Two strangers. One unexpected outcome.

Just as the pandemic was kicking off in 2020, and we were all trying to figure out what came next, TIE connected two people who might never otherwise have met.

One was leading literacy and creative arts initiatives across Africa. The other was helping global businesses navigate marketing transformation.

They were from different continents, different sectors, and entirely different backgrounds.

But that was the point.

Through one of our very first Virtual TIE Leadership programmes, they came together.

Now, six years later, Cameron Milne and Deborah Ahenkorah have launched a business together; a venture using AI to help social impact organisations unlock greater capacity, resilience, and mission impact. It’s called Braid.

That’s the thing about experiential leadership development when done properly: its value doesn’t end when the programme does. In many cases, when the programme finishes, it is only the beginning.

Because when you create the conditions for people to step beyond hierarchy, geography, function, and familiarity, you don’t just build skills. You build new ways of thinking, greater confidence in what’s possible, new relationships, and opportunities no one could have predicted.

This is what happens when leadership development is lived, not taught, and when people are given the opportunity to step beyond the familiar and into entirely new ways of seeing.

When paradigms shift, so does what people believe is possible; and that is where the skills, confidence, and connections high-performing teams need are truly unlocked.

We’re seeing this continue to unfold in real time. Right now, we have two live Virtual Team TIE programmes underway, one with Leo Burnett and another with Arla Foods. More on what’s emerging from these experiences soon.

Better Leaders. Better Companies. Better World.