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Malta Business Review<br />
NELSON MANDELA’S 100TH BIRTHDAY<br />
Leading by<br />
looking ahead and<br />
being disruptive<br />
By Nic van den Bergh<br />
A<br />
s we reach the culmination<br />
of The Elders’ #WalkTogether<br />
campaign, Virgin Unite are<br />
celebrating Nelson Mandela’s<br />
100th birthday, his legacy and the founding of<br />
The Elders.<br />
The #WalkTogether campaign has built a<br />
bright web made up of 'Sparks of Hope' –<br />
communities building a movement for the<br />
freedoms Mandela dedicated his life to:<br />
peace, health, justice and equality.<br />
Virgin CEOs and staff members from all over<br />
the world have written about their own<br />
Sparks of Hope and for the next month we<br />
invite you to read their stories and join the<br />
global #WalkTogether movement.<br />
The person that has inspired me the most in<br />
my life is my father. Though he is my dad he<br />
is so much more – he has been a spectacular<br />
mentor, specifically when it comes to how one<br />
should behave both at a personal level and at<br />
a business level. He’s inspired me for the last<br />
20 odd years where I’ve been in formal and<br />
informal employment.<br />
My father has this incredible spirit and ability<br />
to help and support others, even when<br />
he might be going through a difficult time<br />
HONOURING THE LEGACY OF NELSON MANDELA<br />
himself. Something that I have learnt from<br />
him and taken into my own life is to rise above<br />
whatever is being thrown at you and to keep a<br />
positive face and a positive outlook.<br />
A great learning that I have taken into<br />
the workplace is to look ahead and to be<br />
disruptive, but more importantly it’s about<br />
looking to constantly improve yourself. I like<br />
to believe that I never take things at face<br />
value and I’m always questioning how I can<br />
do things better. I try to look at ways that not<br />
only improve my own life, but to make sure<br />
that I’m improving the lives of the people that<br />
I serve.<br />
The only way that you can do this effectively,<br />
is if you work hard at creating a better<br />
working relationship with your colleagues. To<br />
have a successful output, you need to have<br />
a successful team and that’s why I’ve always<br />
tried to inspire with knowledge and passion.<br />
I try to encourage people with belief, because<br />
if people believe in you and they believe in<br />
what you’re doing, you will have very loyal<br />
colleagues and employees.<br />
Something that I have learnt from him<br />
and taken into my own life is to rise above<br />
whatever is being thrown at you and to keep<br />
a positive face and a positive outlook.<br />
I have always tried to empower people and to<br />
make sure that they can be much more than<br />
their job title so that they can grow faster<br />
and be a sponge – it’s about making sure<br />
that you both have an equal footing and that<br />
you do not see your ideas or beliefs as more<br />
important or better than other people’s.<br />
A good leader should also be able to reflect<br />
and learn from the past. I have tried to<br />
start businesses and failed spectacularly at<br />
them and that has given me some amazing<br />
learnings. I don’t think that we embrace<br />
failure enough – we must learn from failure.<br />
I love advertising and marketing and how you<br />
can connect with customers.<br />
I love trying to improve individual’s lives<br />
through products and services. Ultimately, it<br />
is my dream and passion to get involved with<br />
a mentorship programme or investment into<br />
entrepreneurs. I know within the Virgin group<br />
there are many bodies and organisations that<br />
look to supporting businesses. I would like to<br />
give back to an industry that has given and<br />
taught me so much.<br />
Nic van den Bergh is the Head of Digital at<br />
Virgin Money South Africa <strong>MBR</strong><br />
Creditline: Nic Vah Den Bergh, Virgin<br />
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