefully, whether it be positive, negative, or constructive.

While implementing these tips, remember that building and encouraging good communication habits can be one of the most crucial things you do as a future leader. Effective communication is a vital life skill and needs to integrate into your career, especially as you manoeuvre within the different industries. Employers want staff who can think for themselves, use initiative and communicate their thoughts on how operational processes, products or services can be improved. Being able to communicate effectively and deliver clear messages, while understanding other people’s communication needs, means work can be completed more effectively for all involved.

Author: Lebo Lethoba

Lebo Lethoba is a Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development faculty member and facilitates the communications module in the Future Managers Development Programme (FMDP).

Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development’s brand-new Future Managers Development Programme (FMDP) helps graduates and graduate interns/trainees master the first step in their overall development, management of self, and become well-rounded young leaders within an organisation. ​It is the responsibility of the organisation and its leaders to help them understand who they are within the broader business environment, enhance their communication and leadership abilities to ensure employee engagement, unlock their potential, and help them proactively plan and manage a long, fulfilling, and sustainable career path.

Posted in Career Development | 9 Comments

Maersk Africa Leadership Development Programme feature: Selvie Govinden Naidoo

“I always believe in continuous learning. I wanted to become a better version of myself while remaining authentic.”

Selvie Govinden Naidoo, who comes from a finance background, won the Top Achievers/Director’s Award for the Maersk Africa Leadership Development Programme. “With prior international experience both globally and across Africa in my 15 years of being part of the AP Moller Maersk family, I believed I could promote diversity and contribute to the group’s learning by sharing my ideas and views. This motivated me to join the Maersk Africa Leadership Development Programme as I believed it would serve as an excellent opportunity to build on my existing strengths and to continue to support my organisation’s growth strategies and initiatives.”

The Maersk Africa Leadership Development Programme is a customised programme from Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development (SBS-ED). The programme is specifically targeted at building a diverse future leadership pipeline, and is renowned at Maersk. 

Read on as Selvie Naidoo shares how the programme has impacted her professional and personal life.

“I did not only want a management transformation – but also the opportunity to shape my mind so I could better navigate the strategic journey we are on at Maersk while giving myself the chance to meet great minds from all over the African continent,” said Selvie. 

Her primary development goal was to gain more business acumen and access cross-functional experiences. “I was looking to accelerate my leadership development and be better equipped to fill more senior leadership roles in the fast-paced and ever-growing environment,” she shares. 

“I hoped to gain learnings that could practically apply in my day-to-day professional and personal life. I also wanted to build a strong internal network with existing and future leaders, to enable synergies across countries, while facilitating the roll-out of best practices to benefit both Maersk and myself in the long run.”

Selvie shares that she enjoyed several of the modules and utilises her learnings in her daily working life. 

With her finance background, she found the Strategic Financial Management module to be a refreshing reminder of how impactful financial elements are in an organisations’ decision-making.

Another module that stood out for her was the module on Managing Customer Service Excellence. It highlights the need to always place customers at the heart of any business vision. “A core pillar for me is to always to understand the customers’ needs first and not just the product offerings we have,” she shares. 

“It is vitally important to focus on your customers’ experience and take necessary, proactive measures to ensure that you deliver a world-class service all the time. This has filtered into my daily routine, as I have made it a habit to constantly remind myself about how important it is to think of the customer first before making any decisions.”

She also puts into practice many of the coaching techniques she learned in the programme. “I have found that these techniques helped my team and other colleagues in their career development,” she shares. 

“For me, it is about helping them to learn, rather than teaching them something. Equipped with such techniques, my team members have been able to find their own solutions, which helps them to maximise their own performance. Thereafter, I can leverage their strengths and knowledge to free up time for more strategic projects, which has been really useful.”

“Furthermore, the module on Driving High Performing Teams has really helped me to understand team dynamics and to assess and evaluate my team’s effectiveness. I put these learnings into practice during my last finance conference. We determined the ideal position of our team, and identified actions to enhance the performance and functioning of our team to achieve this position – which took everything to the next level! In my daily role, I use my learnings of inspirational leadership from the module on Competencies For Leadership Effectiveness to guide others and to lead in better ways. It has helped me to bring the best out of those around me.”

“Overall, the Maersk Africa Leadership Development Programme has helped me to be able to see the bigger picture, bringing about new perspectives,” Selvie shares. “It has helped me to better align my approach as I handle projects and become more empathic and understanding of others – not only professionally but in all interpersonal dealings. I have increased my understanding of self-care, self-awareness, and mindfulness – which I use in both my professional and personal life to reassess my personal goals. My husband and I have even practised Systems Thinking at home through the use of future life planning activities and reflections!”

