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Impatience and your personal leadership brand
It’s helpful for leaders to be impatient. Impatient leaders take more initiative. They get the job done faster. They’re passionate and innovative problem-solvers. They make quick decisions. They’re productive, and they infuse energy and urgency into the organisation. Amongst many other things,...
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Three key questions for new clients
When interviewing a prospective client, or working with a new one, there are three key questions which make or break the outcome of your work together. Getting into your client’s...
Avoid these meeting pitfalls
Want to make a quick, positive impact? Go to a meeting. It’s an easy platform to give value and one of the most effective ways to boost your personal brand. Meetings give you the...
What’s YOUR issue? You know you have one…
Having coffee with a friend the other day I remarked on another friend’s political rant, my cousin’s sensitivity to gender stereotyping, a teacher’s vehement feminism, a...
Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.
I have two teenage boys at home – one my own, and one whose mother has courageously sent him halfway across the world to live with a stranger. A third teenager (mine) is homesick...
State of bondage
It’s increasingly my belief that our purpose in life consists of only two things: To see who we are, To have the courage to be it. Everything else is bondage.
The Bad Side of Good
My brother was the rebel. From failing school, to smoking dope in his bedroom ("They're Camel mom, that's why they smell funny") to having a secret weekend flat in Hillbrow (at...
Here’s to cheering you on!
Think of this as your permission slip. If you’ve been waffling, faffing or generally procrastinating, now’s the time to hop off the fence. If your truth has been on pause for too...
How to win at pool
About 60 million years ago, when I was 29, I was rocking it with one hand in the pocket of my brand new Diesel jeans, the other dexterously holding an...
Don’t be kak. Be lekker.
So last night - as I was sad-movie-sobbing into my smoked strawberry salad, watching as the tears plopped into the arugula and wondering (as if in the mind of a different person)...
Body clever ways to build Personal Presence
Did you know you can build personal presence just by tuning into your body? Use posture to focus your thoughts. Put your feel flat on the ground, lengthen your spine and notice...
Three key questions for new clients
When interviewing a prospective client, or working with a new one, there are three key questions which make or break the outcome of your work together. Getting into your client’s...
Avoid these meeting pitfalls
Want to make a quick, positive impact? Go to a meeting. It’s an easy platform to give value and one of the most effective ways to boost your personal brand. Meetings give you the...
What’s YOUR issue? You know you have one…
Having coffee with a friend the other day I remarked on another friend’s political rant, my cousin’s sensitivity to gender stereotyping, a teacher’s vehement feminism, a...
Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.
I have two teenage boys at home – one my own, and one whose mother has courageously sent him halfway across the world to live with a stranger. A third teenager (mine) is homesick...
State of bondage
It’s increasingly my belief that our purpose in life consists of only two things: To see who we are, To have the courage to be it. Everything else is bondage.
The Bad Side of Good
My brother was the rebel. From failing school, to smoking dope in his bedroom ("They're Camel mom, that's why they smell funny") to having a secret weekend flat in Hillbrow (at...
Here’s to cheering you on!
Think of this as your permission slip. If you’ve been waffling, faffing or generally procrastinating, now’s the time to hop off the fence. If your truth has been on pause for too...
How to win at pool
About 60 million years ago, when I was 29, I was rocking it with one hand in the pocket of my brand new Diesel jeans, the other dexterously holding an...
Don’t hate on my haiku
Is your life is boring, friend? Every day the same as the next? Same routine? Same packed lunch? Same profile picture? Same series on Netflix? When I was in Uruguay I used to get...
Scared Silly
I have two big fears in life. Fear 1: Not getting to the buffet table in time Yes it’s a privileged fear. It’s also irrational, because there’s usually plenty of the good stuff....
No Excuses
No Excuses. That’s the line on my running partner’s What’s App profile. Which makes thinking of a reason to pull out of a 5am morning run impossible. Or at best, awkward. Rather...
For All Intensive Purposes
Growing up in peri-urban suburbia, the neighbour behind us was a man called Vasco. My father, trying to tame the patch of veld we called a garden, was often outside, spade in...
Do You Self-Care?
The first time I considered self-care as an option was in a workshop about hormones. Hot flushes, uncontrollable peevishness and a refusal to pop a pill to fix it, saw me sitting...
