What's New(s)
The aim of this page is to give you a brief overview of both Strategic Human Capital news as well as new developments on the website.
Building a great culture through investing in individual employees and teams
Organisational challenges are never identical. Therefore one of our core principles at SHCC is that we custom design solutions that are right for each organisation & its people – carefully considering the unique challenges and desired outcomes at the specific point in an organisation's history. In this case ‘building the organisational culture’ was achieved through a workshop series that focussed on developing Individual Employees in a Team context and through that, building the organisational culture.
Over the course of the workshop, we spent time on:
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- Thinking as a core driver of success and how to do it optimally collectively and individually;
- Building relational intelligence (RQ) as everything we do in organisations (and life) happens in relationship; and
- The effectiveness of the intact teams as the core organisational operating unit, by guiding them to assess themselves using the SHCC: Team Effectiveness assessment tool.
This is what some of the participants had to say afterwards:
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- These workshops, one at a time, are helping build the organisational culture. To build the culture, we need to understand diversity and that you need to lean into it.
- Thank you for being strict on the team effectiveness exercise. Thank you for giving quiet people and everyone a voice. Great facilitation & good programme. Loved and enjoyed the practical application.
- Overall, my experience of the workshop was ‘amazing’ and ‘very insightful’. The sessions across the 2 days were very informative and enlightening. It gave us the opportunity to learn; and to understand ourselves and our colleagues in a much better way. It created a safe space for each individual to express themselves unreservedly. Danie is very patient, very clear and articulates information in a way that is easy to understand.
- You are an amazing facilitator and you do your work with passion and love. I honestly enjoyed the workshop and the sessions. It is through how you conduct the sessions and the explanations you give that I was able to best understand the topics that we covered.
The Basilica Sagrada Familia and Organisational Development?
An observant potential client asked me, “What is this thing with all the La Sagrada Familia pictures on your website?” “What is the story?” It made me smile. I have been thinking a lot about the importance of curiosity and how the right question can unlock so much.
But back to the question, you can see the pictures in this section of our website.
This was my response: “Your question about the Sagrada Familia made me smile, not many have asked. Yes, I have a personal story with the Sagrada, which I can tell you later about (and I took most of the photos), but for the purpose of this section of my website, i.e. Management Consulting and Organisational Development, it tries to convey the sense that building an Organisation is like building a cathedral. It’s often a slow and arduous process that requires enormous amounts of vision, courage, sacrifice and effort and, like a cathedral, it has the potential to be enduring with generational impact and benefit. There is also something spiritual about establishing something (an organisation as with a cathedral), where people can, for years to come, bring the best of their talents and gifts and live out their God-given potential in service of their community, society, and humanity at large.” '
So when I help organisations with “OD (Organisational Development) work”, I see it as contributing to building living cathedrals.
How do you see the work you do?
The power of the right process
In September, I also had the privilege of designing and facilitating a change management and strategic planning workshop for one of the SEAD Consulting teams. I first met SEAD’s founders, Drs Tim Tucker and Peter Manyike, some 19 years ago, when we all joined forces at SAAVI, one of the MRC programmes.
I have been amazed over the years at what happens when you create the right structure to enable people at the top of their game, to do their best thinking together. You really just facilitate and they do the thinking. This workshop was no different, and the very competent brains in the room, led by deputy programmes director Amanda Mohlala and team lead Rene Sparks, did great work and came up with strategic planning magic.
PS: Kudos to the likes of Edgar Schein, the father of Process Consultation, and Nancy Kline, the mother of what it takes for the brain to do its best thinking, from who I have learned so much.
Treasured relationships!
How special it is to do work for the organisation of someone who began their career more than 25 years ago in the office next to mine! That was the case earlier this month when I began rolling out a personal leadership development programme for Malatji and Company, a law firm started by one of the foremost legal minds in South Africa, Tebogo Malatji.
Our flagship programme for personal leadership development has been tried, tested and improved over the past 16 years and, in this case, included a 2.5-day workshop, personality assessment and three coaching sessions for each participant. It really is a joy to spend time with brilliant young talent, all keen to develop as leaders.
This is some of the feedback we received afterwards:
- I personally learnt how to use the course content to analyse the more complex issues I encounter and how to deal with them pragmatically.
- I enjoyed how interactive the workshop was. Each person had an opportunity to contribute and as such, many meaningful insights were obtained. I also enjoyed the user-friendly workbook which made it easy to follow.
- The workshop really forced me to reflect on my journey and my purpose. Why I started this journey in the first place and whether am still in touch with my purpose.
- Thank you for an amazing workshop Danie! Not only has it re-calibrated my thinking, but I believe this has set me up for growth in each of the areas we dealt with.
- Thanks to Danie and SHCC for the valuable contribution to our team’s personal development. We have received feedback of the exceptional impact of the programme on our team, especially from our junior associates. Danie, it was great to connect. I’m reminded of your contribution to my formative years as a candidate attorney, with you as one of the seniors in our team 29 years ago. I must tell you that knowing you in your then and now capacities, I have no doubt that you’re making an incredible contribution to a much greater cause with SHCC’s personal leadership development programme. The team is in awe at the enrichment they got from this intervention.
Real-time RQ building from Zambia to the US via Trinidad and Tobago
Some of our clients have never had the luxury of everyone sharing the same office. They work in the global village – not because being a digital nomad is suddenly possible, but because they have been doing amazing work across different continents for many years now. They had to figure out how to build organisational culture virtually, long before Covid.
Daniel Kim’s Core Theory of Success says that it is the quality of relationships (as a group we refer to this as culture) that impacts the quality of collective thinking, which determines the success of everything else in an organisation. When you grasp the importance of relationships in organisational success, investing in building RQ (Relational Intelligence) is a no-brainer, and even more so when you operate in the global village.
We have the joy of regularly contributing to this process of building RQ in teams that have a rich diversity of cultures and backgrounds. In this instance, I had to pinch myself to remember that we are doing this real-time (thank you Zoom!) from Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the USA, via Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, to Lusaka, Zambia, while I am sitting in a chilly wintery Cape Town!
Brilliant… not even a few hours of loadshedding could detract from an amazing learning experience!
A female leader blazing a trail
Mrs Peppy Kekana is not only a highly respected lawyer – she was recently elected as the Chairperson of the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund – but also a very competent leader, and has been leading the law firm KHR Inc (Kekana Hlatshwayo Radebe Attorneys) for over 20 years! A tough job in a tough profession.
I had the privelege of facilitating a Leadership Team Development and Strategic Thinking Retreat for the KHR professional team and in the process see Mrs K (as she is lovingly called by many) as a leader in action. Kevin Cashman defines leadership as authentic self-expression that creates value. With her unique - kind, caring yet firm – leadership style (Blue for those of you who have done SDI), Mrs K has created a workplace in which people love to come to work. She certainly is a role model leader to men and women alike.
