Nu Wave Group hosts Edge Leadership Masterclass on Monday

Nu Wave Group managing director Michael Sealey said the vision for the upcoming Edge Leadership Masterclass with Vusi Thembekwayo began with the experiences he went through during his entrepreneurial journey.

The masterclass is scheduled for September 30 at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

Sealey said after leaving his public service job and becoming an entrepreneur in 2014, he observed over time that there were gaps in the entrepreneur developing their knowledge and skill and competency to ensure that they become successful.

“It’s because of those gaps you recognise that a lot of it is really getting the right information and finding yourself in the right rooms, in the right spaces to be able to help you now develop as an entrepreneur. That is where we saw the need, and that is where the idea was born.”

Sealey said he wanted to bring Thembekwayo to Trinidad and Tobago because he had shared his knowledge and expertise through 180 presentations across 4 continents and 38 countries.

Thembekwayo is a South African venture capitalist, elite coach and mentor, keynote speaker, and best-selling author.

He has become one of the wealthiest young people in Africa and was the youngest African entrepreneur to appear on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine. He has also appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Inc500.

Sealey said in his experience there is a misconception that entrepreneurs only need physical, financial, and human resources.

“But the fundamental part of that it’s more important to be resourceful than to actually have the resource because if it don't develop and you don't get the right information and you get the resources that does not mean that it would amount to anything, so it’s more valuable to be able to know strategy that could help develop yourself as a person and also develop your business.”

He said this was his reason for inviting Thembekwayo because of his strategic ideas.

“At any point and time in your business life you could be right on the edge of failure, or on the edge of success. And believe me when I say there’s a very, very thin line between both and the strategies you may employ along the way could help you remain successful. Thembekwayo is not a conventional speaker, I think he’s very disruptive in his thinking, so it’s not something you’d find in a book or a degree, course or a Masters. It’s really strategies you could put in practice or a thought process you could employ that can help you change the whole concept of how you approach your business.”

Sealey said he had put some of Thembekwayo’s strategies into practice in his business and had seen an increase in success. He said he wanted to provide this experience to the mix of people he wanted to attract to the masterclass and the upcoming Edge Leadership Series.

He said the primary audience for the masterclass included business leaders, small- and medium- enterprises (SMEs), professionals, industry influencers and thought leaders.

“What is important is to get this diverse room of persons, because we have as young as business students to senior executives of large businesses and everybody in between, that would be in that space. Attendees will benefit from the personal and business development gained from the insights shared by Thembekwayo as well as a targeted networking opportunity with industry professionals from across the region.

“Being exposed to these strategies is why it’s important to have somebody like him at that level to come and really speak to the different groups of people in the room.”

Sealey said he hoped the masterclass would also give banks and financial institutions a clearer understanding of the needs of an entrepreneur.

“I want them to consider how they can tailor some of the facilities they provide to cater more to the needs of the entrepreneur. Instead of painting everyone with a broad brush of their policies, they could say, ‘How can we tailor something that could give this entrepreneur more success?’ Because once the entrepreneur becomes successful that’s a plus for the financial institution. So that’s a part of it, just trying to create a level of awareness and create a shift in the paradigm as to how financial institutions approach entrepreneurs and how they could cater to their needs.”

The masterclass will consist of two sessions: Leading at the Edge of Chaos, which will transform business leaders into the motivators and influencers needed for organisations to thrive on the edge of change; and The Future of Finance, which will prepare businesses and growth entrepreneurs to manage the level of finance needed for the business and the level of competition they face.

Sealy said part proceeds from the masterclass will support the We Say Yes Organisation in its vision and mission to provide viable alternatives to a sub-standard life or life of crime for youths in East Port of Spain and beyond and to nurture empowered, entrepreneurial youth who are confident, competent, caring, creative achievers, contributors and leaders.

“The organisation is really committed to teach these young people about a different opportunity in entrepreneurship and that should really be highlighted and applauded. You see the effect of it where kids who were not academically inclined are now seeing they can build something, saying, ‘I can make something, I can plant something, I can come and sell it and create my own income’ so we are supporting them in this programme and what they're doing going forward.”

For more info, to learn more, connect or purchase access passes visit edgeleadershipseries.com/ or Facebook and Instagram - @edgetheseries.