Speakers Inc Magazine, Volume 2
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SPEAKERS<br />
V O L U M E 2<br />
INC.<br />
MEET THE SPEAKER<br />
- L U M K A M S I B I -<br />
FROM<br />
PARA TO<br />
DAKAR<br />
J O E Y E V A N S<br />
START<br />
YOUR<br />
YEAR<br />
RIGHT<br />
W I T H<br />
K E V I N<br />
G A S K E L L
Joey<br />
Evans<br />
Lumka<br />
Msibi<br />
Femi<br />
Adebanji<br />
Why<br />
Customer<br />
Service is<br />
Key<br />
Stef du<br />
Plessis<br />
Customer<br />
service on<br />
the Inside<br />
4<br />
Who is<br />
<strong>Speakers</strong><br />
<strong>Inc</strong>?<br />
The<br />
incredible<br />
story of<br />
how Joey<br />
overcame<br />
being<br />
paralysed<br />
and went<br />
on to<br />
complete<br />
the Darkar<br />
Rally in<br />
2017<br />
Raymond<br />
de Villiers<br />
The World<br />
of Work in<br />
2019<br />
13,14<br />
Meet<br />
<strong>Speakers</strong><br />
<strong>Inc</strong>'s most<br />
booked<br />
speaker of<br />
2018!<br />
1,2<br />
Meet the<br />
team and<br />
understand<br />
the<br />
importance<br />
of using a<br />
speakers<br />
bureau<br />
7,8<br />
Mbali<br />
Nwoko<br />
Tenacity<br />
wins the<br />
day for upand-coming<br />
veggie<br />
farmer<br />
3<br />
5,6<br />
9,10,<br />
11,12
Kevin<br />
Gaskell<br />
How to<br />
start your<br />
year right<br />
with some<br />
tips and<br />
ticks on<br />
leadership<br />
in the<br />
workplace<br />
15,16,<br />
Liezel van<br />
der<br />
Westhuizen<br />
shares her<br />
experiences<br />
after she<br />
cycled<br />
through<br />
the Himalay<br />
as<br />
19,20<br />
Peter van<br />
Kets<br />
Divide and<br />
Conquer<br />
21,22,<br />
23,24<br />
Jacques de<br />
Villiers<br />
Goal setting<br />
and<br />
achieving<br />
greatness<br />
Shelley<br />
Walters<br />
The state of<br />
the South<br />
African<br />
economy<br />
Stephen<br />
Grootes<br />
State of the<br />
Land Reform<br />
29,30<br />
27,28<br />
17,18<br />
SPEAKERS<br />
INC.<br />
25,26<br />
Contact us!<br />
Website: www.speakersinc.co.za<br />
Email: info@speakersinc.co.za<br />
Tel: 021 789 0067
"MEET THE SPEAKER"<br />
Lumka Msibi<br />
Q. Who inspired you to pursue<br />
your dream of speaking?<br />
A. I was inspired by my mother,<br />
she helped me to realize that<br />
I could use my strong<br />
communication and listening<br />
skills to build relationships and<br />
inspire people to achieve their<br />
dreams and reach for the stars.<br />
Q.Your quote used most often?<br />
A. Don't tell me the sky is the limit<br />
because there are footprints on the<br />
moon. Fall down seven times stand up<br />
eight.<br />
Q. What kind of kid were you?<br />
A. When I was a kid, I tended to see things from a unique, inventive<br />
perspective. I was always asking lots of question, breaking my toys only<br />
to re-assemble them. I also excelled at school and loved reading books.<br />
Q. How did you get started?<br />
A. I started speaking at school. I was elected into various leadership<br />
positons and I would deliver talks in assembly as a prefect, house<br />
captain and student representative. I continued to speak throughout my<br />
university degree and at work in the various leadership<br />
positions I was elected in.<br />
Q. Where did you grow up?<br />
A. I was born and raised in Soweto
Q. What would you be if you were not a professional speaker?<br />
A. I’m an Aerospace Engineer (qualified rocket scientist), a professional<br />
speaker and tech entrepreneur. I enjoy the balance between my various<br />
roles.<br />
Q. Do you have any hobbies?<br />
A. I love travelling – ukuhamba ukubona – travelling opens the window to<br />
the world. I draw and paint (I was awarded top art student in high school).<br />
I love reading, spending time with my family and the outdoors (riding my<br />
motorcycle to the beach and surfing).<br />
Q. What do you like most about professional speaking?<br />
A. The ability to empower and inspire others to achieve the<br />
impossible.<br />
Q. How was your childhood?<br />
A. My childhood was filled with laughter and love I enjoyed climbing<br />
trees, building kites and wire cars with my brothers and playing<br />
hopscotch with my twin sister. I loved reading. My mom encouraged my<br />
reading curiosity by buying me books.<br />
2
Research reveals that intentionally building a culture of service excellence<br />
that aims to exceed customer expectations is not only a strong competitive<br />
differentiator for businesses but also a powerful catalyst for business<br />
FEMI ADEBANJI<br />
growth. Studies have shown that by being more service driven, companies<br />
can gain up to 6% more in market share and according to a study be<br />
American Express, 58% of customers are willing to spend more on<br />
companies that provide excellent customer service.<br />
The bottom-line is that people don’t buy products, they buy expectations<br />
and because customers are buying “expectations”, businesses have to go<br />
beyond “satisfying” customers and start looking for innovative ways to<br />
“wow: their customers.<br />
Meeting customer expectations or merely satisfying customers will not<br />
drive customer loyalty, improve customer retention or make your brand<br />
stand out from the competition. “Wowing” your customers and exceeding<br />
their expectation will. Consequently, it is imperative that businesses don’t<br />
merely meet client expectations but exceed expectations – if they are to<br />
survive and thrive. However, to exceed expectations, businesses must be<br />
aware of what customers’ minimum expectations are.<br />
One expectation that clients have is that the product or service they<br />
purchase will deliver as promised; the next expectation is that if the product<br />
or service does not deliver as promised, the business will take<br />
accountability, make good on that promise to ensure that the customer’s<br />
expectations are met; and finally customer’s expect the experience of<br />
doing business to be easy, pleasant and seamless. If you’re not easy to<br />
do business with, clients will quickly find someone else who is.<br />
So at the risk of belabouring the point, businesses<br />
need to at the very least understand the minimum<br />
expectations of customers and seek to exceed<br />
those expectations and ensure a smooth, seamless<br />
and hassle free customer experience.<br />
Now more than ever, customers are looking to<br />
have their expectations exceeded and looking<br />
to be wowed at every level and every touch<br />
point with the organisation. This is what drives<br />
brand loyalty. This is what drives customer<br />
loyalty. Ultimately this is what makes a brand<br />
stand out from its competitors and is a powerful<br />
predictor of whether or not a brand will be<br />
distinct or become extinct.<br />
Author - Femi Adebanji<br />
3
A number of years ago, we were drawn to an article in a business journal<br />
from its title, which was ‘How do you create a culture of customer<br />
service’. Because these are the two areas in which we focus (culture and<br />
service), we enthusiastically began to read the article, which was a<br />
collation of interviews with senior Australian business leaders. The more<br />
we read, the more disappointed we became. One leader referenced their<br />
customer feedback strategies – mystery shopping, customer surveys<br />
and the like. Another leader referenced the customer service training<br />
they provided to their staff. And another leader talked about the fact that<br />
customer service was one of their top five corporate priorities. Each of<br />
the leaders interviewed for this article missed the point. What they<br />
outlined was the mix of customer service-related tactics and strategies<br />
they deployed and that they hoped by osmosis would filter through to the<br />
culture. None of these leaders talked about culture directly. And this is a<br />
huge oversight. All of us know that customer service training can be<br />
diminished or made completely obsolete by a culture that doesn’t<br />
support training or customer service. All of us have encountered<br />
companies that go through the process of measuring customer<br />
satisfaction that becomes an end in itself and fails to impact on staff. .<br />
All of us have experienced situations where a company has so called<br />
‘priorities’ which are merely tick-box exercises to placate boards or other<br />
stakeholders. Our point is this: If the culture isn’t ‘right’, then customerrelated<br />
tactics and strategies can count for very little! If you want to<br />
change the way that your people treat your customers,<br />
you first have to create a culture that compels them<br />
to do so.<br />
STEF DU PLESSIS<br />
About the authors<br />
Stef du Plessis and Steve Simpson help<br />
