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257: The Work of Leadership (inspired by Francesca Albanese and Audre Lorde, with strategy scaffolding from Ronald Heifetz)
Dear friends Leadership is often mistaken for position or expertise. It is neither. It is a way of being. The work of leadership is how we choose to live. /selfToday,…

256: John Kay’s The Corporation in the 21st Century
Good morning good friends /strategyLast week’s letter introduced you to John Kay’s The Corporation in the 21st Century. It’s a sprawl of a book collecting thoughts, analysis and occasional scathing asides…

255: Vivian Gornick and Louis Gerstner. Tim Ferriss and James Clear, John Kay on safari.
Dear friends /strategyVivian Gornick, in her acclaimed book on writing great non-fiction The Situation and the Story observes, “Every work of literature has both a situation and a story. The…

254: The Man Who Planted Trees and Zohran Mamdani
Dear friends Strategy, Soul & Self weaves together three threads, I believe are essential to leadership and life. First, the ability to hold a compelling vision — and translate it…

253: Quartermain’s Safari Camp. Think with the world. Act.
Dear friends First, I must apologise. A few weeks ago, one of my favourite young winemakers, Banele Vakele released his most recent vintage and I didn’t tell you. My fussy…

252: You Must Create Universal Works. Prayer is Attention
Good morning friends A few of you emailed to say that last week’s letter hadn’t made through your firewalls. If you are one of the unlucky ones, here is edition…

251: Stephen King and Strategy. Choose what you worship. Celebrating Africa.
Good morning friends /strategyStephen King provides this week’s strategy. Yep, that Stephen King. Monster-under-the bed-guy. The link is, perhaps, a little oblique, but I suspect the occasional unconvention is part of…

250: Avoiding Handover Headaches. Gregg Popovich. Finding the right moment
Good morning good people If a friend forwarded you today’s letter, and you enjoy it, you can subscribe here. If you know someone struggling with handover headaches or perhaps needing…

249: Culture that Works. Becoming a Billionaire. Seeing Again
Happy Sunday! If this is the first time you’re reading strategy, soul & self, I hope you enjoy it. You can subscribe here. If you work in an organisation where…

248: Oreos. Meera Sodha and Getting Started. RF Kuang and Making History.
Good morning dear friends I hope you’re well. It is book prize season. This week, the 2025 Orwell Prize for political writing announced their finalists. You can find them here.…

247: How Not to Grow. Know Yourself. Halfaampieskraal.
Dear friends It’s good to be back. I hope you’re well. The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this week. As always, I am reaching for my credit card whilst dreaming…

246: The State of the Global Workplace
Dear friends Thank you for last week’s birthday wishes. I appreciated them. It was a wonderful weekend with all my favourite things – kayaking, good wine (2017 shiraz from Mullineux…
