A transformative Leadership and Culture Masterclass, uniting 600+ AECI Leaders across four continents behind a bold vision of growth, sustainability and the next 100 years of excellence.
THE PERFORMANCE CHALLENGE
For 100 years, AECI has defined what good looks like. In 2024, under the visionary leadership of its CEO, Holger Riemensperger, AECI embarked on the ambitious next chapter of their journey: Designing a stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient organisation that stands ready to build the next 100 years of relevance.
At the heart of this vision lies a bold strategic ambition: Double AECI's EBITDA by 2026, and secure a global top-three position in mining by 2030. This is not just a strategic target. It is a fundamental reimagining of what is possible for the AECI of tomorrow. To achieve this moonshot target, AECI has embarked on a comprehensive leadership and culture transformation journey, led by its CEO and Chief People Officer, Khabonina Ramoupi.
Ramoupi engaged TPA as AECI's strategic leadership, culture and change partner on this journey. Working in close collaboration with AECI's Board, Exco and senior leadership team, TPA crafted a comprehensive transformation roadmap that included:
The development of a Leadership Compact defining the behaviours and commitments needed to achieve AECI’s strategic ambition; and
A new AECI Culture Code that articulates the values and behaviours that will drive high performance across the organisation.
As part of this transformative journey, TPA was asked to develop an immersive, all-day masterclass that would inspire AECI’s senior leadership constituency to commit to a new era of servant leadership, and rally the extended leadership constituency behind the organisation's new, high-performance culture.
It was a journey that would take TPA and AECI to the moon, and back.
THE ASK
Bring together over 600 leaders from around the globe for a transformative masterclass that would galvanise AECI's leadership constituency behind a shared vision of tomorrow.
The masterclass needed to embody the essence of servant leadership – where trust is earned, potential is unearthed, and every leader commits to serving alongside their people with courage, resilience, and humility. And it had to reflect and amplify the new AECI Culture Code, which celebrates authenticity, nurtures collaboration, and empowers people to push boundaries and innovate.
By drawing parallels to one of humanity's greatest collaborative achievements – the Apollo 11 moon landing – the experience would demonstrate how extraordinary things become possible when people come together in service of a shared dream.
With this mandate in hand, TPA set out to create an unforgettable experience for 600+ leaders that would:
Create a shared narrative around AECI's strategy and purpose.
Launch the new AECI leadership philosophy and Culture Code.
Craft meaningful conversations around how to bring these to life in the AECI of tomorrow.
Transform a leadership gathering into a defining moment that would ignite commitment to the One AECI vision.
And all this in just 11 working days, from client signoff to liftoff.
How did we do it? With dirty hands, full hearts and an unwavering belief in the art of the possible.
THE SOLVE
Leveraging the power of storytelling, TPA curated a deeply emotive, inspiring retelling of the 1969 moon mission - aligned to AECI's own journey. Just as NASA understood in 1969 that putting a human on the moon required more than rockets and calculations, we knew that achieving AECI's moonshot will demand more than strategies and targets. It will require the deep emotional resonance that only emerges when hundreds of leaders step into a shared story of possibility.
To bring this vision to life, TPA crafted the To The Moon and Back masterclass to inspire AECI leaders to see the against-all-odds Apollo 11 triumph as an achievable blueprint for AECI's own moonshot journey.
WHY A MASTERCLASS?Masterclasses do not just signal moments of transformative shift. They ignite the emotional connection and social currency needed to sustain it. This is not your average leadership conference. It is the purposeful cultivation of what organisational psychologists call 'collective effervescence' - that powerful sense of unity and shared purpose that emerges when people experience profound moments together. TPA's masterclasses are not standalone events. They are born from deep active listening, holistic sensemaking, and a thorough understanding of the organisational landscape, which allow us to co-create the cultural and strategic ecosystem needed to deliver business impact. This culminates not in an event, but in a movement, one fuelled by the collective emotional resonance needed to sustain transformative change. |
HOW DID WE DO IT?
TPA curated four powerful chapters of the 1969 moon landing to align specifically with AECI's own leadership and culture journey.
We Can Do Hard Things, But We Cannot Do Them Alone explored how an unprecedented collective effort of 400,000 people across 20,000 organisations and 15 countries made the impossible possible. This chapter reinforced that when faced with enormous challenges, success depends on collective commitment and collaboration.
Resilience in the Face of Adversity showcased how NASA's journey through setbacks and challenges became catalysts for innovation and improvement. This chapter drew powerful parallels to AECI's transformation, demonstrating how obstacles can become opportunities for transformative change.
In If Service Is Beneath You, Leadership is Beyond You we examined servant leadership through the lens of both the Apollo programme and AECI's leadership commitments. The chapter highlighted how true leadership transcends titles to inspire others and serve a greater purpose.
Our concluding chapter, People First, was a powerful reminder that the moon landing was never just about landing a man on the moon. It was not about improving rocket technology just so we could go higher or exploring new worlds, just so we could go further. The moon mission was about moving humanity forward. In the same way, the AECI moonshot is not just about growth or becoming a leader of our industry. It is about creating a better world, together.
In the final, inspirational segment of our masterclass, 600+ leaders from around the world made their commitment to the One AECI moonshot mission by signing their names on an AECI star, and hanging it from a symbolic AECI constellation.
Like the 400,000 individuals who came together to put a man on the moon, these stars – each representing a personal pledge to AECI's transformative journey – formed a powerful constellation of purposeful leadership that will usher in the AECI of tomorrow.
THE IMPACT
Our first AECI Leadership and Culture Masterclass motivated and inspired 600 leaders to transform their organisation, and leave their world better than they found it.
We welcomed a group of individuals, and sent them back into their organisation a unified army of changemakers, each personally committed to building the next century of AECI excellence.
Shortly after the delivery of the masterclass, we had the opportunity to sit down with four senior AECI leaders to hear, first-hand, how they experienced the masterclass.
Kago Mmolawa
Group Head: Culture, Change and Organisational Effectiveness
I am a changed person. This was not just an event. It hit different. This took me on a journey. I felt like I was lifted up to a different space altogether. It didn't feel real. It didn't feel like something I was used to. When you ask how did I feel, the first thing I felt was goosebumps.
It's in me now. It's transformative. There has been a shift from the time I stepped into the room until now. And it's a good shift. It had a profound impact on me. When I got back to work, my colleagues were sharing that they felt like their voices were heard. They were in this thing. They had really bought into it. They felt like, 'Yeah, this is us.'
Yvette Jacobs
Group Skills Development Specialist
I shared my table with a mix of veterans, some of whom had been there for 15 years or more, to newbies who have only just joined. The message resonated with everyone.
Everyone was involved. Everyone was internalising the message, and talking about their personal experiences and their personal perspectives. I left on a high, with all that energy coursing through me, and it is with me still.
Leo Mncube
Group Head: Talent Management & Succession Planning
I was very inspired. It was just so incredible, especially seeing and understanding what the vision is, thinking about what we're trying to do - that it's absolutely insane, but it is possible.
When we started talking about leadership, I was intentional in asking the question, 'Are you able to do this? Will you be able to be a servant leader?' What stood out for me, going into the workplace the next week, I could see the shift in terms of how people showed up, and how they engaged.
