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  • If You Want to be Trustworthy You Must be Humble

    A key quality of exceptional leaders is humility. What I have found over decades of consulting experience is that humility in a leader is strongly related to employee trust in the leader. Trust in leadership is itself a critical variable in enabling the success of an enterprise.

    While the Care and Growth leadership model provides a framework to understand how and why trust in the leadership of an organization develops over time, it is useful to explore the explicit relationship between the perceived trustworthiness of a leader and the leader’s humility.

    To be Trustworthy, you must be Trusting

    In the course of some fieldwork I was conducting on a goldmine, I asked an employee why he did not trust management. His answer was straight forward:

    “I can’t trust a man who does not trust me.”

    At the time the comment struck me as being insightful in a folksy way, but it took some time for the profundity of what the man said to sink in. If I don’t trust someone I clearly feel that they are dangerous to me. My attitude to them will, therefore, be combative, I will seek to control them or disable them in some way to protect myself. If I don’t trust them I will therefore probably behave in ways that will make them not trust me. This suggests that the there is a direct relationship between the trustworthiness of the leader and the degree to which the leader trusts.

    To be Trusting, you must be Grateful

    So, if the ability of the leader to trust is a key variable in cultivating his trustworthiness, then it is important to understand the what is involved in trusting. Trust looks forward in time. You trust what someone may do. You trust that something will happen. When you trust, you feel assured that things will be fine.

    In this sense, trust is the opposite of control. When you control you are trying to guarantee an outcome. You, therefore, assume that the outcome cannot be entrusted to the other, and so you are driven to control the other.

    This ability to look forward in trust,  without the felt need to control, is based on gratitude for the past. If I look at the past and recognize that things have consistently gone well for me, then it is easy for me to trust. In short, the degree to which I am grateful for what has happened to me in the past is the degree to which I am able to trust the future. The degree to which I look backward in gratitude is the degree to which I am able to look forward in trust.

    To be Grateful, you must be Humble

    Gratitude is the experience we have when we have been given a gift. If you believe that you are solely responsible for everything you have, then the assistance and help of others is of no account. If a person expresses gratitude under these conditions it is with very little sincerity.

    For gratitude to be genuine it must be based on a genuine appreciation of the contribution of others. This indicates a measure of vulnerability in the leader, which is what it means to be humble. To recognize that you are not solely responsible for everything you have but rather own a debt of gratitude to the good auspices of others.

    So, the gratitude of the leader is manifest in a humble demeanor. It is precisely this gratitude which enables the leader to trust. The degree to which the leader trusts is the degree to which he/she is trustworthy. There is a strong connection between the humility and trustworthiness of the leader.

  • Clifford Dintwe – Schuitema Leader

    Clifford DintweClifford is an exemplary example our the Schuitema leadership philosophy. He is putting the principles into practice with very positive consequences.

    Clifford is a mechanical engineer by profession and married with two kids, a son and a daughter of 14 and 8 years old respectively. As a husband, Clifford values the time with family and invests much as a witness on the growth path of life’s unfolding events.

    Work

    Clifford has 14 years’ working experience after completing a formal qualification, mainly on projects, plant maintenance, and engineering.
    He is fulfilled by his current role and responsibilities at TFC and endeavors to ensure engineering and safety standards are applied and that overall health and reliability of all Tubatse Ferrochrome assets remains the priority. Being value and integrity driven in all he does, he is experienced as a humble but firm and courageous leader who focuses on the personal growth of the individual members of the team.

    Leadership/Excellence

    Clifford believes that as a leader, “seeing things as they are and giving every situation it’s due”, is the most important aspect of a teams health and growth. As he says: “only with this focus entrenched in our day to day behaviors can we achieve the set business goals/targets, which comes through a diligent and consistent focus on the processes which lead to results.”

    Clifford firmly believes that excellence is not results based, but process based. The growth into letting go of all agendas, seeing things as they are and giving every situation it’s due, is what challenges, propels and satisfies me daily. Clifford himself says: “Excellence is experienced when the task at hand is given full focus and attention as if it is the end point or as if it is the result we need to achieve.”

