When I was at school a long, long time ago I was never exposed to the great variety of jobs that one can do out there. You could be a doctor, teacher, lawyer or if you did biology a Marine Biologist, wow! Don’t laugh I seriously considered the Marine Biology thing. So after doing a botany honors degree here I am facilitating people on how to communicate, ya go figure (ok it’s a medium length story) And then I met these guys from Standard Bank (no, no, no they are not ‘Bankers’) on a course we did together. I had no idea, they are forensic investigators working for the bank and they are incredible - CSI here we come. Some of the guys are ex-police, some have law backgrounds and others financial sector experience. And they deal with fraud issues around the banking environment.

You can’t believe the passion they have about their work and solving crime. It’s reassuring to know there are all sorts of people out there working to make South Africa a better place solving crime, helping people that have been caught in a crime web and when necessary working with the police. And boy, did I also learn stuff about getting into someone’s head with your common old communication skills. We had a fantastic course, spent most of our time discussing scenarios, problems or difficult situations and learning from every single experience they raised.

To you guys, thanks for being out there and thanks for sharing your experiences with us to help all our learning on the programme.

Here are some of their comments at the end of the programme.

Rana: Profound learning about personality types which one can use in every life situation

Judy Joseph: I found the course very enlightening and insightful with a wealth of applicable knowledge

Ernst: Great, teaches you to start thinking when conversing with others.

Andre: Good food for body & soul

Kervin: It was a great learning course for me and I am going to implement and use this stuff

Rhian: The course made me reflect on how I personality interact with others, in situations, where I need to, persuade, it made me reflect on my career standing & gave guidance - I.T.O improving my technique to max out come!!!

Shaquille: The course was good and very interactive. The facilitator is accommodative and allows everyone in the room to participate

Kenny: This course helped me to pause and consider all the little things that happen in a conversation that we tend to take for in a difficult situation.

Aidan: I have enjoyed the content, structure & presentation

I had the opportunity to run a workshop on Discovering your Strengths with a dynamic team from FNB.

It is so exciting to spend time with a team that is able to see the potential of embracing this revolutionary way of thinking. When we are able to appreciate the power of our unique gifts and talents, we are so much more effective in creating strengths streams for our lives. When we treasure our strengths, we are also able to stop comparing ourselves to others and to celebrate the talent that others bring to our teams. Here are some of the comments made by the team after the workshop:

“The most positive and rewarding course I have attended. This makes me realise that I need to be true to who I am and not want to be the way others expect me to be because of the stereotypical boxes we place people in. I discovered things about myself that I generally would suppress beacuse it might not be appreciated by others. I will now embrace my strengths because I am who I am.” Abigail Ballim

“I found this to be very personal and unbelievably accurate.” Michelle Rudolph

“Very powerful insights gained from this workshop.” Meryl Delport

” Made me realise what I need to focus on in life.” Ryno Mey

” In the Corporate World we tend to focus on negatives/weaknesses and this will help me to focus on my strengths and build on that!!” Magda Gijben

“Short but Sweet” Stephen Whitcombe

” Great, Great, Great.” Shaun Wessels

On the Spot proved to be ’spot on’ as a course to share with the vibrant volunteer leadership in Yeoville.

Avo is privileged to be working alongside George Lebone, an exceptional Community Leader, in imparting the gifts we have with those who give so much time and energy to the upliftment of Yeoville. We have already done some “Sussing Personality’s” with them and it was great to go back and be involved in a much more interactive way. What a buzz there was in the room! Everyone had to do a 60 second spontaneous presentation and we had the chance to compliment each person on their ‘natural presentation strength’. I have been so enriched to have been part of this wonderful mix of people: hailing from Malawi, the DRC, Kenya and all over South Africa: to name but a few.

I also need to thank this team for making the Amazing-zing Race such a success. It was fantastic to be able to send the two teams amongst them on Sunday to look for clues. They acted as wonderful hosts!

I would like to say thanks to St Aidans for always making your church our home. Thanks to Patricia, an Avo, who also assisted in the programme.

To George, you are truly remarkable! Thank you for making these interventions possible! You are an inspiration to so many!

Ever woken up on a Sunday morning in Jozi and thought there is just nothing to do? Chat to the team at WBHO and they will alter that perception!

Without mentioning every single challenge, let’s just say the two teams moved at high speed around the city. They managed to unnerve two sets of security guards and did some serious graffiti (it wasn’t illegal, we promise!).

They also went into deepest Hillbrow and had a singing competition with a Church choir, and boy, can these engineers sing! They then tore around the Rockey Street Market and found everything from black smoked catfish and yams to colourful shirts worn by those who hail from the DRC. They learned that the top of Africa is in the middle of Jozi and that you don’t point your finger up to catch a taxi to Joburg from Fourways.

While there was stacks of fun to be had, there was also time to look at some of the incredible buildings in Joburg and unpack a bit of their history.

Most importantly, we got to meet Africans. The challenge to collect as many greetings as possible in an African language, helped the team to see that we truly are the ‘New York’ of Africa and that a smile can undo a thousand Afrophobic misconceptions!

The day ended with an arcade dancing challenge at Monte Casino. Everyone, guys and gals, hopped on and danced and laughed and danced some more. Once again, thanks a million to these awesome engineers…they put their heart and soul into all they do! A special thanks to Marralleen who is so completely invested in developing her teams and who has made this all happen! All the very best, you feel like part of us!

