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According to leadership guru Warren Bennis, “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Rugby and Leadership captains have that innate ability to do just this, Rugby and leadership go hand-in-hand . Here in South Africa we have witnessed numerous leaders connected to the sport of rugby who have displayed such qualities. I have […]

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 […]

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 […]

You CAN Make Meetings Productive with most meetings occurring online, I’m hearing about the frustrations of time wasted during meetings from leaders and teams’ members alike. Meetings are running overtime. The structure is lost. People can’t make it to their meetings on time – even virtually! Some people talk too much while others never utter […]

On Culture and Leadership, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE SAFER THAN A RIGID RULE…? Can debate produce greater safety than rules? Isn’t the iron-clad rule a surer safeguard against disaster? We tend to think of organisations like NASA as having more or less the same basic character despite the passage of years. But it’s not necessarily […]

One top tip you need to maintaining a high level of engagement among all parties in any meeting is a challenge. But, doing it in a video-led environment makes the real-world challenge look like child’s play so Learn the one top tip. If you have spent any time on video calls up to now, you […]

Drink more water! About 60-70% of the body is made of water, so drinking enough of it helps maintain the body’s fluid balance. This assists in transporting the relevant nutrients throughout the body, helps to regulate body temperature, and is a vital ingredient in good digestion. Besides flushing out toxins and maintaining regular bowel habits, […]

When you think of Kauai, you think of delicious island-style food and freshly-pressed juice combinations – all the taste without anything that sticks to your hips or taxes your health and Your best life!. Well, now you can take some of it home! Put together these delectable dishes in your own kitchen with Your Best […]

On a recent flight, at almost every stop along the way, the airline I had chosen reminded me that I was flying with “the best” So can you over-compliment your CX. Airport signage told me…the CEO appearing on the pre-flight safety video told me…the flight attendant announcements told me…well, you get the picture. The problem […]

In today’s fast-paced, rapidly changing world, with such high expectations of #leaders, the challenges for leaders are high demanding and complex and HOW TO AVOID BURNOUT.   Know the most effective leaders are the ones that prioritize #selfcare. HOW TO AVOID BURNOUT – VIDEO It is only when you take care of your emotional well-being, […]

Unleashing the Power of Motivational Speakers: Jason Hewlett and David Allison In our journey towards personal and professional growth, we often find ourselves in need of inspiration, guidance, and a gentle push to unlock our full potential. This is where the power of motivational speakers comes into play. These dynamic individuals have the ability to […]

During my tenure as a vice president of human resources for a credit union in Maryland, I worked with how to manage a high performing employee and with two human resources generalists on my team. Both were good at their jobs; they each had completed training and certifications in HR. Yet one was exceptional—she had […]

This expedition was the first in a series of five Beyond Engulfing Magnificence Expeditions with Jacques Marais. The idea was to mountain bike the edge of the incredible Namib Desert from Serra Cafema on the Angolan border to Swakopmund along the coast of Namibia. I’m on the edge of a gigantic granite outcrop. Ep.2/9 | Engulfing […]

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, […]

‘There is no remote work for A TECH-DRIVEN WORLD POST-PANDEMIC. There is only work, THE NEW RULES’ futurist Mike Walsh said during a session on the future of the industry at the Schwab Impact conference. The pandemic has forced the working world to evolve technologically much faster than at any time in recent history, effectively […]

Do You Have Blinders On? | Confirmation Bias is a term we’ve heard a lot over the last few years as science has become a debate topic and you hear qualified experts providing completely opposite interpretations on the same topic. But what role does it play in your life if you aren’t doing studies and […]

Before the pandemic, we saw a clear Qubit mindset trend in evolving away from binary thinking and extending our thinking to the endless possibilities between 1 and 0. Gender identity no longer has to correspond with the one ‘given’ at birth. Business profit could go hand in hand with improved human and societal justice. Embracing […]

Chris Bertish | Captains Log 13th June 13th -17th June 29 05’474 N 128 01’447W Pacific Ocean Milestones-The waterline/ Hatches & rouge waves/MOB take 2 -Injuries /Slow is pro / It’s all shifting / Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs / Story of the clever turd! / Shifting spaces / Into the light.. Breakthrough/ Flicker on! / […]

