Opening Your Heart (and Park) to Leadership
Sometimes leadership starts with someone who opens their heart, their caravan park, and says: “Let’s do this properly.”
That someone is JP Nel.
Tucked away in a serene caravan park on the South Coast that welcomes holidaymakers and pensioners riding out the winter, Nel has created a space where leadership, learning and community come together.
That spirit of community is what made Nel a natural fit for Leaders for Education, Citizen Leader Lab’s flagship programme that pairs school principals with experienced business leaders to collaborate, learn from each other, engage in leadership coaching and reflect honestly. Business leaders are challenged to improve their own leadership and build connections with their communities.
Before stepping into the programme, Nel had already spent years building a business and leading a team. He began his journey at the park in 2009 as the resort manager. Ten years later, he bought the business just six months before the COVID pandemic turned the tourism industry on its head.
“It hit us hard. For years, our numbers just kept going down.”
But Nel and his team persevered. “What’s amazing is that we’re finally starting to see a shift. Last year October and November, this year’s Easter… things are looking up again.”
As part of the recovery, the on-site coffee shop was revamped and is now run as a business by Nel’s wife. “It just needed that feminine touch,” he says proudly. “She’s got a heart for people.’’
The ethos of care extends to their staff. “They’re not just here for a paycheck. They see the big picture. And when things go well, we all benefit.”
Partnership and progress
Nel’s Leaders for Education journey began in October 2023, when he was paired with the principal of Zembeni Senior Primary, Nhlanhla Xaba. This was Citizen Leader Lab’s inaugural Leaders for Education cohort on the South Coast.
“Nhlanhla is humble, respectful and, at the same, authoritative. The discipline and kindness of the learners blew me away, especially given that they rely on feeding schemes just to get through the day.” Nel says. The experience helped him see schools not just as institutions, but as key levers in an education ecosystem sustained by committed school principals.
Despite understaffing and limited resources, the partners quickly made a difference at the school. They mobilised the community to clean the school grounds, established a vegetable garden on unused land, addressed maintenance issues, developed fundraising ideas and organised night watchmen to boost school security.
Nel and Ricardo de Oliveira, a local electrician and fellow business leader on the programme, also tackled a practical issue: The school’s eco-toilets lacked running water and relied on manually filled drums. Together, they looked at installing a solar-powered pump to fill the water tank overnight, offering a simple but effective upgrade to the school’s facilities.
Leaders grow in good company
Although the year-long programme formally ended in November 2024, Nel still recalls his experience vividly, and is still actively engaged with Principal Xaba.
“We had a diverse, open group where trust came quickly. We laughed, we listened and we learned a lot from each other.” He likens the experience to being part of a spiritual group where people could grow together.
The caravan park became an unofficial home for the cohort, hosting many of the programmes’ workshops and networking opportunities. “The park made people feel welcome. It wasn’t a formal space, so everyone could just be themselves.”
Even his guests and staff picked up on the energy. “One of the security guards started referring to the group as ‘my friends.’ That’s when I realised something deeper had shifted.”
Nel is known for posing astute questions, a quality that shone throughout the programme. However, the real impact, he believes, was evident in how he brought the lessons of the programme back to his own team.
“Active listening really stood out for me. I realised I needed to spend more time with my staff. Not just talking about tasks but asking how they were doing.”
He has also been able to create stronger, more thoughtful leadership practices, including support during staff emergencies.
Now, with interest growing in a second Leaders for Education cohort on the South Coast, Nel is thinking about who else might step forward. When asked if he would recommend the programme to others, his answer is considered, but unhesitant.
“People get scared when they hear the word ‘commitment’. But when something becomes part of your life, it stops feeling like an obligation and starts to feel like a way of being.”
When you strip it back, Nel’s story reminds us that leadership isn’t about titles. It sometimes starts over shared cups of coffee in a caravan park.
Contact kate@citizenleaderlab.org or akhona@citizenleaderlab.org to join South Coast’s second Leaders for Education cohort.
