Can I help you pack Sir?

An amazing article appeared in the Business Day on the 8th July 2009. It was a Business Day interview with the former Anglo American deputy chairman, Graham Boustred, 84. It was an interview at his request in order for him to share his views on the current state of Anglo American. What follows has one suspiciously looking for the candid camera equivalent of the print media! Boustred states that Xstrata’s proposed bid for Anglo American is simply a mechanism for getting rid of current Anglo CEO, Cynthia Caroll who he goes on to describe as “hopeless”and implies that she is sexually frustrated. The then illuminates why it is difficult to find a female CEO: “It is because most women are sexually frustrated. men are not, because they can fall back on call girls, go to erectile dysfunction clinics. If you have a CEO who is sexually frustrated she can’t act properly”.

Boustred talks about the possibility of having an exit strtaegy should the wheels come off in South Africa. His prefered safe haven? The Isle of Man. His reason being that on the Isle of Man “there are no Muslims, no blacks”. There were compelling other reasons such as a good health care system but these are all too sane to be taken seriously.

The tone of Boustred’s ranting as reported is self-centred, arrogant, dogmatic, bigited and plain insulting. He represents a perplexing case study in past leaders grown old and begs the question of just how much of the present characteristics and opinions were in evidence during his leadership reign? He is aptly described in the interview as an “old man of South African business” where his world is “an anachronism that is growing smaller all the time”.

Oh yes, and the answer to Anglo’s current “disaster”? Well, for Boustred to return of course! reading to full article will have you queing to help the pensioner pack.
 

Leaders with Foot ‘n Mouth

De Villiers was always likely going to have to work that bit harder to gain the respect the position deserves. Unfortunate, but that was the braai boardroom reality. 

Well, de Villiers has shot himself in the foot – well both feet actually. What were at first rather humorous analogies, mixed metaphors and plain nonsensical explanations that provided plenty of copy, has now become plain embarrassing. More seriously, his recent utterings have dangerously eroded any personal or positional creditability and raises serious questions. Not to mention that others, well OK one, has been fired for less – not so Nick?

You only have yourself to blame Pieter. Perhaps SARU share some culpability in that they ought to have provided some coaching to the Coach in those matters other than rugby. It may not be fair, but today ‘those matters’ are an integral part of the Coach’s responsibility and more should have been done to avoid the situation getting to the state of play it has done.

Lessons that go to Waste

As part of the Spar Leadership Development Programme (SLDP) I have just had the privilege of visiting the Durban Waste site in Marionhill. What an eye-opener! For starters, this waste management project is the best in the Southern Hemisphere (in other words, where warmer climates dominate). It represents cutting edge thinking and methodology and is yet another example of South Africa leading the way.

A ‘tour’ to this site offers some incredible educational insights and lessons for both the individual and corporate alike.

Here would be just four that come to mind:

Shit happens…it is what to do with it that matters. Clearly, in this context understanding exactly what it is they are dealing with, determines the process and interventions put to work. Understanding the nature of the problem and challenge is fundamental to engaging in workable solutions. Now this sounds ‘obvious’ but is it? How often are problems identified in isolation meaning that the resulting solution represents a ‘quick fix’ which in turn leads to further issues and problems elsewhere?  Within organizations this is often the case when it comes to dealing with what could be described as ‘cultural issues’ where the ‘real’ issue is disguised and the often frantic interventions fail to deal with the root cause and busy themselves with the symptoms.

What goes around comes around. This is clearly seen in the recycling process. The ability to see this cause and effect cycle opens one’s eyes to cost saving measures and great efficiencies.  This is always the kind of language that excites the corporate world and tends to get their attention.  Understanding this in the context of dealing and recycling waste makes it obvious that more attention to initial sorting could save a great deal money further down the process. This means we need to be educated as to how the process works. So often we are given information on a ‘need to know’ basis and seeing how ‘our part’ contributes the end product is like navigating through a dense fog. Some time and effort dedicated to fusing the beginning with the end will result in greater efficiencies and cost saving. 