Virtual is very convenient but face-to-face is really important
One of the joys of today’s world of work is being able to engage with clients and consultants across the globe. In one of our SA-based projects, we recently collaborated with two other consultants, one in Australia and one in Switzerland. When talking to clients, I often find I have to now remind myself where in the world they actually are :)!
What a joy though, if a client contacts you saying: “Hey, the US-based members of our team are going to be in Cape Town soon, are you available?”. This is what happened at the end of last year with one of our favourite clients, NMNW (https://www.nomeansnoworldwide.org/). We ended up with four Americans and three South Africans in the room.
Even before Covid most of this team’s work was done remotely but everyone marveled at how productive it’s possible to be when you are all gathered in person! In fact, one of my conclusions of 2022 was that, even though virtual is very convenient, face-to-face is so important and effective that companies should be budgeting for ‘on-sites’.
Face-to-face again!
How good to be working with teams face-to-face again! We recently spent time in Gauteng with a fantastic group of senior laboratory specialists who does great work across all the provinces in the country assisting the Department of Health in improving laboratory processes.
Our session was dedicated to strategic planning and one of the tools we used was the SHCC Effectiveness S-Curve, which helped the team quickly assess the current state of the effectiveness of their internal as well as external dimensions. A picture tells a story – and this one allowed for a quick analysis of huge complexity, and then the work could start in a focussed manner.
We also made use of Tom Wujec’s Making Toast (fun but very serious) exercise to guide the team to think systematically about their work and guide their execution going forward. This was followed by a systematic analysis, unpacking and in-depth deliberation regarding executing on their deliverables for the year ahead.
As I always say, the best team building happens when you work and deliberate on that what you keep yourself busy with daily. It certainly was the case for this team, and everyone left refreshed and with great clarity as to how to successfully achieve their goals in 2022!
Here is some of their feedback:
“We should have done this a long time ago, the clarity gained here working with colleagues has been invaluable”;
“Your workshops always leave us feeling as if we can do anything!”
NO MEANS NO! says NO to sexual violence
The reality of the world in 2021 has been that many of our clients needed to adapt to making business and culture work in an online virtual environment (and we have been loving the challenge of helping them do this well). No Means No Worldwide (NMNW), is one of these clients whose members reside across time zones from the West Coast of the USA to the East Coast of Africa in about 8 different countries. Virtual and dispersed is their normal! NMNW works in the prevention of sexual violence and we are privileged to work with them in achieving their mission.
During July we co-designed and co-facilitated a week-long staff retreat on our favourite ‘flatform’ Zoom. With some people just waking up and others in the latter part of their day, energy management was a critical part of this very successful week. So over and above the serious stuff of business alignment (think mission, a set of new values launched, crafting client empathy maps etc) and deliberately building relationships and trust (storytelling and collage sharing) we designed in a lot of FUN (yes in capital letters) throughout the week.
This included things like: a dress theme for each day (a ‘crazy hat’ day or everyone in a NO shirt - see picture below); songs from the Org’s ‘Jam List’ at the start of each session; Zoom backgrounds with your SDI profile (picure above: RQ in action!) or your favourite organisational value; sharing a designated snack during breaktime (for which they got a small budget); and party break-away rooms on the last day (each with their own music!) – and more (!) - which all contributed to a great Retreat, where everyone logged off on day 5 feeling a lot more refreshed and energised.
Here is some of our favourite feedback comments:
“Danie, thank you for your patience throughout this process! You set the tone for everyone else to stay relaxed and respectful.”; “Thank you for organizing a great retreat, keeping us on time, and teaching valuable lessons”; “Thank you for facilitating a team as diverse as this and yet bringing us closer to each other.”; “Thank you and I appreciate you for your humility, wisdom, and for helping our team connect in a deeper and human level beyond professional.”; ”Thank you for your GRIT and staying with us through the forming storming norming and not ignoring the obstacles that we’ve faced. Thank you for your knowledge and attentiveness.”
Relational Intelligence (RQ) accessible and made easy
Relationship and trust lie at the core of organisational success. It is people in relationship, individually and in teams, that achieve organisational goals, often in relationship with other stakeholders (clients, service providers, partners etc). RQ or relational intelligence is the ability to appropriately make behaviour choices so that you are most likely to achieve the desired win-win outcome in each engagement with others.
But how do I know what the best approach will be with my colleague when, surprise surprise, she doesn’t think like me, see things like I do, or behave like me? Her otherness doesn’t make her difficult, it just makes her different to me.
For more than 50 years, SDI has been helping people understand their own Core Strengths and underlying motivation in relationship with others (read more here) – helping us understand why we behave the way we do and how we relate to each other. This clarity helps us build our RQ so that in each relationship interaction we can choose how to communicate with others so as to achieve the best outcome. Recently SDI added technology that makes it even easier to do this.
The Core Strengths App (screenshots above) puts powerful info at your fingertips – like your own profile and what it means as well as the profiles of all your colleagues; plus, it gives you the ability to do a comparison between yourself and someone else and provides a detailed understanding of how each of your colleagues approaches the stages of conflict.
Signing into the webpage gives you the above and even more. Here you can do a three-way comparison of core strengths; see how to approach others best – when things are going well or in conflict.
This includes specific suggestions about how to approach them in meetings; how to message them effectively; how to improve conversations; and what best to avoid.
Imagine a new project team is put together and you are tasked with leading it. No problem! You can gather the whole team’s profiles, see what drives them, and be prepared for how they will deal with conflict. Also, you will be able to see what the team’s Core Strengths are and what some of the Strengths are that might need to be consciously borrowed (RQ) for this team to achieve its goals
If this potential for practically exercising and developing Relational Intelligence excites you as much as it does us, read more about it here and give us a call!
Adapting to new reality
One of the feedback lines we’ve been getting a lot recently (and are really thankful for) goes something like this: When I heard about spending x-hours a day for a week in an online workshop/ retreat/ conference I was really sceptical and negative about it, but it has been so much fun and really energising – it felt like we were actually all in the same room!
Global conference: Strengthening ourselves for working in a changed world
Some clients are like old friends, you might not see them every week but when you do, it’s like you have never been apart. The Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric Aids Foundation is such a client. We love the work EGPAF does and were privileged enough to roll out their global leadership development programme over two cycles a few years ago (of which a participant recently told us “I have to tell you – that LEAD week was the best professional experience I've had.”). So, when we were asked if we could help design and facilitate a global conference for EGPAF’s Communications and Advocacy practice group, we jumped at the opportunity to spend time with old and new friends at a great client.
