Dear Friends Today I am writing to a sonorous soundscape provided by a pod of Bryde’s Whales. They’re a few dozen metres offshore, breathing gently. They’ve been there for the last two days, surfacing, glistening, gliding, exhaling, inhaling, delighting; occasionally…
Dear Friends In August, I paused our letter for a fortnight. I spent the time revisiting the letters I’ve written and books I’ve read in my five years of coaching life. I realised I’ve often only shared a snippet from a…
Good morning good friends /strategyStrategy conversations are often dominated by innovation, acquisition and the like. They are important. As important is operational excellence. FT Strategies August newsletter, The Path to Profitability, included this observation, “Based on data from over 400…
Dear friends On 30 June, President Ramaphosa announced South Africa’s new Cabinet. This Wednesday, I posted my Cabinet Reading List. My coaching practice birthed the idea. A central component of coaching is expanding clients’ possibilities. Carefully curated reading is a…
Good morning friends Thank you for your generous comments and reflections marking the fifth anniversary of my coaching practice. Today, we’ll get straight to it. /strategyLast week, I introduced you to Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up. You’ll remember he recommends business leaders focus…
Dear friends I launched my coaching practice five years ago. This week, with a measure of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT to summarise my clients reviews of our work. I did this because, like most of us, I am a little…
Dear friends Last week’s letter was lengthy, so today will be briefer (thank you for your comments and for sharing it with your networks). / strategyTwo weeks ago we discussed Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace Report and focussed…
Dear friends Apologies to those of you who missed my announcement that I wasn’t writing last weekend, I was flattered to know that you missed our letter. I was speaking at Interconnect Systems Strategy Conference and Standard Bank Group’s Software…
Dear friends Thank you for your generous comments after last week’s leadership lessons from Caster Semenya’s Race to be Myself. I appreciated them. Before we start, a quick public service announcement, my favourite wine merchants, The Wine Cellar, have a…
Dear friends It’s been some time since I shared art, food and wine with you. Let’s go… I love LA-based ceramicist Jonathan Yamakami’s little walking vase, one of my favourite artists Matthew Hindley’s work now beautifies these magnificent wines and…
Dear Friends Just four years ago, most of the world was in lockdown. In the next twenty-four months many of us lost loved ones, and some of us were grievously ill. In February 2021, I turned to physician and sociologist Nicholas Christakis’s…
Good morning friends Our last two letters focused on the power unlocked by building a scaffolding of meetings in our businesses. Regular, focused flows of communication are the heartbeat of success. However, as I finished last week’s letter, I was…