Reflecting back she shares, “The experience and learnings gained through the nine-month duration of this programme have been invaluable, and have certainly exceeded my expectations. I believe I have grown significantly through doing it. The programme has provided me with the vehicle I needed to improve my performance as a leader. I feel like I am now equipped to fill a more senior leadership role.”

SBS-ED partners with organisations to develop their leaders and managers, either with off-the-shelf programmes, or through bespoke programmes that are specifically developed and tailored to the needs of the organisations. We can create an entirely new programme that meets your people’s exact development requirements. Alternatively, organisations can tailor existing knowledge and the delivery thereof according to their specific requirements. For more information about these in-house learning solutions, complete the contact form on this page.

Posted in Career Development, Leadership | 5 Comments

Management Development Programme feature: Mandy Unterslak

“My first exposure to the Management Development Programme was as a young graduate entering the corporate world,” says Mandy Unterslak, awardee of the Top Achievers/Director’s Award for this programme. “A number of managers in the business were participating in  it and spoke highly of it. Their stories kindled my aspirations and when I heard that PepsiCo would be sponsoring a group of participants, I raised my hand and asked to be included in the cohort. PepsiCo has a strong focus on the professional and personal development of employees and I’m thankful to the organisation and my manager for their support.”

As she enrolled, she excitedly anticipated the next step of her professional development. “Embarking on this journey, I was hoping to broaden my theoretical knowledge of the various facets of business, as a foundation for more strategic thinking and decision-making. I also looked forward to building my peer network to include colleagues within PepsiCo with whom I may not have had the opportunity to interact outside of the programme.”

When she started the programme, her objectives were clear. “I set out with two main development goals in mind. First off, I wanted to develop my leadership presence; I wanted to find a style that works for me and become more confident to step into a position of power. Secondly, I wanted to expand my business acumen in order to extend my impact within the organisation; I wanted to gain a stronger understanding of how the different aspects of business fit together.”

On multiple levels, the programme taught Mandy a diverse set of new skills. She explains what her most valuable takeaways were:  “One of my key learnings from the programme was an increased awareness of the interdependencies and contextual factors that exist in any business situation. I’ve become more mindful of ‘zooming out’ to consider the bigger picture and then ‘zooming into’ the detail so that I can better understand the macro- and micro-environment and the wider impact that decisions can have. I particularly enjoyed the BDAL group project and it resulted in some of my greatest learnings – how to work productively with different personalities, incorporate diverse perspectives and leverage strengths within a group to achieve a common goal.”

The programme also covered a topic that was pertinent to her in her existing role. “As an HR professional, I found the theories we covered in the Marketing and Customer Service Management module to be highly relevant. Customer-centricity and the way we position solutions can have a huge impact on the extent to which we add value within an organisation.”

As a leader, Mandy experienced a conducive mindset shift. ​​“Being a leader is not about how many direct reports you have, but about the extent to which you can be a positive influence and force for good. A key shift for me has been in my mindset – to focus more on the impact I want to achieve, rather than the actions I want to tick off. Part of this has been to use certain techniques from the programme to avoid making assumptions that might create a gap between my intention and my impact. Another shift for me has been to actively look for the positive and maintain a growth mindset. One of our faculty members, Fredelene Elie, said something that stuck with me: ‘Don’t waste a good crisis – learn from it!’”

Even though Mandy had a fairly good sense of what to expect from other leaders she knew who had completed their Management Development Programme journey before her, going in with an open mind allowed her the space and opportunity to take as much learning from it as possible. “Participating in the programme led me to reflect on my own ways of working. I had to step-change how I operated in order to balance my work and family commitments with my personal development goals. Something else I learned was to take command of where I place my time and attention for the benefit of the organisation as well as my own growth and well-being. This is something especially relevant in the technologically-enabled times in which we live, as there can sometimes be a blurring of boundaries. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of it as part of my own journey – particularly the balance of academic rigour with a practical business application lens. I also strive to think more like an economist now, seeing challenges as opportunities and considering the trade-offs when making decisions.”

Tailored for all managers from any industry, the Management Development Programme is valuable for those who are responsible for managing various business units and are ready to dive deep into management development. This course empowers managers to reinforce their managerial skill set and business acumen while facilitating integration across various business units. For further information about upcoming courses, click here. 

