Raelene and I share a hero role model.  We have both pored over her articles, hung on every word in her radio interviews, and fantisised about what we would actually say to her if we ever met her.  When I heard our team was booking her to speak at our annual SAB MDP dinner, I was over the moon.  And even though Grant was going overseas that day, and all my sons were sick as anything, I just had to go to the dinner to hear her speak in person. 

When I got to the dinner, I decided to pick a random table to sit at, and see who would join me.  And beyond my wildest dreams, no sooner had I sat in my chair than Mamphela Ramphele herself came and sat down next to me!  I had to pinch myself, although I did have enough presence of mind to sms Raelene with the inevitable ‘you will not believe who I am sitting next to….!!’ message.

It was so inspiring to watch a powerful leader woman in action, both on the stage, and as she interacted with us all at the table. She has the courage to continually challenge people to step up.  She has strong clarity of thought and intent, and is just not afraid to engage with people around her, demanding they share their light with the world.

Of course, with the Universe conspiring so to put us together, there is no way I could not take her through a brief synopsis of our Footprint dream and what we want to create in this country.  I asked for her help.  She said she would not help me, but rather, this would be something we could work on together!

Thanks, Mamphela, for challenging me on my own insignificance.  I do hope we will be able to find the opportunity together to create a strong vehicle for growth, empowerment and education in South Africa! I,  too, am challenged to step up!

I had a rare treat again last night.  I got to listen to Taddy Blecher speak at SAB’s MDP gala dinner.  And then I got to sit next to him, which was even more fun than the divine pudding (which I didn’t eat…..really!)

For those of you who don’t instantly recognise Taddy’s name, just think ‘Branson’, ‘Gates’, ‘Dell’, ‘Madiba’, and other great names that change our world.  Put him up there with them. Even though he is only in the middle of his life, he has already shown the world that it is possible to skill and empower people, sustainably.  He has shown, through building Cida University (a free university for impoverished people), that even children raised in squatter camps and squalor beyond belief, can become accountants and business leaders.  That everybody has genius in them. That our selfish world prevents many of these children from ever discoving their own genius within! 

Taddy also reminded me of what we often forget: we all have an inner genius.  We are all capable of doing very great things in this world.  And what prevents us becoming our own best self is fear.  And fear resides inside us. It’s not actually interest rates, petrol price, eskom or xenophobia that prevents us from becoming who we are, it’s our own fear. And the conquering of fear is a battle we each have to have as we find our inner genius.

And once we find our inner genius, we will find that we are, as Madiba says, ‘powerful beyond measure’.  We really have what it takes inside us to change the world for good. But that will happen as each one of us remembers. Remember who you are.

I am walking a little shell-shocked today, after what has felt like a very hectic week of managing people challenges.  I can’t really descibe the circumstances, as so many of them are linked to personal and confidential stories, but I have to confess to feeling quite wobbly about it all. 

My coach and I were examining how easily I step into the ’soul’ space with everybody, absorb their pain, and excuse their behaviour or performance because I understand the underlying reasons for it.  I tend to let people off the hook, and don’t demand the high standards of performance from them that I expect from myself.  The impact that it has on me is that I end up rowing much harder in the boat, and putting my own emotional and physical health at risk.  Which, in turn, puts us all at risk.  So just as I think I’m really rescueing a situation, I fail to see the bigger picture of the bigger impact.

And at the same time I’m writing a proposal with Vanessa and Clint for a company that has exactly the opposite problem: a pile full of managers who have the output and task thing waxed, and very little emotional connection. 

I suppose their leaders and I have a lot to learn from each other.  They’ll need to learn how to listen up, care, and engage with their staff on a much more personal level, and I’ll be needing to learn to keep my people more goal-oriented, outputs-driven, and focussed on delivering their best work.

Sigh……..   Management is a hard thing to learn, no matter what mountain you’re sitting on……

I challenge you to find a South African who has been completely untouched by the crime and poverty in South Africa. I can’t think of anyone. Our country is so alive with possibility and hope, but sometimes the darkness of the realities of living here overwhelm even the most committed optimists.

