Nexus Leadership Programme

Adaptive and transformative leadership in a rapidly evolving South African environment

“Be a voice, not an echo’’~Albert Einstein

The GIBS Nexus Leadership Programme is no ordinary learning intervention. It is a unique opportunity designed to equip you with the insights and tools to master adaptive leadership and make positive impact in your organisation and society.

It is a seven-month transformative leadership programme that supports leaders in business, civil society and government to more skilfully – and collaboratively – understand and navigate the complexities of the South Africa context. Utilising a myriad of learning tools underpinned by deep dialogue, contextual awareness, experiential learning and self-reflection, Nexus nurtures leaders who are self-aware, have a high level of personal mastery, are able to engage meaningfully with a diversity of perspectives, and have the skills and the passion to develop innovative solutions to new challenges. The programme also provides tools for the application of key learnings back into the workplace.

The Nexus programme has been selected by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as one of 35 programmes globally that demonstrate "the unique ways that business schools globally embrace an innovative mindset, and serve as visionaries across the higher education landscape". In total, the AACSB received more than 315 submissions, across 33 countries for the 2017 Innovations That Inspire showcase.

Programme Methodology

The Nexus programme is based on experiential learning, reflective practice and direct engagement with societal leaders. It is not lecture based. Participants are invited into a series of carefully designed engagements with self, with others and with the broader environment and supported to reflect on these experiences to gain new insight. In this way, the learning of each participant is unique to them and continues to develop long after the end of the programme.

Over the 7-month programme, delegates meet for two consecutive days a month. A series of written assignments allow delegates to integrate the learnings into their own lives.

Key Focus Areas

• Contextual understanding of the South African context, key trends and issues.
• Authenticity: self-awareness, congruence and the courage to voice divergent views.
• Agency: a belief in your own ability and freedom to effect change.
• Vision: a powerful and positive imagination of the future.

How you will benefit

Through this programme you will:

• Deepen your ability to see systems and linkages and reduce the 'silo' mentality;
• Be able to work constructively and creatively with diverse stakeholders to understand and address pressing issues;
• Deepen your self-awareness, sense of agency and personal mastery;
• See more potential in people and situations, especially in those you may have been prone to discount or dismiss;
• Be more willing and able to engage in the courageous conversations needed to move ourselves, our organisations and the country forward;
• Gain a greater contextual appreciation of the complexity of operating in the South African environment and the implications for personal and organisational leadership; and
• Be connected to a passionate group of people who are committed to effecting positive change in South Africa.