PICTURE this: You’re settling into your seat on an airplane, preparing for a long flight. As you settle in, a woman with two small children approaches you and takes the seats next to you. The children are crying and uncontrollable.…

Who do you work for?Before you answer that question, please note that I have not asked “who pays your salary?”. Who you work for and who employs you are two separate questions. Some answer the question of who they work…

I’m sure we’ve all heard of ‘Smart’ (‘Specific’, ‘Measurable’, ‘Attainable’, ‘Realistic’ and ‘Time-bound’) goals and understand them to be a good way of reaching strategic goals. However, even Smart goals have their limitations in the sense that they are known…

STRATEGIC management has four main elements that should follow a specific order. Firstly, you must decide on the direction you wish to take. That is strategy development. Then you must decide on the correct actions to take.That is strategic planning.…

ONE of the most basic tips to strategic goal setting is to deliberately set goals that are beyond your current capabilities and abilities.In other words, do not set goals based on what you can or cannot do at the current…

Whenever I’m asked to review a corporate strategy, one of the first things I look out for is cannibalised goals. Cannibalised goals are goals that conflict with each other or erode one another. In strategy, it’s important to be able…

WHEN we think of someone as being self-centred, we often picture someone who is arrogant and narcissistic to the detriment of those around them. However, it is important to know that having a high degree of self-doubt or self-criticism is…

Have you ever had something so big to do that you end up doing everything else but that very thing instead? You know you must study but end up cleaning your desk instead. This is called the bike-shedding effect; it…

We keep saying we need good leaders, and we often hold our leaders to a high standard. That is fair and correct. However, our call for better leadership should be accompanied by a call for better followers as well. This…

Strategy, in simple terms, is how to use the time and information you have now to secure a specific result in the future. Whenever you are planning anything for the future, there are several likely scenarios that can occur. For…

In your quest for personal or organisational growth, be careful not to fall prey to selective growth. Selective growth occurs when we only choose to grow and strengthen in areas that we are comfortable in, areas we are strong in…

‘GROUPTHINK’ is a dangerous psychological phenomenon involving that board members prioritise harmony, consensus, and conformity over critical analysis, leading to poor strategic decisions and failed fiduciary oversight. In other words, we suppress our doubts with the well-intended aim of maintaining…