Kgotla concept earns dutchman fame
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday November 11, 2013 16:44
A decade later, Dutch-man Willem de Liefde has opened offices around the world offering leadership consultancies and motivational talks built around the Kgotla concept.
His business card shows that his business operations are in Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Johannesburg. His clients include Netherlands Red Cross, De Beers mines in South Africa, Debswana mines in Botswana, KLM - a major Dutch airline and the Netherlands government.
The consultancies usually end up with recipient corporations investing in a set up imitating the kgotla to help companies practically improve their communication and consultation process like Batswana at a Kgotla meeting. De Liefde explained that his son also runs companies inspired by the Kgotla.
De Liefde says the Kgotla consultation concept in which everyone listens and everyone shares their views is a stark contrast to Western civilization, where he claims they do not have the culture of listening to their community members.
'I think it is a beautiful concept that can be exported throughout the world, this is what Botswana can share with the world today,' said De Liefde, who was in Gaborone last week, where he was a speaker at a Books launch event, courtesy of Sebilo Publishing Company.De Liefde has even written motivational books on the Kgotla system.
His Kgotla books that were displayed at Sebilo's Breakfast event held at the World of Golf on Thursday seemed to raise curiosity and interest among Botswana's corporate leaders in attendance. They included such titles as, 'African Tribal Leadership For Managers',
'The Leadership Navigator' and 'Lekgotla'. The titles do not end there as De Liefde revealed that he is working on the next release for 2014, 'The ego's ego', to be released in the USA. His website, kgotla.com, is a place where knowledge seekers can interact and learn about the inspirational leadership from an African country that can be tapped on to good effect.The website even uses visual images of Kgotla meetings in Serowe and Mochudi in their YouTube promotion.