organisations to get their people fully on board<br />
and to ramp up the way they do things.<br />
Organisations in more than 50 countries have<br />
used their one of a kind culture-by-design<br />
Unwritten Ground Rules or UGRs concept to<br />
drive performance, improve safety and to<br />
make theirs a better place to work. Their<br />
clients include organisations like McLaren,<br />
Barclays, and Kmart. They also work with<br />
small and medium organisations.<br />
4
Hesketh started <strong>Speakers</strong> <strong>Inc</strong>. in January of 1999.<br />
Bronwyn<br />
describes her life’s work as putting her “messengers” in<br />
She<br />
with those who need to hear their messages.<br />
touch<br />
was honoured to be recognised as one of the Top 40<br />
Bronwyn<br />
in Mice for 2017, and she has just finished her year as<br />
Women<br />
of the Cape Chapter of the Professional <strong>Speakers</strong><br />
President<br />
of Southern Africa. Bronwyn is a speaker mentor as<br />
Association<br />
as the author of “SpeakerSavvy”, written to assist all<br />
well<br />
speakers with taking their speaking businesses to<br />
professional<br />
next level, based on her two decades of working closely<br />
the<br />
many South African speakers, helping them achieve<br />
with<br />
success on the professional speaking circuit.<br />
sustainable<br />
Hesketh comes from an international sales<br />
Duncan<br />
(as Marketing Director for a major<br />
background<br />
company in the UK for 10 years) and, as<br />
pharmaceutical<br />
husband, he has been in and around the industry<br />
Bronwyn’s<br />
many years.<br />
for<br />
a former Policeman, provincial rugby and cricket player,<br />
As<br />
kids' rugby coach - as well as being a father of 3 children,<br />
and<br />
dogs and 2 cats - Duncan has had more experience in the<br />
5<br />
sector than you’d think, and is VERY capable<br />
organisational<br />
using that talent in the business world.<br />
of<br />
youngest member of our team is also the most tech-savvy.<br />
The<br />
Bacon is P.A. to our premium partners and does an<br />
Christina<br />
job of keeping them, and our office, organised and<br />
incredible<br />
track. In her typically responsible fashion, she has taken<br />
on<br />
of our social media platforms and ensures that our<br />
ownership<br />
are regular and relevant. She has a solid knowledge of<br />
posts<br />
business and multi-tasks between speakers and clients like<br />
the<br />
a true millennial can.<br />
only<br />
W h o I s S p e a k e r s I n c ?<br />
5
Perrins is affectionately known in the office - and<br />
Gemma<br />
our speakers - as ‘The Machine’, because of her<br />
amongst<br />
efficiency and work-rate.<br />
incomparable<br />
a new mommy with a baby boy, Gemma is learning<br />
As<br />
new everyday outside AND inside the office,<br />
something<br />
is difficult to believe, since Gemma is our<br />
which<br />
longestsurviving<br />
racking up 5 years on the clock, and still<br />
agent,<br />
strong. With her fresh, out-of-the box thinking and<br />
going<br />
plus her extensive knowledge of over 500 of our<br />
initiative<br />
Gemma will definitely help you to decide on the<br />
speakers,<br />
speaker for your event ... that we can guarantee.<br />
best<br />
Poole is a mother of three and a former teacher who is<br />
Sue<br />
newest addition to the <strong>Speakers</strong> <strong>Inc</strong> Team.<br />
our<br />
brings a wealth of knowledge and true understanding<br />
She<br />
how this industry works in relation to its clients and their<br />
of<br />
- working hard to make sure each experience with<br />
needs<br />
<strong>Inc</strong> is better than the last.<br />
<strong>Speakers</strong><br />
is keen to help each, and every client find the best<br />
Sue<br />
speaker for their specific event and have fun doing<br />
possible<br />
With a contagious laugh and a work ethic thought only<br />
so!<br />
be a myth, Sue Poole is the agent for you.<br />
to<br />
would say that a good agent is someone you can rely on to provide you with unbiased,<br />
I<br />
feedback on the speakers who are available on the corporate circuit;<br />
honest<br />
advice on which speaker will be best suited to speak to your delegates; and<br />
sound<br />
is happy to work on a basis of transparency about the speakers’ rates – after all,<br />
who<br />
the agent doesn’t recognise their own value enough not to hide it, why on earth<br />
if<br />
you?<br />
should<br />
A n d w h y d o y o u n e e d u s ?<br />
S o w h a t e x a c t l y i s t h e v a l u e o f a<br />
g o o d a g e n t ?<br />
6
Joey Evans<br />
Sportsman, Adventurer & Inspirational Speaker<br />
Joey had a dream to race his motorbike in the Dakar Rally. A race<br />
considered to be the toughest off-road race in the world. But his dream was<br />
shattered, when in 2007 during a local race, he sustained serious injuries,<br />
crushing his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed from just below his<br />
chest. Doctors said he had a 10% chance to walk again...but then on the<br />
2nd of January 2017, after 10 years<br />
of tough challenges, successes and<br />
lessons learnt, he lined up as a<br />
competitor at the start of the Dakar<br />
Rally in Asuncion, Paraguay. 13<br />
days and a gruelling 9000km later,<br />
he achieved his dream and became<br />
the only South African biker to finish<br />
the 2017 Dakar Rally.<br />
Joey Evans has also completed several marathons and ultra-marathons,<br />
hiked the fish river canyon, finished the Roof of Africa enduro and raced in<br />
the Botswana desert 1000. He has been fortunate to have raced and<br />
ridden his dirt bike throughout South Africa and throughout 15 countries!<br />
"You didn't come this far to only come this far"
R275,00!<br />
contact us<br />
to Buy Joey's<br />
book for only<br />
8
asked what she puts her success down to, Mbali<br />
When<br />
who launched her Green Terrace crop farming<br />
Nwoko,<br />
in 2016, says her curiosity and determination<br />
business<br />
farm enabled her to create partnerships in the<br />
to<br />
These have ensured a bright future for her<br />
sector.<br />
business.<br />
young<br />
pursuing a career in agriculture, Nwoko was the<br />
Before<br />
and managing director of a recruitment<br />
co-founder<br />
In 2016, just three years after starting the<br />
agency.<br />
she made a drastic career change after being<br />
business,<br />
to farming by a friend who had also<br />
introduced<br />
started his own farming business.<br />
recently<br />
addition to learning about his operation, she<br />
In<br />
that there were opportunities for new<br />
discovered<br />
in agriculture, and so began carrying out her<br />
entrants<br />
research. She then registered her own farming<br />
own<br />
and her search for land started.<br />
business,<br />
on the research I’d done, I decided to start by<br />
“Based<br />
spinach, for which there seemed to be a ready<br />
growing<br />
I had to provide the start-up capital myself<br />
market.<br />
I had no luck accessing a loan from financial<br />
because<br />
she recalls.<br />
institutions,”<br />
May 2016, Nwoko managed to find a 100ha plot in<br />
In<br />
that she could lease for her business.<br />
Heidelberg<br />
I found the land, I was ready to start ploughing<br />
“Once<br />
learn other things on the job,” she says.<br />
and<br />
was soon taught the first of many hard lessons:<br />
She<br />
only one month of leasing, relations between<br />
after<br />
and her landlord’s relatives soured, forcing her to look for an alternative. “I’d already ordered 40<br />
herself<br />
cabbage seedlings, 20 000 spinach seedlings and 16 000 mixed pepper (green, red and yellow)<br />
000<br />
which had to be planted in July and September, so I couldn’t waste any time,” she says.<br />
seedlings,<br />
only a one-month window in which to locate a new site, Nwoko started searching in the Boksburg<br />
With<br />
near Spruitview, east of Johannesburg, where she had grown up. This time, luck was on her side: she<br />
area<br />
her current landlord, Beauty Aphane, whom she refers to as Mam’ Beauty, who farmed on a 14ha<br />
met<br />
near Vosloorus. According to Nwoko, Mam’ Beauty started farming in 2013, and required a tenant for<br />
plot<br />
portion of the land she was not using.<br />
a<br />
Beauty has been such a supportive landlord; I don’t think I’d be where I am today without her<br />
“Mam’<br />
and patience. She understands farming and the challenges that come with it,” says<br />
understanding<br />
T E N A C I T Y W I N S T H E D A Y<br />
F O R U P - A N D - C O M I N G<br />
V E G G I E F A R M E R<br />
E n e r g e t i c n e w f a r m e r M b a l i N w o k o s t a r t e d h e r v e g e t a b l e<br />
