#142: 2022 in Review
Dear friends Today is our last letter for the year. Our next letter will be on 15 January 2023. Thank you for all the messages about last week’s letter on the power of reflection. I am pleased that you found…
Category Strategy
#140: Working with artists (and others like them)
I wanted to get straight to business today. I wasn’t inspired to share any particular piece of art, amusing cartoon, wine to drink, or place to visit. I grudgingly decided I should try to find you something, lest you intuit…
#138: Connection and Hope
The letter was born watching Gina Prince-Bythewood and Viola Davis’ The Woman King. The film’s joy is witnessing a Pan-African cast create magic together. Its pain is the history it reminds us of. Nevertheless, I left hopeful. Bythewood and Davis…
#137: Creativity and Curiosity
Good morning everyone Our last two letters zoomed in on the serious job of starting a new job. If you missed them, you’ll find them here. Today, we zoom out to creativity and curiosity. As you know, I love seeing…
#132: Lessons From Pixar
Ed Catmull co-founded Pixar, the business that changed how we experience movies. His book Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, is one of the best that I have read about leading and building…
#124: Unlocking Excellence
Good morning You’ll remember that earlier this year I dived into the basics of running effective organisations. I did so because we are all confronting profound uncertainty. And, in uncertainty, the most powerful strategy is to build resilience, to ensure that…
Unlocking excellence: Lessons from Michelin
Good morning everyone It is good to be back. I have missed writing to you. I hope that you had a good break. If this is the first time you’re reading Strategy, Soul and Self – welcome! Here are the…
#112: Thank You Jim Collins!
Two weeks ago, we spent a few days in Seaforth, Simonstown. It is a small suburb that hugs Boulders Beach sanctuary, home to the African penguin. You know that you’re in a special place when the instructions for the rental…
#111: Creating Culture
Good morning If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that this letter is shaped by my coaching. Every week I meet nine or ten people. We explore the opportunities and challenges that they face in their lives and…
#110: Trends At Work
Good morning friends Before we get started today, a few practical things. First, I won’t be writing to you next weekend. I will be taking a short break. Second, if like me, you find your body getting stiffer from too…
Building Your Brand
I have had a wonderful week reviewing my reading list. As always, I asked some trusted people for their recommendations. Mervyn Sloman, the owner of Cape Town’s fantastic The Book Lounge, made these non-fiction and fiction recommendations. Then, Prof Sarah Mosoetsa, CEO of the National Institute for…
Courage
I started building my coaching practice a mere six months before the pandemic hit our world. It’s meant that I have had this peculiar experience of creating a new way of living and working during an extraordinarily unstable time. All…