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Think about a baby’s laughter. It is one of the most contagious sounds when heard; you are bound to start smiling and eventually, break out in laughter, too. So, How to influence the workplace by bringing the right energy? Imagine if you could be like the baby’s laughter in your place of work. The one […]

‘Quick! The business is dying! Find me the humblest possible consultant to solve the problem!’ as Experts don’t disqualify themselves. Author Allen Weiss makes this tongue-in-cheek point in his book, ‘Million Dollar Maverick.’ And it’s a good one. As we strive to position ourselves as top-level experts in our industry, a demure and deferring persona […]

Until someone creates a way to accurately predict the future and Beyond Disruption, there is no way to prepare your business for every change that will come its way and beyond disruption. Whether it is a pandemic that changes the economic outlook, societal trends that change consumption patterns, or machinery or infrastructure that breaks down, […]

As a seasoned frontline journalist and broadcaster, Mandy Wiener has a unique perspective on current affairs and A Country Worth Fighting For on how history unfolds in South Africa.   Mandy has had a front row seat to the nine wasted years, the anatomy of the state capture project, the evisceration of state owned entities […]

For many of us, robots used to conjure up images of humanoids in sci-fi movies, and we thought them to be Robots are creepy? Not at all. We need them. But now that they have become so ubiquitous, this is no longer the case.   More and more companies are embracing the robotics revolution, introducing […]

Are you guilty of multi-tasking during meetings? Unfortunately, being present during meetings, especially present-day Impactful Virtual Meeting, is so rare, I wish I could bottle and sell it. Here’s a few facts you can toss around the tele-conferencing office (Source: Prezi State of Attention Research): In any online meeting about 95 percent of the audience is probably multi-tasking. […]

Are we on the brink of the Un-Recession? The latest jobs report–published August 5–showed that the United States added over half a million new jobs in the month of July.   Unemployment is at or a near a 50-year low. Both points add credence to a growing number of economists who are pushing back against […]

Connection with someone takes more than common interests of What Makes People Click. It also takes this. Do you know who created the world’s first social network? It wasn’t Zuckerberg, Dorsey, or Tom from MySpace. It was the person who kindled the first fire. The fire’s loud crackling, billowing smoke, and beautiful orange glow attracted others […]

Digital Natives have grown up in a world that has been called the VUCA world. This is an acronym that covers four areas outlined below. V equals volatile U equals uncertain C equals complex A equals ambiguous There is a corresponding VUCA response that we can take advantage of as we walk with Digital Natives […]

I’ve recorded a short video about the value of taking time ‘in’ to help with solve problems, creating, sorting & strategising. I like to call it ‘time-in’ because these insights don’t come from our busy external world, nor from our noisy internal chatter. They come from a place within us that very few of us […]

Vincent Berends is the Top 35-under-35 and founder of the Optima business group – a group of companies that bring the disciplines of accounting, administration, finance, financial planning, insurance and legal practices together, as opposed to clients having to use various professional service providers. Name: Vincent Berends (33) Region: Northern Region Job Title: Managing Partner / […]

Be prepared for Remote Selling – How to Become A Technical Set Up Boss As any Boy Scout (or Girl Guide for that matter) knows, you should always be prepared – in fact that is the global motto for the Boy Scouts and one that I feel should be adopted by all business professionals as […]

I have worked with corporate teams that measure what seems like everything. My concern with these teams isn’t what they are measuring, but rather what they are not measuring — leadership effectiveness. Teams measure on-time delivery, sales call per day, employee engagement, and so many more useful metrics. I’ve even seen a team measure coffee […]

To unlock employee motivation, you may need to change how you communicate special requests. These are things like important changes to operating processes or customer service procedures. You need people to embrace a different way of doing things. It has to be done right and it needs to be executed right away. But you notice […]

The world much better. The world is awful. The world can be much better. All three statements are true. — Read on ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better “It is wrong to think that these three statements contradict each other. We need to see that they are all true to see that a better world is possible. by Max Roser […]

THE RISE OF THE MINI TYRANTS, we all know the type. Dress a man in a hi-vis vest, armed with a clipboard and a biro, and you’ve just built yourself a mini tyrant. You’ve licensed a tiny authoritarian to impose the rules verbatim, as he sees fit, no matter the context or circumstances. It’s worrying […]

It’s that time of the year for New Years resolutions again, where most of us put together a comprehensive list of resolutions and goals to be a better version of ourselves by thinking what we would ideally look like in the future: lose weight, get fitter, be a better spouse, etc and Why New Years’ […]

An observation on kitchen size and what is the best. The house we live in is on the market and people are coming to view it. The kitchen is quite small and some potential buyers have commented on the size, with a sigh. When I thought about this I remembered how in our previous home, […]

