The 2019 Insurance Leadership Development Programme has almost reached its halfway mark, 25 dedicated students spent 4 consecutive days on GIBS campus this week for their second ILDP Block of the year and what a committed group of students!
This study block was themed: Problem Solving through Systems and Creative Thinking. IIG head of Education, Daphne Peter, welcomed a full class with words of encouragement and gratitude. Sasria SOC was recognised as the programme sponsor and thanks expressed to Sasria and GIBS for making this programme possible, to the students for their commitment to their education journey, and to their companies and line managers for supporting them on this course.
Day One; The World We Live and Work In, was spent with Prof. Marianne Mathee, providing the delegates with a high-level understanding of macroeconomic theory that is useful to understanding the global environment of business. The impact of the South African economy on the insurance industry will be explored through assignment work.
The second day was well spent with Dr. Jeff Chen, a very strong focus on design thinking, innovation, technology and knowledge management. GIBS and Dr. Jeff Chen highlighted in these course objectives that “in the fierce business landscape with rapid advancement of technology innovation, successful organisations are constantly being challenged to satisfy current business demands whilst being amenable to future changes.
Leaders are therefore required to leverage and foster innovation in order to maximize the competitiveness of their organisations. But this era of constant disruption requires a new wave of leadership with new mindsets…”. It was an intense and exciting day that included a site visit and immersion to EY. Delegates were exposed to the latest in innovative thinking by EY who showcased how innovation and use of technology leads to successful ventures.
Day 3 came by very quickly, Colleen Magner lectured on applying Systems thinking to leadership challenges. “Systems Thinking is a way of reframing our understanding, interpretation and action when addressing complex challenges”, ILDP delegates learnt how to apply systems thinking principles when working with multiple and often complex priorities whilst trying to bring about innovation and change. The day ended with a surprise guest speaker arranged by GIBS. He was Tshidiso Radinne, from Raphta. A tech entrepreneur and inventor who spent almost 2 hours talking with the class on his passion for his business, Artificial Intelligence, Nano & Quantum Technology.
Time flies when you’re having fun, and learning! A great close to the block on the final day with Nana Tankou who educated on the last module for the week: Business Planning and Project Management. Nana ensured that delegates are exposed to the key principles and concepts for successful project Management and business planning. In the morning we went through the principles of project management, and the Business planning’s role to effective execution. After lunch we learnt what it takes for an effective and good project manager to gear business for change; the relevance of Key project artefacts and how to best manage a project team and key stakeholders for ultimate results.
Bonita, this year’s dedicated ALP Coach and programme integrator spends every day with the ILDP group for coaching and integration sessions. ALP groups had coaching sessions before the start of class everyday and sometimes in the evening too.
This block really gave everyone the insight and practice to be able to apply their knowledge to analyse the business environment in which their firms operates, this allows them to develop effective management strategies and plans of action that will contribute to achieving sustainable business growth.
In the closing session delegates commented that after these few days they were further motivated to be the catalyst for needed change, “We must ensure that everything we do always adds value and we must always ask ourselves that question: what are we doing to add value and bring positive growth and change?”.
The third block takes place at the end of July, we wish our delegates all the best with the upcoming assignments, Action Learning Project submissions and all the studying to do before then. Stay Committed and keep up the hard work!
Keep checking our IIG newsletter for the next set of interviews featuring another ALP group of fantastic individuals!
#IIGILDP2019 #PurposePassionPride
Nina Joubert: IIG Ambassador – ILDP