Grey and Green are complimentary colours in a connected world. The ‘Green’ issue is rapidly gaining a foothold on the corporate agenda. The ‘Grey’ world with its corporate face has traditionally given little respect to anything other that what it needs or wants. The reality of what this means in a world with finite resources, has begun to dawn. The warning lights are flashing bright red in spite of what some say as they try to lump the entire ‘green argument’ into disposable hype and the ranting of an insane few.  They are wrong. This stuff matters, it matters a great deal. The ‘grey’ world cannot afford to operate independent or regardless of the ‘green’ world. Getting this symbiotic relationship promises new and innovative conversations and practices.  In nature there is no waste; everything gets used. In part that is one of the more insightful lessons from the site visit.  The traditional dichotomies that we have instituted need to be dismantled as we seek an integrated understanding and engagement with the realities of these respective worlds. 

Ongoing waste leads to ongoing learning.  As a result of what you and I have thrown away, discarded as ‘useless’ has come new sources of electricity and irrigation; wetlands, vegetation and a host of other benefits. These benefits were the direct result of a ‘learning’ mindset combined with the courage to innovate: to try and risk failure in order to learn a ‘better way’. The ‘kaisen’ principle of ‘continuous learning’ was unmistakably entrenched throughout the process.  The corporate world has much to learn from this mindset. Often quick to speak the language of change, innovation and learning, the reality is usually far removed from the rhetoric when one inhabits the corporate world. 

More people need to visit this site. They need to go with their colleagues. They need to take their kids. More people need to experience and absorb the lessons on offer through this garbage. It’s up to you. Don’t waste the opportunity and as Spar say, it will be ‘Good for you’

Keeping it Simple

Reading Gillian Tett’s excellent book, ‘Fool’s Gold: How unrestrained greed corrupted a dream, shattered global markets and unleashed a catastrophe’ (Little, Brown 2009 – buy it now at Amazon.co.uk or Kalahari.net) reminded me of a memorable saying of the legendary Liverpool Football Club manager, Bill Shankly.

Shanks, commenting on the Beautiful Game once said, “It is a simple game made complicated by those who ought to know better”. I suspect that wisdom reflects much of the corporate jungle that we have created. Beyond the financial practices of murkey credit derivatives there is the complex HR web that is understandable to only a select few. I recall being asked to sit-in on a review process of a large SA blue-chip company as they unveiled their ‘Talent Management Programme’. The programme had been the careful design of a specially designated group and was the culmination of over a year’s endevour. As the graphs, flow charts, spiral graphs and every manner of powerpoint graphic unfolded so the comprehension (amongst the other HR practitioners present) evaporated. It was madness, incomprehensible madness. But of course to question, critique and point out the obvious would have been akin to career suicide. Not being constrained by such concerns, I of course did question, ask and critique. Naturally I have not been invited back.

The point is we continue to make simple things complicated. This is especially true when it comes to the central issue of people within our organisation. Quantum Mechanics teaches us that, when it comes to the very essence, the very construct of our universe, ‘relationships is all there is’. Trust is the foundation, the currency, of all relationships and it was ultimately the breakdown of trust that, according to Gillian Tett led to the current economic crisis we have now. Simple things made complicated. Simple things allowed to be obscured behind elaborate processes, policies, systems and structures. Just who are we kidding? It is time to get back to the ’simple things’. It is time to realise that to make organisations work well, we don’t need the elaborate, the complex…we need to understand and do the simple things well.    

One Race CEO’s won’t Win…but need to!

Technique lags technology. Fact. The need for leaders to keep pace with technology is relentless and never-ending. It is a race that can’t be won. However leaders today cannot afford to hide behind walls excusing techno-illiteracy on their part. As decision-makers within their organisation they need to understand the possibilities and limits offered by technology. Only once they do this can they frame the ‘right’ questions to be asking in order to leverage the advantage technology offers. The lack of understanding impedes the CEO’s ability to make the right calls and leverage the advantage.