f a r m i n g o p e r a t i o n o n l y t w o y e a r s a g o , b u t h e r<br />
d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o s u c c e e d h a s b e e n r e w a r d e d a n d<br />
r e c o g n i s e d . L a s t y e a r s h e w a s n a m e d o n e o f 2 0 f i n a l i s t s i n<br />
t h e p r e s t i g i o u s 7 0 2 S a g e S m a l l B u s i n e s s A w a r d s .<br />
THE ROAD TO FARMING<br />
Nwoko.<br />
‘WITH THE HELP OF MENTORS, I’VE ESTABLISHED<br />
MY OWN WAY OF FARMING’<br />
9
to the lease agreement, Nwoko is entitled to use the equipment and some of the existing<br />
According<br />
on the farm; this includes a tractor, plough, tunnels and irrigation equipment. These had all<br />
infrastructure<br />
purchased previously with assistance from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,<br />
been<br />
Mam’ Beauty had also invested some of her own money in the business.<br />
although<br />
Nwoko first started cultivating the land, she took soil samples to the Agriculture Research Council,<br />
When<br />
supplied her with a list of suitable crops. Fortunately, the seedlings she had ordered were all<br />
who<br />
on the list. She then approached a fertiliser company based in Bryanston, Sandton, which put<br />
included<br />
in contact with an agronomist, who in turn advised her on a fertiliser and planting programme.<br />
her<br />
her first planting cycle, she planted spinach in July, cabbages in August and peppers in September<br />
For<br />
the help of Mam’ Beauty, who allowed her to use her labourers and even assisted with the planting.<br />
with<br />
also made friends with experienced neighbouring farmers, who helped and advised her.<br />
She<br />
you’re a female farmer, it’s difficult for male farmers to open up to you, but I kept asking for help<br />
“When<br />
they offered me assistance,” she says. This included information on farm management, farmworker<br />
until<br />
and weather patterns.<br />
wages,<br />
says that by mid-August her landlord had seen her<br />
Nwoko<br />
and, wishing to retire, offered her a 10-year<br />
determination<br />
on the entire farm.<br />
lease<br />
more land at her disposal, she planted pepper<br />
With<br />
in one of the tunnels, and soon expanded to six of<br />
seedlings<br />
10 tunnels.<br />
the<br />
Green Terrace grows a variety of crops such as<br />
Today,<br />
green peppers, baby marrow and green beans,<br />
spinach,<br />
are supplied to leading retailers such as Food Lover’s<br />
which<br />
as well as the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market.<br />
Market,<br />
says that she has reinvested most of her profit in the<br />
Nwoko<br />
where it has been used to construct a packhouse, as<br />
farm,<br />
September 2016, when her first round of crops was almost<br />
In<br />
for harvest, Nwoko attended a farmer’s day at the<br />
ready<br />
Fresh Produce Market.<br />
Johannesburg<br />
she met a senior representative from Food Lover’s<br />
Here<br />
and told him about her business. She followed up<br />
Market<br />
an email, providing details of her crops and how much<br />
with<br />
each she was producing.<br />
of<br />
Lover’s Market responded by arranging a farm visit by a<br />
Food<br />
buyer and their group head of sustainability, Andrew<br />
senior<br />
Millson.<br />
they visited the farm, they asked about supplier<br />
“When<br />
such as a refrigerated truck, a packing house<br />
requirements<br />
whether I had any certification standards in place, which<br />
and<br />
didn’t,” Nwoko recalls. “My only vehicle for delivery was my<br />
I<br />
friend’s van. Despite these challenges, I was able to<br />
father’s<br />
an agreement whereby I would supply Food Lover’s<br />
reach<br />
with 300 bunches of spinach a day. I could supply 3<br />
Market<br />
bunches a week, so I also started supplying the hawkers’<br />
500<br />
also put her in touch with Solidaridad, an<br />
Millson<br />
organisation committed to the development of<br />
international<br />
and ecologically responsible supply chains. This in<br />
socially<br />
connected her with the LIMA Rural Development<br />
turn<br />
which sent an agronomist twice a week to<br />
Foundation,<br />
free technical assistance.<br />
provide<br />
late October 2016, Nwoko started supplying other retail<br />
In<br />
with spinach and peppers.<br />
outlets<br />
this time she was supplying 2 000 bunches of spinach a<br />
By<br />
week.<br />
ESTABLISHING THE BUSINESS<br />
FOOD LOVER’S MARKET<br />
well as to repair the tunnels.<br />
market in Katlehong with spinach at R10 a bunch.”<br />
10
peppers were the most difficult to farm, as they’re so sensitive. We also had whiteflies. But I<br />
“The<br />
asking advice from the agronomist,” she says.<br />
continued<br />
the 40 000 cabbages planted during that first year, I was unable to harvest anything due to excessive<br />
“Of<br />
and poor employee management in August,” Nwoko recalls. “I also had challenges with bollworm,<br />
rains<br />
even though we applied insecticide, due to the rain it didn’t work.”<br />
and<br />
learnt several lessons after I’d finished my first year and started preparing for my second rotation. These<br />
“I<br />
always plan ahead; have a five-year crop rotation plan so that you plant on time; and order seeds in<br />
were:<br />
to meet supplier demand.”<br />
advance<br />
says that government and the commercial sector need to establish better, more accessible<br />
Nwoko<br />
and funding models for new farmers.<br />
financing<br />
doing everything I could to supply only the best produce, find markets and establish cash flow,<br />
“Despite<br />
was still difficult to acquire funding for working capital to grow my business.<br />
it<br />
the support of a few mentors, I’ve now established my own way of farming. I’d like to be a modern<br />
“With<br />
and use more technology to improve my yields, which requires me to train and empower my<br />
farmer<br />
in the use of such technology.<br />
workers<br />
also intend to create a household brand for my business with the help of digital marketing platforms<br />
“I<br />
first supplier agreement<br />
Nwoko’s<br />
a retailer was to supply Food<br />
with<br />
Market with 300 bunches of<br />
Lover’s<br />
a day.<br />
spinach<br />
having secure access to<br />
Despite<br />
and even after proving her<br />
land<br />
as a new farmer, Nwoko still<br />
ability<br />
to obtain financing.<br />
struggled<br />
intends making better use of<br />
She<br />
to increase yields and<br />
technology<br />
CHALLENGES AND LESSONS<br />
To irrigate her crops, Nwoko uses drip irrigation on 7ha of land.<br />
FINANCING DIFFICULTIES FACED BY NEW FARMERS<br />
and social media, and I want to serve as an example to other upcoming farmers.”<br />
FAST FACTS<br />
improve overall efficiency.<br />
11
MEET THE SPEAKER Q&A<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
Who inspired you to pursue professional<br />
speaking?<br />
Enkromelle Andrew<br />
How did you get<br />
started?<br />
I was constantly being approached by organisations<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
Q.<br />
What songs best describes<br />
your work ethic?<br />
Respect by Aretha Franklin<br />
to share my story or provide my input on a specific<br />
topic/theme/discussion and everything just progressed from<br />
there on.<br />
What kind of kid<br />
were you?<br />
I was a shy and introverted kid,<br />
very aspirational and curious about the future. I was very<br />
involved in sports, especially swimming. I was also extremely<br />
which I still am<br />
Who is your<br />
competitive,<br />
crush?<br />
celebrity<br />
have plenty, however the person that<br />
A. Do you have<br />
I<br />
comes top of mind is Patrice Evra<br />
any hobbies?<br />
Yes, reading business books/magazines<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
/reports (print and online). Watching my favorite TV series such as Suits,<br />
Empire, Carte Blanche, How to Get Away with Murder, Game of Thrones<br />
How have you changed since you<br />
first started speaking?<br />
and The Fixer to name a few.<br />
I've become more confident and less critical of myself. Being offered the<br />
opportunity to speak to an audience, learn and share things, reminds me that<br />
there is a place for me on this earth.<br />
How hard do you<br />
push yourself?<br />
Extremely hard. I'm so tough on myself that I sometimes don’t find it easy to<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
Q.<br />
A.<br />
forgive myself when I make mistakes. Its a bad habit, I aware of that, however<br />
its the only way I know how to succeed.<br />
if<br />
somebody to give you would advice What<br />
they were interested in pursuing professional speaking?<br />
Go get yourself a copy of Bronwyn Hesketh's, Speaker Savvy book. It’s an investment.
