Learn To Lead

Read about the people, and the people behind the people, who create, deliver, and keep the wheels turning, for our experiential multi-sensory learning interventions!

The Learn To Lead team is an energetic and dynamic group of people passionate about providing a top-quality training experience that makes a lasting and uplifting difference to the people we train, (and a lasting and uplifting difference to each other!)

	Fiona (Fin)  is one of the creative sparks behind our programmes and game development and facilitation.  She is inspired by many practices including Nancy Kline's Thinking Environment, Dialogue practice, Creative idea generation, drama, improvisation, movement, free drawing, Visionquest, wilderness and outdoor facilitation.  She has an adventuring spirit and enjoys canoeing, cycling and running.  Fiona is passionate about developing young leaders and volunteers at Tsiba College of education as a mentor and serves on the Ons Plek Board.  She has a secret love for delicious cappuccinos and is an avid reader. When she is not playing at Learn to Lead, she can be found somewhere outdoors with her twins. Fiona is married and stays in Cape Town.
	Kate is our sales director at Learn to Lead. She is also passionate about facilitating, but has put that on ice while she dedicates her afternoons to being mom. Kate just loves dealing with Learn to Lead’s fantastic clients, and is also passionate about the business of business. She loves nothing better than tailoring a solution that really meets her client’s needs. Kate started life as a Speech Therapist and, in 1998, she joined Voice Excellence where the corporate and speech therapy worlds met. She started the Voice Excellence Cape Town branch which she ran for two years and then joined KnoVation. Here she specialized in call centre training. In 2003, Kate did a full time MBA, during which time she did her thesis on the value of experiential learning. Her research showed that experiential learning dramatically improved retention of theory and behaviour change in the work place. Hence, in 2004, Learn to Lead was born, specialising in experiential learning. Wow, has it been a journey of discovery, heart-ache, huge highs, lots of change, and never a dull moment. When Kate is not at Learn to Lead, she spends her time incorporating old hobbies with her new daughter. Hence, Mila is well traveled as a cyclist, a hiker, and a visitor of friends for tea. She is married, and lives in the wonderful republic of Hout Bay.
	Adam heads up the Learn to Lead team. He brings with him a huge amount of enthusiasm and passion for the training industry as a whole, but more specifically for Learn to Lead’s very important role in it. Adam holds a Business Science degree from UCT, majoring in Organisational Psychology and Human Resources. Since graduating in 1998, he has worked as an HR Manager, Training Performance Consultant, and facilitator in the corporate sector in the UK, Europe and South Africa. Adam has a love of travel, culture and  the outdoors, and, while possibly more sensible these days, spent 7 months in 2005 cycling through Europe and Africa with a tent and a guitar raising funds for an AIDS charity (and seeing how many dirt roads are out there), finally settling in Cape Town.
	Lindsay was a director of Learn to Lead for four years, and is currently an associate trainer. She has been in management longer than she cares to remember, mostly with De Beers, where she ended up as HR Manager.  During her years in management, she’s seen many fads come and go, from Total Quality and Green Areas through Management by Objectives to Management by Walking Around. She knows that management is as delicate a balancing act as is parenting – focus on the people, but ensure the job gets done; be approachable but not over-friendly; have an open-door policy but organise your time efficiently; be empathetic to employees but loyal to the company. She knows that managers are all too often the ham in the sandwich between demanding bosses and resistant employees. She knows managers are acquiring ever-increasing spans of control, and are constantly being exhorted to do more with less, to work smarter, to lift their game. And yet she knows also that management is one of the most satisfying jobs there is – to be told by your employee that “You were my role model – I admired you and you had a major influence on my life” or to hear that “You have made real difference to this company” makes it all worthwhile. She also knows that management is endlessly fascinating in its complexity, that there is always a better way of doing things, always a new challenge. And finally, she knows that, if you can manage in South Africa’s complex society, you can manage anywhere in the world. The reason she loves working with Learn to Lead is that it gives her a chance to explore these complexities with hands-on managers, to discuss their practical challenges in the ever-changing workplace, and to work together in the task of building a vibrant South Africa that is a great country to live in.
	Lauren is our Office Manager and Administrator. She is the shortest...I mean the newest member of the team. She is super-organised and ensures that we keep our promises to clients. She enjoys a good, BIG cup of coffee, is an avid reader, and loves cooking and baking. Her signature treats are banana muffins and spaghetti bolognaise.

Learn to Lead is a young, dynamic training company founded in 2004 by two sisters. Our experiential learning solutions are customised specifically for your individual situation.

We are
• A bold, creative and diverse team.
• An accredited organization (SETA number 1957), with accredited assessors.
• Black Empowered (level 4 contributor)

The Learn to Lead directors are supported by a diverse and creative group of trainers and developers. The directors of Learn to Lead are Adam Thomas, Kate Blaine and Fiona Ronquest-Ross.