Gondwana Collection Namibia officially kicked off its 2026 Go4Gold Leadership Programme on 26 January.
Eleven passionate lodge managers are embarking on a year-long leadership development journey.
The Go4Gold programme is an advanced leadership development initiative designed to identify, nurture and empower leaders within our organisation. Spanning a period of 12 months, the programme focuses on strengthening personal leadership, self-awareness and practical management capabilities, while equipping participants with the tools needed to lead their teams and operations with confidence and clarity.
For 2026, the programme content has been carefully adapted to address the growing and evolving needs of Gondwana’s lodge managers. The refreshed focus aims to further uplift leadership capacity at lodge level, support effective operational management and enhance service excellence across Gondwana’s portfolio.
The programme consists of six structured learning modules, each centred around key leadership and management themes such as personal stability, people skills, perspective and execution. Between modules, participants are challenged to apply their learning through practical workplace assignments, ensuring that insights translate directly into day-to-day operations.
The journey concludes with a final project, where participants demonstrate their growth, ownership and impact.
Beyond a traditional training programme, Go4Gold is rooted in the belief that leadership development is a transformational journey.
Growth is seen as a process that includes reflection, experimentation and resilience, with lasting impact extending beyond the workplace into participants’ personal lives.
Through Go4Gold, Gondwana Collection Namibia continues to invest in its employees, strengthening leadership at the heart of its lodges and reinforcing its commitment to operational excellence and exceptional guest experiences.
Speaking at the programme’s opening, Gondwana co-founder Manni Goldbeck reflected on the organisation’s history and the philosophy underpinning Go4Gold.
He said Gondwana was built on the understanding that sustainable tourism in Namibia is shaped as much by people as it is by places. Leadership development, he noted, is not optional but essential in ensuring employees understand their role within a bigger picture that extends beyond individual lodges.
Goldbeck emphasised that the programme is designed to capacitate employees to become ambassadors of Brand Namibia, carrying its values through every guest interaction. By strengthening leadership from within, Gondwana seeks to embed a culture of service excellence that is informed, intentional and consistent, one that reflects pride in both the organisation and the country it represents.
As part of the introductory session, participants were invited to define a single word that captured their leadership intention for the year ahead. The reflections revealed a collective narrative: inspiration, growth, resilience, balance, knowledge, belief, consistency and new beginnings.
From calls to lead with inspiration and growth, to commitments centred on resilience, balance and belief, the group demonstrated both diversity of perspective and unity of purpose. Together, these intentions framed leadership not as authority, but as responsibility, learning and continuity.
Gondwana Collection chief executive Gys Joubert reminded participants that while a strong cohort brings expectations, the Go4Gold journey often becomes something far deeper.
“This is always a magical journey that can easily grow beyond what you expect,” he said, cautioning that participants will be confronted and challenged along the way. The choice, he emphasised, lies in resisting stagnation and refusing the comfort of the familiar.
At its core, Go4Gold is grounded in community. Leadership is cultivated through shared experience, honest reflection and collective growth. As Gys concluded, “We have community, we have a village,” a reminder that within Gondwana, leadership is not developed in isolation but strengthened together.
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