With the organising committee of Rhoda Igweta and Eric Kilongi (old friends), and Caroline Zinyemba (a new friend), we designed and implemented a week-long conference for 30 people from 10 different countries (!!) with the theme Strengthening ourselves for working in a changed world: connect/ reflect /learn. Over the five days we spent time together focussing on topics that included:
1. Understanding the brain in a VUCA world
2. The impact of Covid change and seeing ourselves & others in it
3. Helping others in change [Change readiness assessment/ Change Cycle/ Conditions of Trauma]
4. Our work is Change: How to (and help our clients to) Think and Think Again [with reference to, Adam Grant’s Think Again]
5. Taking care of ourselves [Arsenal brain health assessment]
This is what some of the participants had to say:
"I liked how the meeting was so engaging. Though it was online, it wasn’t boring at all, there was a lot of energy and learning. I liked the breakaway sessions a lot; a very creative way to engage".
“Often we’re used to just doing and this made us start ‘thinking’ – thinking critically about what’s not working well and how we can help make it better. For a project-based program, often with the donors demanding results, thinking can be hard sometimes. Those awkward moments of silence, but it is very essential. The break-out session allowed people to share and learn, as well as think critically. I am continuing to read your materials and am using them as important resources to press the ‘re-set’ button for my life.“
“I feel satisfied, happy and grateful to have participated in this online conference. I learned several tools to help me handle situations at work and in my personal life. I also met great people virtually at this conference. I think everything at this conference was perfect. Thank you!”
Thankfulness Dividend: Paying forward some of what we have received
One of the highlights of our professional year is one for which we are paid... well, nothing. You can call it CSI or Paying it Forward, but we like to think of it as a Thankfulness Dividend: with thankful hearts giving away some of what God has blessed us with. In collaboration with the Jubilee Education Restitution Initiative (ERI) this is our 4th year of offering this programme with Meg Bruyns from Fully Alive.
This CORE Leadership Development programme (read more about it here) is structured to explore those things that are at the centre of who you are, your happiness and your success. It creates the opportunity for reflecting deeply; challenging oneself courageously, build personal capacity, resilience, and self-awareness.
As always we were blessed by our participants' stories of faith and courage, and inspired by the dreams of making a difference in the world and the lives of others. This master class in personal leadership development is made up of 9 modules covering CORE topics and questions like:
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- Who are you?
- Do you know your strengths, personality and values?
- What are your relationships like, and how could they be better?
- How can understanding neuroscience help you learn and lead better?
- What do you need in place to feel in balance? What does it take for you (and your team) to do your best thinking?
- Can you stop procrastinating and take action? Are you able to manage your own peace and happiness from moment to moment?
- Our world is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous; how are you dealing with it?
- What is your purpose? Do you know what you are here for?
Every time we run this workshop, we are struck by how each participant feels a tug towards a calling or unique purpose that makes a difference in others’ lives … and each time this fuels our hope for our nation and continent.
Here is some of the feedback we have received:
'I have to thank you very much for the opportunity, your kindness. May God bless your heart and expand your work, it's something new and better than the norms. People need something fresh like this in their lives to shape their future.'
'I would recommend the workshop to anybody – it was very inspiring to me. It gave me more hope and inspiration for the future. Just to know that there is something special inside of each and every one of us, doesn't matter your past.
'I found the workshop very interesting. It taught me that the only thing stopping you is yourself; and the motivation for getting your passion in life; and hearing other people's stories making you feel not alone and want to open up more and let loose.'
'For me personally, it did me very well spiritually and mentally. Just to get to talk about your past story and knowing there are actually people that understand where you are coming from. And for me, the highlight was: don't let your past determine your future. There's always something worth living for.’
‘.. the workshop was a game-changer for me. I need to open my eyes and go back to the drawing board, it was enlightening for me.'
And this is feedback recently received from one of our first attendees: 'Thank you so much for this programme. I did it 3 years ago and it has been very beneficial not only to my academic life but linking my goal and aspirations with God. It has really helped me so much. And now that my goals are specific to me as an individual, I move with more purpose and it feels good that God is on my side.'
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This Core Personal Leadership development programme is also available in modular form online/ virtually. Send us a mail if it is something your organisation might be interested in. The strain of Covid in 2021 might be the perfect backdrop to investment into your leadership cadre.
Belbin Team Roles accreditation added to our team development offering
Strategic Human Capital Consulting recently added the Belbin Team Roles assessment to its already world-class bouquet of team-building, team-development and team-effectiveness tools.
The Belbin Team Role Inventory is a way to identify the natural roles that individuals typically play in a team context. There are nine clusters of behaviours that were identified by Dr Meredith Belbin and his team over 30 years, and each team needs access to each of the nine Belbin Team Role behaviours to become a high performing team. You can read a summary of the nine roles types here.
Most individuals will have two or three Belbin Team Roles that they are most comfortable with, and these can change over time. Each Belbin Team Role has strengths and weaknesses, and each Team Role has equal importance!
Let us know if you want to know more.
Team effectiveness & team building sessions during lockdown
2020 will forever be a red-letter year, for all the wrong reasons. Here's some of what we've been busy with during lockdown.
Across South Africa
A team effectiveness session booked for February was first postponed and then reinvented... The new workshop venue was Zoom and multiple screens; the attendance register a photo!
With a team of 18 dispersed across the country, getting together pre-Covid meant at least nine of the group would have had to fly to a central venue, but lockdown restrictions meant that everyone stayed home and safe… and the client saved a lot of money!
Everyone enjoyed getting together, perhaps even more so, now that spending time with teammates is much more difficult.
This is what participants had to say about the workshop format:
- I enjoyed the platform and really saw that virtual sessions are the new normal - it works better and reduces cost.
- I enjoyed this online workshop; it was an amazing first-time experience.
- The workshop was nicely done and well prepared, it really didn’t feel like an online session… it was honestly well-constructed.
And some other comments:
- I really loved the interactive session; Information and experience sharing; Knowledge sharing and mind-opening; Practical to our work environment and the situations we face daily.
- I had fun while learning!
- I enjoyed the freedom of expression that the facilitator gave to all of us. I also enjoyed the emotional connection amongst everyone in my room (Coach/Coachee/Observer sessions) that was beautiful.
Across Two Continents
Doing team building workshops online certainly challenges one to be creative and think out of the box. We’ve enjoyed working out ways to ensure our workshops continue to be engaging and include relevant group work, ways to practice skills, and collaborative exercises.
With the help of mural.co and other tools it is possible to do fun things like, interactively plot where you sit in the world. Or explore new ways of doing exercises that we would usually have done with physical pieces of paper on a wall.