The risks of Algorithmic Inequality Trap and discrimination and bias have received much attention and scrutiny, and rightly so. Yet there is another more insidious side-effect of our increasingly AI-powered society — the systematic inequality created by the changing nature of work itself. We fear a future where robots take our jobs, but what happens […]

Sara Sutton Fell, the founder of 1 Million for Work Flexibility, and CEO and founder of FlexJobs, shares tips on how to negotiate workplace flexibility.   Workplace flexibility is not just an issue that impacts working women; working men are also eager for solutions that help them balance work and home, and a new survey […]

Some people get up every day and make excuses to justify the reasons why they “can’t” get what they want so here are my The 3 Keys to Peak Performance.  They allow their EXCUSES to take a VIP seat in their life. “I can’t” apply for a promotion because I don’t have the skills necessary […]

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 […]

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 […]

Veteran business writer Theodore Kinney interviews Dane Jensen and shares his takeaways from The Power of leading under Pressure for strategy+business. Pressure is a goad. Whether it arrives in the guise of a burning platform or a project deadline, a strategic goal or a performance target, a high-stakes deal or an aggressive competitor, pressure can […]

Life has a such a unique way of giving us what we need (soul food) rather than what we want. Stop another dark night of the soul.   I have just come out of what can only be described as another dark soul of the night. Unable to see further than my fear and feeling […]

I was concerned about working virtually and leading through adversity so In March 2020, when the world shut down and my live event calendar was wiped clean   As my speaking business went online, I wondered if it would survive the transformation. Would I still have an impact? Would I still matter? I’m sure you […]

The key to unlock your personal POWER OF SELF-DISCOVERY lies in your identity, it all begins and end with you. Your Identity is your authority. Your life is the fruit of your identity. Success therefore begins with you! During my preparation of the 2nd installation of the #BIOConnect Vision Crafting and Strategic Planning Webinar that […]

The following are our Top 10 Keynote Guest Speakers for a global impact for any conference event. Guest Speakers are available to present as the opening or closing keynote speaker on Motivation, Innovation and as event hosts or Facilitators for your next event and conference. Discover YOUR SIGNATURE MOVE, with Jason Hewlett Having delivered thousands of […]

We are only as unified as our loneliest team or Disconnected Worker community members.   No one is immune to feeling lonely at work—not even the outgoing top sales associate, the customer success representative that brings her dog into the office, or the charming vice president who always declines every happy hour invitation due to “overcommitments.” Entry-level […]

Leadership Hack: How Sticky Notes Can Help Your Career Sticky notes have been my savior. And I don’t mean in a “don’t forget the milk” kind of way. True, sticky notes are great for grocery lists, but what I’m talking about here is how a few small squares helped me become a better leader, and […]

17The Wonderbag is up for yet another accolade; the Food Planet Prize rewards excellence in environmental-based food innovation.   South Africa (14 September 2022) – Wonderbag, a South-African-based startup founded by social entrepreneur Sarah Collins, has developed a simple yet pioneering cooking tool that continues to cook food which has been brought to boil by conventional methods. […]

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, […]

Wartime British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, said, “A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth has time to put its pants on.” Now, with the proliferation of social media, and twitter in particular, a lie can circumnavigate the globe before the truth even realises it’s not wearing trousers. And it took another […]

No doubting Lock-down has been a challenging time for almost all South Africans as We can travel again… Perhaps less so for government officials, seen attending funerals puffing cigarettes, and others who have been on full salary, but for most of us a very difficult time. The President’s announcement of easing restrictions to Level 2 from […]

Eddie Botes, Leadership and Culture Speaker wrote this article, Critical Thinking for the Adaptive Leader. VUCA is an acronym that is now well established as a description of the business world that we currently operate in. In a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous world, there is no going back to the familiar and predictable world before the global financial […]

I’m not going to pretend that this is easy stuff for Second Best, especially given all the uncertainty in the world. Over the course of the last three weeks, as corporate America has made the transition from meetings in conference rooms and common spaces to Zoom calls and other online sessions, I’m struck by the […]