The World of Work:<br />
South Africa 2019 - Change Trends, Farmers,<br />
and 21st Century Skills<br />
B Y R A Y M O N D D E V I L L I E R S<br />
South Africa in 2019 and beyond…..what awaits us as<br />
Accepting that our world won’t be turned upside<br />
local citizens, Africans, and members of the global<br />
down where should we be looking to see the threads<br />
community?<br />
of change, and the currents of transformation that will<br />
In short, more of the same…. just a little different.<br />
make 2028 look as different in our future as 2008<br />
looks in our past? As you enter the new year listen for<br />
The nature of change is that it is incremental and not<br />
words and phrases in conversation and the media like<br />
often something that society experiences as violent<br />
artificial intelligence, automation, bots, robotics,<br />
upheaval. Some individuals impacted by change may<br />
mixed reality, mobile-first, blockchain, and smart<br />
experience it violently and strongly (job loss, death<br />
contracts. At the same time there will be continuing<br />
and illness, etc), but on the whole society shifts slowly.<br />
use of cloud computing, big data, and data analytics.<br />
These are concepts that have been moving through<br />
Bill Gates says that we often overestimate what we will<br />
the word of work for the past 18 months and they get<br />
achieve in 2 years, but we underestimate what will<br />
bundled under the collective label of Digital<br />
happen in 10 years. This statement resonates with<br />
Disruption…. It is fun to chat about these disruptors<br />
most of us because when we think about last year it<br />
and the associated trends, but they are also red<br />
feels very similar to this year, but when we think about<br />
herrings.<br />
2008 it seems like an existence on a whole other<br />
planet.<br />
If EVERYONE is talking about these things why are<br />
they red herrings? Surely they are at the heart of the<br />
As a futurist focusing on the future world of work I<br />
conversations we need to have about our evolving<br />
believe that 2019 will not be a year of major upheaval.<br />
society?<br />
As South Africans we have the national elections<br />
We need to beware of the temptation of allowing the<br />
which everyone hopes will finally shake off the Zuma<br />
technology / disruptive trends tail to wag the social<br />
years, but if we are honest regardless of how the<br />
and business dog. If we focus too much on the<br />
balance of political power shifts things will be largely<br />
technology, digital, and other disruptions we miss the<br />
the same for the man in the street…. and the world of<br />
real focus of change…. namely, people - how they are<br />
work will shift marginally in response to these political<br />
impacted, how they need to respond, and what the<br />
changes. Brexit, Trump - China trade wars…. all pretty<br />
fundamental human value proposition is in a time of<br />
much the same limited impact for us.<br />
technological disruption.<br />
13
The conversation that will closely follow the list of<br />
To help us understand 2019 and the years beyond it is<br />
helpful to pull our gaze back a few hundred years.<br />
words above will be peppered with words like<br />
redundancy, job losses, head count reduction,<br />
Why look back to look forward? Because the type of<br />
disruption and (r)evolution we are experiencing now is<br />
resource efficiency, and other similarly terrifying<br />
thoughts. I’d love to say that this is just sabre rattling<br />
not new…. it is similar to dynamics humanity has had<br />
to navigate several times before.<br />
and fear mongering, but the unfortunate reality is that<br />
it isn’t. Certain job functions will no longer need<br />
human beings to execute them. Certain skills sets will<br />
In the agricultural age the value proposition of<br />
humanity lay in our ability to work the land with the<br />
no longer be worthwhile for a corporate to pay for. Life<br />
aid of beasts of burden and community effort. In this<br />
will change forever. In the rise of the steam engines<br />
smart farmers didn’t scream about the injustice of the<br />
age the person who led was likely physically the<br />
strongest and able to work a plot of land longer and<br />
tractor. Smart farmers didn’t organise farmers unions<br />
and agitate for the banning of the steam engine.<br />
drive a more powerful team of harnessed animals.<br />
Then along came the steam engine, and with it the<br />
Smart farmers didn’t look to government to create<br />
legislative hurdles to the introduction of<br />
dawn of the Industrial Age….. suddenly being the<br />
strongest, biggest, fittest, human specimen no longer<br />
mechanisation….. Smart farmers reskilled themselves.<br />
2019 needs to be a year where each of us looks at our<br />
held the mantle of honour and respect it used to.<br />
world of work, our career, and the skills for which we<br />
ANYONE who could stoke a fire and sit behind tractor<br />
or steam engine could do MORE in one day than the<br />
expect to be paid and we evaluate our future<br />
relevance. Every individual needs to take personal<br />
fittest strongest biggest person could achieve in a<br />
week.<br />
responsibility for their future and grow themselves.<br />
This is not the responsibility of HR, or the company<br />
Learning & Development department - it is the<br />
As we move into 2019 we are in the midst of the same<br />
type of transition. Brain power and the ability to<br />
responsibility of each person.<br />
remember and apply “regurgitated” information,<br />
which was the heart of the value of the professions we<br />
How should we be evaluating ourselves and our world<br />
of work?<br />
all aspired to (doctors, lawyers, engineers,<br />
accountants… etc) is rapidly being superseded by the<br />
The World Economic Forum has a model for the<br />
ability of even the most basic computers. Cast your<br />
eye back up a few paragraphs to the list of phrases<br />
development of 21st Century Skills. The key parts of<br />
the model are the columns in orange and blue. In<br />
and words to listen out for - these are the harbingers<br />
of redundancy for traditional careers and jobs. The<br />
order to thrive and succeed in a time of transition and<br />
be successful, you need to be a person who; exercises<br />
workplace in 2019 is going to be experiencing a<br />
“farmer moment”.<br />
curiosity, takes initiative, is resilient in difficulty, is<br />
flexible and adaptable when things don’t go to plan,<br />
leads themselves (and only then leads others), and is<br />
able to seamlessly work across multiple cultures in a<br />
global economy. In the workplace these character<br />
qualities will be expressed and seen in your ability to<br />
solve problems with a fresh perspective generated by<br />
rigorous critical thinking, creatively approach things in<br />
a new way, communicate in a manner that draws<br />
others along with you, and build an effective and high<br />
functioning collaborative environment.<br />
However these character qualities and competencies<br />
may play out or apply in your world you must have the<br />
courage to engage them. This will keep you relevant<br />
and useful in a world that feels like it is changing<br />
slowly, until you look around and realise that it has left<br />
you behind.<br />
In 2019, we must not be farmers….. we must be the<br />
SMART farmers.<br />
14
view is that people are incredible. Ordinary people, led well, can achieve<br />
My<br />
results. I believe that people can be inspired to stop chasing<br />
extraordinary<br />
rewards but rather think about building something that lasts,<br />
immediate<br />
something of which they are proud.<br />
creating<br />
everyone is 5% genius. A leader’s role is to combine the team’s<br />
Apparently<br />
and thereby create a complete genius. My job as a leader is not to be<br />
5%’s<br />
genius, but to be a genius creator. Short term incentivisation is replaced<br />
a<br />
long term inspiration, creativity and pride. Under achieving teams are<br />
by<br />
We create a culture of continuous change and innovation. We<br />
transformed.<br />
a fun environment that is fair and achievement oriented. We praise<br />
build<br />
rather than scold failure – we catch people in, not catch people<br />
progress<br />
I now focus on transferring the skills and techniques of inspirational<br />
out!<br />
15<br />
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A<br />
GENIUS TO BE A GENIUS<br />
Kevin Gaskell<br />
LEADER!<br />
I have been leading companies for 25 years<br />
– my earliest challenges were to rebuild a<br />
broken Porsche brand and then to inspire<br />
the team at BMW GB to achieve a 500%<br />
improvement in profit while transforming<br />
the service levels of an industry. I have<br />
founded start-ups, driven turnarounds and<br />
built companies in numerous sectors. Our<br />
teams have won awards and been<br />
recognised as some of the best in the world.<br />
They have also created over R60 billion in<br />
shareholder value.<br />
leadership to others.
