Leadership Transformations
In my role as coach I tend to focus on reflection and insight. I help individuals and leaders gain perspective in their life so that they can rejuvenate their focus and energy. It is a shift away from urgency addiction. Renewed focus and energy ultimately leads to greater results. It is not about creating more goals and targets, but taking a pause and Continue reading “Urgency Addiction”
Over the last 16 years or so I have worked with various CEO’s in various industries. Some of them were at the helm of large corporates and others were pioneers of disruptive technology. I have helped them understand the leadership imperative far beyond execution. Our Newtonian world tells us that stuff is more important than being.
But we forget, we are human beings, not human doings. Continue reading “CEO’s Have Only Three Things they Need to Do”
There is a story that is your story. It is the story of perseverance, dedication and excellence. It is the story of suffering, pain and rejection. It is the story of not being enough. As you read this you are also writing the next chapter of your own story. When you write your story, you are also writing the story of many others. You are influential. You are a leader. You are a CEO.
Even though you have been at this for many years you are at a point where you need to transcend who you are so your business and organisation can transcend itself. Deep inside you there is lingering power that can only be released with the help of your Creator. You know this is true, but it seems like a mountain that is impossible to overcome. Continue reading “CEO Strategic Foresight”
A few years ago I realised that in order to keep my faith and my marriage in tact I needed to get out of the institutional church. I love God and my wife and in that order those are the two most important relationships in my life.
Unfortunately I had repeated experiences in multiple churches that did not agree that my priorities were correct.
Before I continue I want to make it very clear that I write out of a position of disappointment and sadness, not anger. Continue reading “Why I had to Leave the Church to Save my Faith and Marriage”
Leadership is dead! Long live followership! I’ll bet that if you Google leadership books, courses, resources, etc. you will be overwhelmed with tips, tricks, styles and strategies of becoming a better leader. I don’t doubt that many of those things will help in various ways, but I want to ask you something today: is there something such as leadership or is it just a by-product of following? Continue reading “What is Your Follower Plan?”
I have a secret. It is a secret as old as time. It is the secret of human need. It is the secret that no one teaches you about, because few have the intelligence to take you on a journey to the heart of your being. It is the secret of Continue reading “Answer this Need and Change Your Life”
Dear Mr/Ms CEO
I have been thinking a lot about the company that you are the leader of. I have been wondering if you know what a leader should do. Do you know how important your role is in our modern 21st century economy?
I would like to share my experience and belief with you in this letter:
Your main priority as CEO of your company is not to make money. If this was true you would be able to run your company with only robots. But as Henry Ford lamented, you have to work with a whole person and not just a pair of hands. So I suggest you reconsider your main purpose based on the fact that you have been blessed with an opportunity to work with whole human beings (colleagues that think, love, dream and have a desire to grow) in order to serve the needs of a society made up of whole human beings.
Your business is your opportunity to better society and it starts with your colleagues (please note that I do not use the word employee, human resources or human capital – people cannot be reduced to a part of a machine that are rated on their performance. We are not things). We work together and serve a greater purpose; we do not serve to maximise the profit of the business. Yes, you either started the business as an entrepreneur or you are managing the business for the shareholders but if this is what governs your heart, people will have a difficult time to connect with you. For it is firstly about heart – heart for your colleagues and heart for society. I am sorry to say that if you do not lead from a heart for people you are serving yourself and your desires after money, recognition or power. These desires you have to sort out with your Creator.
Being colleagues means that we are partners in the office and we work with each other. The minute you forget this and try and make all the decisions by yourself you have started the journey towards the loss of yourself. For you see I have worked with many CEO’s and many of them have told themselves that through their actions they are really contributing to society – they have justified the neglect of themselves and their fellow man. You might be aware of this justification: ‘It’s not personal, it’s business’. It is all personal. It is persons you are working with and your big goal is not more important than the people you work with.
Know that your actions have an impact on the formation of society’s hopes, dreams and desires. Will you help shape it according to your hopes, dreams and desires? Do you desire to see our people and planet prosper or do you desire to see only profit maximised?
Sincerely
Jan-Derick Nel