Building the Legacy – CBL Leadership Dev. Program

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – All week, our special series Leading Forward has taken us inside Cable Bahamas’ year-long leadership development program, from why the company is investing in future leaders to the lessons participants are taking back to their teams.

In the final installment, Kendeno Knowles takes a look at the bigger question: what does leadership development leave behind?

Ernesto Uscher – Partner & Managing Director, The RBL Group

“We can never stop investing in leadership. That meaning that you have to do it through vendors or partners or whatever it is. But more important, internally the leaders need to invest, the functions, the HR functions need to invest in leadership on a daily basis. When you’re doing good, when you’re doing bad, especially when you’re doing good, you need to keep on investing because that’s going to create a pipeline that is going to help you grow in the future.”

For international leadership consultant Ernesto Uscher, leadership development is not a one-time exercise. It’s continuous.

And throughout Cable Bahamas’ year-long leadership development program, that idea has become one of the strongest themes, preparing people not only for the roles they hold today, but for the responsibility they may carry tomorrow.

Keshalа Knowles – Vice President, HR, Cable Bahamas

“Remain curious, ask questions and put yourself out there and take risks. Some persons think I’m not equipped enough or I don’t have the competencies to do this job. The only way that you can get that is to be curious. To be curious by nature. So learn as much as you can. You need to collaborate and have the conversations.”

For Keshala Knowles, Vice President of Human Resources, that message is not just theoretical.

Her own career journey shapes how she sees talent, opportunity and growth.

She says leadership is often built one experience, one mentor and one hard-earned lesson at a time.

Keshala Knowles – Vice President, HR, Cable Bahamas

“I started as an administrative assistant, sitting behind a desk and answering the phone and typing memos with a degree in HR, but I was not afraid to start where I could so that I could learn and I could grow. Sometimes persons have this mindset that, you know, I’ve worked for how many years and I’ve gone to college and I should start at the top. The privilege for me, honestly, and the advantage from starting at the entry level, was that I learned HR from the ground up.”

That kind of growth is echoed by participants in the program.

For Dion Cox, Outside Plant Supervisor for Eleuthera, leadership did not begin with a title. It began with people who saw potential in him before he fully stepped into the role.

Dion Cox – Supervisor, Eleuthera Outside Plant, Cable Bahamas

“An example I had with the transitioning from line technician to a supervisor. I got great experience in leadership from people that were before me, the Anthony Ritchie’s, the Swindon Burrows, Gary Burrows who worked in the head end. They gave me great information and knowledge to help me to be a better technician and lead me into being a better leader, to lead the team that I have today.”

It is one of the clearest examples of how leadership development can outlive a single session.

Someone teaches, someone listens, someone grows, and eventually, someone else becomes the example.

For Stacy Johnson, Group Director of Financial Planning and Analysis and Data Governance, that example can be especially powerful for people who may not yet see themselves as leaders.

Stacy Johnson – Group Director, Financial Planning, Analysis & Data Governance, Cable Bahamas

“When someone sees someone else in a role that they never saw themselves possible in, it really inspires. And so being a leader can also inspire others to be better, to do what they never thought that they could see possible for themselves.”

After five nights of stories, one message has surfaced again and again: the leadership development program is not only about improving performance. It’s about building people who can build others.

And if the lessons continue beyond this cohort, in conversations, mentorship, decision-making and the way teams are led, the impact may stretch far beyond the room where the training began.

Ernesto Uscher – Partner & Managing Director, The RBL Group

“For me, making a difference is making sure that we have better individuals that are better leaders, not only at the office, but also at home, with their communities, et cetera. That they clearly understand that this is not just about the process or just getting the results whatever way, but it’s creating the right values, the right competencies, the right attributes. So that when we leave the world, we feel that we left something better than before.”