Posted in Career Development, Talent Development | 7 Comments

Management Development Programme feature: Sally Boynton

As a precursor to the Senior Management Development Programme, Sally Boynton completed the Management Development Programme in 2021, for which she won a Top Achievers/Director’s Award. “The programme came to my attention when I heard that my line manager and a few colleagues within The Foschini Group had completed it,” she says. Her initial goal was to develop her understanding of business, leadership and strategic thinking. “And the programme ended up being everything I anticipated and more!”

“I wanted to develop a strong foundation and understanding of business from a global perspective while having the opportunity to work alongside colleagues from different fields in a team setting. I knew that I wanted exposure to business models, contemporary leadership thinking, marketing, economics and finance. I also wanted to gain further insight into an academic setting and have the opportunity to grow within that too,” she says.

Sally highlights certain of the programme’s modules that she found to be of great interest. “I especially enjoyed the Environment of Business and the Finance sections. Within both of these modules, I found myself able to analyse a business, using a structured format, in ways that were new to me, while exposing myself to different means of analysis that I had never done before. We touched on economics too, which I thoroughly enjoyed.”

“Up until this point, I had never gone through or understood the Financial Statements and Sustainability reports of The Foschini Group or other organisations to the extent I did through this programme. It was very stimulating to do so, and now I am able to share that knowledge and understanding with my team. Overall, my biggest takeaway from the programme would have to be the added ability to see businesses through a more strategic lens. Upon my successful completion of this programme, I have been able to analyse our business with this perspective. As a manager, I feel I now have better scope and understanding of the bigger picture, where I fit in, and how I can be more effective in my approach towards my team.”

Sally fills a leadership role and works in a different location to her team. She highlights learning more about the importance of communication, something that the current pandemic has emphasised for everyone. “It reminded me how important it is to communicate with your team on a regular basis – which is especially important as I work in Cape Town while the majority of my team is in the Garden Route.

“Overall, I believe I exceeded my expectations within this programme,” she ends off with, “Even though there’s always room for improvement, and I would like to achieve a higher distinction in the future. I now feel more confident in my communication, my ability to present, and in the academic sphere. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of doing really well academically, but since completing the programme, I feel more confident about it and look forward to taking on more challenges. I know I will relish the opportunity to do another programme with Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development in the future!”

The Management Development Programme empowers managers to reinforce their managerial skill sets and business acumen while facilitating integration across various business units. Strategic in nature, the programme is packed with material that focuses on broadening one’s self-awareness and leadership attributes, while enhancing the necessary managerial skills required in the ever-changing business environment. For further information about upcoming courses, click here. 

Posted in Alumni, Leadership, Talent Development | 7 Comments

Executive Development Programme Feature: Leonora Lupindo

“I wanted to transition from a senior manager to an adaptive leader and knew that I needed the know-how and skills to do this,” shares Leonora Lupindo, winner of a Top Student Award for the Executive Development Programme (EDP) in 2021.

“I wanted to expand my abilities to formulate strategy and to enhance the deliverables of my department – thereby assisting my organisation to achieve its overall strategic goals. I also wanted to improve my decision-making abilities in a way that is relevant to the current environment, while taking into consideration different possibilities that lie in the future. Finally, knowing that good communication is one of the key qualities of a good leader, I also wanted to improve my skills to be able to interact more effectively with my peers, seniors, and direct reports.”

She explains that Covid-19 interrupted her enrolment at first. “I was nominated to enrol in this programme as part of my organisation’s talent pool before the pandemic. But I postponed my registration until 2021, after I was given a prospectus from Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development. It was an easy decision to make, since I had completed my MPhil in Development Finance through their business school and felt familiar with the high level of quality that they deliver.”

For Leonora, the main takeaway from the programme was a shift away from linear thinking. “The importance of adopting systems thinking when formulating solutions to everyday problems, versus using linear thinking, was pivotal for me. The Strategic Systemic Foresight module highlighted the importance of constantly considering the whole systemic environment when making decisions and bearing in mind my role and that of my organisation in the environment within which it operates and how to act for the overall betterment of it.”