In this one, as part of a team development session, team members logged on to the same page and, in real-time, through a process of continuing rounds, identified the strengths that are most critical for them to achieve as a team.
It has been wonderful to see people really enjoying learning and engaging with one another and the material in the online environment!
Team Coaching for optimal team effectiveness
Our team effectiveness sessions are collaboratively co-designed and customised to work on a team’s most pressing actual challenges and ensure they leave equipped with immediately implementable solutions.
The structure we use integrates elements of Team Learning, Team Facilitation, Team Building and Team Training. We provide the models, frameworks and structure, and the team provides the thinking, the challenges and many of the answers to their own challenges. We stay true to the principle that ‘the mind that holds the problem most often holds the solution to it’ and we structure and facilitate the sessions so that teams often come up with solutions to the challenges themselves.
In the process, participants learn and practise ways of being and doing so they feel competent to go and implement these right away. For example, after three rounds of coaching in which every person has the chance to play the role of coach (applying the model introduced); experience being coached in terms of the same model; and observe a coaching process – participants have seen and experienced the benefits of the process and are competent and confident to go and apply it back at the office.
We borrow from a broad range of modalities to create the best possible interactive learning experience. These include things such as: models and frameworks of thought leaders like Daniel Kim, Brené Brown, and Etsko Schuitema; the neurosciences; Nancy Kline's thinking environment principles; the business model canvas; EQi2.0 emotional intelligence assessment; the change cycle; and conflict competence tools.
Here is some feedback from the fantastic teams we engaged with recently:
‘What I really appreciated about the workshop is that it was informative in terms of assisting me in performing my work in a more effective manner. It also assisted me in dealing with people who are resistant to change and how to overcome that challenge. The biggest impact for me is team effectiveness and focusing more on coaching during our support visits.’
‘The workshop really equipped me with the necessary tools that I was not aware I was lacking.’
‘The session was eye-opening, informative and interesting. I learnt a lot of coaching and mentoring strategies. I feel more prepared to kick off and face all those challenges and break those hard-to-break walls.’
‘Overall the workshop was well structured and informative. I highly appreciate how it was facilitated with lots of peer interactions and engagement. This allowed for information sharing , including the challenges we face in facilities moving forward. The models learnt during the workshop, are relevant to us, and will be deployed to make our work more effective /easier.’
‘The biggest impact was the coach/coachee/observer session: it teaches you how to tap into someone else’s struggle/dilemma and let them come up with the solution by following a step-by-step process of questioning.'
Musicworks - being the change we all want to see!
We are very excited that Music Works, one of the not for profit entities that SHCC supports, has been recognised for the incredible work they have been doing over many years.
Using the power of music, Sunelle Fouché and her team partner with marginalised communities to unlock creativity, and bring care and healing to young people and children.
Last week Music Works came out tops at the Community Chest Impumelelo Social Innovations Awards 2019, winning the category Social Innovator in Culture and Arts for their programme Music For Life. Well done Music Works for being the change we all want to see!
Masterclass in Personal Leadership Development
We recently spent two days in Cape Town with a group of inspiring young adults looking to grow as leaders. Together they embarked on a self-leadership journey that focuses on equipping and empowering participants through teaching skills, tools and models and offering action learning opportunities to practise these.
During this master class in personal leadership development these young leaders amongst others listened to each other’s stories (personal mastery); worked at fleshing out their individual purposes (purpose mastery); learnt ways to focus on the right things (action mastery); were challenged and equipped to be intentional about relationships (relationship mastery); were empowered to cope with change (change mastery) and deal better with stress (being mastery); and much more…
Here is some of the feedback we have received:
‘I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the time and energy you put into our leadership course. It really was an eye opening experience that has stirred my passions and equipped me in ways I didn't know I even needed equipping. I am eternally grateful to you both.’
‘The workshop is challenging and gets you out of your comfort zone. It is for everyone, age doesn't matter. I've been encouraged by it and I still find myself thinking back to the sessions.’
‘I would highly recommend it to others. I think just being given the time and space to sit and really work through where we are at, is not something one would put aside a substantial amount of time for otherwise. It allowed me the time and space to really open my heart to God and let the desires of my heart be known, in a space where this was encouraged.’
‘I also loved the exercise where we had to list the practices for acute and sustaining phases of stress management. It allowed me to identify that whilst I have sustaining phase practices, there are very few go-to practices I have in acute moments of stress. This helped me really focus on these which has changed the way I interact with others and my environment.’
‘I like the breaking up in groups sessions, sharing in pairs, the discussions. I like being involved and not just "listening".’
‘The workshop is already really impactful. I loved the quotes for each section and the video aids.’
Modular leadership programmes for optimal learning
Strategic Human Capital Consulting specialises in customising modular leadership development programmes to suit our clients’ industry-specific needs and realities. Here we are with a group of leaders who have just completed a three-module programme implemented over a 6-month period.
For this client the three modules involved:
1) personal leadership development covering topics like: self-awareness; how the brain learns; how to engage others for optimal thinking; my personality, my values & my EQ
2) leading others one-on-one and in teams covering topics like: contracting, delegation and holding others accountable; motivating and growing others; and conflict management
3) how to lead in a VUCA world (Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous) including topics like change; complexity and systems thinking; customer focus and action mastery.
The programme was further supported by: a) An MBTI type preference-based personality assessment b) The EQ-i2.0 Emotional Intelligence Assessment c) A 360-degree review for input from others.
Some of the participants had this to say about the programme:
‘I enjoyed the programme immensely as it helped me in my personal growth in becoming a better leader and a better person. It also allowed me to think out of the box especially when dealing with those I lead and those that see me as a leader.’
‘The manner in which the programme is packaged and delivered is exceptional. The facilitator was able to do a step wise process, taking me from being an average employee to an aspiring manager, then to leadership in all of its aspects.’
‘I like the spaces between the modules as they gave me time to internalize the work done in the previous module.’
‘The atmosphere makes it easy to learn since the facilitator is flexible and knowledgeable.’
‘The techniques taught through all the modules are very practical and some are yielding positive results in both my professional and personal life.’
Sharpening the saw
I think it’s Stephen Covey who told the story about the woodcutter that kept sawing trees, on and on he went, working harder and harder. He eventually complained to a friend that he was working harder every day but not making more progress. “Have you sharpened your saw?”, the friend asked. “Sharpen my saw?! I don’t have time for that, I have too much work to do!” the forester answered.
For knowledge workers it is just as important to make time to sharpen our saws… learn. I recently read that people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet spend at least 5 hours a week reading, i.e. learning. As part of practicing what we preach, Danie has taken part in two very different learning journeys in the last couple of months, and in both instances had the privilege of learning from some exceptional people.