Usually IT systems are too expensive, complex and not flexible enough…this then impacts on the ability to understand, use and adapt them when necessary. Problem is, where do CEO’s go to get such insights, ask the ’stupid’ questions and explore how to apply and leverage the available technology? The answer is ‘nowhere’…well not that I am aware of at least!

That is why TomorrowToday.biz is seriously looking into providing a meeting boma for the CEO, the IT person, the HR person and well OK, the FD: after all they are the people who usually know the most about what is really going on within a business! Image such a meeting to expose this select group to some of the available technology followed by specific discussion as to how best to stategically put this technology to work? First some mindshifts will need to happen but that out the way, could make for a fun day with massive implications! Any takers?

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – the essential role of feedback for the Leader

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”  So goes the question embedded in the fanciful world of a children’s tale and a question that hauntingly stalks most of us for the remainder of our adult journey. Not that we would admit to such for over the years, not only have we learnt how to conceal and disguise the question, we have learnt to train the mirror into giving us the answer we wish to hear.  Hearing the truth? Now that is real fantasy!

For those in leadership it is a question that provides the yardstick of measurement, recognition and reputation. With so much at stake, it is the question that demands the answer, “why of course, you are”- be that true or not.

The real problem is not the question but rather the expectation surrounding the answer.  Perhaps it is the blatant denial or angry response to the answer – the one at least that fails to deliver the expected – that is in need of attention. And so, the mirror, weary of abuse and fearful of being shattered, has learnt to simply reply, “why of course, you are” every time the question is asked. … Continue Reading

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle & Leaders Everywhere

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle throws a large spanner in our quest to know, understand and decipher the future. It states, “If we know the present, we can calculate the future – it is not the conclusion that is wrong but the premise”. Seeing beyond the filters we have, filters that help us interpret and make sense of the world / information around us, is problematic at best and impossible at worse. If we are aware of these filters – let me give you just 4 that I have about which, without some creative interventions I can do nothing about – white, male, South African, Baby Boomer – we can understand how they skew or warp our prevailing worldview.

On the other hand, not being aware of our filters means we may make some serious errors of judgment or interpretation. So it would seem that assuming we have a grip on the present might just get in the way of how we are seeing the future. This certainly is something for those in leadership to think about. Very often their interpretation of the present is far removed from those roundabout them and how often have you come across a severe dislocation between how the ‘Exco’ see things as opposed to those ‘on the ground’?

Just a thought for leaders everywhere!

Empty Hands & Dirty Plates

The dirty plate gets pushed to the edge of the table, begging to be cleared. Staff person after staff person walk past, the plate remains. The ‘invisible’ plate becomes a case study in restaurant efficiency…the tension mounts. Eventually, unable to take it any longer the next staff member who scurries past is intercepted and asked to clear the plate. “OK, I will get someone to come and get it” is the immediate response before she too hurries off empty handed on some important mission.

All this is a near empty Wimpy. Clearly the old wisdom of “it’s not my job” is still king in this domain and they wonder how to improve customer service / experience.

Want a contrast? Visit Oscars in Old Main Road, Hillcrest, KZN. Case closed.

Perspective: A Helpful Framework for Leaders

Erik Erikson, the renown Danish Developmental Psychologist believed that balance in life was dependent upon paying attention to three critical areas of one’s life: Work, Play & Love.

Erikson argued that maintaining a balance in these three areas was essential for the healthy negotiation of the latter stages of one’s life. It is a nice and simple framework through which to examine one’s life. Each of these areas poses its own relevant questions that once articulated need to be answered and I suspect should be subject to constant revision. It is the lack of balance in these essential areas of life that leads to burnout, stress, fragmented relationships and a general dislocation of purpose and fulfillment. The long-term consequences of this can be devastating. I suspect that there are no simple answers or formula to follow, although many may peddle such. Such peddlers promote easy access to the secret of balancing these life domains and I think that suspicion here is not merely warranted but advisable. Doubtless there are reliable guides who can help point the way and finding such guides is the reward of an intentional seeking and openness to learning.

