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Businesses Are Not Machines, Nor Are You.
As South Africa came out of our fifth week of lockdown sometime in May last year, I took the decision to stop reading COVID news. I was frazzled by the…

Morality Is Not Just A Question Of Individual Conduct
State capture has occupied the imaginations of South Africans for the last few years. For much of that time it was told as a tale of shady politicians and a…

In The Face Of The Unfathomable, Seek Joy
In the face of the unfathomable, the most powerful thing that one can do is to seek hope, joy, and connection. It doesn’t make the nonsensical, sensible. It doesn’t make…

Being a Better Manager
This year will be overwhelming and tiring. In this context, it’s tempting to draw the curtains and hide out until ‘it’s all over.’ Yet, as famous baseball player and coach,…

Hello. Please Open Me. We’re Back.
Good morning friends I’ve missed you. I’ve missed the ritual of sitting down each week to write to you, to communicate with you. I’ve missed the conversations that follow. It…

The Last Email Of The Year
Good morning friends This is our last email for the year. Thank you for reading, for all the times you’ve reached out to me, for the times you’ve gifted me…

Despite the backdrop of our pain, South Africa achieves.
Today’s introduction is longer than normal. It’s December, it feels right to reflect a little. Next week will be our last email for the year. I will resume our conversation…

The Power of Listening
Last week’s email reflected on how psychologically unsafe environments destroy value by silencing people or, more insidiously, by creating conditions in which people do not feel safe to speak and so silence…

How Fear Causes Failure
The absolute joy of writing this letter to you each week is the generosity that comes back. After last week’s letter I was given copies of Oliver Sacks’ autobiography On…

Stay Grounded My Friend
Our language often captures age-old truths that science then confirms. We celebrated people who are ‘grounded’. We stress the importance of ‘knowing our roots’. When someone has ‘deep roots’ in…

Abdullah Verachia’s Disruption Amplified
This week, I wanted to introduce you to Nigerian artist Ndidi Emefiele I loved her piece, Here as in Heaven which is currently showing in London’s Gallery Rosenfeld. Then, Sepanta Bagherpour, Nando’s CMO for North…

Dancing In Language
Before we get started, if you find today’s email to be useful please forward it to some friends. Also, if you know anyone who has had a particularly tough year…