“I learnt the SODCAST framework and leveraged it to develop a checklist that I now use when evaluating and making decisions in my day-to-day activities. This checklist has enabled me to not only focus on the short-term impact of the business initiative that is getting consideration but also consider the quantitative impact on my organisation’s strategy. I have also used it to assess qualitative impact – such as the possibility of the initiative contributing towards our organisation’s adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More recently, in a project evaluation that I conducted, I noted that although the proposed project did not have a significant positive impact on my organisation’s return, the venture had to be considered as it significantly contributed towards the organisation’s renewable energy project’s goal. Having this wider view has been invaluable.”

Another key takeaway from the programme involves a practice of reflection. “I schedule regular reflection sessions, where I journal and reflect on the activities of the week – reviewing what went well, what could have gone better and what I can improve on next time. During reflection time I also set my intentions for the week ahead and I get the opportunity to review whether I have met the objectives or need to reassess my goals, both personal and professional.”

“As a leader, this has helped me learn to consciously practise self-compassion, and I’ve found that when I am kinder to myself, I am able to extend that to others. This has improved the relationships I have with my direct team and stakeholders. Furthermore, on the soft skills side, I learnt the importance of embracing conflict and rather than shying away and avoiding conflict, I am starting to see it as a foundation for creativity. This one is still a work in progress as I find that, at times, I need to remind myself during a debate that this can be an opportunity to create something new.”

While the programme was run within a corporate context, Leonora relays that the reach extended wider than the expected organisational perimeter – becoming especially applicable to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) situations that have replaced a sense of certainty, stability, and familiarity in the world today.

“The programme content is diverse enough to equip a leader of any organisation in South Africa to not only aid their organisation to reach its goals, but to be an active corporate citizen in solving the greater challenges facing this country,” she shares. “I believe the EDP contributes to the rise of leaders who can assist their organisations to charter their role in this VUCA environment to enable the country to achieve its developmental goals, while the entities achieve their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.”

“The experience of the programme lived up to my expectations, and I was impressed with the high standard of the discussions during the class sessions, the calibre of the candidates doing the programme, and the superiority of the facilitators of the different modules,” she shares.

The current state of the world makes more demands than ever before. As an empowering senior leadership programme, the Executive Development Programme (EDP) aims to prepare individuals with the necessary management skills to make difficult business decisions in a VUCA domain. The focus of this programme is to equip each executive with global perspectives, business, and ethical framework knowledge. These enable them to inform unique business strategies to accomplish objectives and successfully overcome change management. For further information about it, click here.

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Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) Feature: Amos Xheko

Amos Xheko, Manager Engineering at Impala Platinum, recently completed the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP). Speaking exclusively to Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development, he shares about his experience. 

“As a professional who operates within the corporate space, one of the requirements is that all management personnel must undergo a psychometric assessment,” he shares.  “During this period, I identified areas that I felt I lacked confidence in. I then entered into a contract with my immediate manager to embark on a journey to improve the shortcomings from the assessment.”

“After many years of building a career in engineering I felt that the time had come to equip my leadership and managerial skills, and I searched for an institution to assist with this personal development journey. I looked specifically at the institution’s credibility, relevance, user-friendliness, professionalism in administration and staff, and I found that Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development met all the requirements I was looking for. I enrolled for the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) in 2019 and I can categorically state that I’m still glad that I did so.”

“The course content afforded me the opportunity not only to improve on my work experiences but my whole life in general. At the start of this course, I asked myself a couple of questions. Thoughts of how I was going to have an impact on my peers at work, and the social groups that I deal with on a day-to-day basis (including my family), were running through my mind. This course has taught me to prioritize, even though sometimes it was difficult to get priorities straight! Everything within the programme was on point. The main take-away that I have implemented in my life is on developing strategies. But mention has to be made of the impact that the Economics, Strategy and Human Capital faculties have made for me.”

“I went in with some expectations of the programme, which included: the relevance with the era our country found itself, the socio-economic challenges that our country found itself in, and the involvement and the role played by the corporate world in enhancing our position in the worldly economy – but the highlight for me was the BDAL project, one of the requirements for the programme. Syndicates choose an NGO, NPO or an SE to assist them in improving their current state. I’m grateful that our syndicate chose a Social Enterprise. Our journey with this Social Enterprise is one that I will never forget, I will forever cherish the opportunity afforded to us by the owner of this magnificent SE.”

“I completed the programme just before the birth of COVID19, and it was during the early stages of the pandemic that leaders were challenged with changes. This is where the learnings came out handy, as leaders were called to think on their feet at all times. There were moments where we laughed, cried and most importantly pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones. The programme helped me to better understand myself. Through it, I managed to do a SWOT analysis on myself and addressed the areas that needed to be addressed. Furthermore, all the strategy techniques I had learned came handy in my new role that I was appointed to. The programme came at a time when our organisation went through a major shift in doing things – and what a privilege it was for me to implement all the learnings going forward!”