Leaders would do well to shape the questions that they need to be asking in these three life domains: Work, play and love. Perspective is such an important aspect of effective leadership and finding a workable framework which will help achieve and maintain the desire perspective is well worth exploring.

Mind the Gap when it comes to Social Networking Technologies

It has recently incurred to me that the fundamental difference between Boomers and Gen Xers when it comes to social networking technologies is a fundamental difference in interpretation. Boomers see such technologies as bringing them a flood of information that needs to be managed. “Why would you want to know that?”; “What will you do with that information?”; “Who cares?” are the standard responses that reveal such a stance.

However, Gen X sees this ‘information’ as the means to ‘relationship’. The filtering and processing that occurs as a result of this fundamental difference is pronounced. YouTube, FaceBook, Twittering and the like do not provide information, they are the portals to relationship.

Therein lies the difference…and it is significant as it is applied to the why, what and how of these social networking technologies.

Leading through the Storm: Four Things Leaders need to do

The year was 1929, it was towards the end of the third quarter and everything seemed fine. The promise of economic prosperity beckoned and optimism was at an all time high, especially in the United States. The steady building wave of optimism had led to an orgy of speculation and the belief that the beast that is economic crisis had been caged and mastered once and for all. The proliferated through numerous books and articles on the wisdom of the science of business management was offered as the Master of the beast.” We are apparently finished and done with economic cycles as we have known them” said the president of the New York Stock Exchange in September of that year.

By October everything had changed as an economic tsunami swept through Wall Street and on into the infant global economy. Wisdom is an easy thing with hindsight.

Warren Buffet once said, “When the tide of economic growth goes out, you will see who has been swimming naked”. As we now know the tide has irrevocably gone out and as we can see, many have been caught naked. Such is the nature of tides, they go out but they also ‘come in’. That is part of the reality of economic life cycles which we would be foolish to deny, ignore or think we have mastered. For beyond economic cycles, life itself offers rhythms and cycles that best we seek to understand and befriend.

… Continue Reading

Developing Corporate Leaders

The process of developing leaders for the corporate world has to undergo a radical transformation. Old mindsets and methodologies, the tried and tested will fail dismally to produce leaders capable of leading into the future.

In a world that is getting ever smaller cultures collide with increasing frequency. In this world of radical indeterminacy, paradox, diversity and acute uncertainty, leadership needs to transcend local context. In short, the ‘global leadership’ template is being re-written. Relying on what has worked in the past will be the surest recipe for failing in the future and avoiding this fatality requires a radical overhaul of our understanding of the context, task, challenge and measure of the corporate leader. Or in the words of Kenichi Ohmae in his book, The Next Global Stage,”Over the last two decades, the world has changed substantially. The economic, political, social, corporate, and personal rules that now apply bear scant relation to those applicable two decades ago. Different times require a different script.”

… Continue Reading

The Essential Smoke and Mirror of Leadership

My youngest son Sipho arrived home from school the other day having just negotiated a history exam. “Well, how did it go?” I asked. Without so much as breaking his stride, he replied, “Well Dad, I either got 92% or 60%” and with that disappeared into his room leaving an empty and somewhat stunned silence in his wake.

I was left pondering his answer. Answer? What kind of answer was that anyway? I was left with two thoughts: Firstly, Sipho has a bright future in politics and secondly, he did a masterful job at managing parental expectations!

