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The Power of Relationships

By | 2019-03-26T13:04:47+00:00 March 26th, 2019|Key Note Speakers, Motivation, Organisational Health, Videos|

Renias Mhlongo and Alex van den Heever are from two completely different worlds. 
Over 25 years they have built a relationship of deep respect and mutual reward. 
I listened to their story this week. It moved me and it got me thinking. 
Alex is of 14th generation Afrikaans heritage. His great great grandfather introduced Afrikaans into the Cape Colony in the late 1800’s. Renias is an 18th generation Shangaan. His family was painfully evicted from the Kruger National Park in the 1960’s. It is unlikely they would ever have met. 
But Alex went to work at Londolozi Game Reserve as [...]

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Priceless Lessons from a Business Legend

By | 2019-02-27T08:47:50+00:00 February 26th, 2019|Grant Ashfield, Organisational Health, Team Work|

Herb Kelleher passed away in January at the age of 89. He was the co-founder and long time CEO of Southwest Airlines. A pioneer in a difficult industry littered with failures. 
From humble beginnings, Southwest Airlines has flourished. It now flies 120 million passengers a year and employs more than 58 000 people. It’s been profitable every year since two years after it was founded. Every year! 
In 2016 it received 178 299 resumes from people who want to work there. 
The company is an inspiration. 
It’s changed the lives of millions of people. Has an eye-watering reputation for customer [...]

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Resolutions Worth Making

By | 2019-01-30T11:41:45+00:00 January 29th, 2019|Grant Ashfield, Motivation, Organisational Health|

If you have a desire to get new results this year I offer 8 things. Eight behaviours. Five to start and three to stop. 
These come from our direct experiences with leaders. Listening to them share what they most want for their businesses. 
All want to unlock the potential in their organisation. 
To break down silos. Foster a culture of experimentation and to give people the courage to try new things. 
 They want to tap into more of what people have to offer. To build organisational cultures of ownership and initiative. To end passivity and fear. 
The behaviours you [...]

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The 4 Essential Things A CEO Cannot Delegate: Patrick Lencioni Interview

By | 2017-12-07T12:29:26+00:00 December 7th, 2017|2017, Executive Teams, Grant Ashfield, Patrick Lencioni, Teams, The Advantage|

Last month I spent time with Patrick Lencioni. I always get so much value when I spend time with him. He is an incredibly gifted writer and without doubt the leading voice in the world today on organisational health. During our time together I asked Pat a variety of questions, all of which arise from the challenges and issues we encounter while working with executive teams, in South Africa and around the world. It is a powerful and insightful interview and I hope you find it as interesting and stimulating as I did while making it. We deal [...]

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Setting Goals, Building Trust and Catching Buffalos

By | 2017-10-31T11:35:45+00:00 October 31st, 2017|2017, Authors, Books, Executive Teams, Grant Ashfield, Key Note Speakers, Motivation, Organisational Health, Team Work, Teams|

This is the final video in the series. Ian and I have been talking about the process of building a high performing team. In the beginning it starts with decisions the leader must make around team membership and size. The qualities and skills of the people on the team define what kind of team it will become. To be high performing you need people who are hungry. People who want to achieve and who have the discipline and endurance to actually carry out the tasks required for success. But as Patrick Lencioni writes, they must also be humble and smart. [...]

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What do lion prides do with passengers?

By | 2017-09-29T10:00:24+00:00 September 28th, 2017|2017, Authors, Books, Executive Teams, Grant Ashfield, Key Note Speakers, Motivation, Organisational Health, Team Work, Teams|

Tackling the thorny issue of poor performance and unmet expectations is vital if a business team wants to be successful and breakthrough to the next level. Ian Thomas and I discuss this question in the 2nd video in the series. The key is to deal with these issues early, directly and of course kindly. It’s a mistake to wait. Waiting does everyone a disservice. People want to know where they stand and they rely on you to tell them and guide them. I am a beneficiary of this. Ten years ago, after a consulting session with an Executive Team the [...]

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Lions have mastered this skill… how about you?

By | 2017-09-29T10:01:44+00:00 August 24th, 2017|2017, Books, Executive Teams, Grant Ashfield, Key Note Speakers, Motivation, Team Work, Teams, Video|

In a lion pride, team selection and membership is an essential part of their survival. For lions, especially when they are hunting big prey like buffaloes it is a life or death issue. Having the right team members on the hunt not only ensures their success but also guarantees their safety. Here there is no place for complacency, confusion or personal positioning and ego. It is about getting the job done and ensuring the wellbeing of the pride. In organisations the consequences of getting team membership wrong is not so immediately felt. But it’s essential nevertheless. In fact it is [...]

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Are you measuring what really matters?

By | 2017-08-30T11:20:32+00:00 July 24th, 2017|2017, Authors, Grant Ashfield|

We are past halfway in 2017. Are you on track? Every organisation measures sales and cash flow and operating profit. What we call the smart stuff. You will have a very clear idea of these things I am sure. But is your organisation healthy? Some say this can’t be measured. That's not true. It can, but you have to ask the right questions and then be willing to talk about what’s really going on – with an unusual level of honesty. The numbers are vital but they don't tell the full story. They don't give you the full picture about [...]

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Is your organisation really a great place to work?

By | 2017-08-30T11:20:32+00:00 June 26th, 2017|2017, Grant Ashfield, Motivation, Team Work, Teams|

I recently hosted a discussion with a small group of people aged between 21 and 34. The group, made up of employees from junior and middle management, was talented and ambitious with the potential, the CEO told me, to succeed at the highest level in the company. Her worry was whether they would stay and if the culture of the business really supported the growth and development of talented people. “A lot of our best people leave once we have trained them, it’s very costly and frustrating to keep starting all over again.” It's a problem many companies face. The [...]

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Do you have the right people on your team?

By | 2017-08-30T11:20:33+00:00 March 17th, 2017|2017, Authors, Executive Teams, Grant Ashfield, Patrick Lencioni, Team Work, Top Teams|

A few years ago I had the privilege of working closely with Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall.   Having the right people on the executive team is a subject he has researched deeply. It's the whole basis of his work, captured in the maxim, “first who then what.” It’s also a subject we are often asked to advise on by the leaders we work with. The question is vital.  I see many organisations trying to achieve a significant performance improvement and culture shift – without really taking seriously the most important question of all, [...]

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