    Challenges/Opportunities

    Clifford is committed to remaining critically engaged in problem-solving. He understands that TFC is faced with missing production targets for the most part of the first quarter. This, he believes, has more to do with the individual team members not focusing on the task at hand thereby missing opportunities that come with every cherished moment. Again the lack of appreciation of true aspects or building blocks for success and results is the biggest challenge. Clifford believes his primary objective has to be focusing staff on the right things in the right way.

    Clifford’s contribution is to drive implementation of best engineering practices and standards that ensure the health and reliability and safe use/operation of the assets for TFC.

  • Why commission can kill a sales professional’s effectiveness

    Why commission can kill a sales professional’s effectiveness

    In my line of work I often get asked to look at the remuneration packages of my clients’ sales staff to see how I can craft something that is good for both the company and the employee.

    If you’re in the sales game, you know that there are generally four remuneration models:

    • Commission only
    • Small basic and bigger percentage commission
    • Bigger basic and smaller percentage commission
    • Salary only

    If you’re a sales manager and reading this piece you’ll probably think I’m a heretic when you hear what I have to say.

    I think the best remuneration model for sales people is … salary only. A bigger basic with a smaller percentage commission would be my second choice but not ideal).

    There are 3 main reasons why I think the commission model is flawed:

    1. It doesn’t work
    2. It enslaves sales people
    3. It produces predatory sales people

    1. It doesn’t work

    Every bit of research (and from personal experience helping more than 10 sales teams) indicates that most of your sales team is underperforming. The Chally Group puts a number on it: 80% of your sales team is only achieving 42% of its target.

    Clearly, the thought of a big commission cheque at the end every month is not motivating sales people to close more deals. If this were the case, 100% of your sales force would be hitting target, wouldn’t it?

    All it does is create miserable sales people. Imagine going into your weekly sales meeting and being a bottom feeder on the leader board? And, watching praise get heaped on the producers. That can’t be fun. It becomes a competitive environment where jealously, bitterness and misery stew (for the losers) and arrogance and entitlement (for the leaders). This does not bode well if you want a collaborative culture or a sustainable balance sheet.

    2. It enslaves sales people

    As a sales person, when you want something from somebody else (a prospect), that person’s ability to withhold a sale from you makes them strong and you weak. So, you’re always in an unequal position.

    A ‘servant to a master’ if you like. When you need commission you’ll sell your soul and promise anything to get the deal. You’ll hang onto any crumb that the prospect throws your way.

    You’ll discount. You’ll give away margin. You’ll do whatever it takes. And, you’ll find it difficult to look at yourself in the mirror because nobody likes to be a slave.

    Try looking at your family with any kind of integrity after you’ve capitulated on just about everything you believe in. Not fun. I want to hang out in a job where I’m respected, where I’m treated as a trusted partner and elevated to expert status. Don’t you?

    3. It produces predatory sales people

    In an ideal world we should do what’s in our customer’s interest, shouldn’t we? They need to get the best solution at the best price if we are to fulfil that mandate.

    But, when you need the commission to sustain your lifestyle, that’s when things go south. Because this is when you do things that you shouldn’t do that are totally in your self interest. This is when you promise things you can never deliver on, when you lie, cheat and steal. Because the prospect is a means to an end … commission.

    Everyone loses – the prospect doesn’t quite get what he or she wants and you sell your soul and become a selfish user. You become a predator.

    Think about commission-only sales people like financial advisors, short term insurance telesales staff and the like. How can you actually 100% trust them to give you the right advice? They’re in it for the commission and they’ll say and do pretty much whatever it takes to get a sale. The same goes for those that earn a barely liveable basic with commission. I’m sure that for some commission-only sales people it’s a callingbut for most it is a commission.

    So, what’s to be done?

    The smart employee engagement people say that 67 percent or so of employees are actively disengaged from their work. They’d rather be anywhere but in your company. They’d rather be taking instruction from anybody else except you. That’s got to hurt you as a leader.