It was the second conclusion that led me to thinking about two of the most important aspects of leadership, namely the need to manage expectations and the need to manage perceptions. … Continue Reading

So, it is your first day in the corner office…

I received an email the other day inviting me to contribute a ‘thought’ or message to a leader newly appointed to the role of CEO. I was one of several people invited to do so and I thought it was a nice touch. Unfortunately, the mail arrived at a time when I was in Thailand on holiday (someone has to do it) and deliberately computerless. By the time I read the invitation, the deadline and opportunity to make a contribution had passed. Ah well, maybe next time.

But I got to think what it is I would have written and decided that this is the message that I would want a new CEO to hear…

… Continue Reading

Developing corporate leaders

Explore four trends that are currently changing the face of business as Keith explains how these trends are resulting in the need for a radical transformation in the process of developing leaders who are capable of leading into the future.

… Continue Reading

The Great HR Paradox: A Thought Bullet for CEO’s everywhere

“Never before has ‘HR’ (Human Resources) been so redundant within the corporation; yet paradoxically, never before has it been more critical.” In this article, Keith Coats offers a viewpoint on how companies can make the transition to the connection economy and arrive in tomorrow’s world with the requisite skills to not only survive but succeed and lead in the business world today.

… Continue Reading

Dear Yves…a conversation around Values

Following a presentation on Invitational Leadership at a two day workshop for senior leaders at a prominent multi-national, the CEO of the company and Keith Coats engaged in a chat about values and the role they play in a company. He invited Keith to email him some thoughts around the four values his company had framed. Here is Keith’s response. It is an excellent insight into the type of values-driven leadership required in companies today.

… Continue Reading

The Inconvenient Truth for Leaders

What global warming is to Al Gore, so is the issue of control to the leader. However the inconvenient truth is that control is an illusion. Keith Coats, global leadership guru explores the concept of leadership and control in this insightful article on invitational leadership.

… Continue Reading

Rethinking Leadership

The more I look, listen, read and learn, to more convinced I am that our approach to leadership education and development needs a major rethink. Rather than focusing on static ’snapshots’ leaders need to learn how to identify patters, articulate ideas and provide metaphors that enable accurate interpretation of what is happening within their personal and business networks. The temptation (and legacy) is to default to finding ‘technical solutions’ – those answers that sit within the current paradigm and which can be analyzed, measured and managed – rather than engage in the true work of leadership; that of engaging themselves and others in the necessary ‘adaptive challenges’ at hand.

‘Adaptive leadership’ according to Parks in her book ‘Leadership can be taught’ (which explores the philosophy and methodology of Harvard leadership virtuoso Ron Heifetz – purchase online at Amazon.com or Kalahari.net) involves looking beneath the surface, embracing new mindsets, new learning and new behaviour; engaging complexity – seeing the whole and challenging deeply held assumptions and values. The kind of leadership that engages both heart and mind. In a predicable world where tomorrow resembles today, the old approach to leadership can survive. However, we no longer live in such a world. We live – and have to lead – in a world that is ‘tiny’, a world that is connected, a world of bewildering paradox and one that is no standing still. This world requires a new type of leadership and those tasked with teaching leadership will find less relevance in past models and will have to themselves, learn from the future.

The New Village: Building Courageous Companies

In this article, Keith Coats, our resident leadership expert, visits one of his favourite themes: the company as a village. He explains the four key requirements for developing successful and resilient organisations: belonging, mastery, independence and generosity.

… Continue Reading

Encountering the Stars (and Stripes): The Problem with the Guru Mentality a personal experience.

Why is it that Americans always seem to have an answer? Now, before I progress let me make it clear that I have nothing against Americans per se, and in fact know many who could not be put in the category I am about to articulate. NonethelessI have noticed an alarming trend. There have been several experiences over many years that have contributed to me arriving at this opinion. But let me share a fresh experience that merely underscores the point being made.

