Building a better tomorrow with social networks

The evening of Thursday, September 30 was a special one in Kampala, at least amongst the corporate circles. The inaugural ‘Meet the CEO’ forum was held at the Golf course Hotel. A good number of Uganda’s next generation leaders turned up for what will in all likelihood go down as a memorable evening for most of them.

Thanks to the 360 degree Network, which serves to link people to interact and share information, knowledge and opportunities. Looking to inspire middle-aged Ugandans with ‘fire in belly’, the ‘Meet the CEO’ forum- a 360 degree Network initiative-brought together some of the country’s most respected industry captains to share various experiences that impact on leadership success. Staying true to the 360 degree Network mission-to help members be the best they can be, the chief executives told their mostly young and ‘aspirational’ audience what it takes to get the top and what it takes to shine while at the top.

After helping their audience understand how their various backgrounds helped to form their leadership abilities, the CEOs took questions from the audience. The questions ranged from how a typical top level leader manages their private life to which core competences chief executives look for when selecting managers to help them steer their companies to the top. A number of foundational attributes like integrity, focus, sacrifice, hard work and innovation among others, were shared in plain and practical terms. The industry captains also voiced the need for their audience to find time to recreate and recharge their energies.

Also highlighted was the need for leaders to maintain composure and focus when faced with testing moments. And that was not it, there was much more that forum had to offer including a debate about whether leaders are made or born. There were many laudable things about this event but perhaps the most notable was the ability to harness the power of new media and social networks in a developing a developing country like Uganda. Talking about visions, there are many organizations that never live long enough to realize their visions.

For those who made it to the ‘Meet the CEO’ forum, we witnessed the 360 degree Network coming close to realizing its vision of transforming online social networks into a real people-2-people, life changing network for members to interact and share information, knowledge, skills and opportunities to improve their lives.

Initiatives of this nature will go a long way to shape a better future for Uganda, Africa and yes, the rest of world.