20/04/2021
Keep reaching for your dream, wherever you find yourself.
__“The first step toward tolerance is respect, and the first step toward respect is knowledge.”
A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, emailed to ask me to take part as a surprise guest in the final interview of her 10-part “Conversations Across the Diaspora” series. I’ve been so busy on COVID matters I've done almost nothing else for the past 12+ months but I made the time, and what a wonderful conversation it turned out to be!
If you want to be inspired take an hour and listen to Sarah’s interview with Harvard Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr, at this online event hosted by the "Museum of the African Diaspora" in San Francisco. Surprise guests were Wole Soyinka, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Margaret Busby and me, all of us who watched quietly in the audience till Sarah turned on our video cameras toward the end.
I knew it would interesting, but Wow! For those of you who don’t know, Prof Gates is an award-winning African American filmmaker, author and very entrepreneurial intellectual if I can put it like that, but that’s not all. Please do yourself a favour and look him up.
The Museum of the African Diaspora that hosted the event [and where Sarah was once on the board] is a contemporary art museum celebrating the cultural heritage, talents, traditions and historical journeys of our black African brothers and sisters living across the world. You can find this amazing interview and the rest of the Conversations Across the Diaspora series on Sasai Watch. http://bit.ly/Sasai_Watch
I also received another email a few days ago from my friends at Stanford University Graduate Business School [also near San Francisco and Silicon Valley in California] who wrote to tell me they decided to keep the SEED application process open till 20 April… just for you on this platform! That's what they said!
So if you, or an entrepreneurial African founder/CEO you know, is qualified to take part in this year-long online world-class programme to support established entrepreneurs and their companies grow, innovate and scale… here’s a link: http://stanfordseed.co/Strive
Now I know it's been really tough for many of you recently, and even if your company has a high enough ARR to apply to this mentorship and consulting programme, your cash flow may be too tight. Or you may be struggling even to keep your doors open. Understood. Just keep your chin up and keep seeking other ways to skill up both you and your team. "When there's a will, there's a way"...
As most of you know, I left Zimbabwe on 22 March 2000. At the time, I told my staff: “We are going to build a global business. I don’t know how long it will take. The Lord has put it on my heart to do it.”
I told them then if they wanted to be part of it, I wanted them to go back to school and skill up because just like now, 20 years ago times and tech were changing fast.
One young man asked me: “I have a degree. What should I do?”
“Do an MBA. It’s a powerful tool.”
That guy, along with several others, took me up on my challenge. I was later able to hire him and others to join the new [but separate] global organisation that I started when I moved into the African diaspora myself. He now leads one of our top companies, and is world-class.
__It is never too late to get some additional academics and specialized training under your belt!
Even if you've never finished matric, that's okay... You are here studying today. And I have had my team put together excellent Sasai Podcast series just for you, if you're an entrepreneur or want to be. There are also educational and entertaining programmes on Sasai Watch like this Conversation, and more to come.
Keep reaching for your dreams whatever life throws at you, and continue to learn from the journeys and experiences of others far and near. There’s an old saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”.
Do you get what I’m saying?
Let's talk.
End.
Image credit: Thanks to
Reaching for the best?! Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