Both these fresh observations come out of attending two Leadership conferences in Shanghai. Both involve watching and listening to the visiting American leadership Gurus that have come here (over the past two years) to share their insights. Both have come with impressive credentials and big reputations. Both have vast experience and certainly have good points worthy of attention. Both are best selling authors. Both are articulate and confident. Both offered solutions or best practices that were about their way – aka the American way of doing things. And I am sure that both would deny this and point to a global effectiveness within their sphere of influence.

And here is my issue: both seem not to listen. I found myself baulking at their quick fire, ready-made and slick answers. No hesitation, no clarifying question… just the answer wrapped, packed, sealed and delivered. They seemed unable to hear the question, to ask the question (why would you if you already have the answer?) much less pause in the space that the question invites. Both seem strangers to the gift that the question offers that space where you get to hear others, where you get to learn of a better way. For, there always is a better way. Neither, in both their formal and, as far as I could determine, their informal manner, explored the gift of the question.

During one tea break a group of us were pondering some of the more paradoxical points of coaching when the one Guru joined the group. Naturally his opinion was sought. Naturally he gave an answer offering a sweeping global formula (his technique). Naturally he didn’t hear the (small) questioning voice that challenged his opinion once he had had finished. And so the gift of the pause was lost. After sharing his wisdom (without so much as asking a question of those assembled) he moved on, no doubt to impart his wisdom elsewhere. The irony for me was that he was a coach (with some impressive CEOs as clients I might add) and the focus of his keynote address was about the virtue of listening and asking questions. And here he was in our tea group where he didn’t do either – where he didn’t join the conversation but rather took it ransom. Something that was to be repeated around the dinner table that same evening.

… Continue Reading

Leading the Whatever Generation – the ‘Bright Young Things’

Leadership in today’s world is not easy. I suspect it has never ‘been easy’ but with the contemporary levels of complexity, connectedness and ubiquitous change these are indeed unique times in which to live and lead. The twin challenges that leaders face, that of leading diversity and understanding the inherent paradoxes, demands from leaders new mindsets that lead to new behaviours. All of this converges, like the Leader’s personal perfect storm, when it comes to leading Talent, or those we refer to as the, ‘Bright Young Things’. This article article explores six keys to understanding and leading Talent. It may even shed some light on those ‘Bright Young Things’ who inhabit your household! … Continue Reading

Downshifting – Changing the gears

Tired of the constant pressure of corporate life Bruce decided he no longer needed this kind of life. With no dependents he and his wife sold-up house and business and moved into a rustic coastal cottage they now call home. Turning to what they love, voluntarily dabbling in a variety of ventures of their choice and simplifying their lifestyle will be the new context in which they life and work.

In different shapes and forms, thousands are doing the same. And it is not only those with the financial muscle or those close to the end of their careers who are doing so!
… Continue Reading

Natural or Unnatural – that is the question

Currently reading Dotlich and Cairo’s book titled, ‘Unnatural Leadership’ with the subtitle, ‘Going against intuition and experience to develop ten new leadership instincts’. So what are these 10 ‘new leadership instincts’?

Well here they are in the order in which they were given…
Refuse to be a prisoner of experience
Expose your vunerabilities
Acknowledge your shadow side
Develop a right-verses-right decision making mentality
Create teams that create discomfort
Trust others before they earn it
Coach and teach rather than lead and inspire
Connect instead of create
Challenge the conventional wisdom

I then got to wondering just how it was that, in the corporate environment, we could have perverted that, which in the context of human relationships, was the natural order, to such as extent that it is now regarded as unnatural? It seems that what was originally unnatural was able to first usurp and then masquerade as the natural order but all that is about to change once more as the natural state of things turns unnatural in order to displace the real unnatural natural!

Ummmm.

The Attitude and Action of Authentic Leadership

In this thought-provoking article, Keith cuts across many of the myths of modern leadership to suggest one attitude and one action that truly authentic and savvy leaders need to take more seriously than they do. He is concerned that chasing after the leadership “gurus” is part of the reason that there is a global leadership crisis, and suggests that humbly embarking on a journey may be the best response by those leaders that want to go the distance.