“I feel fortunate to have been facilitated through this programme by a strong and well-rounded faculty – including our learning facilitator, Belinda. Each member carried invaluable knowledge and experience which was extremely helpful to me. Some of them made a huge impact into my life and I couldn’t help but be stunned by the manner in which some faculty left my jaws hanging at moments of complete awe. Notably, the lessons and introspection done by Anne-marie and Samuel (Sammy) left me amazed.”

“The Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) has turned me to be a better leader and family man. The learnings are relevant to my day-to-day life, and beyond that, my organisation has made big strides with the implementation of new ways that I managed to share with my peers since completing the programme. Speaking from a personal perspective, I am in a better state mentally and psychologically since completing the programme, and all these are important in my endeavour of becoming a better leader.” 

“At the end of the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) programme one is guaranteed to be a changed individual who will see their lives, roles, and responsibilities with a different and positive eye. Among all the benefits, the main ones I can draw focus to are as follows: The faculties are amongst the best in further development and have credibility in delivery of content. Industries have seen the birth of sound business leaders who came through the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP), many of whom are now at the helm of most leading and outstanding organisations. Additionally, the modular/block learning process gives the student the best way of utilizing what they have learned, while they are back at their respective places of employment/businesses. In closing, the networking that one receives is immeasurable, due to the world leaders that are products of USB Executive Development’s Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP). If someone wants to empower their knowledge in any level and that person is in senior management one name comes to mind and that is the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) with USB Executive Development.”

To find out more about the upcoming Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) with USB Executive Development, please click here.

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SMDP participants assist Little Brinks – for children in need

​”We need to do something” is a comment often made by society. But instead of just thinking about it, Kathy and Danny Brink put their thoughts into action. Kathy and Danny Brink were taking their foster daughter to meet their biological mother for the first time. Whilst waiting for the social worker to arrive they noticed that grannies and small children were waiting for food and clothing parcels which gave Kathy and Danny the idea to start Little Brinks.

Thus, Little Brinks, an NPO based in Cape Town, began – with the vision to ensure that each and every child and baby has a place of safety, food and clothing. Now, absolutely dedicated to making a difference in the lives of these little people, the registered NPO aims to help those who cannot be heard or speak for themselves.

Business-driven action learning (BDAL) within the USB Executive Development Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP)  focused on achieving leadership development and true organisational transformation. As part of BDAL, an SMDP syndicate group, Synergy, chose Little Brinks. Speaking exclusively to Sola Ogunsakin and Jhadrian (JD) Carolus, we learnt about their experiences.

For JD, the highlight of BDAL was that, as a group, Synergy was able to realise and implement what they learnt from attending the programme. This was done in the form of establishing a food garden through a partner organisation. He shares, “Little Brinks was able to manage their garden with their own people that were trained as part of the project, in order for it to be sustainable, at no cost to them. It is one thing to put together recommendations to pass a course but to actually be able to start a sustainable garden at Little Brinks was priceless.  This was done in partnership with another NGO, Soil For Life, and TFG. They were able to have their first successful harvest soon after implementation! They planted vegetables in order for them to consume and cut costs on food expenses, with the option of selling those veggies – if they were to have any surplus, thus generating additional income. They had more successful harvests and the garden is still going strong!”

Olusola continues, “The notable outcome for the partner organisation was using the available, untapped resource that they already had, such as land – to generate funds to run the NPO.

The result for the partner organisation was notably a source of self-generated, sustainable income, as opposed to relying on once-off donations from external funders.”

On a more personal aspect, Olusola mentioned that, “The highlight of my experience was interaction with different people from different countries who have diverse backgrounds with the aim to achieve a common goal. The contributions, inclusion, support, disagreements and consensus were phenomenal. The impacts of the project on my personal life were “the conscious urge to always give a helping hand!” and also the value in identifying untapped resources to generate passive income. USB-ED has helped me to bridge my competency and developmental gaps, such as improving my innovative mindset, and empowering me to think “without the box.”

