Hello friends. I have decided to start my first blog. Mmm rather late I know, considering that it is now the fifth year since we started LEAP LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING, offering leadership facilitation and coaching across Africa. We hope to continue blogging regularly on our web site to reflect on and share some of our experiences as we teach, facilitate and coach individuals and teams.
Let me use this first post to tell you of the interesting things we have been doing across Africa. I left the corporate world in 2015. My last job was as Head of Leadership, Learning and Talent for Barclays Africa (Rest of Africa). I managed a team across Africa, and was fortunate to be involved with the talent and leadership programmes in each of the countries viz. Egypt, Ghana, Uganda, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and Seychelles.
Joy Chinsamy and I opened up LEAP Leadership and Learning (LEAP) and offered our services to a number of organisations across Africa. These services included facilitating Leadership development programmes, team effectiveness programmes, training coaches and mentors, team coaching, as well as individual coaching for leaders. I was engaged by the Barclays Leadership Faculty to facilitate Performance Management and Performance Coaching programmes across Africa, and before long, was called in by business to assist in team effectiveness programmes.
In 2015 I was invited to join the GIBS Coaching Faculty, and am involved in coaching on the MBA programmes, the Global Executive Development Programme, the General Managing for Results Programme, as well as other industry customized programmes. I am also on the UCT Centre for Coaching panel of coaches, and I am presently coaching participants on their South 32 Leadership Development Programme. I also coach for OMNICOR (Novartis) and Quality Life (Exxaro).
Facilitating leadership development programmes and team effectiveness programmes across Africa has kept us busy over the last few years. We have designed a leadership journey for corporates that start with “Understanding Self”, then “Understanding Others and Teams. This is followed by “Understanding Work” and finally “Understanding World”. Over the last 4 years of delivering this programme we have found it useful in starting the journey for leaders in personal awareness and understanding themselves. For this we have discovered the power of the Enneagram which is a personality profiling tool, which very accurately shows a person his/her dominant personality profile, strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, fears and triggers. We have used the Enneagram for over 1900 participants across Africa with Barclays, Absa, Diplomat South Africa, Standard Bank of South Africa, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Cooperative Bank of Kenya and G4S Africa. The feedback has been amazing, and participants attest to the impact the Enneagram has had on their personal lives, in many cases saving relationships including marriages.
Recently we have been drawn into coaching couples using the Enneagram. It is very fulfilling. We have realized the Enneagram has the power to heal, and this is one of our dreams as an organisation.
We are going to use this blog to share our experiences in the work that we do, in bringing awareness to individuals and teams, and impacting lives. We will also share with you the exciting work we are doing as LEAP in the Nyeleti Children’s Home, as part of our giving back with gratitude. The home houses 21 destitute and abandoned children between the ages of 4 months to 17 years. Joy Chinsamy, a Director of LEAP, is the Chairperson of a Trust that has been set up to assist this home and other such homes. I do hope you stay on this journey with us. We would love to engage with you in our reflections as we extend the community of love, support and healing in Africa!
Brian and Joy Chinsamy