are a number of core<br />
There<br />
principles:<br />
performance begins and ends with engagement. The leader’s role<br />
High<br />
to establish a clear vision of success. Everyone needs to understand<br />
is<br />
success will look like, what it will sound like and what it will feel like.<br />
what<br />
will it mean for the customer when we get there? Our teams discuss<br />
What<br />
1<br />
vision and make it tangible. Everyone in the team has a role to play so<br />
that<br />
give them the opportunity to get excited and engaged.<br />
we<br />
it easy for the team to contribute. Build a clear, but simple, plan.<br />
Make<br />
it. Invite comments and ideas. Excite the high performers to<br />
Share<br />
leaders at every level in the organisation. Be totally inclusive of<br />
become<br />
and ideas – let people dream! Communicate the successes of<br />
talent<br />
3<br />
opportunities for growth. Address the fear of change<br />
are<br />
discussing the new status we are striving for. Evaluate carefully the<br />
by<br />
and the marketplace and deal only in facts. Get excited<br />
opportunities<br />
by being enthusiastic about the freedom to make real and<br />
together<br />
ideas and improvements. Quietly identify low performers and<br />
individual’s<br />
the issues: Motivation, skills, other? Provide support once, then<br />
address<br />
first, challenge later. Provide regular feedback. Make heroes of<br />
Praise<br />
high performing teams by praising their approach to a challenge.<br />
the<br />
positive approach can be transferable to other areas. High performers will<br />
A<br />
with the opportunity. Leadership is about creating a positive culture and<br />
run<br />
4<br />
that people are amazing. Leading teams to high<br />
Recognise<br />
is about creating the belief that ideas and challenge are<br />
performance<br />
Set a positive example, be approachable, consistent, and make<br />
progress.<br />
visible. Positive belief is an energy which transfers to others.<br />
champions<br />
5<br />
2<br />
Challenges<br />
substantial change. Invite team members to move quickly.<br />
twice. Don’t carry passengers.<br />
letting the team run. It is not the end of the world if it goes wrong.<br />
16
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During<br />
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essential skills give the reader a concrete curriculum<br />
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17
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18
LIEZEL VAN DER WESTHUIZEN<br />
Liezel van der Westhuizen and Cindy Jacobsz are the first<br />
African, South African all female blind and sighted pair to<br />
tandem cycle from Manali to Khardung La India, 18 330<br />
feet covering 550km.<br />
Not only was it a triumphant African first<br />
when media personality Liezel van der<br />
Westhuizen successfully piloted blind<br />
fellow cyclist Cindy Jacobs on a tandem<br />
bicycle over the famous Himalayas from<br />
Mandali to Khardung La in India last<br />
month, but the pair also had to battle the<br />
elements of wind, rain, sleet and sub-zero<br />
temperatures whilst being severely<br />
challenged by every imaginable technical<br />
problem.<br />
They covered the mean distance of<br />
550km in 10 days at altitudes of up to 18<br />
330 feet.<br />
Liezel describes it as that ‘once-in-alifetime’<br />
event that cyclists around the<br />
world dream of. The expedition starts at<br />
Manali, which is known as the door to the<br />
heaven of the Himalayas, the route takes<br />
you cross five passes with a maximum<br />
altitude of 5602 meters reached at<br />
Khardung La (It’s one of the world's<br />
highest roads in the world.)<br />
Both being extremely passionate about<br />
philanthropy, the two had decided to use<br />
the event to raise funds for two medical<br />
charities namely Operation Smile South<br />
Africa and OneSight. The former is<br />
dedicated to providing free surgery to<br />
children and adults born with cleft lip<br />
and/or cleft palate, while the latter<br />
provides refractive error services and<br />
prescription spectacles to people<br />
without access to affordable vision care.<br />
“Cycling this distance on some of the<br />
highest roads in the world, is a daunting<br />
challenge, especially because the roads<br />
are non-existent at some places, and<br />
you have to be physically and mentally<br />
prepared to complete it,”said Van der<br />
Westhuizen.<br />
What further sets the event aside, is the<br />
fact that it allows for participation of
visually impaired and other physically<br />
challenged athletes. The event was<br />
organized by Adventures Beyond<br />
Barriers Foundations with the aim to<br />
promote inclusion by enabling Persons<br />
with Disability and able bodied people to<br />
participate in Adventure Sports together.<br />
They stayed in tents along the way with<br />
limited access to water for showers and<br />
wore a proudly South African sports wool<br />
brand (CORE MERINO) that protected<br />
them against all the elements.<br />
Some of the technical problems the<br />
women had to endure included Liezel’s<br />
‘camelback’ (water backpack she carries<br />
for nutrition) breaking, her left-hand<br />
cycling glove being blown away and<br />
everything getting wet – all on day one.<br />
On the second day Cindy contracted a<br />
bad eye infection, followed by the<br />
tandem’s left crank breaking on day 3<br />
which meant they had to walk a far<br />
distance before they had access to<br />
technical assistance. A crank from a<br />
spare bicycle that was fitted to their<br />
tandem to aid them with their finish.<br />
On subsequent days Liezel battled a<br />
stomach bug, their bicycle brakes<br />
stopped working due to the altitude , and<br />
on the final day of cycling the screw on<br />
Liezel’s seat post that held Cindy’s<br />
handlebar to the tandem broke off. They<br />
had to walk the final two kilometers to the<br />
top of Khardung La on the highest<br />
motorable road in the world.<br />
People can still<br />
make donations to<br />
their fundraising<br />
efforts:<br />
SMS the word<br />
"tandem" to 42030<br />
and donate R30<br />
20
conduct both our professional (and personal) lives in a turbulent, dynamic,<br />
We<br />
competitive and often harsh world. And so, starting a business,<br />
fiercely<br />
an insane sales target, turning a floundering venture around, these<br />
meeting<br />
all challenges that are infinitely comparable to trekking to a Pole or<br />
are<br />
an ocean. The Business world is the new frontier, it is a place of<br />
rowing<br />
adventure, presenting an arena for uniquely challenging<br />
extraordinary<br />
every day.<br />
expeditions<br />
the past decade of my life I have taken part in and led many expeditions to<br />
For<br />
of the most remote desolate and beautiful parts of the planet, and the<br />
some<br />
I have learned are astonishingly transferable to the world of<br />
lessons<br />
etc etc<br />
business/sales/marketing/finance<br />
passion, grit, calculated risk taking, survival, collaboration, discipline,<br />
Vision,<br />
precise planning are as important in the boardroom as they are in<br />
leadership,<br />
wilderness…although of course an error in the boardroom may not result in<br />
the<br />
death.<br />
your<br />
all of the attributes I have mentioned, resolve/vasbyt/Nyamezela is the one<br />
Of<br />
most likely to guarantee success. However, resolve isn’t created in a<br />
quality<br />
it cannot and does not stand alone. It grows out of PASSION.<br />
vacuum,<br />
presentation, RESOLVE, takes a new look at how to foster passion, then<br />
This<br />
that passion to create discipline and to construct a process which will<br />
harness<br />
passion and discipline towards significant success. “If one is resolute<br />
drive<br />
the journey ahead and passionate about achieving one’s vision, then<br />
about<br />
the right processes in place we can achieve that which has been<br />
with<br />
to be impossible before.” But it will take RESOLVE<br />
considered<br />
Peter van Kets<br />
A D V E N T U R E R A N D C O N S E R V A T I O N I S T<br />
21
of the great perks of my life as an adventurer and as a speaker is that I<br />
One<br />
to meet some amazing people. Speaking at conferences all over the planet<br />
get<br />
gives me the opportunity to hear their stories in great detail, but by far<br />
also<br />
most interesting of these speakers are the futurists. Ahhh the future! What<br />
the<br />
it hold for us and this fragile planet of ours. Robert Frost once said ‘We<br />
does<br />