Revisiting the start of it all
One could argue that the seeds for Strategic Human Capital Consulting were planted somewhere back in 2001 while doing an MBA at UCT - and one of the key influencers of that journey was our Change Management lecturer Hélène Smit. Already an expert then, Hélène has devoted most of her professional life to the field of Depth Facilitation. Having authored a number of acclaimed books on the topic
(e.g. The Depth Facilitator's Handbook: Transforming Group Dynamics), she can without a doubt be called the expert in her field in South Africa. But not only is she an authority, she has the master teacher’s ability to convey extremely complex material in a simple and digestible format. So, for four intensive days Danie was lucky enough to attend a Depth Facilitation Intensive course with a fantastic group of people - with Hélène generously sharing from her treasure chest of wisdom on the topic.
So, what is Depth Facilitation, and what is its role and place? In any facilitation there is a ‘surface process’ taking place. The team wants to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’ and the role of the facilitator is to facilitate the process of them getting there. The process on the surface is that of a team engaging, thinking, working, moving from A towards B; and the facilitator might use a number of models or process facilitation techniques to assist with this. However, everyone who has participated in such a process would know that things sometimes get ‘derailed’. Perhaps conflict erupts between individuals or sub groups; the team gets stuck and just can’t make headway; some team members seem to continuously undermine progress etc.
Based on the work of Jung, Freud, Mindell and others, Depth Psychology says these things happen because there is an underlying depth process going on – something under the surface. Just as we as individuals have subconscious stories, histories and processes that influence our actions from day to day (e.g. you hated broccoli as a child but were forced to eat it and somehow you still today have a physical reaction if you even so much as see broccoli!), so the collective of a team or group has its own subconscious stories, history and processes – either those of individuals intersecting, or based on the team’s own history. If it becomes apparent that the depth process is holding the group back from making progress in what they want to achieve (the surface process), Depth Facilitation is about carefully and skillfully guiding the group to understand and deal with the underlying depth process, to enable the surface process to progress.
Is your team maybe getting stuck or derailed by conflict that you dont quite understand? Let us know if you want to know more.
Learning from arguably the world’s most famous leader ever
Life Work Leadership is a leadership development programme that originated in the USA and that guides leaders along the example of the biblical Jesus. Topics covered include the role in leadership of characteristics like: Legacy, Courage, Humility, Compassion, Integrity and Generosity. Duncan Theron of Grayswan Investments spearheaded the first roll out in Cape Town, which we attended.
During these three one day sessions, we had the privilege of hearing some of the personal leadership stories and wisdom of influential South African leaders like Boshoff Grobler from Ashburton Investments, Graham Power from Unashamedly Ethical and Jan Nel from Equip.
Held at the wonderful Lourensford Wine Estate, each day ended with a social activity like wine or craft beer tasting. On the last day, under the guidance of the local winemaker Timothy Witbooi, we participated in a wine blending competition. After all was said and done the winemaker announced the team to the left as the winners! I have to confess that my participation was mostly in the form of encouragement – but every team needs that too!
Giving back... investing in the next generation
For the second year in a row, we recently offered a two-day Personal Leadership Development workshop (on a pro bono basis**) for a group of 20-to 30-something young South Africans. Presented in collaboration with the Jubilee Education Restitution Initiative (ERI) and Meg Bruyns from Fully Alive, this is certainly a highlight of our year!
Here is what some of our participant had to say:
“Highly highly recommended! I really feel that this workshop gave me tools to manage myself and different areas of my life in a very practical way. I really wish they taught this kind of thing during life orientation or in the first year of university, because it's absolutely essential. I literally felt like someone handed me a "How to Really Live, for Dummies" manual, and I love it!”
“Words cannot express how much this workshop has impacted my way of thinking and interacting to those around me, you provisioned a space for me to be vulnerable, for my story to be heard, and the potential I have to make some sort of difference to those around me and to the people I met going forward. It was truly therapeutic.”
“Thank you so much for the life changing work that you do. It is incredibly helpful and invaluable. I am so so excited to try out these models and what I have learned. And I feel really empowered going into the workplace to be someone who listens to their clients :)”
**As privileged South Africans this is one of the ways in which Strategic Human Capital Consulting gives back. If you are unsure what "privilege" means read some of Verashni Pillay’s articles on the topic.
Expanding our footprint into the beautiful Namibia
Over the last few months we have spent some time with a new client ErongoRed, which has taken us to Namibia and given us the opportunity to meet fantastic people and explore wonderful places in Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Omaruru etc.
ErongoRed is an organisation that has already realised the importance of culture and people in their success. Strategic Human Capital Consulting, as Barrett Values Centre level 2 accredited consultants, did an organisational culture/ values assessment, which was followed by focus group conversations with all employees across the region where they work.
The aim of these were not only to feed back the results to the employees but also to gather strategic level insights from employees on what the results actually mean. This added critical information that will help guide leadership in implementing the right People and Culture strategies for the next decade and beyond.
And as you can see, we made time for exploring the wonderful natural beauty along the way. These are pictures from the top of the majestic Dune 7 outside of Walvis Bay! Quite a climb but so worth it. As my Dad used to say: "you get the best vistas from climbing the highest mountains in life
Starting with a Bang!
In a post below we spoke about how an up and coming younger generation gives us hope and make us positive about the future of the South African nation, and how positive has the year started for us as a nation - an answer to many prayers! It certainly feels like a new dawn and although there is still LOTS of hard work ahead for all of us all, we are a resilient nation that is up to it!
At Strategic Human Capital Consulting our year has similarly started positively and with a bang. By the end of February we had already worked in Durban, Centurion, Swakopmund, Port Elizabeth, Omaruru, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Walvis Bay etc. phew...!
The first set of pictures shows the SHCC Team Effectiveness S-curve helping yet another team quickly identify what the real issues are that needs attention in order for the team to operate optimally and effectively as a team. In this case it was for our friends at SEAD Consulting.
The second set of pictures shows us with one of the regional teams of JTI. We have been working extensively with the JTI executive leadership and this has extended into doing an organisational values assessment.
As a global company with a footprint throughout South Africa we got to meet the wonderful people of this organisation in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, the Magaliesberg and Johannesburg and gathered deep strategic level insightsinto how employees from different regions experience the orgnaisation and its culture.
Hope for our Nation in an upcoming generation!
If you want to be positive about the future of the South African nation, spend some time working with its up and coming generations!
In collaboration with the Jubilee Education Restitution Initiative (ERI) and Meg Bruyns from Fully Alive we recently offered a two-day Personal Leadership Development workshop for a group of 20-to 30-something young South Africans. What an inspiration they are!
