The 18th of July is arguably among the few days collectively celebrated and acknowledged by the global community. The day was declared and marked the International Nelson Mandela Day by the United Nations in November 2009. According to the UN, ‘everyone has the ability and responsibility to change the world for the better, and Mandela Day is an occasion for everyone to take action and inspire action”. As young black entrepreneurs, we decided to use this day to develop and empower ourselves with information necessary to the growth of our agency, Swell Communications.
We share these 50 lessons from 67CEOs Mandela Day Mentorship event under the theme “Inspire Possibility Thinking 1.0”. The event was a partnership between Sam Apata, the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller, and the Reef Hotel. The list of mentors included the likes of former Shanduka CEO, Phuti Mahanyele, and Dr. Maxwell Holland. Here are the lessons…
- leadership is about serving others
- Have a strong sense of spiritual
- Your work should be people oriented
- Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle
- Our problem is not money, education is… We need information that will help access money and education can do that
- Data is becoming more important than oil and gas
- Change needs to start from families
- No one really remembers the middle man, strive to be at the top
- Hang out with relevant people
- Use social media tools such as Facebook to build a positive brand for yourself
- Strive to be both physically and mentally fit, it balances the equilibrium
- Family structures do matter
- Live a purpose-driven life
- Have a clear vision and focus
- Despite the economic difficulties we are facing as a country, we need to look for opportunities
- Agriculture/agro-processing, service sector, and manufacturing are among the promising sectors in the future
- Do not be ordinary, aim for extraordinary
- Know who you really are
- Take care of your thoughts
- Before you can inspire others, you need to be inspired
- Our starting is usually wrong, invest time in getting the start right
- Positively dominate spaces (Not people, but situations)
- Understand your purpose, it will save you time and energy
- There will be times when you do not have income, brace yourself
- Make a date with yourself and actually pitch
- You can achieve anything, even traveling to Cape Town from Pretoria on a bicycle
- Never go to a direction that you do not understand with out a contingecy plan
- Passion never dies, if it does then it was not passion
- Move away from being religious to being spiritual
- We live in an information age, our challenge is how young people access this information
- It is important to constantly work on yourself
- Balancing body, mind and soul is key
- Relationships are key
- There is value in getting a mentor
- You never came to eath alone, you came with a gift
- Commit first and the rest shall follow
- Human capital is a key factor in Africa’s progression
- Eat passion and drink dreams
- Address client needs by providing customer oriented products and services
- Local consumption is a key driving force of Africa’s economy
- Natural resources might be major economic commodities, but they are on a decline
- Young people makes up a larger population in Africa. Focus on youth markets, you stand a greater chance
- Understand different environments
- Believe in yourself
- Seek expert and technical advice
- Making no decision is a major problem, make decision (whether right or wrong)
- Execute your plans
- learn quickly or get it right the first time
- Build your own legacy
- The Turrito jellyfish is the only immortal species known, its lifecycle is continous
We hope you all played your part and that you continue to do so everyday.
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