    I would imagine that in many of these cases, keeping your employees engaged and motivated, has very little to do with the remuneration package. If a paycheque was the sole motivator, everyone would hit 100% of the targets you set for them.

    As you know, in South Africa, our policemen and women are paid shocking salaries for what they have to do. Some of them who don’t see their work as a calling go to the dark side of bribery, corruption and graft. But do you think if we double or tripled their salaries we’d get a better police force? I don’t think so. All that will happen is that their lifestyle and their expenses will go up. And, then we are back to square one.

    Let me ask you this question. Would you take a bullet for a perfect stranger for R5000 per month? My answer would be “no”. Would you take a bullet for a perfect stranger for R1-million a month? My answer would be “no”.

    Would you give up your life for your closest family members? My answer, as yours would be is surely “in a heartbeat”. So, the motivation surely doesn’t come from a paycheque but something bigger than yourself.

    Your job as a sales leader is to get your sales people to work for something bigger than a paycheque. Your job is to get them to follow you to hell and back.

    Here’s some ideas:

    • Pay your sales people a proper salary, something that covers their security needs and a little more.
    • If you want to incentivise with some kind of profit share, that’s great. But incentivise the whole organisation because everyone has a hand in everyone else’s success. So, at the end of the year, when targets have been achieved make sure that from the lady that serves the tea, the janitor that wipes up after you to the CEO gets the fruit of everyone’s labour.
    • Turn your sales people into corporate evangelists. Their job is to see as many prospects as possible and share the ‘good news’ with them. They can do it with abandon, joy, authenticity and honesty (in the best interest of the prospect) because it has become a calling. They’re not desperate to make a buck because that piece has been covered.
    • Measure them on activity, not only results. Set prospecting (over the telephone) goals, meeting goals, proposal goals and closing goals.
    • Hold them to account. If they’re not following the process and not doing the work you hired them for, fire them. On a bigger salary, you really can’t afford to carry them. They need to come to the party as well.
    • There’ll always be exceptions. There are those miserable, despicable human beings that will try and game the system and do whatever it takes to get ahead at the detriment of the rest of your tribe. If you have a solid culture that puts each other’s needs first, you’ll quickly weed out these rotten apples and turf them to the pavement. They don’t deserve to be in your tribe.
    • Step up as a leader. Become the leader you were meant to be. I’m sure that you get that hiding behind your Excel spreadsheet and studying the numbers is never going to turn you into a leader. Your job is to lead, inspire, coach and set the culture. Your staff look to you. Give them something worthwhile to look at and to be proud of.
    • Ask yourself now, “Will my staff go the extra mile for me?” If the answer is “no”, then you have some work to do, don’t you?
    • Train your people silly. Invest in their potential.
    • Catch them doing things right, not wrong. Heap praise on them.
    • Stop using your sales meetings to “go through the numbers”. Sales meetings should be used as learning and motivation opportunities. They should be opportunities to collaborate and not compete.
    • Stop using sales meetings to beat up on your staff. Just because your life sucks, it doesn’t mean theirs has to.
    • Discuss sales figures and targets in private. This should be done in your weekly coaching session with each one under your care. You do coach every week, right? What is said and agreed upon behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors. What your agreements, goals and aspirations are for an individual is not the business of the other sales people. It is a covenant between you and the individual.
    • Make your sales people proud to work for your company. Get the culture right. And, if you’ve read anything by me, you’ll know my take on it … You’re not here for yourself, you’re here to serve the other. Your job as a servant of the company is to set each and every one of your compadres up for success. Their job is to set you up for success. Love your team and watch them love you back and watch the sales roll in.
    • Spend at least a day a month driving along with each of your sales people. This is an opportunity for coaching, learning and connecting.
    • Coach each individual in private.
    • Reprimand your sales people in private and praise them in public.

    Go and read something worthwhile. If you want to know how to hold you and your staff accountable, read The Warrior Ethos by Steven Pressfield. If you want to learn how to lead. Go and read about Alexander the Great and how the Israeli army does it. If you want to inspire a culture of care and growth, go to Etsko Schuitema’s work. And, if you want to stop the water cooler talk check out Stef du Plessis and Steve Simpson’s groundbreaking (Unwritten Ground Rules) work on culture.

