photo of the type of individuals who are right for the Seed Transformation Program – Southern Africa

Seed Transformation Program – Southern Africa

Curriculum

Innovation. Entrepreneurship. Leadership. The Seed Transformation Program focuses on all three.

Through a rigorous curriculum, facilitated in-company workshops, and a community of like-minded leaders, you will gain the strategic skills, methodologies, and mindsets to transform your business and your community.

The Stanford GSB approach is highly interactive. Unlike a traditional classroom, this yearlong program will have you out of your seat, collaborating with peers, brainstorming ideas, and learning by doing.

During four one-week sessions that take place over the course of the first eight months, you will work with Stanford faculty to explore topics ranging from leadership, strategy, and business ethics to accounting, marketing, and value chain innovations. The ultimate goal: to create your company’s transformation plan, a detailed action plan for your business with concrete steps to help you grow and scale over the next three to five years.

In between sessions, a Seed-trained facilitator will lead in-company workshops to help you gain buy-in with your team; the facilitator will also provide ongoing support for your small peer groups, called Leadership Labs. At the end of the eight months, you will present your transformation plan to Seed-trained staff and your peers. During the final four months you will work on implementing your transformation plan and attend Leadership Labs to share challenges and successes with peers. And, after the program is officially over, the networking and support continues, not just in your region, but across the entire STP community of current and former participants.

Overview

The program schedule is subject to change.

Months 1 – 8

Participate in four on-site immersion weeks.

Build Your Strategy

  • Strategy
  • Organizational design
  • Leadership and team building
  • Business model canvas

Know Your Company

  • Accounting
  • Operations
  • Value chain innovation

Know Your Product and Customers

  • Product innovation and design thinking
  • Marketing
  • Business ethics

Develop Your Plan

  • Finance and investing
  • Performance management
  • Corporate governance
  • Human resources and capacity development

Intersession Activities

The STP curriculum is designed to give you tools and tactics so that you can put into practice at your company the theories and frameworks you learned in the classroom. To help you achieve this, STP also facilitates in-company workshops and Leadership Lab meetings.

Facilitated In-Company Workshops

Led by Seed-trained staff — experienced local business leaders and facilitators — these workshops will help you introduce new ideas and learning across your company and help you generate buy-in to achieve company growth.

Months 9 – 12

Following the final immersion week, you will implement your transformation plan and continue to meet with your Leadership Lab.

After the Program

STP participants continue to stay engaged with Stanford Seed. Together with current and former participants, you will become part of the Seed Transformation Network. Among the benefits:

  • You will be invited to participate in ongoing peer leadership groups, tactical training workshops, networking events, and other programs, and will continue to get support from Stanford Seed consultants and Stanford students.
  • Network members are often invited to share the experiences of their own transformation journeys with incoming cohorts.