Furthermore, JD adds, “I would definitely recommend this course, especially if you have done the Management Development Programme!  My maturity and thinking towards my work obligations and personal career has grown, and has already had positive impacts with regards to the knowledge gained from this course!  Engaging in studies again has both reminded and encouraged me to set goals for myself. It has helped me to keep pushing towards putting in the time and effort into reaching whatever it is that I wanted to achieve. I was enlightened by the support and patience of my wife, Lize, during this time, since this programme impacts more people than just the students and faculty staff.  It proved that the commitment and dedication that I put in, will result in what comes out. Having done the Management Development Programme, I was able to come somewhat “prepared”, but COVID-19 certainly changed that. It taught me not just to be health-conscious and to be appreciative, but also that change is very real.  How I respond to challenges and opportunities and what I derive from them is what matters. Lastly, working in a syndicate team really inspired me – there is so much to learn from each and every team member. It was good to see the natural leadership, dedication and teamwork that developed as well as the respect for one another. Their skills and experience were appreciated.”

For further information about upcoming SMDP programmes, please click here.

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Management Development Programme participants help to alleviate the water crisis in the rural areas of South Africa with Water Matters

USB Executive Development’s Management Development Programme (MDP) is a strategically focused leadership programme, which aims to provide its participants with the tools that they require to operate efficiently on a strategic level. One such mechanism for facilitating this learning process is the Business Driven Action Learning  (BDAL) project: a practical assignment focused on achieving leadership development and true organisational transformation, using a results-focused orientation, in which a syndicate group seeks out and partners with an SMME. 

As part of their Business Driven Action Learning project, Management Development Programme syndicate group, The Dominators, supported Water Matters (Pty) Ltd (hereafter referred to as Water Matters) – a new business concept, established in East London. The Dominators facilitated and supported Water Matters in a number of ways to uplift the initiative including establishing better streams of more sustainable income apart from government funding.

The rationale for starting Water Matters was impelled by the current water crisis facing South Africa, along with the lack of access to clean water for a considerable number of people living in this country. Water Matters aims to improve access to clean and safe drinking water particularly for people living in rural areas who mainly depend on river water; i.e. water that is not subjected to cleaning and purification processes prior to consumption. This is aligned with the South African government’s strategic objective of improving access to clean water for disadvantaged communities.

The intake of water not suitable for human consumption can transmit a myriad of diseases that could potentially result in loss of life. Currently, the market offers a wheelbarrow tank and a number of water purification systems, however, a solution that combines both the wheelbarrow tank and a filter into one integrated unit, to our knowledge, is not yet available. This is where Water Matters comes in. To mitigate the occurrence of this risk, Water Matters designed a cost-effective solution to purify the water collected from the river using a wheelbarrow water tank that comes with a built-in filter.

A research study conducted with people living in rural areas confirmed a great need for the product, however, the affordability to purchase the product is a major challenge. In this regard, an interview conducted with a district councillor highlighted the benefit of engaging and involving government in this process as the government is responsible for providing clean water to the public. Moreover, to prevent the business from being solely dependent on revenue generated from the government, the company aims to form strong partnerships with local hardware stores to retail the product and corporates to procure the product as part of their corporate social investment initiatives. 

Speaking into her experience of the programme, Kim Jonas, Specialist Scientist at South African Medical Research Council, shared that among her highlights were the collaboration and teamwork that her group demonstrated. She shares, “The project was conceived out of passion with a combination of diverse skill-set that the group members possess. We had weekly evening meetings that we all adhered to as a group, and we all put our time and effort into the group project in that we didn’t exactly mind going past the allocated meeting time if it was needed. A group of strangers have since become collegial and friends. We emerged from the project more than peers, and have maintained contact since. We learned to work so well with each other, so that no one felt left out or taken for granted. More importantly, we came out with the greatest and most promising proposal there ever was in the water crisis for the rural areas.”

In her personal capacity, she mentions, “I learned something about my own character amongst the group of other aspiring leaders. The group highlighted to me my strong “voice” and my preference for fast decision-making – which, of course, I took as positive and constructive feedback.  Ever since, I have been cognisant of this element of my personality in the workplace. I’ve also learned to compromise in the interest of the bigger picture, as the process taught me how to value and acknowledge everyone’s views and feelings and be less reactive in my approach.”

To those considering the programme, she shares, “Go for it! The programme is so incredibly valuable! There’s so much that I learned from it that I have integrated into my own daily routine.  You will surely learn practical ways to become the best manager/leader you can be. It has certainly capacitated me to become the best young, agile leader that I can be both for myself and my team. So, go for it and thank me later!”

For more information about the Management Development Programme, and upcoming dates, please click here. 

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