  • Co-operation vs Competition: The Trick to Success

    In the early nineties I did a piece of work at a colliery called Matla in Mphumalanga and was told a story about a production competition that used to be held on one of the shafts of the mine.

    The mine had 2 production sections each run by a mine overseer. The coal from each section came out from underground on a separate conveyor belt. The manager in charge of the shaft used to have a monthly production competition between the two sections, which one section consistently won because the other section was mining in severely dyked ground and could not achieve its production call. In frustration the mine overseer from the losing section instructed one of his shift bosses to drive a spike through the opposing section’s conveyor belt. They cut 15 kilometers of conveyor in two!

    I have not managed to verify this account, but at the time the story did ring true and demonstrated to me the danger of soliciting competition between members of the same group.

    The key assumption of our Enterprise Excellence Model is that groups succeed based on the degree to which the individual is unconditional in pursuit of the group’s objectives. The production of a surplus or a profit, for example, only happens because the total product which was made was bigger than what each individual took out of the enterprise. Collectively they gave more than what they took.

    This suggests that groups succeed based on the degree to which the individual gives unconditionally in pursuit of the group’s objectives.

    This principle becomes manifest in the way in which individuals in the group interact. If one viewed an organisation as a pattern of interactions between members of the organisation, then it becomes apparent that each interaction can either have a competitive or a co-operative character. It has a competitive character based on the degree to which individuals interact with the intent to succeed themselves or to get something for themselves out of the interaction. They have a co-operative character based on the degree to which at least one individual engages the other in the interaction with the intent to set the other person up for success.

    That it is fundamentally good for groups when the individual co-operate rather than compete, was demonstrated by the various team performances during the world cup. The teams that were populated with stars all fared poorly. It was as if the degree to which the individuals were bigger than the team had a direct bearing on whether the team would succeed or not. On the other hand, the teams that did really well were not populated by particularly big personalities. When one observes corporate teams for any length of time it becomes apparent that the biggest danger that organisations face is very often not the threat from without,

    it is the destructive effect of competition between members of the team or functions and departments within the organisation.

  • Glossophobia: The Fear of Public Speaking

    How to Master Public Speaking
    Source: MastersProgramsGuide.com

    HOW TO MASTER PUBLIC SPEAKING

    For some people, public speaking seems a fate worse than death. But what is it about the theoretically benign yet terrifying act of delivering a speech that scares some of us so? And how can you get over your public speaking anxiety? We explore it all below.

    GLOSSOPHOBIA

    Fear of public speaking is so common it has its own term: glossophobia. Americans report that they fear public speaking more than heights, flying and even clowns! (1)

    Percentage of Americans who fear:

    • Public speaking: 25%
    • Heights: 24%
    • Bugs, snakes, other animals: 23%
    • Drowning: 19%
    • Blood/needles: 18%
    • Claustrophobia: 17%
    • Flying: 14%
    • Strangers: 11%
    • Zombies: 9%
    • Darkness: 8%
    • Clowns: 7%
    • Ghosts: 6%

    WHY IS THE FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING SO COMMON?

    The Evolutionary Theory: Humans fear public speaking because an unsatisfactory performance could lead to ostracization from the group, which would have historically meant death, as early humans had to collaborate to survive. (2)

    Individuals who are socially isolated were found to be 26% more likely to die sooner than their socially connected peers. (3)

    The Traumatic Theory: People who fear public speaking have had traumatic experiences with it in the past, such as being laughed at by a classmate during childhood. (2)

    More than 1 in 5 children report being bullied, a common form of childhood social trauma. (4)

    The Neurological Theory: Extreme cases of glossophobia may actually be selective mutism, which prevents the sufferer from speaking in particular situations, and may be caused by an overactive amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and emotional reactions. (5)

    Selective mutism may also be caused by social anxiety disorder, which is estimated to affect 1 in 8 children. (6)

    PUBLIC SPEAKING LIKE A PRO

    Public speaking anxiety often results from problematic thought patterns that need to be changed. (7)

    Problem: Thinking that if everything doesn’t go perfectly, you’ll fail.