dance about in circles and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and<br />
all<br />
It seems now that we know a lot (we think) and the main point<br />
knows.”<br />
is that in 10 years time, especially with the influence AI<br />
unquestionably<br />
intelligence), the businesses that we know today and the way they<br />
(artificial<br />
led (including leadership styles) will, without doubt, not be the same as<br />
are<br />
are today. It takes constant strategic adaptation to disruptive business<br />
they<br />
and a heap of resilience (in a basic nutshell) in order to maintain any<br />
trends<br />
of sustained success. Undoubtedly, one of the big problems with<br />
semblance<br />
is having an adaptive approach.<br />
this<br />
just returned from the Dunlop Beyond the Rift Valley Expedition in<br />
Having<br />
and having had another encounter with the unexpected, I have once<br />
Rwanda<br />
learned the value of being adaptive in ones approach to strategy.<br />
again<br />
intention for this expedition was to be the first person to traverse the<br />
My<br />
Nile Congo Divide. A series of mountains, hills and volcanoes that<br />
Great<br />
the Nile River to the east and the Congo River to the west. The source<br />
separate<br />
this traverse is in the south of Rwanda in a spectacular rainforest (that gets<br />
of<br />
of rain a year) called Nyungwe and finishes on the border with the<br />
1800mm<br />
divide starts really close to the Burundi border and as we drove into the<br />
The<br />
we noticed hundreds (literally) of really well armed soldiers patrolling<br />
reserve<br />
area. At the forests headquarters we were told that we were absolutely not<br />
the<br />
in the area because of a major “landslide” (right!). Something<br />
allowed<br />
amiss and we were not going to argue with these extremely competent<br />
was<br />
military personnel. However, this was a big deal as it meant that the<br />
looking<br />
expedition was in jeopardy and that I would in fact not be able to<br />
whole<br />
what we came to achieve. And it’s just the start! Enter PLAN B!<br />
achieve<br />
DRC and Uganda in the north.<br />
22
a brief chat with the team we decided to not waste any time, take<br />
After<br />
of a bad situation and climb the highest mountain in the area called<br />
advantage<br />
This swiftly followed by a cranking mountain bike ride along the<br />
Bigugu.<br />
Nile trail which runs on the<br />
Congo<br />
of lake Kivu then to climb the<br />
edge<br />
and Karisimbi volcanoes in the<br />
Bisoke<br />
of Rwanda and finally kayak Lake<br />
north<br />
from the North back down to the<br />
kivu<br />
Keeping it simple! This change<br />
south.<br />
not an easy for many reasons.<br />
was<br />
one for my psych, but also<br />
Mainly<br />
we had been granted many<br />
because<br />
(Rwanda is a wonderfully<br />
permits<br />
country) by the Rwandan<br />
controlled<br />
Board facilitated through<br />
Development<br />
Baas who heads up Wilderness<br />
Ingrid<br />
in the area. These permits are<br />
Safaris<br />
controlled and any changes<br />
strictly<br />
to them would take days, if not<br />
made<br />
to get approved. After a few<br />
weeks<br />
calls to Ingrid and the RDB we<br />
phone<br />
settled on the new plan.<br />
eventually<br />
are no greater breeding grounds<br />
There<br />
adaptive behavior than those<br />
for<br />
found in big expeditions. Constant changes in the environment<br />
opportunities<br />
adaptive behavior and if you don’t adapt the chances of survival in<br />
forces<br />
cases are slim. The ocean, especially the Atlantic Rowing Race has<br />
some<br />
me valuable lessons about planning and strategy. On my first row across<br />
taught<br />
Atlantic with friend Bill Godfrey we had had to deal with constant change,<br />
the<br />
none more exasperating than a cut off low pressure system in the middle of<br />
but<br />
any endurance event, the race route is a decisive factor; it’s even more<br />
In<br />
when you have to choose your own path from start to finish and you<br />
important<br />
to decipher the winds and currents of an entire ocean in the process. Our<br />
have<br />
was to navigate a seven-metre rowing boat 5,500 kilometres across the<br />
task<br />
Ocean, from the Canary Islands to Antigua, and finish on a line only<br />
Atlantic<br />
mile wide – all without assistance or motors to keep us on track if we were<br />
one<br />
off course. We had decided to take a direct route to Antigua (which is<br />
blown<br />
the norm). On Christmas day we were in 1st postion (out of 23 boats), our<br />
not<br />
which was a straight line route, was working perfectly. And then<br />
strategy,<br />
changed. The next 24 hours saw us go backwards in maddening<br />
everything<br />
And it worked magnificently.<br />
the ocean that brought about total change in overall race strategy.<br />
currents and constantly changing winds. At this stage the only other boat
had decided on this route as their strategy was a boat called Pendovy<br />
who<br />
and they were 50NM behind us and in second position.<br />
Swift<br />
short, our straight-line strategy had just about failed us. Tjaart (my weather<br />
In<br />
and I discussed the options over the satellite phone: stick to our route in<br />
man)<br />
hope that the low would dissipate, or get out of the system by heading<br />
the<br />
and pick a fight with the guys down there. If we chose option one and<br />
south<br />
low persisted, our race chances would be shot; if we headed south now,<br />
the<br />
could well give up our first place position. Neither option filled us with joy.<br />
we<br />
headed south!<br />
We<br />
only did we have to head due south, but to make up the distance we were<br />
Not<br />
to lose we also had to do it as fast as we could. This meant rowing<br />
about<br />
as much as possible. Initially, we shortened our rest periods to one<br />
together<br />
while maintaining our 90-minute shifts, giving us 15 minutes together at<br />
hour<br />
start/end of each shift. Then, once we were used to shorter rest periods,<br />
the<br />
dropped them further to only half an hour each. Now it was 90 minutes on,<br />
we<br />
minutes off, allowing us 30 minutes together at the start/end of each shift.<br />
30<br />
risky decision paid off and after 3 days of heading south we turned and<br />
Our<br />
west.still in 1st position. But it wasn’t over yet. We would still have to<br />
headed<br />
hard to maintain that lead. Over the next few days we rowed hard into a<br />
work<br />
north-easterly wind, but we managed to maintain our heading which<br />
strong<br />
had decided on this route as their strategy was a boat called Pendovy<br />
who<br />
and they were 50NM behind us and in second position.<br />
Swift<br />
short, our straight-line strategy had just about failed us. Tjaart (my weather<br />
In<br />
and I discussed the options over the satellite phone: stick to our route in<br />
man)<br />
hope that the low would dissipate, or get out of the system by heading<br />
the<br />
and pick a fight with the guys down there. If we chose option one and<br />
south<br />
low persisted, our race chances would be shot; if we headed south now,<br />
the<br />
could well give up our first place position. Neither option filled us with joy.<br />
we<br />
We headed south...<br />
To here the rest of the story you'll have to book me for your next event!<br />
24
JACQUES DE VILLIERS<br />
G O A L S E T T I N G<br />
If you’ve ever tried goal-setting, and you probably have, you’ll know that there are only two outcomes. You either achieve<br />
the goal or you don’t. Strangely, both success or failure to achieve your goals leads to dissatisfaction and disillusionment.<br />
It’s easy to understand that failing to achieve something can lead to dissatisfaction and disillusionment. One has one’s<br />
heart set on achieving an outcome - getting the car, the house, the date, the wealth - and it doesn’t happen. It’s easy to get<br />
that one can be disappointed. And, if one continues to fail at one’s goals it can become a chronic condition where one sees<br />
oneself as a failure. This is not a helpful space to be when one wants to lead a fulfilled and harmonious life.<br />
What’s more nuanced and harder to understand is that when one achieves one’s goal that one is still dissatisfied,<br />
disappointed and disillusioned.<br />
THERE ARE THREE REASONS FOR THIS<br />
1.<br />
goal one achieves is not what it appears to be. It’s not a panacea to making you happy and fulfilled (which is<br />
The<br />
the point of any endeavour in life). When you get what you want you find that you’re still insecure (is this<br />
