ARTICLES
Nico shares insights and strategies to help you thrive in today's demanding world.
The Ten Most Common Mistakes Boards Make
The Chair of a Board that is not performing too well approached me recently. He complained about long, stretched-out meetings that often left items on the table, a culture of tons of emails—copied to all—between meetings that never seemed to come to a conclusion and much more. He asked for help. I did some research. …
Your Four Punch Knockout Against Zoom Fatigue
Since COVID struck, many of us have spent countless hours and days in virtual space on communication tools like Zoom. Days started flowing together. We had to be ‘always on’. What was a sprint, became a marathon. And another marathon. And another. And it hasn’t stopped! It is taking its toll. Many have become overwhelmed …
Grit Toolkit Part 4: Choosing Joy
Part 4 of 4 in The Apple, the Line and Your Emotions series. Choosing happiness, practicing gratitude and finding joy. The fourth game-changer those amazing leaders employ, is that they constantly choose happiness. There are two operatives at play here: (a) Happiness is a choice and (b) it is a choice that these leaders make …
Grit Toolkit Part 3: Your Emotions.
Part 3 of 4 in The Apple, the Line and Your Emotions series. Another essential part of the toolkit that those observed leaders employ, is that they constantly work to master their emotions. This is not an area often discussed, and some people prefer to steer well clear of the subject. Men like myself – …
Grit Toolkit Part 2: The Line.
Part 2 of 4 in The Apple, the Line and Your Emotions series. The next game changer people with grit use, is that they constantly work to keep their thoughts above ‘the line’. This imaginary line is a great little tool to help you organize and control your thoughts and bringing them to a place …
Square Breathing
“All I need is the air that I breathe, and to love you”, The Hollies sang in the seventies. Breathing is an essential and life-giving activity that we involuntarily participate every moment of our lives. We take it for granted. Many of us are oblivious to how much it affects us every day in our …
Grit Toolkit Part 1: The Apple.
Part 1 of 4 in The Apple, the Line and Your Emotions series. “Vasbyt!” is an expression I grew up with. Literally meaning, “Bite down and hang on!” in Afrikaans (my first language), it is used as an encouragement on the sportsfield, in real life – whenever adversity is faced. It conjures up the image …
Leadership Lesson from a Teenager
It happened one busy Saturday morning many years ago. My son and I had stopped at Canadian Superstore to buy something. We knew exactly what we wanted, and once we found our bearings in the huge store, we headed straight there. Total male thing, totally focussed shopping! Then I noticed something. People were noticeably friendlier than …
Be the FUN you want to see
Seven ideas to put more fun in your life. Recently, in a group I was working with to drum up their teamwork, it became apparent that they spend an inordinate amount of time on work, on personal and professional development, and on duties and responsibilities. There was just no time left for fun! We decided …