    Solution: Accepting that perfection is impossible; appreciating the elements that work.

    Problem: Assuming your next public speaking event will go badly because a previous one did.

    Solution: Understanding that a single misfire does not dictate everything to come.

    Problem: Believing your public speaking event was a disaster while it was actually fine.

    Solution: Waiting to learn your audience’s reaction before judging yourself too harshly.

    Problem: Anticipating that you will perform poorly despite extensive preparation.

    Solution: Appreciating the effectiveness of daily rehearsal and practice.

    Beyond preparation and positive thinking, there are a few more “hacks” to public speaking: (8)

    Exercising: Exercise primes your brain to better deal with stress, so work out the morning of your speaking engagement.

    Memorizing: Starting is often the hardest part, so memorize the first three lines of your speech.

    Discussing: Instead of planning a monologue, create a dialogue by asking questions, taking polls or playing media.

    Selective mutism can also be treated through a combination of speech/socialization therapy and low doses of anti-anxiety medication, although this obviously is recommended only for extreme, diagnosed cases only. (9)

  • You, the Chosen

    You, the Chosen

    My daughter, Rebecca, was around three or four years old – I’m hazy on the timing, but I’m crystal clear on the story I’m about to relate to you. It’s indelibly inked into my psyche.

    Rebecca reached out her hands to Simoné and I and said, “Mommy, daddy, I want to tell you something.”

    She led us to a couch and indicated that we should sit. She stood facing us. As I looked up into her eyes I drowned into the depths of my soul. Rebecca was gone. Someone or something else had replaced her. I can only describe it as the deepest wisdom I’ve ever experienced. I had the feeling I was meeting a blue-painted Pict that had been forged in the crucible of countless Caledonian winters. I didn’t get the feeling that she was a warrior, though. Her eyes were too gentle for that. They were like pools of love. If I were to describe her with the limited lexicon available to me, I’d have to say she was some kind of shaman.

    You were chosen

    Rebecca (the Pict) spoke, “You were chosen.”

    I looked at her nonplussed. She looked at Simoné and I with patience and with the total love only a parent can have for a child.

    She continued, “The old crone and I were sitting together waiting for you. And, when you came past she smiled, kissed me on my forehead and gently pushed me towards the two of you. And, you know what mommy and daddy? I’m so glad that we chose you.”

    Instantly, after she uttered those words, the eons of wisdom faded from her eyes. She became a child again and I had the illusion of becoming the parent again. She came to us and we all hugged and held onto this wonderful moment. If the great architect of the universe called me home right then, I would willingly have gone because for me, in that moment, all was right in the world.

    I’ve been given more than is due to me

    Ever since then, I’ve felt so blessed that this soul presented herself as flesh, named herself Rebecca and chose me as her father and Simoné as her mother. I know that by being graced by Rebecca, I have already been given more than is my due on this short journey.

    Take a moment to pause and have a look at your child, your lover, your spouse, your parents, your friends and your work colleagues. Look into their eyes. Feel the call … the call of one soul choosing another. Remember, no matter whom you are or your station in life, someone has seen you. Someone has reached out to you. That alone should be reason enough for you to carry on with what’s left of journey in awe and gratitude … because you, you’re the chosen.

  • Jonah, the Whale and You

    Jonah, the Whale and You

    I was reading about Jonah and the whale as one does when Stephen King starts to get boring. You know the story. God commands Jonah to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh.

    Jonah wasn’t keen on this. First, the city was known for its wickedness. Second, it was the capital of the Assyrian empire, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies.

    So, Jonah bolted and fled on a ship to Tarshish, in the opposite direction of Nineveh. God sent a violent storm which threatened to break the ship into pieces. The crew tossed Jonah overboard to appease God and he ended up in the belly of a whale (or fish). The sea calmed and they were saved. After three days in the whale he was spat up on the dry land of Nineveh. After lots of gnashing of teeth and praying, I might add.

