Type Private company Founder Doug Manuel Area served Worldwide | Founded 2000 Headquarters Écublens, Switzerland | |
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Industry Corporate training and development | ||
Sewa Beats is an international company with its headquarters in Écublens, Switzerland, that delivers management learning through rhythm and music.
Contents
Business description
Sewa Beats conducts tailor-made sessions and workshops in companies, business schools, sports clubs and NGOs around the globe, with a view to motivating individuals, developing management and leadership skills, and building strong, well-connected teams. It combines the elemental language of rhythm with learning techniques such as neuro-linguistic programming and team coaching.
History
After attending an African drumming workshop in 1995, Doug Manuel, the British managing director and founder of the company, decided to travel to Africa to study this music and investigate its impact on group behaviour and individual attitudes. He soon realised the huge, experiential learning potential of djembe (African drum) music, and in 2000 he founded Sewa Beats. He works with European-based African master drummers, including Seckou Keita, a Senegalese kora player and drummer.
In 2007, in collaboration with Philippe Fournier, the conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique Lyonnais, Sewa Beats launched the Do You Speak Djembe musical initiative, which combines traditional West African music, and the classical airs of a symphony orchestra.
In 2008, the Mandingo drummer and teacher, Mamady Keita, became the patron of Sewa Beats.
Operations
Sewa Beats designs and runs various workshops, with programmes focusing on:
Methodology
For the workshops and sessions various techniques are used, including drumming, body percussion or boomwhacker, to help participants maximise various qualities, talents, and capabilities. Programmes are specially designed according to clients' specification.
Inspiration
Sewa Beats draws its inspiration from African drumming to energise and motivate people, as well as to promote team spirit and leadership. Drumming is a powerful tool for teaching and instilling these principles, and putting across the relevance of universal values such as tolerance, the ability to listen to one another, and mutual respect and understanding.
Fund-raising
The company organises various fund-raising events for the benefit of the communities of Africa, whose art and traditions are its major source of inspiration. Funds have been raised for international organisations like Terre des Hommes International Federation in Burkina Faso, Orphanage Africa Home of Children in Ayenyah and Apadrina to name a few.
Publication
The company has appeared in Mastering Executive Education, a book brought out in 2005 by IMD (International Institute for Management Development), one of Europe's leading business schools.