Dear friends We are back. Thank you for allowing me my writing break. If you joined strategy, soul & self during August I apologise for my silence. I have paused the newsletter every few months this year, in order to…
Dear friends You’ll remember, I hope, that this year’s newsletter schedule is a little different: it arrives weekly for three months, then doesn’t for a month. That is because I am, foolishly, trying to write something that might become a…
Dear Friends Thank you for your generous messages after last week’s letter. If you enjoyed it, you might also appreciate The Power of the Powerless, Self-Doubt and Success or Being Good at Being Lost. Today’s letter is a bit…
Dear friends Our last two letters, Self-Doubt and Success, and Excellence and Leadership, went longer than usual, so this week’s letter is briefer. /strategy Last week’s letter gave us four catalytic leadership habits courtesy of strategy guru Jim Collins. If…
Good morning, dear friends Summer has eventually arrived on Africa’s southern tip (although can Cape Town’s wind take a breath? Pretty please). One of my favourite distilleries, Pienaar and Son, has just released their brilliant South African spin on Yuzushu…
Good morning dear friends If you liked last week’s quotation from Joanne Joseph’s Children of Sugarcane you might enjoy this one from Wole Soyinka. Today’s letter draws lessons from Zohran Mamdani’s victory, a 10-year-old chess master and Nobel laureate JM Coetzee. /strategyA few…
Good morning friend This week’s letter continues our exploration of Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect. If this is your first time here, welcome. Last week’s letter explored Guidara’s philosophy about culture.…
Dear Friends Last week we explored the work of leadership. This week we turn to building leadership resilience. Recently, a client of mine was asked to lead a future-focused Board committee. Excited, he said, “It’s important work”, paused, “It’s stressful” and then…
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 and Saronsberg, because I know you want to know), good…
Good morning dear friends This week’s letter took an unexpected turn. I had it planned, then Microsoft’s Co-Pilot suggested a rewrite. I started wrestling with that (it is down at soul) and by the time I was done, this letter…
Hello dear reader If you liked last week’s letter about how Capitec’s founders created one of South Africa’s biggest banks, I’d appreciate you sharing this post with your networks. TJ Strydom’s book is packed with strategy and leadership insight; the more…
Good morning dear friends We are back! Five years ago, to the day, I sent this newsletter to a handful of friends for comment. Since then, I’ve written 232 of them. All of you have kindly joined the ride, sending…