    He then preached to Nineveh. And saved its people from a terrible trauma that God had planned for them. Everyone was happy. Jonah not so much … but I think he was a miserable character to start with.

    The story plays out like the The Hero’s Journey by American Mythologist, Joseph Campbell.

    Loosely and not quite in the correct order, here’s how the Hero’s (Jonah’s) Journey plays out:

    • Call to adventure – preach repentance to citizens of Nineveh.
    • Refusal of the call – get the heck out of there and head for Trashish.
    • Adventure – ship almost sinks in storm.
    • More adventure – thrown overboard.
    • Adventure/salvation – land in mouth of whale.
    • Dark night of the soul – how’s he going to get out of the whale? Is he going to get out of the whale?
    • Salvation – whale spits him out onto dry land after three days.
    • Heed the call – listen to God and go and pray for the citizens of Nineveh.
    • Climax – saves Nineveh by finally obeying God’s call.

    (You’ve seen this in the Hobbit, Star Wars and practically any movie where the hero is called to action).

    My interpretation of the Jonah story is a bit different to my Sunday School teacher’s one. Either way, I think the story of Jonah has relevance to all our lives.

    Some of us know what our calling is. But we refuse to heed the call. We stay where we are. That’s when we end up in all sorts of misadventures which steer us back to our calling. For Jonah, God’s purpose for him could not be denied. God tracked him and made sure he followed his calling. Your purpose also cannot be denied. It will be like ‘God’ … always following you until you decide to heed the call to adventureAnd, even when you find your calling, the adventures don’t stop. Sometimes you’ll falter and think that you made a big mistake (dark night of the soul).

    Of course the trick is to figure out what your calling is. Sometimes it’s foisted on you (just when things were going so well). Sometimes you have an idea about where you should be going but you ignore the call (refusal of call).

    “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell

    You’re actually lucky if you get a calling and figure out how to follow it. Because most men as Henry David Thoreau so eloquently puts it, “… lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

    That which makes your heart sing and that which calls you is seldom an easy journey. But, it’s a necessary journey if you are to make something of this life you have chosen to live out on this planet.

    Photo Credit: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale

  • Don’t wait for tomorrow

    Don’t wait for tomorrow

    Phew. We’re coming into the home stretch … December. For many of us it will be a time to kick back and relax. We’re going to eat a lot more, read more, sleep more and chill out more.

    December might also be a time for reflection on the year that was. What worked? What didn’t? And, it might also be a time for looking into the future. What are the plans for next year? What goals need to be achieved?

    For me the challenge with future-thinking is that we always leave it for tomorrow (obviously). Have you ever caught yourself saying things like, “I’ll start on Monday” or “I’ll start in the new year”?

    It’s almost like we’re building up a head of steam to get started. Here’s a question? What’s wrong with deciding to start right now … this instant? Why do we have to wait until the new year to start something amazing or even mundane?

    What gets me through this human endeavour is that I see each day as a totally new life for me. So, even if I messed up yesterday, today I can start over and make choices that better serve me. And, if I mess up again today, I can start over tomorrow.

    This way my whole life is in cycles of 24 hours and I can consciously choose my outcomes every day.

    For me there’s no point in starting something in the new year that I can start today. I suppose what I’m saying is that I treat every day like a new year. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

  • The Warrior and the Artist

    The Warrior and the Artist

    Have you ever wished that you were somewhere else or doing something else? I used to want to be somewhere else, doing something else until I came across the notion of the warrior and the artist.

    It helped me shift from wanting something ‘out there’ to being grateful that I was privileged enough to be given the opportunity to become who I truly am. A being who is grateful and in awe that he gets to play around a little on this planet before he is called home.

    The Warrior

    A warrior fights both external and internal battles. The internal battles are infinitely harder. If you know this, you are already on the path to becoming a true warrior. The internal battles are the ones the warrior has to fight every day to become who she truly is.

    The warrior understands that the ultimate victory is victory over self – the victory over sloth, selfishness, ego, vanity and pursuing stuff. The warrior gets that her job is to sort out her head and her heart and to strive for a life of selfless service to others. And, to work on stuff. The warrior is prepared to die for her comrades, causes and countries She’s selfless.

