HR development with Coca Cola SABCO

Dear Mario

On behalf of Coca-Cola Sabco and the whole HR team I would like to thank you for your presence two weeks ago in Ttisikamma. I trust that it was as magical and blessed for you as it was for us.

We really appreciated your insights to the projects (keeping them real but also stretching us to do more) and for your “spot on” insights during the debriefs and fireside conversation and in the final close out session which was relevant for those half-timers of us as well as the Gen Ys.

Etiek gaan basies oor dít wat goed is vir alle partye

Dit wat “goed en reg” is in jou interaksie met ander, of in jou werkomgewing is volgens mnr. Dawie Malherbe, ’n bedryfs- en loopbaansielkundige, kortliks wat etiek in die werkplek beteken. Daar is drie faktore betrokke by etiese gedrag, sê hy: “Die regte ding, jy, en dan ander mense.Wanneer etiek ter sprake
kom, vorm dié drie aspekte die kern. “Etiek gaan dus oor wat goed is vir alle partye, nie net vir jouself nie. Goeie etiese gedrag begin by respek vir ander mense.

Healthy Leadership Essentials 01: Vision

From the best selling book of Dr Mario Denton - " the little instruction book", comes the impactful development tool Healthy Leadership Essentials: The four Chambers

Character First verander jongmense se lewens

Daar is ‘n generasie jongmense wat glo dat die uitleef van positiewe karaktereienskappe die deurslaggewende faktor vir ‘n positiewe toekoms in Suid Afrika is. Gedurende September 2011 is Character First aangebied by Equilibria School of Life in Potchefstroom. Energieke volgende generasie studente het hierdie vierdag kursus op ‘n baie interaktiewe en kreatiewe wyse beleef. Aspekte van karakterontwikkeling is tydens die kursus behandel. Baie van die studente het die gesprek, wat gehandel het oor die invloed wat prestasie, morele waardes en karakter op mekaar het, as prakties en relevant ervaar. Die studente kon begryp, sien en leer hoe persoonlike waardes ‘n mense se karakter en optrede beïnvloed.

HR Compass 2011-2014

In this short overview I want to give you a glimpse of an exciting week with 25 HR practitioners from Coca Cola Sabco in the Tsitsikamma. I have been in HR corporate world and lecturing and consulting for nearly 30 years, but the week with the Coca Cola Sabco team was indeed a very special session for me. Let me explain why: trained under Dave Ulrich, I always like to see whether HR functions are indeed a strategic partner and how they measure what they do. Answer those questions and you have my attention. So what did I experience with Coca Cola Sabco? THE HR COMPASS
This is a document in which the Coca Cola Sabco team charted out a course towards 2014. They focused on the following:

Lutzville Hoërskool plaas karakter eerste in jou lewe

In hierdie kort artikel wat ek graag die proses verduidelik wat ons onlangs gevolg het met die karakter opleiding by HOëRSKOOL LUTZVILLE Maar eerstens weer net gou my passie om betrokke te raak met die proses.Dit is die stellings soos die volgende wat my opgewonde maak en net meer aamoedig om betrokke te bly.“South Africa might need to consider introducing subjects related to ethics in schools to curb the scourge of corruption and make people understand the "devastation" it caused.
Motlanthe, said the following about corruption:

SOME STRONG MESSAGES: TEAM BUILDING VERSUS TEAM WASTING

As a seasoned academic and business consultant, I have attended various teambuilding sessions. In my own qualitative research on team effectiveness and storytelling I have found that this exercise is often time wasting. Often teams are sitting with pearls of wisdom but are not focused or engaged in using them to make a significant difference back in the workplace.
Suggestion:

The purpose of the “heartbeat” exercise

REAL-TIME FINE-TUNING TEAM conversations is to understand the real concerns of key team members, obtain insight into and clarity on the organisational situation as well as the team effectiveness of the management team. The “health” of a senior team is critical for the future success of any organisation.

Character champions Training

Ghana changing with character

In this interview Dr Mario Denton talked to Rev Sam Oppong regarding character-based
leadership challenges and sustainable implementation of character-based training in
Ghana, as well as about his recent experience in taking character-based training to the
next level in Ghana.

Denton: According to our records, Rev Sam, you have done Character First training in
Ghana for the third time. I am very keen to hear why you think the Character First
programme is needed in Ghana. Is this training really necessary and relevant and can it
be the solution to the problems of the times in which
we are living?