An interesting story of the emergence of Ferrero and Lessons Leading to Success, the famous world company with a turnover of more than 10 billion dollars, producing popular sweets and famous chocolate eggs with funny toys inside. It all started shortly after the end of World War II in a small provincial Italian town. Michele Ferrero […]

THE ACCELERATION OF RISK as a few months ago, the National Safety Council had me as the closing keynote speaker for their massive annual conference – and I spoke to a few thousand safety professionals on issues surrounding new, emerging, acceleration of risk.   Including a story of what happened when Rosie the Robot from […]

Doing good for customers is something that is inherently right. I admire purpose-driven companies.  They have a strong commitment to a noble cause that helps them avoid the pitfalls of short-termism and significantly do good for society in some way. Whatever a company’s purpose, I believe that those with integrity ensure that the golden thread […]

I posted this about Hole in the Wall and Coffee Bay yesterday for Incredible Adventure Destinations . It’s a classic view of EsiKhaleni! This is a series of 9 episodes taking you on another Wild Journey into the heart of South African Adventure traveling. Follow explorer and adventurer Peter Van Kets and photographers, Jacques Marais, […]

As a keynote speaker on the topics of leadership, connection, resilience, and relationships, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about Choose Compassion Over Empathy over the past year and Why Leaders Must Choose Compassion Over Empathy. In fact, in my virtual presentations on personal connection, I quickly became aware of the buzzwords associated […]

Killing Fish – A freedivers take on spearfishing from Hanli Prinsloo who is an inspirational and motivational sustainability keynote speaker in Cape Town. ‘STRAIGHT SHOOTER’ (First published in DIVESITE Issue 3, 2011 with photographs by Roger Horrocks, Jean Marie Ghislain and Jean Treason – please read updated thoughts at bottom of article.) It was a choppy […]

How to make change work for you, As human beings, we don’t look at change and think, “Hmmm I want more of that.” Given my own relationship to and with change, I challenged myself to figure out why this is true. Why do we avoid change? Why does change create stress, fear and uncertainty? The […]

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 […]

The pandemic may be easing up in many parts of the world, but its effects will forever shape how we live, work and shop so here are 3 Strategies to Reach Post-COVID Customers The past two years have brought unbelievable challenges and changes. Throughout the uncertainty, people have evaluated their priorities and lifestyles. A full 50% […]

I mean, isn’t that the nature of goals to begin with? What’s missing between you and your goals might be walking the walk of your goals — not just talking the talk. Or rather, running the run of your goals. I’ll tell you what I mean. Goals are easy to think of but harder to achieve, aren’t […]

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 […]

Thinking of Self Care When Burned Out as i was Heading to Dallas from Kansas City recently, I heard the familiar tone of the voice over the intercom start up: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve got a full flight to Dallas today…” Travel is BACK and flights are almost always full again, so I couldn’t be […]

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 […]

How Joey Evans Went From Paraplegic To Dakar and In October 2007, a devastating off-road bike accident left Joey Evans paralysed from the chest down. Ten years later, he achieved his dream of finishing the 2017 Dakar Rally on a motorbike. This is the story of the power of grit, determination, and following crazy, audacious […]

Three small steps to help you use New Research Authentic Leadership as your strategy to improve engagement and retain your talent. It seems just about every day your news feed has a new article talking about the (admittedly catchy) “Great Resignation. And geez, so sorry about adding yet another. I’m guessing just about every leader […]

TAKING THE STRESS OUT OF EVERY DAY with Highly Resilient People! Every morning they wake up and say today I choose joy – consciously – and then; They observe their thinking all day and stop thoughts that create stress. They work at being present in every moment and not worry about or dwell on what […]

Ultrafast Computers Are Coming: Laser Bursts Drive Fastest-Ever Logic Gates. Go Digital What Happened? We are on the cusp of creating ultrafast computers that can operate at speeds much faster than anything we have today. How? By using laser bursts to drive the fastest-ever logic gates. This breakthrough was made possible by clarifying the role […]

The global market economy is facing a tough time, with billions of dollars lost this week alone — and the local market is following suit with wisdom all around us The outlook is negative and some economies are preparing for another crisis. This does not provide an inspiring environment for someone looking to start or […]