Weekly Tips To Challenge Ordinary

One of the most annoying things when going to the store is accidentally choosing a trolley with a wonky wheel. I usually only realize my predicament when there is already a heap of stuff loaded in my trolley – thinking: “No turning back now! Strap in, this is going to be a wild ride.

The best marriages, friendships, families, teams and organisations (all interpersonal relationships) stand on foundations of the same material: Trust.

Trust is the essential ingredient of anything good that has ever happened between people.

As you know, over the past couple of weeks we’ve been sharing our thoughts on what we believe has made the Springboks such a successful team since around 2018, specifically from a cultural and people perspective. This week we continue with part 3 of The Bok Way: Know what you are all about.

Last week we kicked off a new series looking at The Bok Way: what the World Champion Springboks can teach us about creating a welcoming, high-performing culture that brings out the best in its people. As input, we use insights from multiple interviews with coaches and players and the Chasing the Sun 2 documentary series to outline our perspective on what this team is getting right. We aim to structure and package these insights in a way you can use in your environment to create and foster a more engaging experience for the people you are responsible for.

Have you watched Chasing the Sun 2 yet? Or maybe a better question is “How many times have you watched it?” I’ve watched each of the episodes at least four times, some of them even more.

Welcome to May. It’s Spring or Autumn, depending on where you are. And that means the temperature is changing…

Should you be a leader?Should you be a leader? Much like being a great parent, pilot, or flyhalf,...

As you know, over the past 6 weeks we’ve been sharing our thoughts on some of the leadership challenges we come across most often in our consulting and coaching engagements with various businesses. This week we come to the challenge we come across most often: the art of giving difficult feedback.

Every team member will inevitably fail to meet expectations.

With the South African general election happening next month (along with approximately 60 elections happening around the world in 2024), leadership has been on my mind even more than usual. This past week I came across two posts on the social platforms that showcase vastly different ways leaders could choose to relate to their followers:

The first way: The leader in question is the president of a hospital in the US and also a qualified nurse. Once a month he works a shift over a weekend as a staff member in the trauma unit of the hospital he runs. This allows him to stay close enough to the coalface of treating patients and interacting with his fellow employees that he doesn’t lose touch with either. Also, during his shifts in the ER, he has to take orders from the doctors on call since he is a nurse, and the way of work does not allow him to pull rank. On a normal day, he is their boss, but in that context, he has to take orders from them. Interesting…

The second way…

Welcome to autumn and spring, depending on where you currently find yourself. We hope this new season will bring exactly what you need, either in business, leadership or your personal life.

I watched my kids on the monkey bars at the playpark a while back. At first, Dad had to hold them up and carefully help them sway from one bar to the next. Then after a while they become used to the movement required and want to do it themselves – they become braver. They start with the monkey bars that are lower to the ground and then swing and let go of the back bar whilst grabbing hold of the next bar. I cringe every time thinking – “please don’t fall, please don’t fall”. But when they get to the other side, I cheer their effort.

I will never forget my first day in high school math class. I came from an Afrikaans primary school and even though I was raised completely bilingual, I never did math in English. I remember walking into the class and the teacher saying “Right, today we will be doing fractions”. My mind was racing trying desperately to make sense of the words. After a while, I raised my hand (petrified of how silly other kids might think I was) and asked: “Mam, what is a fraction?” Obviously the class burst out laughing. The teacher kept composure, turned her back to the class after silencing the laughter, said: “Let me show you” and drew a fraction on the whiteboard. Those four words made all the difference. If she had said, “This is going to be a long year” or “How can you not know?” or anything along those lines, I probably would have never asked another question. Goodness knows where that would have led!

Walking the fine line of leadership empathyWalking the fine line of leadership empathy  It has...

This past weekend I was blessed to witness an amazing test of resilience. Few things can test a person’s ability to stick through challenges and navigate obstacles like competitive sports. Watching the athletes cross the finish line in the excruciating heat of the Karoo, I was astonished by the absolute grit they showed to see it through (especially as most of them were suffering from intense muscle cramps). It got me thinking about what it takes to show up and see things through as a leader. Last week we spoke about the experience leaders should aim to create. This week we are going to focus a little more on what we as leaders need to be able to create that experience.

We have been planning a leadership-focused series of newsletters for a while, so here it is: the first one!

The focus of this series is to share our insights and learnings with you in an attempt to make your leadership journey more enjoyable. Not officially a leader? Not a problem! The skills we will be talking about are transferable to many other areas of life and business. See this series as part of your preparation for that leadership role you might fulfil in the future…

This year has started a bit chaotically for the PurposeWorks team. We’ve had to make plans to navigate some challenging circumstances. As it does, chaos leaves us feeling disorientated, uncertain and at times, overwhelmed.