Inspiring Your Transformational Journey – Leadership Lessons from Africa with Oli Raison & Boris Maguire

Leadership development doesn’t always happen in a boardroom. Sometimes the most transformational insights come from stepping completely outside your familiar environment and immersing yourself in a radically different way of life.

Gayle Lantz speaks with Oli Raison and Boris Maguire, co-founders of Safarini Leadership. They guide executives on six-day wilderness treks in northern Kenya alongside Samburu warriors and elders.

Both Oli and Boris have lived and worked in Kenya for over a decade, running businesses and leading cross-cultural teams. Their unique approach combines their professional expertise with deep relationships they’ve built with Samburu communities over many years.

The word “safari” actually means “journey” in Swahili, and this experience is truly a journey in self-awareness and leadership development, not a traditional wildlife tour.

Through walking on foot through remote wilderness, participants gain exposure to Samburu values and leadership principles that challenge Western assumptions about resilience, independence, and what it means to lead effectively.

Oli and Boris share how their program helps leaders rethink fundamental concepts like resilience, shifting from viewing it as individual grit to understanding it as rooted in interdependence and community support.

This episode covers:

• Why true leadership development requires stepping outside your comfort zone and cultural context
• How the Samburu concept of interdependence offers a powerful alternative to Western individualism
• The importance of connection as a foundation for resilience and effective leadership
• What happens when executives challenge their own expectations of themselves
• Why less structured time often creates the most profound learning moments
• How pre-work, immersive experience, and post-program coaching integrate transformational insights into lasting change
• The power of small, intimate cohorts for building deep relationships and vulnerability
• Why leaders struggle to step away from their businesses and what that reveals about organizational health