In preparation of the workshop each participant completed an assessment from Career Direct with feedback skilfully facilitated by Meg. This assessment provided the participants with insight into their: Personality; General interests; Skills and abilities; and Personal Values.
The jam-packed workshop based on the Mastery framework developed by Kevin Cashman included:
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- Self-awareness - so that we can effectively lead ourselves, and thus others;
- Tools and self-knowledge for managing change;
- Communication and listening skills for better relationships;
- A better understanding of EQ and social intelligence;
- Tools for exploring, concretising and moving closer to our personal purpose;
- Guidance on living a balanced life;
- Managing stress and contentedness;
- Tools for moving into action and stopping procrastinating.
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As always with this workshop, a highlight was hearing participants plans and dreams through sharing their 80th Birthday speeches, Eulogy’s or Mission Statements, whichever they chose. What an inspiration to hear these young leaders courageously share the way they hope to impact the lives of those around them, this nation, and the world!
There is a constant sense of genuine care and support throughout this whole process, so one never feels alone. I also felt encouraged and never forced to share my mind, which is what I had feared the most. Also, all the material both in the workbook provided and during the workshop is well-explained making it very applicable to everyday life. There is something for everyone. It is such a valuable growing experience.”
“The Mission Statement and Storytelling exercises both required deep reflection and challenged me to be bold enough to dream God’s dreams for myself and then have the courage to share that with others. It also allowed an opportunity to hear about the dreams and aspirations of others. This gave such an incredible insight into who a person is and what their journey has been like. It is also a celebration of how different God has created each of us to be and how much beauty there is in that difference.”
“Thank you so much for the wonderful workshop that you guys took us through. It was such an incredible time of learning and unlearning. I am really thankful for how much difference it has made in my own life, things have become so much clearer, I know exactly now things that i needed to improve…"
"I would definitely recommend it, simply because I feel like there are so many practical small steps that were taught at the workshop that could be helpful to anyone who needs guidance and is in their journey of trying to understand who God made them to be."
Building Team Effectiveness
We continue to value our exposure to the Public Health sector and the privilege of working with women and men dedicated to making a difference to the health and lives of the poorest in the country.
When working with teams SHCCs aim is to:
* Produce work that can compare with the best globally
* Have a lot of fun while ensuring deep personal growth and learning
* Create a safe environment where teams can build trust and have conversations about the real issues that need to be addressed to perform optimally.
This is some of the feedback that we got from this lovely team:
“I really appreciate the execution and level of preparation that was put into this training. The workshop is inclusive to all team members, allows for interaction, sharing and activates thinking. It enlightened me on understanding the impact of inclusive planning for a team or organisation.”
“I enjoyed the coaching exercise and practically using the tool in resolving real work challenges. Thank you so much for bringing the best out of us. Surely this will improve the staff performance and relationships with the clients”
“The workshop was well prepared and excellently delivered. Very empowering and informative.”
Working with more amazing South Africans
Last week we had the privilege of spending time with a team of healthcare professionals in East London who serve marginalised communities by looking at quality assurance at healthcare facilities in the rural Eastern Cape. These women often work under difficult conditions to help clinics provide a better service to TB and HIV patients in their communities.
At SHCC we believe that trust is the thread with which you weave together human relationships - and teams. An important way to build that trust is through really getting to know each other. So as part of doing Team Effectiveness work, one of the privileges we have is hearing people tell their stories. Stories of success and failure, heartache and joy. Stories of achievement despite often the most difficult of obstacles... stories told not as those seeking sympathy but as tenacious self-driven achievers.
To all our clients whose stories we have been privileged to hear: thank you – for your courage, for what we have learnt from you, and for how you have enabled others to see your heart.
Justice Conference South Africa
In March 2017 Danie and Elaine attended the Justice Conference in Cape Town - a platform for the Faith and Social Justice Community, hosted in countries across the globe.
The Justice conference aimed to spark a conversation about the ways our faith influences our being just and our doing of justice and to feed into a robust theological and social justice dialogue in South Africa.
We left feeling challenged and motivated to make a difference in our beloved country.
Capacitating others who do great work
One of the aspects of our work that we truly appreciate is the opportunity to invest in others who serve marginalised communities.
We recently had the opportunity to work with this team of Laboratory Technologists, who work in rural areas in the Eastern Cape and KZN, consulting to health clinics to help them be better in the service they provide to TB and HIV patients in their communities.
Our two days together with the team of SEAD stars were spent amongst others building their coaching skills; helping them understand the motivations of different personality types; as well as their own strenghts and overdone strengths and how these might impact the effectiveness of their workplace relationships.
Until no child has AIDS
We continue to be proudly associated with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and the wonderful work they are doing – their mission is powerful and clear: Until no child has AIDS (see www.pedaids.org)!
Strategic Human Capital Consulting has designed and implemented EGPAF’s year-long Global Leadership Development Program, which is now in its second intake. This intake kicked off in Nairobi with a wonderful 6 day workshop that saw leaders from more than 13 countries involved in a vibrant learning experience.
Those that attended will continue their leadership journey as they engage in various Action Learning Projects and receive individual coaching from us.
Read more about the program.
EQi2.0 Emotional Intelligence workshops: Soft skills are the hard skills
This is some of the participant feedback SHCC received from recent EQi2.0 Emotional Intelligence workshops we conducted:
“This was eye opening. In our day-to-day activities it will help us understand ourselves better and to create better working relationships in the facilities we visit. The training is superb. I think it should be extended to the people whom we support as well.”
“It has opened my eyes to know my emotions, this will help me build solid relationships with my facilities and with understanding others’ emotions and acting accordingly”
“The engagement was very positive. The training was practical and easy too understand. EQ will assist me to work more productively with colleagues and team members”
“This will help me with my approach to the many challenges that I face on a daily basis and has improved my people skills.”
“The training was perfect. The whole team was involved and there was never a wrong answer – so it was perfect.”
“I enjoyed the whole training, it gives me strength to do my job professionally and understand people out there in the facilities.”
“I enjoyed the time to reflect on the significance of relationships in work and how this is the wellspring of all activities”
Now accredited in EQi2.0 and EQi360 Emotional Intelligence assessments
Strategic Human Capital Consulting has recently added an accreditation for the Emotional Intellgence Assessment EQi2.0 and EQi 360.
The EQi 2.0 is broken down into five composite scales [Self-Perception, Self-Expression, Interpersonal, Decision Making and Stress Management] which in turn are broken down into 3 subscales each.
The data provided in the workplace report focuses on the impact of emotional intelligence at work and offers suggestions for working more effectively with colleagues, supervisors and clients.