actually<br />
husband going to stay faithful, is this beautiful car better than the Joneses and is this house going to<br />
handsome<br />
me safe)? Relatively, it’s not long before you want to trade in the beautiful husband, car and house because<br />
keep<br />
they have faults and foibles that don’t sit well with your view of how things should be.<br />
2.<br />
fraught with arguments, accusations and anxiety. How simple was life when you had a one-bedroomed<br />
becomes<br />
in a modest area? That four-bedroomed beauty in the upmarket area you now stay in becomes a<br />
apartment<br />
and time-consuming enterprise. You now have to worry about gardeners, domestic workers, handymen<br />
massive<br />
security. You have to spend money on more and better furniture, televisions, wifi and kitchenware. Your rates<br />
and<br />
Getting the things you want increase the level of complexity in your life. The beautiful relationship you desired<br />
and taxes and water and electricity bills are sky high. There’s more stress on you to earn more and there’s more<br />
insecurity that if you lost your job or business it would be massively disastrous. You get to realise that the more<br />
you have, the more you have to lose and thus, the more insecure you are.<br />
3.<br />
of us are driven to achieve goals because we come from a place of lack. We think that we don’t have<br />
Most<br />
and need more and are not enough and need to be more. We’re always chasing something to try and<br />
enough<br />
away our insecurities because we think that if we have more and if we are more, we’ll be secure, powerful,<br />
push<br />
and harmonious. When Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor said, “You can never be too rich or too<br />
fulfilled<br />
thin,” she was spot on. We can never get enough to feel secure.
IF ACHIEVING OUR GOALS IS NOT THE ANSWER TO<br />
SECURITY, POWER, FULFILLMENT AND HARMONY,<br />
WHAT IS?<br />
HERE ARE TWO CONCEPTS TO EXPLORE:<br />
YOU HAVE MORE THAN IS YOUR DUE<br />
You and I are enough and have enough already. Think on it, just by<br />
getting to play on this planet for the brief time allocated to us, we<br />
already have more than is our due. You are already full of blessing.<br />
Being conscious and getting to experience this wonderful gift of life<br />
is the point of the exercise. What if you were born dirt poor on an<br />
island somewhere in the Indian Ocean? Imagine that you lived in a<br />
threadbare shelter, you subsisted on fish, coconuts and bananas<br />
and you worked hard to eke out your survival.<br />
And, to add to the blessing of working, you have two beautiful<br />
children who are the apple of your eye, you get to make love with<br />
your partner every night, you get to sing and dance with your<br />
friends around the fire, especially when the banana moonshine<br />
kicks in. If you were this person and someone asked you if you were<br />
secure, fulfilled and contented, I reckon you’d say “Yes.” You’d be<br />
grateful to be living this awesome life.<br />
PROCESS TRUMPS OUTCOME<br />
You’ve probably heard the cliche, “It’s about the journey, not the<br />
destination,” more times than you care to remember. We have to<br />
think about what the point of our existence is. I don’t believe it is to<br />
accumulate more stuff. I believe the point is that it’s a process of<br />
becoming a courteous and useful human who is there for the benefit of others. Also, (in my context, anyway), to show my<br />
gratitude for getting to play here, I want to thank my benefactors and present them with a beautiful work of art. It’s only<br />
through the process of living this life and using the good and bad that comes my way that I can shape myself into a<br />
Davidian masterpiece. My job is to take every waking moment, be my best in it, savour it, be grateful for it (because I might<br />
not have another moment after that one) and be useful in it.<br />
In the final analysis, our goal is to become an excellent human being and not a collector of stuff. Our goal is not to die with<br />
the most toys. Our goal is to experience and be enchanted by this story that has been written for us.<br />
Of course, this piece of text is is not here to say that we can’t strive for the stuff we desire. Go for it, set your goals and<br />
undertake the actions to achieve them. Just be mindful that the accomplishment of them won’t necessarily lead to security,<br />
fulfillment, harmony and happiness.<br />
I don’t know about you, but I want to weep with infinite joy, fulfillment and harmony when my daughter looks into my eyes<br />
with total trust and love and hugs me. I just can’t seem to get the same feeling from sitting in my beautiful car, sitting in<br />
front of my television and holding my IPhone in my hand.<br />
26
S O U T H A F R I C A ' S E C O N O M Y<br />
WALTERS<br />
SHELLEY<br />
Everybody is lamenting the state of the South<br />
African economy, not to mention the global<br />
economy. We respond with surprise and<br />
frustration, yet we know that downturns are<br />
inevitable in anybody’s lifetime. It’s how you<br />
ride them out that determines not only our<br />
business’ longevity and success, but also our<br />
competitive advantage.<br />
Throughout history, every economic downturn<br />
has changed business processes. First, in the<br />
way we buy, and then by necessity, it changes<br />
the way we sell. If an economic downturn does<br />
not change the way we sell, we are missing<br />
the client’s cues.<br />
Either way, we can expect clients to put<br />
increasing pressure on us if they do not get<br />
value from their interactions with sales. They<br />
will request or seek automation – allowing<br />
them to reduce or eliminate the role of sales (if<br />
they feel it is no longer relevant) and<br />
accelerating the journey to commodity<br />
supplier.<br />
The ‘cost of sale’ is growing faster than<br />
revenue for most B2B clients, with little to no<br />
room to cut more fat, so increasing efficiency<br />
and reducing friction in the sales process<br />
provides returns not only for clients, but also<br />
for the sales portion of our organizations.<br />
This economic downturn presents us with an<br />
opportunity to streamline our offering, our<br />
messaging, our approach and our processes -<br />
positioning us for meaningful and frictionless<br />
client engagements. And when the dust settles<br />
and we are back to a stable and growing<br />
economy, you would have put so much<br />
distance between you and the status quo that<br />
your competitors will find it a real challenge to<br />
catch up.<br />
Conversation Intelligence Africa works with<br />
teams both locally and abroad, in large<br />
enterprises and small, to ensure that your<br />
sales professionals have the clarity, conviction<br />
and competence to deliver your differentiated<br />
messaging to your clients.<br />
27
International corporate speaker and trainer, Shelley Walters, specialises in sales, persuasion and<br />
presentation skills, providing individuals, groups and audiences with relevant, up to date with<br />
information to boost their performances in both sales and presentation skills.<br />
With over 15 years sales and presentation experience in both business-to-business and businessto-customer<br />
environments, Shelley brings unique insight and experience to her clients; helping<br />
them to navigate the increasingly challenging areas of sales, persuasion and presentation skills.<br />
Her career began in a cut-throat office automation industry, working her way up from direct sales<br />
to negotiating at a boardroom level in just 3 months. Later, Shelley served as the first Business<br />
Development Officer for South Africa’s first black-owned finance house, Sadiba Asset Lease, until<br />
she joined the team at Kingfisher FM in 2007.<br />
For four and a half years, Shelley served as the Breakfast Show co-presenter on Port Elizabeth’s<br />
popular radio station. Addressing 144 000 people every morning, she quickly learnt how to think<br />
on her feet and how to entertain an audience whilst consistently providing information that was<br />
both relevant and informative. She regularly recorded voice-overs for adverts, productions and<br />
documentaries. This she did, whilst also serving as the station’s Sales & Marketing Manager,<br />
turning the station around from 100% donor-funded to 100% advertiser-funded in 18 months.<br />
In 2010, due to increased opportunities to address business audiences on topics related to sales<br />
and presentation skills, Shelley made the move from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg. Since then,<br />
