Business Archives - Page 2 of 4

18th March 201622nd June 2016

Change Brings Improvement. …Not quite!

Earlier this week I spoke to someone that works in a division of a large multi-national company. Things have become rather challenging for them as the corporate culture has taken over. They used to be a smaller family owned operation but was bought as part of a global expansion by the large corporate.

Just this week another measure of control was instituted and everybody expected to comply. After this happened I had a chat with my friend and he said that “we must just wait because when a good company like this makes changes things will improve.”

I asked him to reflect for a moment and indicate whether the changes thus far have brought improvement – a resounding no! Continue reading “Change Brings Improvement. …Not quite!”

18th March 201622nd June 2016

Change Brings Improvement. …Not quite!

I asked him to reflect for a moment and indicate whether the changes thus far have brought improvement – a resounding no! Continue reading “Change Brings Improvement. …Not quite!”

4th March 201622nd June 2016

Positive Belief Systems Create Great Companies

The only reason any company can be great is if the leadership of the organsiation cultivates a belief system about the people that work their and that focuses on the inherent potential of every individual.

The moment the leadership starts to focus on the shortcomings of its people the leadership themselves become the biggest problem. The irony is that you will find that most leaders use beautiful rhetoric that goes something like “we really believe in our people” or “our people is our greatest asset”.

I started out by stating that a positive belief system is what is required. I did not state that lightly. Continue reading “Positive Belief Systems Create Great Companies”

12th February 2016

Adventures into the Unknown

For over a decade I have been exploring various roles, organisations, industries and tools to affect my influence for the greater good as far as possible. From my varsity days I was restless (I guess I still am a bit). Always hungry; always searching for more MEANING! Adventures into the unknown!

And yet every day I look around at the majority of people and how happy they are to simply accept their lot in life and tell themselves that “I guess I will never have a better relationship” or “I can’t get over my addiction”. But I guess that if you are reading this you are already one of the few who look for answers; who search for life!

That fact of the matter is that our collective consciousness is driven by the mass media and we are very happy to simply go with the flow (Yes, I am a stuck record, but the message needs to be repeated).

Few realise that the world of work is changing dramatically. Continue reading “Adventures into the Unknown”

29th January 2016

Hey! What Ya Reading There?

Towards the end of last year, as I was reviewing things a bit, I posted on different manners of reading and I specifically focused on going back and reading things again. We are in such a rush and sometimes we read multiple books at a time we can potentially lose focus. I have also listed one or two powerful books that you can read here and here.

Here are a few additional phenomenal reads that I can recommend:

Continue reading “Hey! What Ya Reading There?”

27th November 2015

Who Inspires You?

A while back I wrote a post on the amazing people who have mentored and taught me many valuable things in life. This got me thinking about other people who have not necessarily mentored or taught me but have nonetheless inspired me. One person really stood out among many others. I met him many years ago as he was setting off on his career as an avant-garde winemaker.

Continue reading “Who Inspires You?”

6th November 20156th November 2017

What’s the Focus?

I’d like to pause for a moment and refocus your attention on the focus of Survive to Alive. The main purpose behind the blog is to serve you, the reader, that is interested to learn and grow on a personal level and therefore move from just surviving to living. Perhaps you are already living the life you intend but need some insights into the changing world and the opportunities for sustaining the life you have created – read on!

If you feel you do not need insights, paradigm shifts or growth, you won’t find much value here. But if you are looking for wisdom and a better life in general please read as much as you like and PLEASE give me feedback by either commenting on the post you read or using the contact form.

If you are interested in understanding and learning from the emerging 21st century (or contemporary) economy and business environment you will also find value in what I write. I aim to contextualise the current changes occurring in the world of work, business and the economy specifically. Within this context I focus on the consciousness, motivation, purpose, identity and fear of leaders at all levels. The focus is on assisting leaders at all levels to develop their spiritual intelligence in order to connect themselves, team members and organisations to a higher purpose and accordingly be able to align action to this purpose.

I love working with and writing for individuals, entrepreneurs, startups and small to medium sized businesses because there tends to be more creativity, energy and freedom. I do however have experience in the corporate environment and there are companies out there that are doing some amazing work. In short: Although I prefer to align with entrepreneurs, startups and medium size companies I look for like-minded individuals and groups who seek a deeper life and how this translates into awesome businesses!

What’s your focus? Maybe you need some help with that. …I can help. So, give me shout if you need to have a real conversation (also called coaching) or maybe you need someone to help your team or organisation focus on what really matters – I’m your guy. It’s what I have been doing for the last decade on a personal and professional level.

Go from survive to alive today!

31st August 201524th April 2019

Leadership Hoo-Ha and Other Boring Stuff

I have a great passion to see leaders in society bring about transformation to the benefit of all. I am especially interested in the character of the new generation leaders in business.

Too Much Noise

In line with this passion I constantly scan all my newsletters, updates, community discussions and posts to see what is buzzing. Unfortunately I come across too much leadership hoo-ha (otherwise known as jargon, theories and techniques) that muddy the waters. For many years I have felt that I was over-simplifying things by being primarily concerned with the motivation for leadership, i.e. who we are as a source of leadership.

Whenever I looked around I saw that there were “cool new trends” emphasized by people with smart jargon. More and more I would simply skip this kind of stuff and look for real meaning behind the boring words.

They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel.
—Carl W. Buehner

There is so much noise out there that we have forgotten what it all comes down to. It comes down to heart. It is the heart of leadership – the why – that matters most.

Focus

The point is that along with the really big boring words that everyone forgets we will not forget the emotional condition leaders leave us in. Focusing on the skills and techniques as the primary responsibility of a leader is also very boring. Digging in and growing is however the really hard work that we are neglecting in society and business. We are being overwhelmed by tools, techniques and whatever the flavour of the month is.

Focus on the human being. The potential of each individual related in community is powerful. It is the job of leader in any organisation to remember this. The leader needs to cut through the noise and maintain the most important focus of why.

Who do You Think You Are?

We lead from who we are. The personality of the organisation takes on the personality of the CEO. It is truly rare to find a CEO that can focus on people and results. We need CEO’s and leaders that understand the new world of quantum physics in relation to Newtonian physics.

I know you are following what I am saying. If you are this CEO that wants to lead from a sens of higher purpose I know I can work with you. Your sense of self knowledge and desire for good is what sets you apart. I invite you to take your leadership to the next level. Be grounded in higher purpose and transcend uncertainty.

Go from survive to alive.

21st August 2015

Human Resource Management – Kinda Like Any Other Resource… Right?

What is a business without the people that help to achieve the vision and strategy? People are the most important asset a company has. Without people the organisation is nothing.

We have all heard these well-intended words before and yet when many of us go to work we feel that we are treated much like any other resource the company uses at its disposal in order to get the job done. In other words people are seen as an expense when recorded by accountants. There is no correlating entry into accounting that lists the actual value of the people, their skills and experience to a company.

So what happens is that human beings are turned into human doings and ‘managed’ like any other resource. And when we speak of a resource we want to pay as little as possible and get as much benefit as possible. Here I would like to refer to the way that we have utilised natural resources, financial resources and off-course the most valuable resource – time!

If we look at the trend we can see an overhasty approach that indiscriminately exploits all the resources that we have in the service of, many times, an empty outcome. WHY?

So, yes! – We do utilise people as we do other resources. If we want to improve the way we work with people we need to think of how we go about our relationships in general. In order to do business we don’t need resources, we need relationships. The awareness of how these relationships, from natural to human, have an impact on our present and our future is the art of connectedness.

>> Thanks Steph and Ty for the awesome pic!