A friend of mine told me about one of his employees who repeatedly came late to work. The young man was hard-working and focused, so performance was no issue. He just started work late each day and if unaddressed by management, would send all the wrong messages to the rest of the staff. His manager…
Dr Gerald Bell of the University of North Carolina conducted a survey where four thousand retired executives were asked the question: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” Overwhelmingly, the vast majority of the executives’ answers reflected a desire to take better ownership of their lives. Fundamentally, they responded…
The current world economic context is dismal, to say the least – financial analysts and the World Bank continue to predict slow growth, volatile markets and the possibility of a longer or deeper recession than was first suggested. Governments are attempting to send the “right messages” internationally to continue attracting investment, and fiscal efficiencies, disciplined…
Fish have always fascinated me – not only are the edible ones tasty, but it is also such a relaxing and particularly interesting experience to go down to the local aquarium in Cape Town to view what one does not normally have the opportunity of seeing in their “natural” environment, unless you are a regular…
In my travels and subsequent visits to simply many hundreds of companies, I have been surprised at how many companies have departments that don’t operate with the belief that they add real value to company profitability. They perhaps understand that they are necessary and that they have a function to perform, but don’t link this…
A colleague of mine shared a personal story of her son, when still very young in junior school, playing rugby for the first time. He had gone to practice during the week and came home beaming about his experiences – running with the ball, tackling others who had the ball, kicking and so on. My…
In the movie, The Matrix, one of my personal favourites, I am captivated with the scene where Neo meets Morpheus for a secret meeting. This is the first time that they have ever met, even though they seem to have been searching for each other for most of their lives. The dialogue is fascinating: Morpheus:…
