High profile leadership within the Top 500 companies in South Africa collectively manage over R3,5 Trillion but for those who form part of the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, retirement looms along with approximately 10 000 other Boomers globally.

In comparison, currently only five black CEOs head up a Top 40 listed company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). As outgoing boardroom governance and retiring C-suite executives make way for a new future of transition, female empowerment and the speed and complexity of technological change, the turnover in high stakes performance is at a pitch. Businesses greatest challenge will be to make the necessary preparation for performance handover to ensure an optimally functioning leadership which can maintain profitability of the company.

How do you make two worlds unite? How does an outgoing leader hand over a lesson in ground alligator wrestling? How does the incoming CEO or Chairman of the Board deliver a grand programme; a revolutionary act of innovation for corporate transformation?

“You put them in the bush around a fire,” says Peter Hayward. You bring their personal qualities into a neutral space of luxury and technology and get them to understand their peoples’ values, what they care about, what makes them happy, and how the incoming trailblazer can set up an environment or corporate culture to enable that.”

Big 5 Strategies required

No one understands departures, succession or manoeuvring new environments better than explorer Peter Hayward. Taking early retirement from a large insurance conglomerate, Hayward has developed a world-class safari outfitting company which hosts blue chip corporates, politicians, Hollywood stars and luxury world travellers in Big 5 wilderness territory for think tanks, strategy sessions, awards recognition and leadership handovers.

His advice when launching into legacy building in a new corporate landscape is to own the fear and the risk and set out to get to know your environment. “Our business is essentially about people discovering new things about themselves in extraordinary environments. As a CEO without office walls, I run a tight team because the stakes are high, and lives are on the line, along with the bottom line. On safari, you don’t sleep, it’s a 24/7 responsibility as a leader, you’ve got to ensure the night patrol hasn’t missed a lion walking into camp but in the bush any team afforded this opportunity has a chance to find strength in diversity, ages, nationalities, cultures and backgrounds, it’s a neutral space without traditional lines of power bargaining,” he says.

A sensory experience for inclusivity

Communicating to top tier management through a sensory experience, together with the inclusivity and confidentiality of senior executives sharing a common space for setting up new strategy, plays a crucial role in shaping contemporary companies for the future, according to Hayward.

Individual leaders know they need to win hearts before they attempt to lead or upskill, and they need to support the process through continued recognition and development of the C-Suite individual to see a return on investment (ROI). When a leader unites a team, he or she is acknowledging they can’t do it by themselves; and when you thank them you build confidence and trust.

“Hayward’s Safari Sanctuary, just 60 minutes from Sandton, is about showing leadership how to do things slightly differently. At the end of the day, respect asks for respect; it’s a reciprocal action. To know and understand people, you don’t silence them, you let them speak their mind, you listen to their thoughts, ideas and opinions and so you get to hear what they think about you as a leader. And when you bring people into pristine wilderness environments, they start to remember who they are again. Our natural intelligence is ignited, the physical environment stimulates new thinking.

Transition centered around Indaba

“We’ve seen why some leaders fail; they think they have all the answers. Transition is about communication or as we like to say in Africa, it’s centred around ‘indaba’. Being in the wilderness is a great leveller, the bush tends to take the egos out of it. That way great leaders can identify the legacy issues and address them out of normal environments – not only can more be said, but individuals open up.”

If you’re a leader, handing over succession or seeking a new strategy and program for change, Hayward’s Grand Safari Company has been hosting pioneers of industry for decades in pristine natural environments across Africa, set within Presidential luxury, and on timelines that call for a different rhythm of the day.

Three-day Gentlemen’s Safaris take place at Hayward’s headquarters in the all new Big 5 Dinokeng territory just one hour’s drive from Sandton, Johannesburg; with the Big 6 iSimangaliso World Heritage site in KwaZulu-Natal; or in the Cape’s Cedarberg mountain region.

For interview requests, additional images or site visits please contact Mercedes Westbrook on mercedes@firehorsemedia.co.za or call +27 789707633.

About Hayward’s Grand Safari Company:

Hayward’s Grand Safari Company provides private groups of 40 to 200 VIP guests with an authentic 5-star mobile tented safari camp experience in pristine wilderness reserves across the African continent. Each bespoke luxury camp guarantees clients total event exclusivity and superior guest comfort.
Rated as the only 5-star mobile Safari in Africa, hosts Peter Hayward and Celia du Preez, are appointed by leading multinational blue-chip companies, royal contingents, presidents and renown celebrities alike for their award-winning brand launches, internationally acclaimed celebrations, weddings and superior conferences and events, ensuring Hayward’s remains the epitome in authentic, Out of Africa style and luxury.
With headquarters based on a 2 500-acre private game reserve north East of Pretoria in the all new Dinokeng Region of the Gauteng Province South Africa, Hayward’s have been creating once-in-a-lifetime memories for global clients for well over 20 years.
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