Your Comments:

“Today’s experience was awesome and seeing so many diverse, but united people in Yeoville gave me a new insight to life. It’s like what people always say: What counts in life is not the breaths you take, but rather what takes your breath away”. And finally I felt like that.” Andisiwe Soqinase

“Eye opener in terms of ‘our’ (as South Africans) ignorance as to the appreciation of the diversity of cultures we have, especially xenophobia (especially amongst Africans). Also the History of Johannesburg vs the current re-interpretation of the past.” (Mapungubwe) Trevor Zumani

“It was a bloody marvellous experience that I want to do AGAIN! You go the Avo Team. You Rock!” Dawid Britz
“It is really an Amazing Race. Thanks to the Avo Team.” Pieter van Rooyen
“It’s a good thing that after a long week of hard work, the team can relax together. We work long hours, away from our families and this idea: I wish every team in every project was able to steal weekends away for fun. My favourite was the singing!” Segametsi Smous

“Today - it was a great day for me and I wish I can take my children to such places and have such fun.” Amos Saleni

“It was more than good! It was wonderful!” Antonio Claudio Dias.

“Marvellous.” Jabulani Radebe

“It was marvellous to work with Avocado and I really enjoyed myself. You rock guys!” Cliff Mapasha

” It was a very great course. It’s important to remember things and to keep them in your memory.” Sydney Mello

On Saturday, Avo had the privilege to work with a dynamic group of engineers. The morning was spent ‘bonding’ with each other, with Hanli doing the facilitation. They did some fabulous ’speed-dating’ and created two great pieces of drama! (Who ever said that engineers were boring! The WBHO guys and gals were game for anything!). Their energy and enthusiasm ensured that the day was a great success.

In the afternoon, we unpacked the communication challenges of being an engineer. For them, dealing with the stresses of hectic deadlines, shouldering massive responsibility and having to work with teams on site, creates some tough communication challenges. We spent time understanding the dynamics that were going on and then looking at practical tools to keep oneself in a logical, rational, constructive space…even when it looks like the wheels might be falling off! Anyway, enough from me! This is what the team had to say about the day:

“I felt that this was a marvellous, worthwhile course, that any corporate body should send future managers to. We learn’t a great deal about ourselves and each other. One would never have imagined the power of communication involved in every day life and situations.” Trevor Zumani

“Insightful. Now I know how I can deal with different situations at work. Assumptions (negative ones) can really kill or slow our progress. Improve listening skills is what I need to do.” Segametsi Smous

“Bloody marvellous! Excellent. Really useful for the work environment.” Pieter van Rooyen

“The course was very good and taught me how to tackle our problems. I think I learn’t a lot and will be using it in the future.” Amos Seleni

“It was a real eye-opener and will make my work life so much better.” Dawid Britz

“The course was good but I felt like I had more to learn.” Antonio Claudio T Dias

“The course was so helpful to me. It improved my potential and my English and I am still hoping to learn more” Sydney Mello

“It is very interesting. It helped us to open up and get to know each other better.” Jabulani Radebe

Avo is having another ‘growing up’ moment.

We’re going to have a new Training blog page up soon, where our trainers will blog about their sessions, programmes and workshops that they’ve been running.

So once you’ve had you’re training, you can pop onto the site and see if you’re famous!

So come back to visit us and see if you’re a star soon!

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.

Three times a year, aspiring SAB Sales Managers gather at the SAB Training Institue to embark on a two week leadership journey - The Sales Leadership Programme. This is one of the exciting leadership programmes run by Ashley Lovell, SAB Learning and Development consultant from Marketing Sales & Distribution. Avocado Vision project manage this exciting programme, amongst others.

The programme in February saw Ashley and his Sales Leadership Programme delegates, together with Avo and Chris Vind from Corporate Adventures, getting together at the Mother of Peace Orphange in Northriding to take on an Extreme Makeover Teambuild.

The orphanage in desperate need of repairs was the lucky recipient of an extreme make over organised and executed by Chris (Corporate Adventures), Avo, Ashley and his delegates.

Gutters were put up, a water storage tank erected, paving laid, grass laid, shade cloth shelter erected, jungle gyms repaired and painted (even the rocking horse got a creative new look!!)….

There was even time at the end of the day to relax around the braai and have a couple of well deserved beers.

The kids were absolutely thrilled with the attention that their home received.

Well done everyone!!

Many of Avos Tadpoles participated in the Brand of One course run by Tracy last week. The few dreary faces from the early start soon vanished with Tracys active and ‘vibey’ personality, and within the first half an hour the whole group was participating and enjoying the course.

In amongst the playful atmosphere we actually learnt some valuable stuff, and I think we all left feeling enriched and eager to put our new found brands to practise. I now understand exactly how important branding is, and how much of a profound impact it has on your ability to make money. I also now understand the link between your brand and what you offer to a company. See Trace… I was listening!

Charles, who is our newest member on the Tadpole team, explained it as a “very constructive course” and he said that it actually taught him about himself. Tarryn said it was lots of fun, and she loved the way Tracy got so involved with us and researched our intrests to develop a fitting course. Lucinda enjoyed the passion Tracy had when presenting the course and she said it gave us more insight into how we should brand ourselves.

So on behalf of all the participants I would like to say thanks Tracy, for a wonderful course that we all enjoyed immensely. Job well done!