Much of Elba’s thought-provoking discussion centered on the more persuasive aspects of leadership and one’s ability to manage a set of circumstances and corral forces and energies and drive them in the direction of productive output. Much like, as he says was the process for the making of Takers. “You have all these stars, people who are huge stars in their own right, T.I., Chris Brown,” he said with an exhaustive sigh, “Michael Ealy, Zoe Saldana and Matt Dillon. What I had to do was pull all of that talent together and keep us moving forward.”
Elba elaborated about his involvement in the NBMBAA conference and economic development programs: “The title [of the forum] is the ‘Keys to Success’ and I just wanted to [share] some of the stories and perhaps some of the knowledge that I have. Oftentimes people ask me ‘How’d you do it? You’re here, you’re working, you’re doing it.’ It’s a great opportunity to share some of what it’s about … hard work, and it’s about patience and diligence.”
Elba also spoke about his recent visit to South Africa: “I had a great opportunity to go to South Africa with Coca-Cola, and we took 20 students from HBCUs. … We took them around the time of the World Cup. It was an amazing experience for them and it was a great for me to show them my motherland.”
Elba’s presence so dominated the stage, that when the forum concluded, excited and overwhelmed raffle winners ran past the prizes on stage for a chance to hug him. –roz edward
