Organisations are not naturally fertile seedbeds for new learning, growth and doing things in better ways. Leaders who want to instil wide-spread change and improve their respective companies, in fact, need to recognise that they are attempting to change a seemingly unchangeable paradox: organisations thrive on routine and the status quo. Daniel Goleman, in his…
One of the key roles of first-line leadership is to assist team members with their growth and development. Jim Rohn noted: “A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better”. This involves the mind-set, skills and…
“Your willingness to learn and adjust positively from mistakes and shortcomings will largely determine how far you will travel the road to success” (John Maxwell) Human beings really struggle to learn from mistakes. It is not because we don’t want to learn from our errors. It is infrequent that we don’t understand why we made…
“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart” (Roy T Bennett) Being a leader is stressful – the constant pressure of being in the public eye and the overwhelming need to be successful. Too often, leaders feel unsafe, as if they are under a microscope,…
“In vain you have acquired knowledge if you have not imparted to others” (Deuteronomy Rabbah) My friend and former colleague, Gerrit Cloete (owner of Productivity Pitstop), spent a week at the family’s seaside vacation home to catch up with family and friends. Upon his return, he related one of his experiences with me: “I went…
“What is planted in people is more important than what is poured into them” (Alinda Nortje, Founder and CEO of Free To Grow) Forward-thinking companies typically host many interventions for their employees (workshops, dialogue groups, seminars, e-learning platforms, coaching, etc.) to accelerate learning and grow the knowledge base of the business. Whilst these attempts are…
“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better” (Jim Rohn) Disinterested managers, disempowered environments and a lack of opportunity to apply new learnings are some of the most common mitigating factors that prevent training from…
Charles (Chippy) Brand (civil engineer) bought a defunct little road-building business from his dad and moved back to a rented house in Carltonville, South Africa, to manage the company, C & J Reid. The company had few assets – antiquated steam-driven rollers, two motor graders which ran off power paraffin, a couple of ancient bulldozers…
