Welcome to Uncommon Threads — a monthly bulletin from TES.
Each month, we share sharp insights and practical tools drawn from our work with leaders in Rwanda. If you're leading people or navigating change this bulletin is for you.
Our focus is simple:
What does it take to build organisations that thrive in complexity – without losing trust, initiative, or purpose?
We’ll share lessons from the field, questions we’re wrestling with, and resources to help you lead with clarity and confidence.
The culture choice every Rwandan CEO now faces
By Christian Sellars, CEO of TES
There’s a shift happening in Rwanda’s boardrooms. HR leaders are stepping into the C-suite, while AI is being trialled to streamline internal systems. I wrote about this at greater length in The New Times in mid-September.
These changes signal something deeper: a growing pressure to improve, meet stakeholder expectations and outperform the competition. But in the rush to deliver, there's a risk of forgetting what actually makes organisations work in Rwanda: relationships, trust, and culture.
AI can make your systems faster. But if it makes your people feel invisible, you’ll lose the one thing that drives performance: trust.
In Rwanda, performance doesn’t come from processes alone. It comes from people who feel seen, trusted, and responsible for what they deliver.
That’s why imported models that worked elsewhere often fall flat here. Systems that treat employees like cogs – forms, workflows and cold automation – undermine the very relationships that make Rwandan organisations tick.
The right response isn’t to reject AI. It’s to use it wisely: automate low value task and invest freed up time in human connection. Digitising admin, can create space for real leadership.
It’s easy to see People & Culture as a support function. But if you’re looking to grow initiative, accountability, and performance, it’s worth asking: are your people systems set up to support leadership, or just to manage?
The best-performing organisations don’t sideline HR. They elevate People & Culture to the leadership table. They treat culture as a system, not a vibe. And they design for outcomes like trust, clarity, and ownership.
You can scale bureaucracy – or you can scale trust.
You can cut costs – or you can unlock performance.
You can lead change – or just manage it.
If you're preparing for major shifts, your first move isn't in software. It's in culture.
To help you lead this well, we’ve created a simple Readiness for Change Checklist. It highlights the eight organisational elements that make cultural transformation possible – and sustainable.
Download the checklist here → Readiness for Change: Executive Checklist
If you spot gaps, or want to think this through with a partner, talk to TES. We help organisations design for trust, scale with clarity, and lead with courage.
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Inkomoko thrives on culture
In August, Julienne Oyler (CEO of Inkomoko) joined John van Etten from Human Synergistics to reflect on Inkomoko’s cultural journey – a process TES has been proud to support. Their conversation offered a rare look inside one of Rwanda’s fastest-growing organisations, and how culture shaped its success.
Key takeaways:
- Culture shapes everything – from collaboration to whether staff feel their work matters.
- Even strong cultures need to evolve – the team found gaps in autonomy, confidence, and initiative.
- Culture can be measured and improved – if leaders listen, act, and stay committed.
Watch the conversation here → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTa_3kTb-es
If your organisation is growing, changing, or simply feeling the pressure – talk to TES. We help leaders turn culture into a strategic advantage.
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Is your culture program too shallow?
At the 7th East African HR Symposium, Christian delivered a keynote that cut through the noise:
Culture isn’t how people feel– it’s what they believe.
If your culture strategy is built on workshops, values posters, or polite conversations, it might feel like progress. But Christian challenged the audience to go further: Lasting culture change isn’t about how people feel – it’s about what they believe.
Assumptions about what’s safe to say, who gets listened to, and what leadership really expects.
That’s where real transformation happens. And if those beliefs stay the same, no amount of training will make change stick.
Christian shared four provocations:
- Culture change isn’t about workshops. It’s about shifting the invisible beliefs that drive behaviour.
- Culture doesn’t change overnight. It takes 1–3 years of consistent, intentional effort.
- HR must lead with changes in onboarding, training, systems and processes—not just policy.
- Measurement matters. If you’re not validating staff experience with real data, you’re managing by vibes.
These aren’t theoretical ideas. They reflect what Christian and TES are seeing in organisations across Rwanda: HR leaders evolving from enforcers to creators, from gatekeepers to architects.
If your organisation is growing, merging, or navigating change, this is the work that makes progress possible.
Watch the video clip here → https://www.linkedin.com/posts/riseandlearn_happy-new-month-inspired-by-christian-activity-7368188456855932929-6GTr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAJzN9sBRsToZ68-22_32iVk2kDHTBG63QE
If you're ready to go deeper on culture, schedule a meeting with Christian.