    A warrior has little concept of time and place. He gets that wherever and whenever he is … this is where he’s supposed to be. In that moment. Because every moment is an opportunity to work on his inner self. Every moment is instructive and is an opportunity to do work that matters. Be it a mundane moment (replacing a lightbulb) or momentous one (really listening and connecting with a loved one).

    The Artist

    The artist speaks to the work we have to do. Too many of us are results-focused and we want to produce something tangible. I get that. In our work life, we’re paid for results, aren’t we? But how many of us are like artists, taking joy from the process? How many of us love the work for the work’s sake and not just for the result? Artists are nurtured by the actual doing of the work …the painting, the writing, communicating with a child, washing the dog, washing dishes, calculating a sum, solving a problem, taking a photo, serving somebody a cup of coffee, meditating. It matters not what they do because it’s all art to them. Everything we do is creation. And, I’m sure you get that we’re all artists. We all create something, no matter how insignificant we may think it is. Artists know that sometimes we’ll produce mediocrity and sometimes we’ll produce a masterpiece.

    Both artists and warriors don’t wish to be doing anything else but what they are doing in this moment. Why? Because we’re creators and it makes us happy to create. Because we are warriors and it gives us a chance to fight the inner battles and become truly who he is.

    However, choosing the warrior path is not easy because we actually have to deal with ourselves. And, more often than not, it’s not pretty. So, we choose not to deal with ourselves and distract ourselves with that outside of us. But, I think we owe it to ourselves to do the inner work because it’s so awesome to have been given the opportunity to play in this human endeavour, albeit for such a short time. I love Carl Jung’s take on finding oneself: “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”

    And, of course, choosing the life of an artist is not easy, either. Creating is not easy. It’s messy. It’s chaotic. It’s failure after failure. It’s inconvenient and seldom goes to plan. But it’s necessary. Because it’s the attention we give the moment we are in where the real magic happens. This is when we create something wondrous. Something that makes the soul sing. Something called art.

    Photo Credit: http://www.hp.com/hho/kungfupanda/

  • Are Motivational Speakers Like The Kardashians?

    Are Motivational Speakers Like The Kardashians?

    * I wrote this article for the PSASA newsletter. No motivational speakers were harmed in the writing of this article. The narcissists didn’t care and the rest didn’t read it 🙂 In essence, I’m really questioning my own ego, vanity and my need to feel significant and I’m wondering if social media is the way to go. I think not.

    Is it just me or have you also noticed that as a profession, speakers tend to be like the Kardashians? We seem to place anything, be it of consequence or the mundane, onto our social media platforms. We let the public scrutinise just about every aspect of our lives. I applaud and celebrate when our profession posts about their achievements. A Radio 702 interview … awesome. You got onto TEDx … superb. Your photo was on a billboard … brilliant. But, isn’t there a limit to this “look at me” mentality?

    I think that I hit my limit  when every time a speaker does a gig, it is immediately posted on Facebook.

    I dunno, I can’t put my finger on it. For me it is just a bit vain and maybe even needy. I haven’t ever seen a plumber post on his Facebook wall, “Just fixed Mrs. Dlamini’s toilet.” Nor have I seen a pastor tweet, “Just buried Mrs. Smith. Lovely funeral, just lovely.” (actually, there is one pastor he does this – guess what? He’s a professional speaker). For them it’s the job they do. They get paid for it and don’t need credit for it too.
    Now I might be an anachronism in this always switched on always in your face world. My narrative has been formed by coming out of a conservative family. So, maybe I just don’t get it. We were so conservative that we were only allowed to talk about those five teenage aliens who drank too much and crashed in Roswell on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays (my lesson: don’t drink whilst flying a space ship at a million kilometres an hour). We weren’t allowed to discuss the Illuminati and its 13 bloodlines unless dad had at least two whiskeys in him. And, of course we weren’t allowed to blow our own trumpet because … well, that would just be ‘UnAfrican’ now wouldn’t it?

