Stedman Graham hosts leadership masterclass in Guyana 

United States-based author and businessman Stedman Graham on Wednesday led a masterclass on Identity Leadership to guide Guyanese leaders through his proven Nine-Step Success Process as a means to better aid their personal and professional development.
Graham, who is Oprah Winfrey’s partner, regularly conducts training programmes for corporations and educational organisations worldwide, with his client roster including Microsoft, Deloitte, Wells Fargo and the US Departments of Labour and Education.
His Nine-Step Success Process is based on the philosophy that you cannot lead others until you lead yourself and that relies heavily on knowing and fully understanding who you are.

“You can’t really talk about leadership until you first talk about self-leadership. You cannot change your circumstances until you first change yourself,” Graham said, during the one-day Masterclass at Marriott Hotel, Georgetown.
The Masterclass was organised by Go Blue Consulting, a Caribbean training and consulting company, for which organisational redesign expert Judy McCutcheon stands at the helm.
McCutcheon noted that this was yet another opportunity to enhance the skills of Caribbean leaders.
“When I had the idea for this masterclass series, it was because I wanted to change the leadership landscape in the Caribbean,” McCutcheon said.
“This masterclass is going to set you on a path of wonderful self-discovery that will help you to tap into who you are at the core of your being so that you can lead from a place of empathy, compassion, and authenticity,” McCutcheon said, adding her intention was for this workshop to be the first of many to be held in Guyana.
Meanwhile, Director of Business and Entrepreneur Development at the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry, John Edghill highlighted the importance of training opportunities like this one, noting that they could greatly benefit local leaders as the country continued on its path of rapid development.
“It’s not just the leadership at the level of His Excellency President Irfaan Ali or Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo or Prime Minister Mark Phillips, but it is the leadership that we will have in the large corporations, medium-sized enterprises, and in the small businesses,” Edghill said.
“The Private Sector is the engine of growth. The Private Sector is what is going to fuel this economy, lead this economy so it is very important to take the knowledge and tools and input shared [at this masterclass] to transition Guyana into that vision that we have for it,” he said.
Edghill added that with the country’s emerging oil and gas sector came a hoard of power and responsibility and thus it was crucial for the relevant parties to continue to take advantage of these opportunities to build their knowledge and expertise.
Also present at the masterclass opening were Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice President Richard Rambarran, Deputy Chief Education Officer Dr Ritesh Tularam, several local leaders from various organisations and a number of persons interested in bettering their professional skills.
Participants were also given the chance to connect and network with other professionals and Graham during a business mixer that followed the leadership session.