Bike building moves training and communities forward

[Mia]

Imagine having to build your own bike. Sound difficult? Now, imagine having to build it in a team in just over an hour. This is the challenge participants in our customised leadership programmes face at the Global Leadership Centre (GLC).

Bike building has become an integral part of the Wealth Creators, Servant Leadership, Turbo Charged Leadership, and PBB Intrapreneurial Leadership and other talent programmes. But, it’s not just an innovative way of teaching people how to lead and how to work in teams. The GLC’s bike building has an important community angle, with bikes being donated to a school in Orange Farm and other community members who need transport to get to school or work.

The GLC works with an organization called Qhubeka, the South African arm of World Bicycle Relief, a global bicycle charity. World Bicycle Relief is a non-profit organization which transforms individuals and communities through the power of bicycles.

Interestingly, until this year, Qhubeka was one of the main sponsors of the South Africa team at the Tour de France.

Why bikes?

“Having a bicycle changes lives by increasing the distance people can travel, what they can carry, where they can go, and how fast they can get there,” Qhubeka says on its website.

“Many people living in poverty struggle to overcome daily survival barriers, such as limited access to water, food and fuel. Often lack of transport makes their suffering worse as they are unable to access education, economic and healthcare opportunities.

“Bicycle transportation multiplies an individual’s efficiency. We … design, source and manufacture bicycles created to withstand rough terrain and load requirements while meeting the needs of students, healthcare workers, farmers and entrepreneurs.”

Bikes and leadership

Sourcing real bike parts and encouraging people to put them together to create a serviceable object was the brainchild of Adele Ungaretti, Senior Designer Customised Programmes.

The bike challenge is introduced on the final day of a development programme. It teaches leadership, communication and teamwork in a practical way. People are split into groups of five or six, given a box of parts, access to a Facebook page with instructions, and one and a half hours to construct the bike.

To make sure that the mission is accomplished effectively – after all, each bike will be donated to a real person – trainees race the bikes on tracks around the GLC after they build them, and they are quality checked by Qhubeka.

Building teamwork

“For the first 10 minutes, people usually scurry around without direction,” Adele says. “Then, we take a break to debrief. We focus on leadership roles, communication and an overall plan, and suddenly, everything becomes clear. Teamwork is essential to completing the task. It’s about identifying the individual competencies and strengths of each individual team member, and building on those strengths.”

At the end of the programme, the bikes are donated to Masibambane Collège, a low-fee independent school in the heart of Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg in South Africa.  

Masibambane is a remarkable institution, which has achieved a 100% matric pass rate since its first intake in 1997, in spite of the extreme challenges learners face on a daily basis, and the challenging financial needs of the school.

The recent Wealth Creators Programme resulted in the donation of six bikes to the school, and total of 70 bikes have been donated via the training programmes to date. Qhubeka supports the ongoing maintenance of the bikes via mobile centres in Orange Farm.

Bikes, leadership, teamwork and community building are an unusual combination, but as the saying goes, once you learn, you never forget how to ride a bike. Perhaps building bikes works in a similar way - teaching us the importance of effective teamwork, leadership and links to our community for building our business across the continent.