Lyal White

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Director of the Porter Institute Africa Hub, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria

Profile Articles

Prof. Lyal White is a faculty member at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, where he is Director of the Porter Institute Africa Hub, Faculty Director for Standard Bank's Leadership Transformation, and Academic Director of both the Centre for Leadership & Dialogue (CL&D) and Global Engagement at the school. Lyal is the founder of the research and advisory practice Contextual Intelligence and is part of the OneEarth Leadership Consortium.

A strategic advisor on leadership, strategy, and contextual intelligence, he focuses on nuanced approaches to learning for development. His areas of interest span a broad range of interdisciplinary fields. In particular, Lyal examines how trends, context, and strategy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America underpin impactful business. He is widely published in news media, academic journals, and books, and is a regular radio, television, and social media commentator.

Lyal has lived and worked in South Africa, Rwanda, Argentina, Colombia, Morocco, and the United States. He participates in various global initiatives and consortia, most notably the OneEarth Leadership Consortium, a purpose-driven entity geared toward strategic leadership through multi-level systems thinking. He serves on several boards and advisory teams, including the Association of African Business Schools (AABS) until July 2025, and Pretoria Boys High's Vision 2040 advisory committee.

Previously, Prof. White was the founding Director of the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He has taught at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, Sciences Po – Bordeaux in France, the Kelley School of Business – Indiana University, CEDEP (with INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France, and Strathmore Business School in Kenya. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) at UC Berkeley in the United States.

Lyal is a certified business coach committed to purpose-driven business, with a deep curiosity about the intersection of leadership, strategy, and economic performance. He believes that the right measures of performance are essential. He maintains that strong institutions and connectedness build community, enabling long-term prosperity for people, organisations, and countries globally. The development of people is a crucial component of strategy and vision.

Experience

• –present Director of the Porter Institute Africa Hub, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria

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