When I penned my first Dean’s Note for Acumen in Issue 33, I reflected on the nature of leadership transitions and the weight of legacy. That 2020 edition of Acumen was a “handover” issue, a bridge between the remarkable vision of my predecessor, Professor Nicola Kleyn, and the new chapter we were about to write together as a GIBS community under my unexpected leadership. I wrote then about the impossibility of excessive flattery in academia and the necessity of gratitude and humility as we navigate change.
Navigating change with purpose
The past five years have tested every aspect of our resilience as an institution. We have weathered the storms of a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, and shifting societal expectations. Yet, as I observed in that first note, our response has always been to balance immediate challenges with long-term opportunity. We have always planted for tomorrow’s harvest, motivated our people, and embraced sustainability – not as a buzzword, but as a lived doctrine.
This ethos of responsible leadership – rooted in the African philosophy of ubuntu – has continued to shape our journey. As I have argued, humane leadership is not a soft ideal but a strategic imperative. It is about shifting from egocentric to allocentric thinking, self to community, and transactional to transformational engagement. Ubuntu, emphasising interconnectedness and respect, is the foundation for building community trust, collaboration, and psychological safety.
A laboratory for experimentation and growth
GIBS has always been more than a business school; it is a laboratory for transformative learning and experimentation. Our willingness to innovate – whether through advancing data-driven management, new pedagogies, or bold partnerships – has kept us at the forefront of African business education and research. We have never been afraid to “push out the boat and experiment”, as I wrote in a recent edition of Acumen celebrating our 25th anniversary.
This spirit of experimentation is not just about an Afro-centric management and leadership curriculum exploring technology management or sustainability. It is about fostering a culture where students, faculty, and partners are encouraged to challenge assumptions, test new ideas, learn from failure, and celebrate success, however small. Our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially in health, well-being, and quality education, has guided our response to crises and our pursuit of inclusive excellence in an ever-polarising global environment.
Listening as a leadership superpower
In a world increasingly defined by noise – literal and figurative – one of the most powerful leadership skills is the ability to listen. In 2025, I naively urged our community to silence the noise and learn to listen to each other and the signals of change around us. Responsible listening, I argued, is a transformative leadership capability: it builds stronger teams, de-escalates conflict, and uncovers opportunities that the foghorns of distraction might otherwise drown out.
Listening is especially critical in times of uncertainty. I continue to naively advance that whether navigating the complexities of climate change, technological disruption, or social upheaval, leaders must rise above the chaos, seek diverse perspectives, and engage in meaningful dialogue. At GIBS, we have embedded this ethos in our leadership and management development programmes and initiatives, encouraging our students, executive development life-long students, and partners to pause, reflect, and truly hear the voices that matter most – the voices of the vulnerable.
Championing humane and ethical leadership
At GIBS, we take comfort in the knowledge that being humane-centred is our cultural inheritance as Africans, and a competitive advantage that we leverage. As we expand our focus to embrace the technological economic environment and the human-digital link, we remain committed to the universal values that define us: empathy, respect, and the pursuit of the common good. Our partnerships with organisations such as Life Healthcare, Lyra, and October Health, and our research-led engagement work in areas such as anti-corruption, gender-based violence, and neurodiversity are proof of our belief that business can – and must – be a force for positive change. We work tireless to ensure that managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs in the GIBS ecosystem a force for good.
Looking ahead: A call to action
An impactful quarter-century now stares at us from the rear-view mirror as we shift our focus to a future bombarded with distractions and disruptions. To help steer our course, we’ll continue honing the superpower of “responsible listening” in 2026. As responsible business educators and researchers, we embrace diversity and a kaleidoscope of perspectives, but many voices risk being drowned out in a world full of shouting and confusion. We must counter that and ensure all views are heard, so we can agree on the gems that will take us forward as a society and a species.
In 2026, we will train our attention on listening to – really hearing – the three core communities that make GIBS what it is: our students, alums, and our corporate partners. We need to hear about these key communities’ pains, needs, and aspirations by humbly entering that conversation as committed partners in the service of addressing challenges and enabling dreams. We commit to being responsive to these key stakeholders in our efforts to honour our partners in responsible listening. Most importantly, we need to move beyond talk to considered and consistent action.
As we step into 2026, we do so neither timorously nor arrogantly but as confident educators researchers, think-partners, and collaborators. We will continue to take our vital role as collaborative nurturers seriously – providing the sustenance, space, and light to help green shoots grow and ideas flourish. We will keep leveraging our privileged position as an influential voice in society, specifically among the communities we serve. This is why I’m asking our students, alumni, and stakeholders to dream with us. Together, we can enhance our business school’s ability to be more attuned, responsive, and relevant through our commitment to responsible listening.