What To Do When Life Derails You
1. Take responsibility 2. Dig deeper 3. Pick just one thing (to do) today 4. Get into nature 5. Seek the truth 6. Tell the truth 7. Phone a friend...
11 Awesome Ways You Can Inspire Others
Raise your hand if you’ve ever wanted to be inspiring. Even just a little bit. Sometimes we’re fooled into thinking only ‘great’ people can inspire, whatever great means to you....
7 Ways You Can Teach Your Children To Be More Confident
There is really just one rule about raising a confident child, and that is to love them. Don’t love them for who they could become, or because they have beautiful manners, or...
The Art Of Working In Coffee Shops
I didn’t see it coming. I’d been sitting there for about ten minutes. Using the free wifi. Sipping a tall Americano with hot milk. Happy. And then a voice says “How much per...
Is Your Personal Brand Future-Proof?
First we had IQ. Then we had EQ. Now we have AQ. AQ, if you haven't come across it yet, is your Adaptability Quotient. It measures how well you adapt to change. Specifically,...
What’s YOUR Personal Leadership Brand?
By now you know that personal branding is not about changing who you are, but doing more of what you’re already doing right. It's about discovering your unique talents and using...
Why Simple Sells
My last blog post, a simple list post, did way better than most of my other content block posts. This is partly because it was unfussy and easy to read. If you missed it you can...
Do You Speak In Sound Bites?
“We don’t want great oratory anymore, we want sound bites,” says sound consultant Julian Treasure his TED talk 5 Ways To Listen Better. “We’re so bombarded with information, we...
How To Say Thank You
If the thought of composing an official year-end thank you email to your loyal clients makes you groan inwardly, I've got you covered. You’ve already spent your energy racing to...
Damage Control: What To Do If You’ve Blown An Interview
In my last blog post, What Your Boss Really Wants From You, I suggested ways you could impress your boss. I wrote the post as part preparation for an interview I was having with...
What Your Boss Really Wants From You
“YOU’RE SUCH AN IDIOT!!” My boss raged at a colleague who ordered 500,000 of the wrong size tubes from China. He ranted with high-pitched voice and bulging eyes, while the rest...
Is Lack Of Sleep Affecting Your Work?
Yesterday on my way to the airport I was trippy, giggly, babbly and weepy. I wasn’t drunk. I was running on a few nights of 4 to 5 hours sleep. Call it synchronicity that while...
Does Personal Branding Have A Place In Academia? Case Study
In a little over two weeks I’ll be standing in front of a select group of young academics from one of South Africa’s leading educational institutions. The group is made up of...
Why We Beat Ourselves Up (And What To Do About It)
Earlier this week I took part in a speaking competition. I knew my lines. I knew where to stand and how to move. I was calm. The topic was original. Even funny. The audience...
The Don’t-Want-To Flu
You never heard from me last week because I had a bad case of the Don’t-Want-Tos. What I didn’t want to do was create, add my voice, be generous, walk my talk, triumph over...
Why You Need A Moral Compass
Suits is my all time favourite television show. It’s complex, sophisticated and funny. The characters draw you in to the high stakes world of corporate litigation, making them...
Grit vs Flow. Which Is Best For Our Kids?
There’s a new buzzword in town. It’s called grit. You may have heard of it. According to the research, people who are bright, talented and kind and come from stable, loving homes...
Stay Humble. Do The Work.
She’s pulled higher and higher into the air, the only thing supporting her, a firm grip on the rope. We look up, mesmerized, enthralled. Then she starts to swing. Back. And...
The Only Barrier Is In Your Mind
Did you know that the barrier to moving ahead in your career exists only in your mind? Me neither. According to the experts, all you need to do to establish yourself as the...
Know You’re Enough
I watch women pushing their limits, afraid if they slow down everything will fall apart. I watch women struggling to cope with mothers and mothering, feeling guilt-ridden because...
Two Words That Prevent You From Building A Life You Deserve
What if you spend your days wondering what your life could be like? What if you fantasize about career fulfillment, financial reward or social recognition? Or, what if every day...
Your Work Doesn’t Count As Much As You Do
By now you’ll have discovered that being good at your work isn’t enough to lead a happy, fulfilling life. Ironic isn’t it, when we’ve been told that as an entrepreneur that’s the...