… Continue Reading

Talk Story: Signposts for Savvy Leaders

Why do we struggle so with telling stories? Kids don’t struggle in this regard, and perhaps nor do we when with friends, around a meal, in a pub or over a braai (or barbeque for the less initiated). The practice of storytelling is central in any culture with the Hawaiians using a magical phrase, ‘talk story’ – to capture the importance of storytelling in their context.

But assemble a group of adults or leaders around a board room table and story telling can be as painful as extracting teeth from a pit-bull. And as dangerous! Perhaps the problem lies not in the subject but in the context. The ‘work’ context – apart from the ‘water-cooler’ meetings or other informal times and spaces, simply does not invite storytelling. Perhaps we have been too deeply programmed to believe that when it comes to the formal places and spaces within our working lives, there can be no room for storytelling. Of course the irony is that stories do exist – they are always there it is just that in this context, they sit under the surface avoiding detection. This may be the case partly because there might be the uneasy feeling and unspoken belief that such a pursuit is really better left in the playground. And so it is, that in the realm where business-speak rules, stories have no rightful place, they have no voice.

But this needs to change.

… Continue Reading

‘Even Chuck has to Change’: Leading in a changing world

In times of change, leaders who are prepared to learn will succeed, while those who consider themselves to be learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. We live and lead in a sea of constant change. Anyone who needs to be convinced of this reality is most likely just visiting from another planet. However, it is one thing to acknowledge the constant change that surrounds us and quite another to be able to unlearn, relearn and learn in this tumultuous sea of change. According to Alvin Toffler in Future Shock, “the illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”

In my experience, many leaders are not coping well with the need to change. In fact, several are swallowing unhealthy amounts of water as they struggle to stay afloat in the turbulent swells that surround them. After all, attempting to swim in such conditions is certainly not for the faint-hearted or those in need of water-wings! However, here are four reminders – or perhaps lighthouses that serve to warn of peril – for leaders everywhere when it comes to leading in today’s world:

Be prepared to change.

Savvy leaders realise that in such times even Chuck (Norris) has to change. … Continue Reading

Two great questions for leaders anywhere

Eric Hoffer was quoted as saying, “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”. It reminds me of something that I once read that was attributed to Peter Drucker: There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

So as I consider these I find myself asking, ‘what is that I am REALLY learning?’ and ‘am I doing things that are keeping me from what it is I need to be learning?’
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Leadership Lessons on Teamwork from the Kids

Having written the book, Everything I know about leadership I learnt from the kids, I often get asked if I really believe that leaders can learn about leadership from kids.

Yes, I do. And here’s why I believe leaders can learn from kids.

Last year my daughter Tamryn, was elected as Head Girl of her school (of course the proud parents pointed knowingly to the role that the gene pool had played in the process!). It was interesting to watch her tackle the responsibility and challenges that such a position entailed and I enjoyed some insightful conversations with her as the year unfolded. Once the curtain on the year came down I invited her to send me an email sharing what she had learnt about leadership through the experience.

Besides the obvious need to work on respect for her father, this was the response: … Continue Reading

SAA does it again: saga continues…

Some time ago I wrote about the way SAA dealt with delays on the Sunday night of the A1 GP out of Durban. No problem about the delays (after all who can control a thunder storm!) but rather the total lack of information to those impacted by a delay that in my case was actually 4 hours.

But there was another issue I had with SAA: On an international flight out of Jhb to Hong Kong the flight was delayed by 2 hours. This meant that the staff overshot their no more than 16 hour continuous service law. The compromise was to refuse to serve half of the evening meal and breakfast. As I had traded in 35 000 voyager miles to secure business class this response wasn’t good enough. I wrote asking that they reinstate my miles as I had paid for a service that in part I had not received. This is SAA’s response. The saga will not end here…

… Continue Reading