A while back Tracy approached me with an idea to create a new course for Avo and gave me the heads-up on what to expect.  Now that the seed was sown she started working on the content, one module at a time.  The Call-Centre Management course has been finalized up to this date, with a brand new look.  The manual has been face-lifted and the cover reinvented with a new energy (as per usual Avo style of constant improvement)

Yesterday Trace invited me through to SAB Isando to come check out the session, I wanted to see the product in action and WOW what a product it is!

This was module 4 out of the 6 in total, named Generations.  Tracy took us through a time-line of the 5 different generations from the 1900’s to 2008 and beyond.  Giving Tracy’s background in teaching History, her insights were nothing short of riveting and her energy in the training room grabbed our immediate attention from the start right through to the end.

She struck so many notes within me that resonated with my personal experiences and added clarity to things I hadn’t noticed before.  Every single one of us should attend this generational talk, it’s an amazing product and all I can say is “watch this space, wild-fire is spreading!”

This past week has been incredibly tough for the Avos!.  The highlight (if you can call it that), was on Tuesday evening. After a very serious service failure, I had to call an emergency debrief including every person involved in the incident.

I decided to use the conversation as an opportunity to begin building the concept of ‘Mindfulness’ at Avo. The concept fits so appropriately in our business. The theory of ‘Mindfulness’ made me realize that Avo is a company that lives in a state of ‘constant surprise’. Seldom do we deliver anything that is simply a repeat of exactly what has come before, and so trying to get people to mindlessly respond reactively to things is not an appropriate way for us to exist as a business.

Although I have always been clear in my own head that we are in knowledge worker space, I hadn’t really connected that every singe one of us is employed to think for a living! We think our way out of trouble, and think ourselves into success.

So instead of us using the conversation to point fingers, I wanted to know how the incident had challenged our thinking, and where we had experienced mindfulness, and where we had experienced mindlessness. We used the conversation as a tool to increase our ability to approach situations in a more mindful way – and to help us think more effectively when exposed to new and challenging things.

Part of building mindfulness in a business is to have the right mechanism to grow thinking ability over time. I know our weekly Kudos and Cockup session is the ideal forum for us to take this further. So I brought the concept into the session on Friday morning. I talked the team through the concept, and then talked to them about how we need to being Kudos and Cockup back into a courageous and authentic space where the toughest things are laid on the table for the benefit of the individuals concerned.

Once Jeanette has completed her project around lifting the purpose and profile of our Blueprint DNA process (of which Kudos and Cockups plays a fundamental part), I am going to turn my energy toward making it a much more effective vehicle to build mindfulness at Avo.

OK - I know its a tough title to get your tongue around!  Ask Clint!  He’s been trying to sell my new talk to clients for the past few weeks. But when you look at how hard it is to be a manager of people in South Africa in 2008, then saying the title is a real doddle, actually!

“People are like teabags. You only know how good they are when you put them in hot water!”

Living in South Africa in 2008 is not for sissies! After over a decade of good news – 2 out of 3 Rugby World cups, Madiba magic, an economy on full throttle, and a housing market that gave us all a licence to print money, you could forgive us all for starting to believe that life is always like this (besides, of course, that niggly little crime issue)

The wake-up call of the Zuma jive plus the Triple Whammy of interest rate hikes, oil price and Eskom crisis gave us all was enough to make every South African head (with a passport) spin in the direction of greener shores!

In fact, there is a generation of managers who have never experienced an economic downturn in their adult lives before. Not in their personal financial adult memory, or their professional careers have they had to face the realities staring them in the eyes right now. You could almost say we’ve become soft with managing through the good times to the point of us not really building the resilience or the capacity to take us through the tougher times.

This talk will take everyone through the good things SA has offered us, and also look at lessons learned over the past decade when tough times have been faced. We’ll remember that these turns are cyclical, and that the issues have been survived before, and can be survived again. We’ll look at what it’s going to take for individuals to turn their realities around from the ‘fight or flight’ reaction to the changes in South Africa, and examine what can be done to take their teams from ‘Survival’ to Thrival’.