We have all felt the paranoid collective conciousness that swells whenever we have a couple of weeks of horrendous news reports that batter our sense of safety about living here. Every now and then, some company or organisation takes it upon themselves to build ‘anti crime’ campaigns, marches or petitions, and huge amounts of creative energy and, may I say, budgets, go into marketing the ‘anti-crime’ message. I think this is a way for people to take back some of the powerlessness they feel in the face of the darkness: marching or campaigning seems to help people feel they are ‘doing something’.

I’d like to suggest that there is a different, more constructive way to take back the power. In my new talk, the Seeds of South Africa, I make the case for building the people of this country. Many of us who have the means, the time, or the skills, are already doing small things to help the immediate people in our own communities: paying for our domestic worker’s childrens school fees, or helping out at our local churches or community support programes, or providing employment for other South Africans. This talk inspires South Africans about what is possible for individuals to do to make this country a better place.

When each of us is buiding a little piece of South Africa, we take back our power and our pride: I think it is one of the most important ways of holding back the darkness. By knowing your life has meaning and purpose because of the value you are creating for other human beings!

Check out Graeme’s site http://www.tmtd.biz/2007/02/07/crime-where-facts-politics-and-emotions-clash/ for some fascinating insights into crime stats and roots

I know you’re all going to laugh at me. Some of you may even wag your finger and say ‘I told you so!’

For a few years now, we have been implementing a policy of hot-seating. In theory it’s fabulous: in support of family values, work-life balance, and flexible working hours, we have set up our work place to be very virtual. Most Avos have their own laptops with wireless and 3G functionality. We all are able to work at home, in the Seattle coffee shop, even at the ‘Pied Piper’, watching our children scrambling over playground equipment while we bash out the latest proposal or catch up on our email.

And if we feel like a bit of Avo ‘love’, then we pop into the office, find ourselves an empty desk, and voila! All is sorted.

There are a few Avos who are office-bound. They have their own desks and PCs, and are not really part of the hot-seating community. And then there are a few hot-seaters who seem to have developed very deep relationships with particular desks or spaces within the Avo offices. Heaven forbid you sit in their desks when they’re not around - by complete unwritten law, most people leave their spaces completely alone.

Then we won the lottery contract. We bought and rented another 30 desks and chairs. We squeezed another 20 PCs into the house on the hill. We set up ‘garden offices’ under the trees and in the outdoor restaurant. Space is suddenly at a major premium. It’s becoming a first come, first serve world, and if you show up later than 8.30 - well, we’ve also installed a carpet, so you could probably find a comfortable enough corner on the floor!

So then it happened to me. I got up EARLY in the morning. I chased all my children out of the house and off to school. I broke all speed limits to get to Avo by 7.30, and miracle of miracles: there was the nicest desk at Avo, with the nicest view of the Kensington valley, blissfully unoccupied! Exitedly I set up my laptop. I fetched my cup of coffee and settled down happily to my emails and the nest-building weavers in the tree outside. After a couple of hours, I picked up my handbag and slipped off to my first meeting of the day, leaving my desk very much occupied by my stuff.

2 hours later, on returning to ‘my’ desk of the day, horror of horrors, I find my desk occupied by another body, and all my stuff unceremoniously moved to the back room facing……the wall.

I must confess, I got ‘boss indignance’. I was tempted to belt out the ‘do you know who I AM?’ line (until I remembered the ad). I coached myself to get over myself. Then I spent the rest of the day second-guessing myself about the wisdom of hot seating.

Our Ngikwazi Lotto team is about to move into new premises we rented in Bedfordview, so things will soon return to normal here on the hill. But maybe we need to rethink this hot-seating thing. How do you Avos feel about it? How should we approach seating arrangements when the Ngikwazi team moves on? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Until then, I got here really early again today, and booked my seat by the window. I’ve cancelled all meetings off site, and am not going to drink any coffee so that I won’t have to leave to go to the loo. I can be contacted via cell phone or email, and meetings can be held at my desk.

Oh, and bring your own chair!

Thank you, Sharon Jansen, for this special poem. I know it speaks truth to me. And I think to many of the Avos, and maybe some Avo friends too. Avos: develop your Mastery - the prize will take care of itself.

The Archer
Chuang Tzu

When an archer is shooting for nothing, he has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle, he is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold, he goes blind or sees two targets.
He is out of his mind!
His skill has not changed. But the prize divides him.
He cares. He thinks more of winning than of shooting.
And the need to win drains him of power.