Character First at Clanwilliam

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga’s announcement that she vowed to cut the "frills" out of outcomes based education (OBE) and get back to teaching the basics in public schools. Sometimes we implement plans despite all good advice, and the mountain of evidence that it was not going to work. Billions of Rands have been spent on it, and the victims have been the children who have had to endure a cumbersome and complicated curriculum with no obvious benefits. OBE has also placed extreme burdens on many teachers.

But where is this coming from. I believe that as parents we have failed to teach our children the fundamental character principles. Just look at the two tables below:

It is through the building of character in our lives that we can reach our full potential.

Building character makes a person not only a better employee, but also a better spouse, parent, neighbor, and citizen. “The strength of a nation lies in the strength of its families.” Ray Nash

Character First! can make a difference in your workplace or sphere of influence.

Leading in turbulent times

I have noticed that the financial crisis has undermined good practices. Command-and-control leaders are back in fashion and companies appear to be condoning it.


The unique, multi-cultural demographic composition of the South African population, commonly referred to as the Rainbow Nation in political circles, has presented numerous pressing contemporary management and leadership challenges.

Kofi Annan, the general secretary of the United Nations, a while back, declared that the greatest challenge to face Africa is one of leadership. The greatest crisis in Africa is not poverty, disease or corruption - but one of leadership. We would like to propose that this is true not only in Africa but also of the world. The answer lies in preparing tomorrow's leaders today. How do we do this in an increasingly “corrupt world”?

Connect people to forward motivation


Leading in turbulent times... from Desmond Denton on Vimeo.

Feedback From Authentic insights readers

Appreciated so much. Hope to receive your next issue. You have really
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Happy Birthday to CEO, Dr Mario Denton

ur

We want to give a special message to our CEO, leader, mentor, professor and very special friend Dr Mario Denton on his birthday. 

Here follows a few birthday wishes from friends, colleagues and some of our special clients.

DEAR AMIGO MARIO;

Just a short note to wish you a fantastic day as you celebrate your birthday.  We trust that you will have a very special day.

Receive a big abrazo from all of our family on your birthday with our prayers that this will be the best year for you and your family thus far with many more to celebrate!

We truly praise the Lord for your life and the manner that He has and is using you and Mariene to impact sooooo many for Christ..

Muchas F E L I C I D A D E S & muchos ..muchos mas!!!!!

Best Saludos & May The Lord Bless You In A Grand Way !; 

With much love and appreciation!

read more:

Mentoring with Dr Dick Wynn

The ever-shrinking pool of experienced managers and the desperate need for more qualified and competent mentors in the workplace were the reason for our unique approach of coaching selected managers and supervisors in fulfilling their role within the organisation to reach their required levels of competence and professionalism

Click on picture to go to Destiny Levels of Development Mentorship Program
and be sure to enroll today to ensure placementhttp://www.strongmessage.co.za/services_sub.php?id=3

Challenge to Change Breakfast sessions

So far we have discussed the following topics this year and I am available to repeat again: 

Entrepreneurship that prospers

paSome facts

Small businesses are the traditional source of local and national economic growth

Twenty percent of new business ventures fail within one year (Timmons - An Obsession with Opportunity) close to eighty percent of new business ventures fail within six years.

Given the importance of small businesses to the economy of a country, these failure rates are alarming.

Character First at Clanwilliam

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga’s announcement that she vowed to cut the "frills" out of outcomes based education (OBE) and get back to teaching the basics in public schools. Sometimes we implement plans despite all good advice, and the mountain of evidence that it was not going to work. Billions of Rands have been spent on it, and the victims have been the children who have had to endure a cumbersome and complicated curriculum with no obvious benefits. OBE has also placed extreme burdens on many teachers.

But where is this coming from. I believe that as parents we have failed to teach our children the fundamental character principles. Just look at the two tables below

But where is this coming from. I believe that as parents we have failed to teach our children the fundamental character principles. Just look at the two tables below

It is through the building of character in our lives that we can reach our full potential.

Building character makes a person not only a better employee, but also a better spouse, parent, neighbor, and citizen.

“The strength of a nation lies in the strength of its families.” Ray Nash

Character First! can make a difference in your workplace or sphere of influence.

Character training in the Metro Police; Vital Health

This training in the Metro Police is still going strong and so far 114 staff members have been trained in the skills of implementing Character First.

Thanks for all the dedication and commitment from the Metro Police officers, and for the insight and things also that we have learnt so far.

Authentic Insights- latest articles, news and cutting edge resources now available

People in senior leadership positions must be held responsible for their actions and ultimately the organisations they lead. Selection of a new team is a very important task and cannot be done only on competence. In politics, it is easy to select people to whom you owe political favours, or to choose those who have powerful names or influence. This may or may not result in a great team. read our latest authentic insights

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Authentic insights

CHARACTER FIRST MATTERS IN THE WORKPLACE BREAKFAST - 9 December

CHARACTER FIRST MATTERS IN THE WORKPLACE BREAKFAST

To day in the 21st century, the mirrors that show the character or lack of character in leadership are more than they have ever been in human history

Morality is not something that can be switched on and off like a light...

