Last week, ALU’s sister organisation, African Leadership Network (ALN) hosted its Annual Gathering in Mauritius. The three-day event, held from November 2 to November 4, brought together nearly 400 African leaders from various industries to talk about “The Art of Leading.”
Workshops ranged from the art of leading as an African elder, millennial and woman to leading innovation in education, African cities and talent management. Speakers included Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister of Nigeria and former Managing Director of the World Bank, who spoke in a one-day Executive Education Forum hosted by the ALU School of Business. Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet also spoke about his partnership with ALN to implement the Africa Business Fellowship and Grammy award winning jazz musician, Kirk Whalum, who led attendees through an experiential on the leadership as an art.
Here are the 10 most memorable quotes from ALN2016
The difference between success and failure is not radical change. It’s the tweaks to what you are already doing – Modupe Taylor-Pearce, Dean, ALU School of Business
Leadership is an art because in art, the individuality of the artist is like a fingerprint. It is this fingerprint that makes the difference. In the same way, a leader’s style is just theirs – Kirk Whalum, Grammy award winning jazz musician
Like artists, leaders and their teams need to improvise sometimes. The foundation of the freedom to improvise is trust but trust doesn’t happen overnight. Trust happens in relationships – Kirk Whalum, Kirk Whalum, Grammy award winning jazz musician
Leadership is more of an art than a science. It’s the conviction that we have, that ultimately Africa’s future will be driven by the quality of its leaders. The artist is never satisfied with their work and I believe true leaders are never satisfied with their performance. They are always learning. The minute you stop learning is the minute you fall short – Fred Swaniker, Founder, ALU
Don’t assume that men live their lives to deprive women of opportunity. It’s the system so let's change the system – @WendyLuhabe #ALN2016
— ALN (@Prosper4Africa) November 3, 2016
Leading is an art. It’s a function of the environments and experiences that have shaped us – Wendy Luhabe, Chairman, Women Private Equity Fund
For your business to be successful, it’s important that you have a woman in a place of influence – Acha Leke, Chairman, McKinsey & Company
Before the art must be the science. You’ve got to do the right thing and set the right framework in place. This means that for businesses to be successful you need to have financial management, recruitment and talent etc in place – Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet
We’re in a fascinating time in innovation in education. There's both a need and appetite for it – Chinezi Chijioke #ALN2016
— ALU (@alueducation) November 4, 2016
We’re fomenting a revolution built on a conviction that the single most important thing that will move this continent forward is leadership – Fred Swaniker, Founder, ALU
Check out other insights from the Gathering on Twitter using the #ALN2016 and #ArtofLeading hashtags.
