What Do They Know That You Don’t?

When I was first awarded my Private Pilot’s Licence, I remember one of my instructors commenting “Right, so you know just enough to kill yourself with now.”  It was a not-so-tongue-in-cheek reminder that, as proud as I felt of my achievement, what I’d also done was open up the door to the next chapter.  A…

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What Story Are Your Shoulders Telling?

Communicating without words As you arrive at work, you see the familiar figure of a valued colleague walking towards you.  They haven’t seen you yet, but you can tell immediately, that all is not right in their world.  As their focus finds you, their face lights up and their shoulders lift a little.  You stop…

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Leading Under Pressure

The role of leadership is seldom smooth.  By definition, as soon as we realise that we can lead ourselves, let alone others, there is a feeling of responsibility and desire to level up that can’t go unacknowledged.  On a good day, no matter what level or role we’re choosing to lead from, leadership requires us…

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Reassessing Your Focus Yields Results

The success of almost everything we do involves another person or persons.  Whilst there is always a considerable amount of our success that we’re responsible for, somewhere along the line it almost always involves the input, interaction or response of another.  This means that our success will always come down to how effectively we communicate,…

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Handling Change, Assuaging Self-Doubt

Over the past few years, we’ve weathered several cycles that have caused us to reconsider whether we’re happy, whether life is working for us and what we’d like it to look like.  The mental shift of reconsidering causes stress and discomfort when we first realise that we’re not comfortable with the status quo, even before…

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Regenerating Team Energy

In a 2021 YouTube video, Gerhard Papenfus, CEO of the National Employers Association of South Africa, urged employers not to make quick-fix or knee-jerk implementations in response to the Covid pandemic suggested regulations, and rather to look further down the line.  He asked, “Where will your culture be a year from now?”. It was a…

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When Soft Skills Become REAL Skills

All human beings have similar wants and needs.  We want honesty, respect, integrity, and trust.  We want to belong to something bigger than ourselves and to matter. The current state of global affairs and their effect on every level of our lives has exacerbated these needs, highlighting their deficit in our personal and professional lives.  When we…

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Honesty. Respect. Integrity. Trust.

All human beings have similar wants and needs.  We want honesty, respect, integrity, and trust.  These four are intricately linked together.  We want to belong to something bigger than ourselves and to matter. Wanting honesty, respect, integrity and trust is about wanting to live in an environment in which we feel safe.  It’s about wanting…

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How Responsible Is TOO Responsible?

Responsibility is a spectrum – meaning there’s a line ranging from completely irresponsible all the way to destructive over-responsibility… and all of us are on it somewhere.  We all know that personal responsibility is something we start to learn early in life – brush your teeth, make your bed, represent yourself well, be nice to…

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Developing Safe Space for Difficult Conversations

Developing a safe space for difficult conversations is hard.  It doesn’t matter what the conversation is about, who’s involved, or whether you’re trying to have it at home, at work, or with a friend – we have an innate fear of being a part of difficult conversations because they are threatening, feel unsafe, and often…

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