We need to take the time mentally to flex your morality muscle in the security of a classroom with an experienced consultant and coach.

Before you lead others make sure how you are leading yourself and where you stand on character.

If a leader’s character is placed in any doubt, he automatically loses a chunk of credibility that would lead in losing the influence he has over his followers.

Therefore, the immenient challenge for leaders today is to attain these two invaluable qualities that should be clearly displayed with constant renewal in his or her life.

What we truly need in this day and age are cutting edge leaders that are with the capacity, ability and the drive to raise the bar of morality, service and innovation to add value to our communities and industries by leading and creating opportunities where everyone is able to share and enjoy quality holistic living and sustainable success.

The hardest tests for business leaders challenge their character as much as their skills.

Presenting classic leadership dilemmas in a powerful, innovative light, this workshop helps established and aspiring leaders alike prepare for the opportunities and tests that lie ahead

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” Desmond TUTU

ENROLL TODAY

email Strongmessage@gmail.com for more information on this powerful event

Integrate Character Development as part of Leadership development

Smooth work relationships are indispensable to efficiency on the job.

In the world we are living today, employers often react to a lack of diligence,

orderliness, or dependability in their employees.

On the other hand employees react to a lack of sensitivity and justice in their employers.

Racial Name Calling and Finger Pointing?

Why do the issues of name calling and finger pointing still flare up from time to time? These actions and attitudes just damage relationships. Nobody wants to be insulted or called derogatory names. There is power in our tongues. We are God’s people and we can decide to either encourage our fellow South Africans or to destroy them with our words. Racism affects everyone, regardless of your skin colour or ethnic background. When we play the “colour card”, it simply distorts the rainbow nation.

The four Chambers- latest strong message development program

Heartbeats is a Strong Message programme designed to empower you with the necessary focus, training and accountability you need to achieve the consistent results of living a truly successful and significant life. The thoughts highlighted in this program are for your own good. They are compiled to protect you from disaster, and you would be foolish to ignore them. As you consider these thoughts, don’t be afraid to take an honest look at yourself.

The new wave of strike action or a new type of disloyalty?

Is losing 12, 9 million workings days in 2007 and 991 000 days in 2008 a new wave of strike action or a new type of disloyalty?

True Leadership

The financial crisis in the world has forced us to look at the way leaders lead. True leaders must not be afraid to admit mistakes and must be willing to diagnose the toxic areas within their own organisation. Leaders need to step up and lead and move away from domination towards true stewardship,

Swine viruses in the workplace?

What about the swine viruses in the workplace?

Character Based Training in the workplace

I am also doing two day advanced training on Character First Principles in the workplace. What a missing training programme in the workplace today. Just note the following statements:


“SA has the worst economic crime rate in the world – with asset misappropriation, money laundering, bribery and fraud topping the list of white collar crimes, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers global survey released this week.

SA is estimated to have lost more than R600m to economic crimes in the past two years, with analysts saying that this does not bode well for the country’s efforts to woo foreign investment.

XTRATA Mine

Xtrata Mine have approached me in doing a assessment on their Behaviour Based Safety programme. During the audit I have used small focus groups as well as using a systems thinking, Theory of Constraints, Appreciate Inquiry methodology and investigating different worldviews on safety. What a project!

Establishing a safe and accident free working environment is one of the most demanding challenges facing management today.

Maintaining the desired standard, once it has been achieved, calls for an even greater degree of focus and commitment. Within this context, one of the most perplexing issues facing safety management is why after weeks and months of accident free operations, a string of accidents, sometimes with increasing frequency, will suddenly occur.

A thorough scrutiny and analysis of the situation often showed that approximately 90% of the accidents could be attributed to human behaviour, attitude or incorrect decisions... This makes sense and refers to the statement of Stephen Covey who said the following:


“I’m convinced that 90% of failures in life are character failures, not ability failures.”

Department of Education: Provincial Government Western Cape

Mr Eddie Kirsten Director Internal Human Capital Development on the left and Mr Brian Schreuder Deputy Director –General Curriculum Management on the right

During the past four months I have been involved training and coaching 40 of the top senior management with in the Department of Education: Provincial Government Western Cape on a two day training: EQ and facilitating perpetual Change as well as a two action learning individual coaching sessions based on series of questions on Leadership, interpersonal and analytical Competencies

The Learning outcomes:

Understand the role that EQ plays in effective leadership development
and organisational effectiveness
Understand the change process and how to lead change
Demonstrate the role of the leader as change agent to sell and maintain
organisational renewal

Two projects have been identified as part of measuring the impact namely Hammer of Justice and Building the Brand. See details on our website