Shanthee Manjoo, a very special friend of the Avo family, has had her memoir published! 

It has been an exciting time during which she has had three book launches (Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg at Constitution Hill), several radio interviews and a televison appearance! She has also been interviewed for World Teachers Day and her dramatic photograph made the cover of the Teacher, a supplement in the Mail and Guardian.

Shanthee remains an inspiration to us all. Her memoirs not only capture the challenges she faced under Apartheid but also the love she has always had for her family, for language and for teaching. For many, her ability to connect with three major faiths is another intriguing facet of her life. 

Shanthee’s energy, courage and passion for life has not diminished over the years! She has been one of Avo’s special speakers in our programme “Connecting Conversations”. We were amongst the privileged few to hear her read from her memoirs before they were published. We are delighted that so many people will now have the opportunity to share in her story!

Hello all, this is Aji-jola-Oluwa Osameyan (Aji or Jola) for short, which ever suits you.  I received my National Certificate in Financial Management from EWC and am presently pursuing a degree with UNISA in the field of Management Accounting. I am in the second year of study. It has been a great joy and pleasure joining the Avo Crew since the 2nd of June 2008. I work as a finance assistant and if you should ask me what I can say about Avocado Vision as a whole, I will say that it’s a place to develop your inner ability and another family to be with. We’ve got such a wonderful crew who I like to call Movers. The environment is a real place where any sincere human being would want to be.

As for those who would like to know more about me:

I was raised in a soundly balanced Christian home in Ibadan, Nigeria, where the principle of self-worth, mutual respect, moral values and courtesy towards all man kind was gently instilled.

My Dad is a civil and building engineer graduate from Kaduna Polytechnic, he also holds a B.Min from CLT in South Africa, M.min (cumlaude) and D.Min in the field of Missiology from Calvary University Chester, UK.  He is the Founder/Gen. overseer of His Grace Evangelical Church one of the leading indigenous missionary Church in Nigeria. He currently serves as the Africa Area Director of World Thrust International.

As for my Mom, she is a graduate of Accountancy from Ibadan Polytechnic. She started her career in a bank, here she worked for various departments and has gone through various in-service training until she retired voluntarily in 1997 as a Branch Manager having served Meritoriously for 20years to join my Dad in the Ministry.  She also holds a B.Min (cumlaude) from Calvary University Chester, U.K and currently busy with her M.Min in Women Ministry.  I have two older brothers and a younger sister. Both of my brothers are into IT and the eldest is busy with his Masters in Management, majoring on Public and Developmental Management at Wits University, while the other one is an IT Professional working with Henred Fruehauf South Africa as the IT Administrator.  My sister is about to complete her Degree in communication science and working with Action Aid South Africa as IPD & Sponsorship intern/Assistant.

I am a person of integrity and honesty, seeking to fulfil my life vision in such a manner that it will grant me joy and my fellow-mans appreciation. I am never prone to argumentation or confrontation, even though my outlook on life is based on the principles as set out from above. 

I have a keen mind and always like to take up a challenge.  I especially like being involved in creativity and have a high interest in music and hopefully Clayton and I will make the “Avo Band” one day while Mr Tshepo (Known as “Mr Show Me the Money”) will be our vocalist.  In case you are willing to join, you can contact “Mr Show Me the Money”. The only difference is that he’s not going to show you the money in this case but will rather show you the music. 

Once again I would like to thank the Avo team especially Jules (The Boss) for allowing me to join the team and I believe we are all going to have a wonderful ride together.

So how would you want to get that promotion?  What would your tactics be? … Not quite sure? Well maybe this will help, check out my article that was published in BankMed on behalf of Jules to find out more.  It provides 8 easy steps that you can use to further your career and work your way up the corporate ladder.

Click on the picture to download the PDF file.