SHCC has been offering EQ assessment for a long time but we decided to add the EQi2.0 and EQi 360 as this tool is globally rated as one of the most scientifically validated Emotional Intelligence instruments - in addition it is normed in South Africa.
Modularised leadership development programme
We were recently asked to develop a modularised leadership development programme for SEAD Consulting. It was decided that this approach would best fit SEAD's organisational reality and ensure quality learning.
Here we are busy with module one, which focused on personal leadership development - with participants sharing their personal and leadership journeys. Module two and three focus on relational leadership and strategic leadership respectively.
Certified as a Time to Think facilitator
After some months of learning and engaging under the wise guidance of Maryse Barak (right), Danie qualified as Time to Think Facilitator.
What a fantastic privilege to receive the certificate from Nancy Kline (left), the brain heart and drive behind Time to Think and the Thinking Environment principles..
Facilitating a leadership retreat for the Fhi360 leadership team
We were recently asked to design and facilitate a leadership development retreat for the fantastic leadership team at Fhi360 South Africa. If you want to learn more about the life changing work they are doing have a look at their website here.
As with all our programmes, the three days we spent together were custom designed with input from the team.
In a vibrantly interactive manner with lots of action learning, we covered topics like: self-awareness; team effectiveness; managing and leading others effectively through clear contracting, delegation and holding people accountable. We also looked at personality types, how to deal with conflict, and strengths profiles using the SDI (Strength Deployment Inventory) set of relationship awareness tool.
How to deal with conflict effectively article in FinWeek
We recently had our article on building conflict cometence in the workplace titled "How to deal effectively with conflict", published in the FinWeek English and Afrikaans editions.
This article was initially written for the University of Stellenbosch Executive Education (USB ED) internal publicaiton as "Conflict Incompetent since Adam and Eve".
Read the whole article in English here and in Afrikaans here.
Letting Sophiatown in at the SEAD annual conference
We recently had the opportunity again to facilitate a team building session for the wonderful people from SEAD Consulting at their annual conference.
Led by Dr Tim Tucker and Dr Peter Manyike, SEAD (Strategic Evaluation, Advisory & Development Consulting) is a boutique health-focused management consultancy, specialising in the areas of: health strategy, health programmes, strategic information & M&E.In the area of health programmes SEAD does fantastic work on three CDC/PEPFAR-funded projects to improve HIV and TB clinical care and to support health care worker capacity. They do this through, among others, building capacity in the functions of pharmacy, laboratory and M&E on a district level.After a long year there was also time to relax! The theme of the Thursday night dinner was Sophiatown. With the ladies impeccably dressed and the men looking very cool one felt transported back in time. Much fun was had by all.
Read more about SEAD.
Global leadership development program for NGO represented in 12 African countries
Over the last number of months Strategic Human Capital Consulting has been hard at work with the development and implementation of a Global Leadership Development Programme for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF).
We are extremely proud to be associated with EGPAF, the global leader in the fight to end AIDS in children. EGPAF has programmes in 12 countries in Africa and has provided 20 million women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies (www.pedaids.org). As part of the year long programme we recently welcomed EGPAF leaders from 13 countries for a 4,5 day workshop in Johannesburg, an experience that some participants described as “life changing”.
The following extract comes from the report which was written by Andrew Moir, EGPAF International HR Director and published on their intranet: “With the inspirational leadership and facilitation of our program partners ... from Strategic Human Capital Consulting, participants stretched and challenged themselves through 4 ½ days of intensive interaction, working individually and in groups, to begin their own unique leadership journey."
Leading SA law firm attends Learning Leaders Level 1 leadership development workshop
Built up over 5-decades, Gildenhuys Malatji Incorporated (GMI) is a truly South African law firm that represents the demographic diversity of the South African miracle. Lead by one of the country’s foremost legal brains, Tebogo Malatji, GMI understands that the personal development and well–being of their lawyers are critical contributors to their continued high performance and industry leadership. (www.gminc.co.za)
We spent three days in July with some of GMI’s up and coming stars in an SHCC Learning Leaders Level 1 workshop. Together we explored personal growth and development towards mastery across seven critical areas of life, namely: self awareness & authenticity, purpose, change, relationship, balance, being and taking action.
Feedback was consistent: that what the participants had learned will help them be better legal practitioners and included: “Thank you for inspiring me to change my life!! I’m looking forward to the rest of my life, knowing myself better”.
Read more about LLL1 here.
Series of SDI team development workshops
We recently ran a series of SDI Team Development workshops for a long standing client SEAD Consulting. SEAD is a health-focused management consultancy, specialising in the areas of: health strategy; health programmes; strategic information & M&E (www.sead.co.za). With many employees spending time on the road supporting health clinics across South Africa with technical assistance (TA), holding on to a sense of team and cohesiveness is not always easy but it something SEAD wants to do well.
The SDI relationship awareness personality assessment was used as the basis for a 1-1,5 day team development workshop that not only empowered teams to work better together but also facilitated a deeper understanding of how they can deliver TA more effectively to all the different personality types they encounter day to day.
Feedback comments included: “The workshop was great... it clearly outlines my personality and it will impact the way I look at things in private and at work. It will improve my approach to conflict at all times”.
Read more about SDI here.
Facilitating a discussion on inter-generational challenges in the workplace
In collaboration with Studio 41 (www.zavick.com) Danie Eksteen, Lead Consultant at Strategic Human Capital Consulting facilitated a discussion on the challenges of inter-generational diversity in the workplace.
Today’s businesses are made up of four distinct generations each with its own shared history, common biases and core beliefs. Understanding better who makes up these generations, what makes them tick, and how they operate optimally will help you optimise your business and other relationships.
With the help of a Cam Marston video a vibrant discussion was had about how to optimally cater for the four generations in the workplace. The session covered how to:
- Communicate more effectively.
- Motivate, coach, hire and retain employees of different generations.
- Create and sustain better teams.
- Help reduce stress in the workplace and create more enjoyable cross-generational relationships.
Attending the Barret Values Centre annual global conference
Our accreditation with the Barrett Values Centre and association with their global network of consultants continues to be one of our most valued relationships and contribute to the way we see and position the work we do.
We recently attended the Barrett Values Centre annual global conference, which this year was held in our beautiful city of Cape Town. The conference provided a fantastic opportunity to meet up and share ideas with colleagues in the global network and listen to, amongst others, Ahmed El Nashar and Marwa Farouq Al-Hefnawi, two Egyptian CTT consultants, who gave a first-hand account of the recent Egyptian revolution and the values that drove that process.
Impressive young business owner Emanuel Arruda explained how, in just 6 years, he and his partner have built League Financial Partners (http://league.ca/) into a US$1,2 billion business, based on values and creating multi-generational sustainable value for all its stakeholders.
