Ubuntu Leadership

Welcome to Ubuntu Leadership

Experience leadership with the heart of Ubuntu in the regions of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lesotho, and KwaZulu-Natal. Immersive journeys focused on connected leadership and community building.

Leadership journeys based on the African Ubuntu philosophy are our starting point for developing three journeys to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini.
Ubuntu, the search for, experience, and practice of connectedness, offers opportunities to further develop your leadership abilities.

We currently offer 3 journeys. Click one of the links below for more information.

Western Culture

Who hasn’t grown up with it? Western society revolves around transactional relationships. The individual takes center stage more and more; personal branding is the norm. On Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and even within your own organisation, you constantly need to stand out and promote yourself. Colleagues become competitors, raising the question of whether this constant competition actually produces the desired outcomes. Does it not lead to stress, envy, egocentrism and distract us from what really matters: job satisfaction, meaningful work, impact, and a healthy business result?

Aren’t values such as collaboration, caring for one another, and appreciating difference and diversity actually the keys to success?

The Lessons from Africa

In all our journeys, connecting with people is at the core. By talking to students, meeting chiefs, working on a wine farm, experiencing wildlife through the lens of Ubuntu, and speaking with former prisoners on Robben Island, we discover what Ubuntu really means in practice and what it can mean for you as a leader.

Through moments of reflection , you will be able use these insightful experiences as guidance on your own professional path back home.

Practical Information

The journeys always take place in October, November, January, or February ensuring a sunny African climate.

Inspiration

"I am, because we are and the planet is"

This well-known quote from the Ubuntu philosophy emphasizes that as an individual, you cannot exist in isolation. We need each other in order to grow. Every person is connected to one other and is part of nature.

Exploitation and depletion are incompatible with this worldview. A human being is not a "human resource" but a fellow human. This is the source of our shared engagement and care for each other.

"I need you to be you, so that I can be me"

Every person is unique. When we begin by recognising and embracing this we create space for each individual to be themselves and develop their unique talents. This is the foundation of personal happiness and also of the greatest possible contribution to the organization you work for.

"It takes a company to develop an employee"
(In analogy with: "It takes a village to raise a child…")

People learn from each other provided they are seen for who they are, and there is space and opportunity for collaboration. Young people learn from the experiences of elders, and elders learn from the latest insights of the younger generation, and so on. Listen to each other, learn from one another.