Africanmosaic was founded in 2005, after Dries & Rethea Lombaard realised the pressing needs and possibilities of a Strengths & Talent Based approach in consulting and coaching in South Africa.
They linked up with The Gallup Organization in Omaha, Nebraska, and the excitement about the possibilities was turned into action. With the help of Gallup the first “Strengths Performance Coach” training – from a Faith Based perspective – was facilitated to about 15 invitees in Pretoria in February 2006.
From the start the one challenging aspect in the evolving partnership between Africanmosaic and Gallup was the vastly different contexts of operation. Gallup prides itself in a Corporate Culture, built over decades, and a name that is synonymous with a accuracy, research and a big-business outlook. This is part of their strength as a company.
Africanmosaic, on the other hand, had the dynamic and changing cultural environment of South Africa …and was a tiny start up venture. The needs on the ground for a Strengths Based approach were enormous, but the strong Corporate Culture, and the financial backing, was simply not part of the Southern African landscape.
Africanmosaic found its feet within the faith environment, and then moved towards the non-profit and community based organizations. One of its first major clients was Lovelife – the HIV Education project. The impact was immediate.
At the end of 2008, changes started to happen fast. We took the opportunity to start thinking “outside the box’ and take the whole Strengths Movement to a different level in South Africa. To a large extent, Africanmosaic became a “test project” of how Gallup could partner in a different context, outside the Corporate and Fortune 500 playing field of the US.
One of the first things to address was to make coaching and coach training more practical and affordable. They decided to let go of the SPC coaching model, and rather develop a whole new model of local Talent Guide training. This means that new coaches or Talent Guides, as we prefer to call them, were to be trained on a unique model developed by Africanmosaic, but aligned with the principles and research done by Gallup, that supported the StrengthsFinder tool as well as other dynamic coaching tools and material, like Marcus Buckingham and others. (www.strengthsfinder.com)
Africanmosaic took it upon them to become custodians of a Positive Psychology and Talent Based approach and to implement a structure on the ground in South Africa that could train, resource and support Talent Guides to use the Positive Psychology approach of Strengths to the best effect within their unique context or environment. We have a unique angle and dynamic that aligns with the South African landscape.
Currently, Africanmosaic has about 60 Talent Guides within their network that coaches and consults on many different ways in a wide range of fields – education, healthcare, business, faith, retail, non-profit and community based projects. We have an Association of accredited Talent Guides, called Talent Mosaic, which offers ongoing training, developing and resourcing.
Today Africanmosaic operates as an independent company, utilising the Clifton StrengthsFinder tool along with tools from Marcus Buckingham and many others, to provide the edge within this field, with our unique experience, knowledge and skill within Talent management and a Strengths Based approach. Our growing independent network of Talent Guides within the Talent Mosaic Association adheres to high standards of excellence and insight within Talent coaching and consulting.
From there also our slogan: “Embracing Uniqueness, Growing Strengths”