Without a doubt the presentation that we found the most insightful and impactful was that of Raj Sisodia, co-author of the book Firms of Endearment (www.firmsofendearment.com) and a key global driver of the Conscious Capitalism movement (http://consciouscapitalism.org). Raj described how conscious capitalism is an emerging paradigm that involves delivering multiple kinds of value and wellbeing for all its stakeholders. Expect to hear more from us about Raj’s work, but for the moment suffice to say that we found both huge affirmation for the work Strategic Human Capital Consulting does, the way we do it, and in a sense a philosophical home for our belief that changing the way people are treated in business is a critical pillar for changing capitalism and changing the world.
Discussion about our newsletter on the role of spirituality in the workplace
There is a great discussion around this Newsletter that you can follow, and take part in, at the LinkedIn Organisational Development Network Group at http://tinyurl.com/cat9s33
Another Leadership Level 1 for BandWidthBarn's VeloCITI Y prgramme
Some of the most fulfilling work we do is walking the journey of personal growth and development with individual leaders. This is enabled through our Learning Leaders Level 1 leadership development programme which challenges individuals to be authentic and on purpose from ‘the inside out’.
One of the very special groups that we are privileged to work with is the young and talented diverse group of bright minds that the BandWidth Barn’s Velociti Y programme attracts. Asking how the workshop might have impacted on their journey as entrepreneur one attendee commented:
“I have effective tools plus a methodology I can apply. I also feel inspired to excel and trespass on my own boundaries". Another commented that: “It was extremely eye opening and made me rethink the person I have become and compare it to the person I forgot I wanted to be.” Powerful stuff!
Accredited Providers of the Strenght Deployment Inventory Assessment tools
Strategic Human Capital Consulting is now a certified provider of the world renowned and widely used Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) Assessment tools.
Helping incubate the next generation of IT Entrepreneurs
Some exciting news is the establishing of an 18-month collaboration between Strategic Human Capital Consulting and BandWidth Barn, the Cape Town-based information and communications technology business incubator.
BandWidth Barn’s Velociti Y programme is a 3-month part time development course for aspiring internet enabled entrepreneurs and is sponsored by the Provincial Government Western Cape. As part of this we spent three days in September taking an exciting group of some of SA’s brightest young entrepreneurs through our Learning Leaders Level 1 workshop, confronting them at an early stage of their journeys with questions like: who am I, where am I going, why am I going there?
Here are some of the comments from those who took part:
"I am going back to work again after these three days feeling better prepared to change the future.”
“What I enjoyed most about the workshop? The preparation that has clearly gone into it; the way everyone was encouraged to participate in the discussions; the great life lessons held within each session; and how diverse and unique everyone was shown to be.”
“The workshop has given me a clear and usable set of tools that I can put into practice, to be ... more effective in my life and in what I do, and that I can use every day to day.”
“I really enjoyed the way discussion was encouraged, and the sense of safety. It also felt like the facilitator was really listening and helping us from a guidance angle rather than dictating [what should be done]. They should teach this at school! Thank you!”
“Good job! Thank you very much Danie, it was fabulous, man – never had a session like this in my life before. I feel like this is all I’ve ever needed!”
“What did I enjoy most about this workshop? It’s so difficult to answer this; the amount of joy from this workshop – no amount of words can describe it – it ‘rocks’. Thank you for your patience and understanding all of us as a team.”
"Thank you for the professionalism, energy and devotion you have put into this, it is really appreciated.”
** If you are an entrepreneur and would like to find out more about the Velociti Y programme check out BandWidth Barn’s website – www.bandwidthbarn.org – the next intake is in early 2012!
Latest case study
Learning from experts in the Netherlands
A “sharpening the saw” investment took Danie to the Netherlands for six days late in 2010, where he attended a small group workshop with one of the foremost European experts, trainers and coaches in the strategic human capital field.
The group included the chairperson of the French Chapter of the International Coaching Federation, a senior Dutch OD practitioner and a Dutch Industrial Psychologist.
Danie was asked to be the ‘guinea pig’ and receive coaching feedback on the results of his personal Leadership Values Assessment in front of the others attending the workshop. “What would be the worst thing that can come out of this Assessment?” the Coach asked when he started the session? “If there was a lack of congruency between what I believe in and who others see me to be. If I am to be successful in what I do, and what I challenge others to do/be, I have to live a life of integrity between my values and what others experience these as.”
Danie felt enormously encouraged to find a huge amount of congruency between his and others' responses and that the feedback showed that he has made good progress in his personal development as leader in his field.
Attached is the values plot comparison between Danie's responses and what the 15 assessors said. The overall learning process was invaluable.
If you want to know more about the Leadership Values Assessment process please send us a mail.
Team development
In September we spent two full days with the current Rand Merchant Bank Class Of programme. On day one we facilitated a discussion around their strategy for the year to come and for day two custom designed a team development day to challenge them (as per the client's brief).
Despite a few late nights in succession the strategy session proved valuable and enabled new paradigms. Then came the competition and a cold rainy day did not detract from the spirit of this group. Excitement was high as participants searched for clues in a COLD Kirstenbosch gardens. The brain teasing, individual challenging and team building day continued via Houtbay (where we stopped for lunch), and on to an adventure centre outside of Scarborough - paper survival challenges en route kept up the pace - and a grand finale of abseiling in the most atrocious possible wintry Cape Town conditions in Silvermine. Amongst a team that believed they didn’t have 'finishers' a group of five chose to brave it and persevere to the end - the personal reward was huge: this is one they will tell their grandchildren about.
The gorgeous Monkey Valley Hotel was home for the last night and an appropriate venue to end two amazing days. It was already clear that this was a different team from the one we had met just a
day ago.
This was the feedback from one of our participants a couple of days later: "Thank you for organizing an enjoyable weekend, it was fun and we learnt a great deal about ourselves too. We had our first meeting yesterday, and I am pleased to state that we managed to get through everything we needed in the time allotted (an hour), had an agenda and managed to finish 15 minutes early without leaving anything unsaid or unnecessary discussions. I think we are starting to respect each other’s opinions and are less concerned with whose idea it is. I am looking forward to our projects once more."
"You always say you don’t do team building...” I was asked afterward by a friend. "We don’t if the aim is entertainment", I said, "but we do if what we do ultimately contributes to and enables the achieving of organisational strategy and the real investment in human capital."
Accredited Providers of the Barrett Values Centre Assessment tools
Strategic Human Capital Consulting is now a certified provider of the world renowned and widely used Barrett Values Centre Assessment tools. See the site for more info or contact us if you are interested in finding out how this enables us to help you achieve your business objectives.