Florence, a committed leadership voice from Uganda, and a participant in the online Foundational Leadership Principles and Practices course I facilitated last month shared an observation that demonstrates the impact that shared learning and leading can have on individuals, organizations, and communities.
Thank you so much for this opportunity to grow as a leader and to develop an abundant vision. Your training has enlarged my vision and impact that now close to 5000 people from the community are beneficiaries.
The training Florence is referring to isKurumbuka Leadership Solution’s year-long leadership training program empowering leaders, connecting influencers, and multiplying leadership solutions.
Florence has completed the program and is part of a growing list of African leaders who have been equipped and called to now impact and influence their organizations and communities. These leaders operate from an abundance mentality and willingly serve to remove barriers to facilitate the transformation of the communities they lead.
Kurumbuka, which was birthed from the Wellspring Foundation for Education’s Abundant Leadership Institute, has been training leaders Since 2015. Beginning with a small initial cohort of fifteen leaders from Rwanda, the Kurumbuka leadership program now has trained leaders from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. This includes the group of leaders who have just completed the fourth cohort which Florence was part of.
The feedback and reflections received from the participants of this unique leadership development program have been affirmative and encouraging. Numerous positive outcomes have been communicated. Many of the leaders share that the program not only helped with providing more leadership principles and skills, but also has equipped them with practical and hands-on strategies to assist them in leading and transforming their leadership abilities.
Another consistent message articulated is that the program has empowered the leaders to stretch beyond their comfort zones and avoid isolation. They are reaching out and connecting; recognizing that there is strength in sharing and collaborating.
Phocas Ngendahayo, Kurumbuka’s Rwanda Country Director shares, “ it is exciting to read about how you are already planning to stay connected, to celebrate the learning and competencies you acquired, while finding ways to strengthen the already established connections and productive relationships, multiplying solutions to bless your respective institutions and communities to bless your respective institutions and communities in the region, with our shared vision, faith, our abundant heart and quality of service.”
As I read Phocas’ comments and after reviewing the comments of the feedback received from the participants, Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed came to mind. This parable, which describes the transformation of a minuscule seed into a tree capable of producing and sustaining an abundance of branches, is a vision of Kurumbuka’s leaders.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 NRSV).
From an initial kernel of a small group of leaders sown in cohort one, the program has multiplied to seventy two leaders with the completion of cohort four. Kurumbuka is beginning to realize its “mission to develop and empower 10,000 leaders by 2030.”
Kurumbuka’s mission may be lofty and ambitious, nonetheless, it is evident that leaders in Africa see a need for this type of leadership development program. More individuals from different communities and neighboring countries are looking to join the expanding table. The voice of Kurumbuka is growing and, “ just as great rivers have a very small source, so great movements in history often start in a single moment with an obscure thought, word or action…” (African Study Bible Commentary, pg.1164).
Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions is and will continue to be a key contributor and influencer in bringing African voices around the Leadership is Heart table. View the video to learn more about how Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions is impacting leaders and how to get involved.
Leadership is Heart has been in existence for almost ten years now. It has gone through a number of iterations, topics, and reflections. One constant though has been the focus on my passion for leading, mentoring, impacting and influencing individuals, organizations and communities. The blog has generated some success over the past few years allowing me to share my own thoughts, reflections and learnings. Last year around this time, I felt moved to compile some of my posts eventually resulting in the publication of my first book Learning and Leading in The Land of a Thousand Hills.
The effort and energy expended in writing Learning and Leading resulted in a hiatus from consistently writing on Leadership is Heart. I did not realize how physically and emotionally draining it can be to publish a book. In addition, dealing with and coping with the isolation and social distancing brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic created obstacles to coming up with creative ideas to share through the blog. Inspiration for my writing consistently comes from people I interact with through teaching, mentoring, and sharing in groups around a table. Normally, these situations are not done in isolation, but with people sharing thoughts, ideas, and actions face-to-face.
The pandemic pause has helped. Life has slowed down. Time to reflect has increased. Much needed rest resulted.
For me an unexpected outcome has occurred. The use of alternative ways of interaction have increased out of necessity. Although physical connections and relationships have been curtailed, the online strategies of using Zoom, Google Meet Ups and other platforms have allowed online connection to flourish. Perhaps not as effective as face-to-face however, being forced to use online teaching, mentoring and connection has turned out to be beneficial.
Recently, I facilitated a three-day course to an inspiring and engaged group of leaders from the countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Foundational Leadership Principles and Practices course was delivered online for the first time as travel restrictions prevented me from travelling to Africa to teach the course face-to-face. I was forced to teach online from my home office to twenty individuals sitting in their homes in Africa. I had never taught an online course in such a manner and I was anxious going into day one. My main concern was not only how was I going to connect with these leaders, but whether connecting online would be effective. I also wondered whether the three-day commitment from these leaders would be worthwhile.
The investment turned out better than I had ever expected, and according to the course feedback from the students the online course was very successful. Learning and leading together around an online table worked!
Personally, teaching the online course led to a new realization; I felt called to re-purpose Leadership is Heart.
I have been serving in Rwanda for over seven years now and I have encountered the work and service of many outstanding African leaders. But it was not until this last online teaching session, and after a discussion with my wife Anne, did I realize what I now needed to do. After serving with so many remarkable leaders in Africa I felt it was time to bring their voices to the attention of more learners and leaders around the world. Their passion, commitment, and relentless drive to transform lives and communities is inspiring.
I feel renewed following the three day module and now feel the need to move Leadership is Heart into a new direction with a renewed purpose and mission. A direction that not only shares my own writing, but also the thoughts, reflections and wisdom from the leaders in Africa that I am so fortunate to engage with through my work with the Wellspring Foundation for Education and Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions. The voices of these African leaders need to be heard.
As I was sharing this insight with Anne, she described an image of leaders sitting around a communal table sharing thoughts, reflections, concerns and solutions. And with this image in mind, together we came up with a new purpose.
Leadership is Heart will now focus on sharing the collaborative voices of African leaders who are learning and leading to transform hearts, minds and leadership around a shared table.
One of the leaders who gathered around the ‘online table’ during the teaching encapsulated our thoughts perfectly.
“We just completed three days of online learning, and a lot was covered, discussed, and learned in such a short time. Students learned leadership principles and practices such as ‘how to build a purpose, mission, and vision’, ‘how to build relationships and organizational trust’, and ‘how to build resilience and strength as a leader.’ Both the facilitator and the students were so engaged throughout the module and many times we didn’t realize how much time had elapsed. Claudio taught from his head and from his heart. He shared that he feels re-energized by joining together with incredible leaders from Central and East Africa. He challenged the students to go forward and multiply leaders, create solutions in their institutions, and empower their communities all while embodying a servant’s heart and an abundant mentality.”
I did challenge the students, but I also felt challenged to go forward and do my part to multiply and empower. To continue to invest in and mobilize the voices of African leaders.
