S’bongiseni Vilakazi at the Laureus Sport for Good summit in South Africa
Hey
here’s S’bongiseni Vilakazi (Managing Director PeacePlayers International – South Africa)
Just thought I’d tell you that the workshop so far has been AWESOME!
I enjoyed learning about the Laureus life skills manual, and am looking forward to incorporating it into our own.It was also great to pick up the tips on making sessions interesting from Gill.
Today, though, was a highlight for me. Often at such workshops I get frustrated by the lack of material or learning that can contribute directly to what I do in the organisation – ensuring overall effectiveness from the strategic level. I found today to be pegged at just the right level for me. I realised that while we may say we are an HIV/AIDS prevention programme, the heart of our impact lies in leadership development. It was therefore quite useful to explore with other organisations what leadership development through sport means for us. The session on defining leadership development pathways helped me to think about a matter that is of great importance to PPI – SA.
We have a professional development programme for our coaches and permanent staff, and we are currently grappling with giving it proper structure. I now have a good idea about how to take this process forward when I get back. I enjoyed the discussion on innovation and creativity. It was great having Sohal, who’s been involved in marketing/advertising at corporate level as well as in the development field, talk about how to look at creativity.
In the discussion group, I was struck the most by the point that we need to create an environment in our organisation that enables creativity. I don’t know that we have been doing this and I’m not sure how to go about it. However, in our group we had somebody who has experience on this and we have made a point to discuss this point further after the workshop.
I feel that having people at similar levels in their organisations as I am in mine helped make the discussions and networking more meaningful. I met people who can help me directly with things that I am struggling with. More than this though, the topics that Laureus selected for discussion were spot on and Lou did sterling work facilitating the sessions.
For once I came to a workshop/networking session and I do not regret one minute of it. If the workshop ends today I’ll still walk away highly enriched. I’m excited for what’s to come over the next two and a half days.
Well done Laureus!! What remains to be seen now is how we ensure that what was started at this workshop is not lost but is strengthened for the benefit of all involved.
Thank you so much.
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