Shelley has spoken at over 300 conferences, seminars and training courses internationally. Her<br />
natural wit and humour, combined with her passion for people and broad corporate experience,<br />
makes her a passionate and engaging presentation skills and sales trainer.<br />
When not speaking, she coaches clients around<br />
the world, having worked with 50 companies within<br />
South Africa and abroad.<br />
“The outcome of the training you’ve provided<br />
me has been phenomenal to say the least. The<br />
common question after each presentation is:<br />
“Who has trained you?”’<br />
Siyabulela Xuza, Harvard Graduate & Rocket<br />
Scientist / Energy Entrepreneur<br />
“Shelley’s training was high quality and offered<br />
a lot more than I expected! This is crucial<br />
information for any company who regularly<br />
presents new ideas and concepts, whether<br />
internally or externally”<br />
Phillipa Wild, Head of Technical Marketing,<br />
Discovery Head Office<br />
28
S t e p h e n G r o o t e s<br />
REFORM<br />
LAND SA'S<br />
The debate and conversation around land ownership in<br />
South Africa, and what has become the battlecry of<br />
“expropriation without compensation” has become one of<br />
the dominant political issues of the year. So powerful is the<br />
issue, and so closely is it tied up with political identity” that it<br />
is likely to remain an important issue for many years to<br />
come. It is also likely to have a big impact on next year’s<br />
elections, on sometimes unexpected ways. But, at the same<br />
time, there are also elements to it that may be more complex<br />
than is sometimes assumed. By Stephen Grootes.<br />
At the time of writing, Parliament’s Constitutional Review<br />
Committee has resolved that the Constitutional clause<br />
around land and property, Clause 25, will be changed. While<br />
the committee does not have the power to dictate what the<br />
clause should be changed to, or what the final text should<br />
look like, the ANC has said that will make it more explicit<br />
that expropriation without compensation is allowed, for the<br />
particular purpose of land reform.<br />
Already, there are at least two court challenges in the works.<br />
The first is from the Institute for Race Relations. It has<br />
problems with the process, saying that it appears that<br />
thousands of submissions that were opposed to a change of<br />
the Constitution were ignored. The Constitutional Court has<br />
spelt out a definition of “meaningful consultation” in a<br />
previous case, which means that this process could be<br />
challenged against that standard. The second case is from<br />
Afriforum, which is vehemently opposed to any kind of<br />
expropriation. These two cases are simple harbingers of what<br />
is likely to come. No matter how the political process plays<br />
out, is is very likely that every step of the way will be<br />
challenged in court.<br />
However, that may not be the best outcome to this issue.<br />
Land, and land occupation, is in some ways the “original sin”<br />
of South Africa. Black people, who occupied the land, were<br />
forcibly removed from it, by white people. This is a historical<br />
fact that underpins the conversation around it now. At the<br />
same time, it is also fair to ask whether this issue would have<br />
the political power it does now if it had not been used by<br />
former President Jacob Zuma and his supporters during the<br />
run-up to the ANC’s Nasrec conference. And it is also clear<br />
that the resolution taken at NASREC to expropriate without<br />
compensation was very nearly defeated. As a result of this,<br />
the issue is still hugely contested within the ANC.<br />
One of the aspects of this debate that is easily missed, is that<br />
there are two strands to the argument to expropriate. One<br />
group of people, generally around President Cyril Ramphosa<br />
and the ANC in Gauteng, often concentrates on “giving land”<br />
to people who currently don’t have it. They focus on urban<br />
land, on the need to “give land” to those who have no assets<br />
at all. The point here, is that their focus is on helping people<br />
who have nothing.<br />
29
Then there is another group of people, including some in the<br />
ANC and those in the EFF, who focus on “taking” land. For<br />
them, this is a very different prospect. They appear to<br />
believe that white people have given up very little since the<br />
end of Apartheid. As a result, they should now give up some<br />
of the land “they” own. this is a very different argument,<br />
and in the end is really about racial identities. At the start of<br />
the year it appeared that this issue was dominated by the<br />
voices of those on the “take land” side of the debate. Now,<br />
it seems that the other side, the “give land” side may be<br />
gaining momentum. This is significant, because it might<br />
signal that Ramaphosa has been able to take charge of the<br />
debate and the narrative around this. That in turn could<br />
indicate that he has been able to consolidate his power in<br />
the ANC.<br />
However, while it seems momentum is moving towards<br />
some kind of change, there are still other thorny problems<br />
to deal with. To put this in perhaps an over-simplified<br />
fashion, it may well be possible to craft a political consensus<br />
in which white people lose some land without being<br />
compensated for that. From a technical point of view, that is<br />
relatively easy to do, the people who own the land who are<br />
white are easy to identify. But the problem may really come<br />
around deciding who would actually own the land<br />
thereafter. As an example of this problem, consider this<br />
hypothetical example. Imagine, for a moment, that there is a<br />
piece of land occupied by a farmer and their family in<br />
Mpumalanga. They have occupied that land for several<br />
generations. It used to be occupied, or owned, by a black<br />
family who were forced off the land during the Apartheid<br />
era. Next to that farm, lives another group of people who<br />
are in shacks, and have very little, they depend in the main<br />
on social grants.<br />
But it still runs the risk of raising homes that are then dashed,<br />
leading to further disputes in our society.<br />
Meanwhile, if the 2019 elections are seen as a referendum on<br />
land, it may actually be to the detriment of the ANC. The DA<br />
would stand as the party, and the only big party, opposing a<br />
change to the Constitution. This could be important, as it<br />
could turn the election into a poll between the “haves” and<br />
the “have-nots”. That in turn could help the DA resolve some<br />
of its own internal disputes over its identity. That surely<br />
would be to its benefit. This would also make it hard to<br />
predict that the ANC and the EFF together would actually win<br />
the two-thirds majority they would need together to change<br />
the Constitution.<br />
There are many strands to the debate and the conversation<br />
around land reform, and expropriation, that have yet to be<br />
resolved. In some ways, where we are now, may only serve as<br />
a starting point. At this stage, it does seem clear that<br />
Ramaphosa, and most of the ANC, is determined not to follow<br />
the examples of Zimbabwe or Venezuela. His often-repeated<br />
claim that there “will be no smash-and-grab land reform” is<br />
an indication that no matter what happens there will be a<br />
legal process that will be followed. This is likely to prevent<br />
the worst of any possible economic damage that could occur<br />
as the result of investors losing confidence, or farmers giving<br />
up their farms.<br />
However, despite all the problems thrown at them, the<br />
family that originally owned that land have been able to<br />
enter the middle-class, and are doing quite well and living<br />
and working in Sandton. If the land is taken from the white<br />
family, who would get it? The people living next to the land<br />
who have nothing? Or the descendants of the people who it<br />
was taken from? If you were to give to those with nothing, it<br />
would mean a black government is presiding over the<br />
continued dispossession of land from a black family. If it is<br />
given to that family, what does that mean for those with<br />
nothing, they are unlikely to sit idly by and let it happen.<br />
Just that aspect alone reveals some of the complexity<br />
around this problem. There may be some solutions,<br />
involving the waiting lists for RDP houses, or other measures<br />
of determining who should benefit.<br />
30