If you have ever heard Simon Guillebaud speak, you will probably remember him saying these words: “GLO identifies, equips and empowers the best local leaders of passion, integrity, gifting and vision for the transformation of Burundi, bottom-up and top-down.”
This is the core vision of how GLO seeks to change Burundi – these values are the only way a nation ravaged by corruption, aching with disappointment and hopelessness in so many ways, will be able to change.
So, when Kings Conference Centre (KCC) was conceived, this type of leadership was to be at the heart of the strategy. Goretti Wege was the first to lead the team at KCC. She’s an incredibly gifted woman (when she left her previous job, they replaced her with three people!), but more importantly, she had a track record of integrity and passion for leading in a way that had Jesus at the centre of all she did. It is this culture that has truly set KCC apart from its competitors.
Her infectious integrity reproduced itself in the ethos of the KCC workforce as the ministry and business grew. From the beginning of Phase 1, in 2009, Goretti’s leadership was key to how the staff performed and served. Even through the massive challenges of the COVID pandemic, she led from the front with wisdom and humility.
If you walked into KCC when it first opened, you’d have found a friendly young man named Celestin Kubwimana, who was overjoyed when he was offered the position of receptionist at KCC. He had battled many hardships before arriving at this place, but now his journey of discovery had begun! He was clearly a talented character who quickly grew and gained responsibility. For around 2 years, while growing through the ranks and endeavouring to study for his master’s degree, he shared an office with Simon Guillebaud. Simon observed his potential and wanted to see him grow even further – he could see that we had another gifted leader on our hands.
Celestin rose from Department Manager to Operations Manager, and when Goretti retired, he was offered the opportunity to become KCC’s General Manager. It was a big ask for someone who didn’t have previous experience with this level of responsibility, but the team believed in him, and he has excelled!
We’d love to have said that it all went just fine, but there was a challenge. The young man appointed to fill the space of Operations Manager was Clovis. Another bright achiever who wanted to have this important role. The only issue was that Clovis had yet to learn the way of humility. He arrived, by his own admission, with an arrogant attitude. He would look down on the members of staff who cleaned, cooked and generally kept the hotel and conference centre running. But that was about to change! You see, the staff knew that ‘bottom-up’ leadership works too! They modelled the servant-hearted, loving and committed approach they had learned from Goretti and Celestin over the years. Often going the extra mile without being asked.
Clovis began to see his own pride and radically changed the way he engaged with the staff – this was a very real blessing to his colleagues and himself too!
We are thrilled to report that Clovis is about to start an exciting new adventure. Having grown personally at KCC and prepared for bigger things, he has won a scholarship to study for a PhD in Paris!
All the staff at KCC are so pleased for him, and having journeyed alongside him, they will truly miss him – but they wish him every blessing in the future.
It just goes to show – Bottom-Up and Top-Down transformation is a great way to see people grow!
