Three Cities Group and Mentoring for Success™ celebrate
another year of successfully Nurturing the future Stars of Africa
The Three Cities Group has successfully
been running their mentorship programme “Starfish” since
2005. Starfish was initiated in 2005 to develop the “people” capacity
and capability within the group of hotels to meet their future
needs and is based on a customised version of the global best practice “Mentoring
for Success” program.
Mentee Profile -
Lawrence Tsekelele
Assistant Accountant at STRATE Limited
Lawrence was one of several employees
identified as part of STRATE’s VUKA! Mentoring For Success™ pilot
program in 2006, as a person with enormous potential and innate
abilities, which needed to be nurtured and supported. Lawrence
had been with the company for approximately 5 years when he joined
the program.
Lawrence had obtained his B.Com degree and had aspirations
of completing his honours in 2000, but had given up, having been
unsuccessful in passing all his subjects. It remained just a dream
for Lawrence until he was invited into the mentorship program and
was given the opportunity and honour of having the CEO as his mentor!
Lawrence describes the journey as the best and most important life
changing experience for him. He re-applied to do his honours during
the Mentoring for Success™ program with a renewed confidence
and enthusiasm and has already written and passed 3 of his subjects,
needing only to complete a final subject which he has committed
himself to doing by the end of 2008!
He substantiates that the advantage of having someone to advise
and bounce ideas off, and who has the experience of numerous successes
and failures behind them, cannot be overemphasized. He no longer
watches TV, but reads as much as he can get his hands on, often
provided by his mentor and he has passed this on to his family
and children, encouraging them to read and to enjoy the fruits
of hard work and dedication to learning.
Congratulations Lawrence
on your journey thus far - we salute you!
Mentee Profile - Andre Hill
Head Chef
Peninsula All Suite Hotel Cape Town
Andre Hill was nominated for the
Three Cities Group Starfish Mentoring Program in 2006/2007 and
was awarded the groups overall winning ‘Mentee of the Year’.
His prize for winning this prestigious Award out of a group of
20 mentees was a trip (his very first overseas trip!) to London
to work under the world renowned Chef, Gordon Ramsay, and then
onto New York where he worked for three weeks at the famous Righa
Royal Hotel now transformed as the London NYC described as glamour
in the heart of Manhattan honing his skills further.
But, more extraordinary, was his journey on his way to being nominated & appointed
to the Starfish mentorship program. He began life in South Africa
in the very tough streets and gang ridden environs of the Western
Cape, struggling to survive & to make his way & a niche
for himself.
He unusually from a young age had a passion for cooking and eventually
found himself a job in the kitchen of the Commodore and Portswood
Hotels in Cape Town where he began to discover his flair and increase
his natural talent for cooking, and most importantly his ability
to work long and hard.
From there he had a brief stint in Swaziland
and finally his journey took him to the Peninsula Hotel where,
under the experienced wing of ‘Chef Extraordinaire’,
Peter and GM, Chris Godenir, he joined the mentoring program for
high potential employees and the rest is history!
A chance opportunity and an individual with potential, taken through
structured, measurable and rewarding mentorship program, really
transforms lives and impacts companies and people beyond the ordinary.
Andre Hill was nominated for the
Three Cities Group Starfish Mentoring Program in 2006/2007 and
was awarded the groups overall winning ‘Mentee of the Year’.
