Learners, educators, parents and potential entrepreneurs interested in learning more about entrepreneurship should head down to the CSIR in Pretoria on May 14 and 15. Following the success of the Future Business Leaders Week held annually in Grahamstown, Sanlam is hosting an additional outreach programme focusing on entrepreneurship education, self-motivation and business skills. Some of South Africa’s top motivational speakers and achievers will give 20 keynote addresses, and facilitate 18 interactive workshops and business simulation games over the two days.
Creative problem-solving expert Kobus Neethling will discuss a new kind of creativity for a new century. In a hard-hitting talk entitled ”The Big Easy”, top motivational expert Gavin Sharples will reveal the secret to all success, giving practical tools to unleash one’s true purpose and potential. Chairman of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, Clem Sunter, will talk on ”Hedgehogs and Foxes”, highlighting the dramatic changes taking place in the nature of work, jobs and employment in the country and encouraging South Africans to become ”foxy” entrepreneurs.
Theuns Botha of Sanlam says: ”Both educators and parents wanting to give their children a head start should consider this excellent opportunity made possible through Sanlam’s commitment to promote and develop entrepreneurship in South Africa.” The workshops will instil creative and lateral-thinking skills, outline trends and predictions for the future world of work, explore self-motivation and personal growth, and use problem solving to generate new ideas together with their business plans. Participants can also learn how to find financial assistance to start a business, market on the World Wide Web and what technology is required for e-commerce.
Workshop facilitators will include Dorothy Blacklaws from the Entrepreneurship Education Initiative, Theresa van der Merwe from Entrepreneurs on the Move and well-known motivational speaker Catherine Glennie. Some of the workshops are specifically targeted at educators and parents wanting to develop the entrepreneurial skills of their children.
The Damelin Education Group will also be in attendance to give the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality assessment test, and visitors will be able to participate in a fun, interactive simulation business game run by the Johannesburg School of Finance. For inspiration, successful entrepreneur Angie Makwetla, will tell her road-to-success story and discuss what it takes to be a woman in business today, while Victor Vermeulen, a quadriplegic, will show how positive attitudes, passion and living in the present moment are the key to success and happiness.
For further information, programmes and booking kits, telephone (046) 622-4780. The final date for booking for the Sanlam Future Business Leaders outreach event in Gauteng is Thursday May 10.
— The Teacher/M&G Media, May 2001.
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