The CEO MASTERCLASS

Program Overview

The CEO Masterclass an initiative of Simamizi Africa Ltd, is a 3-Day mentoring and networking forum that seeks to give the CEO/C-suite a deep understanding and mastery of the self, so that they become more effective CEOs in their current mission and also develop a long-term view of their purpose and mission.

It is a vibrant hub for CEOs to come find themselves, find mentors, mentor their upcoming colleagues, and grow their networks.

It blends both experienced and recently appointed CEOs, which provides the latter a deep well of experiences and knowledge from which to draw, as they chart their own trajectory. The thinking behind the CEO Masterclass is a response to the fact that there is no structured forum where CEOs can go learn their trade. CEOs have long grappled with questions like-:

• Where does one go for training as a CEO?
• Where can a CEO find his or her peers to share experiences, learn from one another, and explore their fears in a safe environment?

The background

The CEO Masterclass has its roots in the Young CEOs Retreat that ran for several years some twenty years ago. In that season, Young, newly appointed CEOs were yearning to sit at the feet of long experienced CEOs to understand what it took to be successful in their new roles. In that season, more that 100 Young CEOs went through a season of mentorship and many of them are now successful long serving CEOs in their own rights. Many of those fromer mentees are now available to mentor and handhold other CEOs.

The CEO Masterclass is also rooted in the deep african tradition of mentorship through story telling. A part of the programme is dedicated to identifying personal stories around personal turning points, and being able to tell these stories to connect and impact various audiences. Senior respected CEOs are able to share their deepest life lessons in the form of personal stories. In Africa, storytelling is used to pass down age old wisdom around the fireplace. Many corporate events have adopted a fireside chat as a way of having deep unstructured conversations.

In a way, the CEO masterclass is a three day fireside chat.

The core content consists of the following:

• Telling your personal story:

Story telling has been identified as one of the key pillars of leadership. Story telling helps you to connect authentically with your teams, customers, board members and basically anyone you encounter. This section will help you identify the key turning points in your life that make you the leader you are. You will then be empowered to tell your personal story.

• Your best year yet:

In this section, you will be equipped with a methodology for doing a 360- degree review of your last year and using this to develop a balanced year plan. Using this methodology, you will then do a 360-degree review of the last twenty years and use this to come up with a balanced twenty-year plan. This section will shock you into realizing that you will be a totally different person in twenty years, and help you prepare yourself for your future self.

• Life plan 101:

90% of all the great people you know unlocked their greatness between the ages of 50-70 years old. Your life consists of various seasons that call on you to be different personas in the respective seasons. Different seasons have different definitions of success. In this section, you will be reminded that the best days are ahead of you and with the right mindset, you can unlock your maximum impact in the third Quarter of your life. This is how to position as an impactful CEO.

• The Quarters Perspective:

This section will help you sum up your life into four quarters each with a list of responsibilities, expections, goals and duties both to self and other (the society). This is a very interesting and eye opening exercise which presents an opportunity to re-align your goals, objectives and expectations with a view of living fully to your dream as a CEO.

• Network Analysis:

This section will help you evaluate whether the people around you are assisting your trajectory or weighing it down. It will help you answer questions like: How do you create a network for success as a CEO?

• Guest Speakers:

The programme will bring two experienced and recognized CEOs to share their life journeys. Participants will glean life lessons from these speaker conversations. Guest speakers will have plenty of time to share and entertain questions leading to deep reflections.

The masterclass has a maximum class of 15. This small size allows for deep sharing and vulnerability. The CEO masterclass is guaranteed to change your future outlook of your role as a leader. Beyond the masterclass, you will join a community of alumni who have gone through the programme that creates a network of peer mentors