Developing leaders. Disrupting Africa, showing the world

We spoke to Segran Nair, director of Milpark Business School, about the way their internationally accredited MBA offering is adapting to meet the needs of our disruptive times – for Africa and beyond.

Answering the question ‘Why should I choose the South African Milpark Business School MBA?’ he said: “At the heart of it is our unique value proposition – what we have developed explicitly suits our students’ lifestyles and ambitions, particularly in fostering leadership development that prepares them for the modern world.

"We know online learning at this level appeals to a very specific audience: professional working people, often parents, often women, with a decade or so of management experience, balancing home and career demands.

"These aspiring individuals cannot give up a year’s salary to do full-time or even hybrid courses: they have to stay working and parenting. Our flexible distance learning online AMBA-accredited MBA gets this.”

The benefit of decades of in-depth online learning experience

For this reason, Milpark, a pioneer in online learning since 1997, can offer a learning experience that focuses on the individual and is flexible enough to allow students to follow their own digital learning path. This flexibility supports leadership development, enabling student to evolve as leaders in their specific contexts

Critical to this is the support we give our students through our dedicated administrative and teaching staff. All of them understand how vital it is to make the most of the contact hours and offer support throughout the learning journey.

Segran is clear about this. “Online is not, for Milpark, about working alone in the middle of the night or over weekends. It is sometimes about that, we are all human, after all, but it is also about shaping personal leadership traits in that particular student for their own unique leadership context.

"The goal is that each individual student discovers and augments their unique set of hard and soft skills to suit their current and future ambitions.”

Segran continues: “They must be prepared to come and debate themselves… not just their working life, but their own personal motivations and challenges. And because, yes, there is limited contact time, both Milpark and the student must get the best out of those engagements.”

He says that Milpark’s fantastic academic staff have an ability to teach theoretical frameworks and draw the practical relevance so that students are able to apply these constructs directly to their real working worlds. This is invaluable, and our feedback reinforces this.

The new 2025 Milpark MBA: authentically, disruptively different

The value of the Milpark MBA comes from its focus on authentic and human-centred leadership development. As Segran says: “It’s about shaping leaders that have a high sense of self, can let go of their baggage, which we all have, while disrupting themselves and their workplaces in the process.

"In an economy that has barely grown over the past 15 years, we want to work with people who want to turn that around, and that, we think, requires a special kind of leader, one who is willing to disrupt and do the right thing to the benefit not only of themselves, but those around them and, hopefully, the country.”

In the context of South African state capture, which goes back more than a decade, that can only be good news. The consequences of speaking out against graft are a matter of grim record, as managers such as Babita Deokaran know to their ultimate cost.

If we are to change the trajectory of our business and public sectors, leave alone our country, our leaders do not only have to be disruptive, they have to be ethical beyond reproach.

Who or what is an ethical disruptive leader?

This debate may be disruptive in itself! Segran’s suggestions are, in no particular order, Adrian Gore at Discovery, Basani Maluleke at Capitec, Lilian Barnard at Microsoft SA, Luvuyo Rani at the Silulo Foundation, Pravin Gordhan (RIP) at South African Revenue Services (SARS), Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa at Naspers, Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi at South African Rugby, Sizwe Nzima and Siraaj Adams at Iyeza Health, and Siyabulela Xuza at Galactic Energy Ventures.

More than that, leaders have to be authentic in a way that current SA rugby leaders, Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi, seem to continue to get right.

A recent article by Craig Ray summed this up well when it states that the Boks might 'only' be a sports team, but they… have captured the hearts and heads of a country through their authenticity and become beloved in a way that only South Africans can really understand.

If we can emulate that approach to the way we see our economy, then there is hope. But that will take as much courage, commitment, teamwork and hard graft as it has the Springboks. And what would that look like in business or government? Certainly the Yes programme is a start, offering skills that the youth desperately need, but we also need to reshape our economy.

We need new forms of business, new industries, new ideas. More Capitecs, TymeBanks and Lunos, more Takealots, Nando’s, SweepSouths, Nakeds and Jumos, to tackle the 35% ‘official’ unemployment figure and create opportunities for youth.

Segran sums up his vision for the new Milpark MBA this way: “Our focus is a clarion call to individuals to make a huge difference in South Africa. We need bold visionaries and Milpark wants to create the conditions for these disruptors to flourish.”

Human-centred skills: creating space to disagree and still move forward

On a personal note, he sees his role as leader of the Milpark Business School as a privilege and an honour: “We have an incredible opportunity to make a difference with human-centred leadership education, to create opportunities for people to grow their hard and soft skills, to empower people in the language of business, to give voice to the reticent and, perhaps most important of all, to create the space for people to not only see each other but to discuss and debate the bigger picture with respect and openness.”

More than that, it is essential that we find ways, in business and society, to disagree: to hear each other and still find ways to progress, just like the Springboks, in other areas of our lives.

In South Africa, in particular, in this compartmentalised country, that is what is so needed, especially after the last 15 dark years. And maybe, just maybe, we will find that the Government of National Unity is an opportunity for that.

Final thoughts

In these times of rapid change, leadership development is more essential than ever. Meanwhile, at Milpark, Segran concludes: “We are not just shaping leaders for today: we are sculpting leaders for tomorrow. Leaders who will disrupt industries, build ethical businesses and create a better future for South Africa and beyond.

With a strong focus on flexibility, human centered leadership and ethical disruption, Milpark prepares its students to lead with confidence. If you’re ready transform your career and become a leader who makes a difference, join us on this journey.

Apply now for the Milpark Business School MBA and start your journey toward impactful leadership. Visit Milpark Education to learn more about our programmes and how they fit your unique goals.