    A month or so ago I sort of blew my own trumpet. I was interviewed on Cliff Central by Timothy Webster. I blogged about it and it ended up on my Facebook page (I forgot that there was a thingie on my blog that posts my stuff to Facebook). I cringed with embarrassment at my boastfulness. So, that I have trumpet blowing issues is probably an understatement. My therapist says that I’m getting better … at least I blogged about it. Yeah, what does he know? “Pass me the Ativan … I’ll take two, thanks.”

    So, it’s clear that I’m not a fan of trumpet blowing. But, let’s have a bit of fun with this. Perhaps you’ll recognise yourself or some other speaker in the four personas I’ve come up with when it comes to promoting their work.

    1. Put it out there Pete: Not shy. Says it like it is. Proclaims to the world, “I did this work and I’m proud of it”.
    2. Herbert Humboast: A bit shy. Doesn’t want to appear boastful. So he or she is humble about doing the work. But they still want the recognition so they still put it out there. (Did you see how I snuck in my interview on CliffCentral earlier on? A classic humboast move).
    3. Cosy up to my client Charlie: Makes the client the hero in the story. Uses words like ‘awesome’, ‘super’ and ‘great’ to describe his or her client. I’m sure these folks have left an apple or two on their teachers’ desks in the day.
    4. Consumer Ken or Kendra: This one is subtle. They’ll complain about how hard the bed was in their five star hotel in Holland, how small the seats were in First class going to Finland and how patchy the internet was in Paris. Of course, this is to protect us, the speaking consumer, just in case we end up going to the same places (and, of course, flying first class).

    So, what is the psychology around promoting every bit of work we do for all and sundry to see? You’ll probably have to ask Justin Cohen, he’s the psychologist in this speaking family.

    I get my intel from Dr. Phil. So, it might not be as well-tested as you’d like.

    • I think there’s an element of narcissism in this whole thing (as speakers, I think we all have a need to feel powerful and recognised). You need a bit of an ego to do what we do.
    • Some might argue that they do it for marketing. The more “out there” they are, the more chance they have of getting work. I suppose that’s a hypothesis. I’m just not sure our economic buyers hang around Facebook or Twitter. I wouldn’t put my hope in making a fortune from my Facebook posts. You do get that when a Zucchini recipe on Facebook gets 17 million views and a article on global warming gets only 1000 views, there’s something wrong in this world, don’t you?
    • Others say that we do it because we “are addicted to Like”. Yup, when we get a like or a share on our posts, we get a dopamine hit.

    I think I can go with the “addicted to like” hypothesis. I do have a dirty little secret. I think I’m a fair to middling writer (did you see how I slipped in the humboast with a slice of self-deprecation? Brilliant.) and I’m like Put it out there Pete. I shove my writing down your throat every which way I can, whether you like it or not. I’ll tweet it, Facebook it, launch it on LinkedIn and even try and sneak it into this blog post.

    Here’s the thing, however. When I put out a piece of work and I get three likes and no shares or comments, it cuts me. A zucchini recipe gets 17-million views, my planet-altering article gets three likes – this is like a blow to my stomach. But, every now and then when I get five likes and a share, I get a dopamine hit and I’m as giddy as a teenager in the first blush of love (yes, my standards aren’t that high). Do you also feel a bit let down when hardly anybody notices your work, or is it just me? Or do you get lots of likes, comments and shares … but you wish there were more?

    You’re smart enough to know that getting validation from an outside source (that you have no control over) is a futile exercise, isn’t it? It makes you weak because it gives your power to the other. I’m totally going to bastardise an Etsko Schuitema quote when I say: “No amount of ‘likes’ can fill that hole in your chest called insecurity.”

    I think that as speakers we can do a lot of good on social media. But, it’s not going to be with a “look at me” mindset. I think we’d be more helpful to our friends, family and fans by sharing our real authentic expertise with them so that we can set them up to succeed.

    Oops, is that the time already? I need to get on my economy class seat (at the back) and fly to Kimberley where I’m going to speak at a small conference to 1000 amazing human beings. Bye.