The Character Ethic vs. The Personality Ethic – Why Character Trumps Personality As Stephen Covey writes in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, most of the success literature published in the United States for the first century and a half after 1776 focused on The Character Ethic as being the underlying foundation of how a person can live an influential, […]

Some companies perceive the concept of creating a “Personal Branding at work” to be self-serving for the employee. But the reality is there is no downside to having team members with heightened self-awareness and a willingness to improve themselves. Basically, that is the foundation for developing a respected Personal Brand at work; to get clarity […]

Do What You Love Lie as Fabulous Aussie group The Hilltop Hoods just released a new single called “Show Business” and after being on high rotation at my place, it really got me thinking about Do What You Love. (You can check out the song here) No matter what you do are there are always […]

Practice These Resilient Skills to becoming a Resilient Leader When my friend Petra was diagnosed with cancer, not once, but twice, life gave her no choice but to be strong. When she went into remission for the second time, she decided she was going to wake people up to the precious gift of time. Through […]

When Lance Armstrong was bust for using performance enhancing drugs through most of his career one of his defences was that it was part of the racing culture of the time and many other riders were doing it too. So, Would you use performance enhancing drugs at work? In order to be competitive, he believed […]

The Comeback Kids and “Misery loves company” so the saying goes – and in the age of Covid that seems to be the gravitational force that currently drives social and media conversations. Our attention is being continuously siloed toward the latest business failure, business rescue and somebody we know being adversely affected by the pandemic. […]

We all end up needing to have an Uncomfortable Conversations. We may have to share with someone our unmet expectations, disappointment, or actual annoyance. This could be with a direct report, our boss, a peer, a spouse, or maybe even a child. No one likes these situations, but we must deal with them appropriately in […]

Toward the end of 2020, I made a resolution to cut down on my intake of fast food. I was almost resolute never to bring another juicy slice of pizza to my lips ever again and Making Organizational Changes Stick I had always known the truth – it was counterproductive to my gym routine and one slice […]

“Consider how hard it is to change yourself, and you’ll understand what little chance you have in trying to build your teams” – Unknown. Being a leader means you need to accept responsibility. Not only for the team but for yourself too. I have attempted to be an authentic leader, allowing my team to see […]

Other than a brief period when I was in the Middle East, for the past 13 years I have not had an office out of which I worked. I have however, been part of teams that have worked closely together every day and Living in an online world: Virtual Collaboration and Virtual Teams One year […]

Firstly, let’s take a quick look at the definition and statistics of Employee engagement in small businesses. Employee engagement is a property of the relationship between an organization and its employees.  An “engaged employee” is one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organisation’s […]

IT’S A NORMAL DAY ON ALIWAL SHOAL. ABOVE TWENTY DEGREES CELSIUS,  BLUE WATER WITH SMALL PARTICLES, A LITTLE BIT OF A CURRENT PUSHING, WE DRIFT ALONG WITH IT, WAITING FOR THE SHARKS… (THIS IS THE STORY OF MY FIRST EVER FREEDIVE WITH SHARKS)   It’s a clear blue sky, warm air and a slight breeze- […]

How to handle COVID-19 working from home and These Three Mindsets Will Help You Thrive During Change With all of the uncertainty everyone is facing, there are three guarantees that you should expect : 1. Everything will take longer. Conferencing everyone in, trying to call into a customer service center, or waiting in line at […]

3 Ways to Tap into Emotion During a Pitch and The power of emotion is something that has a universal appeal and can breathe life into simple cold facts. Have you ever pitched something you knew was great, only to have it shot down? Of course you have. We all have. And though the rejection […]

Speakers in the virtual space during this pandemic we have heard the word pivot frequently. And now it’s typical to hear phrases like “all Zoomed out”. In the world of events and training we are seeing a mixture of virtual, hybrid and face to face. No one expected this pandemic. While we continue to navigate […]

10 Traits of a Great Teammate when I decided to start my business more than 10 years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure where it would take me. But I knew who I wanted to join me on the journey. Lynn Mandinec was my first friend at my first job out of college. We started our […]

Build your leadership confidence with these 7 Ways to Be a More Confident Leader instantly-actionable tips from leadership keynote speaker and relatability expert Rachel DeAlto. In leadership, healthy confidence is key. Your team is looking to you for guidance, security, and support. But what if self-doubt is crowding out that inner boldness?   First of […]

To succeed, you have to Training Others to establish boundaries.   But boundaries are only as good as your ability to communicate them.   If people don’t know your boundaries, they become ineffective and are more likely to be discarded.   Training other people on your boundaries requires learning how to say no. That doesn’t […]

It is with earth-shaking sadness to share with you the Passing of Claire Janisch, our dear course director and facilitator, friend and colleague, has passed away peacefully on Monday the 7th of Feb 2022, surrounded by family and friends, at her home in the Midlands, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Claire brought Learn Biomimicry  team together, where […]

