Avo has an article in the HR Highway Magazine this month about the Corporate Athlete.

It’s about Avo helping Deyshan Deysel project manage her climb of Mount Everest next year, and the similarities between the world of extreme athletes and corporate athletes.

It covers Deyshan’s experience as a climber and how preparation techniques such as focusing your thoughts, contingency planning and having a healthy body and mind, are all things that are also applicable, from Jules’ experience, for those in the corporate environment.

Deyshan - we look forward to seeing you summit next year!

There’s also another article written by Jules on the HR Highway website on Managing to Strengths, go check it out!

Avo is taking part as one of the exhibitors at The Star Human Resources Development Africa Exhibition next week, from the 6 - 8 June.

We’ll be in stand A27 and we’d love it if you popped in to say Hi.

Look forward to seeing you there!…

On Thursday 17th May, Avo ran a Diversity Team Build for Standard Bank. It was an opportunity for us to connect two very special people, Matthew Ribnick and Lionel Davis, with the team at Group Risk.

Lionel Davis was a political activist and a prisoner on Robben Island for 7 years. On his release, he poured his energy into art and education. He later returned to Robben Island as a guide. He has very recently taken the huge step of retiring which meant leaving the Island. Oom Lionel shared his story of personal healing with the group at Constitution Hill. His words touched the audience and moved them to make the following comments regarding the way forward for their team;

“Be aware that bitterness traps us”
“Lionel’s journey of forgiveness: “Do not stereotype. See the individual.”
“Do not jump to conclusions, try to understand.”

(Lionel, your humanity, ability to forgive and your gentle strength, is an inspiration to me and to all who meet you. )

We were also entertained by the comic genius of Matthew Ribnick. We so enjoyed his ability to capture the variety of cultures and easily identifiable characters who make our land so rich. Matthew’s gift is to build bridges by helping his audience to build relationships with his characters: the external layers of culture are peeled away. We meet soul to soul. His performance triggered these responses:

” Affirm your own culture and the culture of others!”
” We have such a rich, diverse, different environment: we need to capitalise on and use our difference”
” Share yourself: be willing to explain”
“Open yourself to other experiences”

At Avo, we celebrate the gift of what we do: the gift of enabling people to connect in a variety of ways.

As you all can see from our blogsite, the avo’s have been trying to put the ‘avo magic’ into a couple of words. Today a friend happened to hop onto our blog site and she mailed me the following comment.

“I just had a look at your website (lunchtime reading)…wow!! I gotta tell you, that’s one of the coolest websites, and it seems like a really awesome place to work. My brother does this kind of work in Jamaica, and I am going to forward the link to him. Tell you what, as your company presents itself on the website, its definately the type of place that I’d want to work if I were looking for a job! Kudos to a refreshing place of employement.”

Now, I need to add that the woman who wrote this is one happening dynamic funky go-getter. If she has caught our energy and spirit in one lunchtime reading moment, then Avos, we just need to capture this in a couple of words. Easy hey!

Kudos to Carin and all those who keep this critical space alive with our energy and spirit!

Okay Avos, so after our meeting on Tuesday, we have all been challenged to come up with one line that best describes us - our elusive ‘Elevator Speech’.

Here is the list of words that we wanted to use, so the challenge is to take these words (some, not all!) and make a one-liner out of them that best describes what we do, and how we do it.

Remember that the end date for the challenge is Thurs 31st May.

Words and Phrases:

Communication. Humour. Connecting. Business.

Conversations. Guacomole. Authentic. Soft Skills.

Fresh. Genuine. Open. Magical. Caring. Creative.

Passionate. Unique. ‘Fun with intent’. People. Real.

‘A symphony out of single notes’. Talking.

‘Work better together’. ‘It’s not what we do, it’s how we do it’

What we didn’t want to say/be/do:

Flaky. Corporate. Use ‘buzz’ words. Be ‘over-funky’. Stereotyped.

Be ‘just another training company’. Try to avoid ‘multi-syllable words’.

Go forth Avos, and find us a winner!

My model is very simple. In its simplicity lies its success, in that it speaks to the belief I hold dearly, “To be authentic is the key to being truly successful and creating the world you want”. And that is a simple philosophy, although not always so simple to achieve… .

This model described is based on some beliefs of my own:

• We have the power to create our reality. This ability starts with how we think; our resulting emotions and attitudes, and our subsequent behaviour.
• The external environment is in some way a reflection of our internal environment.
• We have the resources to solve our problems and move towards our goals.

My areas of expertise are:

• Personal Development
• Transfer coaching skills to the client
• Using the relationship to challenge and develop the client
• Setting and achieving goals

My coaching style is very process orientated. I have a framework and a model, but I don’t strictly follow the model. I focus strongly on the personal development that needs to take place to change the individual’s world in a way that produces the results they want. This change starts with them. Therefore the way I work is adaptable and flexible and dependant on what the client needs within the framework described above.

I also focus strongly on setting clear goals, and striving to reach them; which I feel maximises development, by creating a tension between what is, and what is wished for. If it makes sense for you, if you want to create a reality around you that reflects the best of you, then perhaps I can assist you.

I’m accredited by COMENSA, and have had the priviledge to work with Santam, Standard Bank, Anglo Coal, Anglo Platinum, Primedia, Accenture, Absa, Nedcor, FNB, Sasol and Sappi among others.

I leave you with my favourite quote, from Stephen Covey:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and happiness.”

If you are interested in having Catherine as a coach, please contact Carla-jo Barry.

Wow! Who would have thought we would get to May this fast? It seems almost impossible to imagine…. yet here we are…. I think it is safe to say that this year has very possibly been the most powerful year to date for me.

I remember sitting with Jules on New Years Eve reflecting on 2006, and hoping and praying that 2007 would be a gentler year. You all know us Avos are delicate. So I thought I would pray for a year that would allow us to grow and ripen gently . Did I ever get it wrong! 2006 did not have a patch on 2007. If anything, 2007 has been far more challenging than 2006 ever was. In a different way though, this year certainly for me, has been about personal growth. I woke up on Jan 1, 2007 and knew that this year would challenge me, grow me, inspire me …and would change me forever. I also knew that this was the year I would grow titanuim balls…(cast-iron ones are to heavy for a little person like me), this would be the year I would challenge and demand from myself excellence beyond my wildest dreams.

It wasn’t at all about personal wealth..though that could be nice, but more about striving to be all that you can/would/should be, and having said that realising that I am solely responsible for achieveing that “greatness or self mastery”. You see, somehow this year I have realised that it is not at all about how others see you, but rather about how you see yourself. No-one else actually knows what you’re truly capable of……but you do! While it is easier to hide behind the pain of previous experiences, those very trying times that have scared you are the very times that are able to give you the fuel to drive you to your personal greatness. I spent some time working on Robben Island and it was hard, it was demanding, it was self sacrificing…parts of it were even shitty. Yet it was those very experiences and the wisdom that came from that very dark time in my life that allowed me to demand, grow, nuture, develop and shine over the last few months.

Personal greatness means something different for everyone: for me it is about being truly authentic. When you are truly authentic you understand all that you are and all that you have been designed for. Nobody can help you discover your authenticity, it comes as it is meant to in it’s own time…it is what it is… . You see it cannot be forced because when it is forced you miss that most important part, you don’t understand the responsibility that goes with finding your personal power through authenticity.

So this year is dedicated to me being true to me, I have a voice; it is clear, strong, powerful and true . I get that it needs to be used responsibly, I also know that I will sometimes use it for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way. I also understand that when that happens it’s through lack of experience rather than malice. Still I know that this is my 2007, this is what I am supposed to be doing…it is hard, to get it right every time….but I am looking for the lesson in every interaction…because that is also what make this experience so truly powerful.

In the mean time I will continue to plan my adventures; I have the bloody diving course…eish my nerves, I have the bungi in July and Greece in Sept …wowweee…2007 what an awesome year….

Hope it has been as awesome for you !

Jules and I were having a discussion this afternoon about flexitime and the benefits and baggage that comes with it.

Sure, flexitime is such an amazing thing to be able to have - being able to drop off kids and make up for it at night etc etc, but there are drawbacks too. How do you define when the work you’ve put in for the day is enough? Having the opportunity to allow for a routine that works for you is great, but can you then define flexitime hours? Is there such a thing as a framework for flexitime?…
Ponder, ponder, ponder… . Would love to hear your opinions on this.

And just before I go - I can’t figure out why every afternoon at sunset, I am practically blinded at my ‘current’ favourite desk (no curtains or blinds to shield my precious eyes!), and still I don’t move to another desk… Go figure!

That’s right! We all know that Jules has secret ambitions to be South Africa’s white Oprah… and so far she’s managed to get us into the Oprah magazine! Jules, I’m sure if you got it right you wouldn’t struggle to find guests!

The article is “Keeping the Best Company” and is about South Africa’s best employers of women. Six companies (including Avo) talk about their views or policies on Maternity Leave, Flexibility and Study Assistance.

The questions for the article were answered by Jules, but Jenny was also quoted:

“In most work environments, people suppress large parts of who they are in order to be what the company wants. Here, the complete opposite is true: You’re encouraged to be who you truly are, and it is that person who is nourished, developed and loved.”

So if you’d like to read more, go out and grab yourself a copy of this months ‘O’.

It is with sadness that I blog the passing of another Avo special person. Mandy Todd passed away tragically on Thursday in a head-on collision. She leaves behind her two precious children, and her life partner, Cheryl.

Mands, I wish I could do you justice in blog words, but I know I can’t. I will miss your gravelly laugh; our long, philosophical conversations under the Avo tree. I’ll miss dreaming up future strategies for building the call centre training in this country into world class practice. I’ll miss your work ethic. I’ll miss how much you care. And I’ll miss lecturing you about slowing down and healing yourself. And getting the same lecture from you in return.

All our love and light go to you, Cheryl, and Mandy’s 2 little children. We can’t know why these things fall into our path, and why our precious people are taken when it seems they’re needed here so much. Strength to you all!