There are several reasons why individuals or organizations might choose to use a Speaker Bureau instead of booking keynote speakers directly. Here are a few key advantages of working with a Speaker Bureau: Extensive Speaker Network: Speaker Bureau typically have a broad network of speakers, including industry experts, thought leaders, celebrities, and motivational speakers. They […]

4 Types of Keynote Speakers – How To Match Them For Your Function   The function of a Keynote Speaker is to create the stage for the remainder of that event and deliver folks collectively with the very same function.   What varieties of Motivational Speaker are there?   Generally, there are four principal methods […]

Moderating a online panel discussion can be really fun, especially if you and the panelists are well prepared and you create a good atmosphere. Here are my top 10 tips for you who will be a part of a panel discussion as an MC or a panelist 10 tips for a great online panel discussion […]

If you’ve been having trouble concentrating recently, you’re not alone and here are some tips on how to Conquer Burnout at Work.   A recent survey conducted by FlexJobs and Mental Health America found that 75% of people have had work-related burnout, with 40% feeling burned out during the pandemic. And according to a July MetLife […]

I was fantasising about a new Outlook feature today. No really, I  am that sad! Here was my fantasy, Stop inviting everyone whenever you create a new meeting event, there is a little box showing the estimated meeting cost. This cost should double as you double the length of the meeting and also double when […]

When I first began studying nutrition in 2009 there was pretty much no mention of make your gut healthy. I TOOK THE DEEP DIVE INTO NUTRITION TO TRY AND HELP MY OWN HEALTH AND IN PARTICULAR MY MENTAL HEALTH. Since then a lot has changed and most of us now know that to maintain good […]

Imagine this scenario: You are considered THE BEST in the world at your chosen profession – according to critics, peers, well known in the public – and suddenly you MUST change your career. Does this thought excite you, or terrify you? If it is YOUR choice, then it’s a great thing! If it’s doctor’s orders […]

When the brand fits, Define: giraffe. A tall, graceful mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, generally inhabiting the society events, radio airwaves and cycling races of southern Africa. Nudge, nudge, wink wink – YES! Today, you’ll find it at the core of my personal brand identity, following an apt giraffe nickname from journalist and designer Craig Jacobs back in […]

Do your Data-Driven Marketing efforts feel like a shot in the dark? It doesn’t have to be that way.    With the power of today’s abundance of data, brands can use a measured and data-driven approach to build an agile and compelling customer experience.   According to Tiffany Perkins-Munn, Head of Data and Analytics at J.P. Morgan Chase, […]

This season is all about being thankful, even when you have nothing to Using Thankfulness as a Core Value. If your current situation doesn’t reflect the ideal person and/or life you want, it may be difficult to stay positive. However, when you look at everything you do have, as opposed to what you don’t have, […]

Howard Saunders, a leading retail keynote speaker was wrong. FORGET COVID. THIS IS THE KILLER VIRUS. I thought that the crescendo of hysteria that’s been festering like a planet sized boil in the wake of Trump and Brexit would dissipate once a serious crisis came along. It’s like we’d been massaging a giant zit with […]

Guide to Making Decisions can be daunting (just choosing a type of peanut butter in the grocery store can be a mammoth task), yet if we are to move forward in life and business we need to make decisions, and we need to make good ones if we are to navigate this chaotic world properly. In […]

THE STRUGGLE OF ALL SALESPEOPLE, UNDERSTANDING THE MONEY VALUE Here’s what you should know about salespeople, and really people in general. They don’t struggle with time management, they struggle with self-management. You can’t manage time, time ticks whether we want to or not. Here’s why we struggle with self-management In the absence of a clearly […]

Unfolding everywhere around us to Disrupt or die as Duncan Wardle was featured in an article and video on NBR a couple years back. I made a prediction then, and we’re already seeing evidence of that prediction Duncan Wardle likes the Walt Disney quote: “It’s kinda fun to do the impossible.” He knows more than […]

WHAT MAKES A WINNING TEAM: 4 key lessons from the lion pride and the victorious 2019 RWC Springbok rugby team It was an exceptional result that captivated a nation. One year ago this November South Africa’s national rugby team, the Springboks, lifted the Webb-Ellis trophy into the Yokohama sky, winners of the 2019 Rugby World […]

A framework from my book Humancentric for how to create Relationship and Intelligence in businesses in the fourth industrial revolution. How do we focus more on people than technology? When we do our research behind all of the aspects of business, we need to focus on the context we are in, the relationships around that […]

Know What You Want and Success is actually fairly simple. Firstly, set a goal.  Then break it down into actionable activities.  Do the activities.  Add in some patience, resilience, hard work and discipline, and voila…..Success! Easy, right? Well, if it were that simple, we wouldn’t need an entire industry dedicated to motivation, training and coaching. […]