Oppong: Ghana is a very blessed country as we do have almost everything; for example, we
do have lots of natural resources, we have gold, the country is rich in cacao and has started producing oil, and it has lots of human resources. We have well-educated leadership and Ghana is made up of 68% Christians, but the problem is that we are seriously lacking in character. We are living in a society in which people love themselves, are lovers of money, boasters,proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,
without self-control, despisers of good (2 Timothy 3:2). We see the signals of a society that is barren of virtue. I believe character-based training programmes can make a difference, because character is what makes a person want to be better and do better. When people are trained to value honour and integrity, they find the motivation to live that way for the rest of their
lives, wherever they are.

Learners today, leaders of tomorrow

During the weekend of 22^nd July a group of students from De Doorns came together for a weekend of interactive adventurous character development.  

Not sure what to expect the students arrived in the cold wet Grabouw, Back to Basics Campsite, bags packed and in their existing group of friends. This will soon be challenged as teams are divided and new friendships formed. During the 3 day camp these young students had to endure going through the endurance trail, walking through dark woods at night, had to learn how to rely and assist each other to complete tasks as a team.

Throughout this camp, “The Ultimate gift”, the students received and learned a series of vital gifts including:  The gift of problems, gift of friendship, the gift of work, the gift of a day, the gift of family and the ultimate gift of Character and love.

The camp was filled with open hearted discussions, interaction, high adrenaline team activities, hard work and learning how character truly makes the difference.

Vera Kiryukova, a youth coach from Moscow, asked Desmond Denton in an interview to share more about the Young Elephants Character Coaching and camps.

Character First Training in Uganda Video highlight

Character-Based Leadership in UGANDA. An interview with Dr Mario and Desmond Denton

Uganda, Africa the Pearl of Africa

In a previous interview Heideli Loubser interviewed Dr Mario Denton regarding character-based leadership challenges and sustainable implementation of character-based training in the workplace. In this interview, Heideli Loubser asked Dr Denton about his recent experience in taking character-based training into some African countries.

Loubser: I have noticed that you have done Character First in Ghana, Nigeria, Namibia, Malawi and now in Uganda. I am very keen to hear how you started the training in that part of the continent of Africa and what you have learnt. You also mentioned that your son Desmond Denton have done a documentary and a session on storytelling. Now let me start this time with Desmond. Desmond tell us more about your experience in UGANDA

Character Champions in Namibia

This seminar is designed specifically for CF champions who plan to do CF implementation in organisations.

16 Champions in Namibia have been trained and special thanks for Sanet and Derrick who have organised this

• Expectations from the founder Tom Hill of Character First in Oklahoma
• Overall Vision for Africa
• Character First growth the last 12 months
• Doing the Character First self assessments, CF coaching
• Overview of CF programs day one and day two*
• Case studies (Metro Police, Vital Health, Barloworld, George Hospital, Clanwilliam High School, Ghana and Nigeria)
• Media opportunities, success stories with Radio Tygerberg 104 magazine
• Do’s and Don’ts of Implementation
• The Power of Breakfast sessions
• Project management skills and business case thinking
• Application: Business, Families, Education
• Facilitating the changes and follow up
• Monthly Character First directed work team discussions
• The new challenges and budgets and financial model
• Code of Ethics and non disclosure agreements
• The next steps

Thirty three people have been trained also in the Basic seminar
See feedback from one of the delegates

ANC condemns Malema's behaviour

The ANC "strongly condemned" its youth league president Julius Malema treatment of a BBC journalist. "The aggressive and insultive (sic) behaviour to the said journalist that culminated with Mr Fisher walking out of the Youth League press briefing cannot be condoned at all," said spokesperson Jackson Mthembu.

Reflected negatively on ANC "The unfortunate outburst by Comrade Juluis Malema not only reflect negatively on him, but also reflected negatively on the ANC YL, the entire ANC family, our alliance partners as well as South Africa in the eyes of the international community." Malema called BBC journalist, Jonah Fisher, a "bastard" and an "agent" before booting him out of the media briefing. Leadership

"We are of a firm view that this matter could have been handled differently. "The leadership abilities and qualities of the position that Comrade Juluis Malema holds, should have prepared him to deal with the issue in a manner that demonstrated leadership," Mthembu said.

 

But how do you treat this matter differently?

Let me start: Character is the qualities built into an individual’s life that determines his or her response, regardless of circumstances and it springs from the heart. The true test for character is always our response to the pressure of difficult situations. Wrong actions and attitudes damage relationships and it is important to deal with the inner attitude.

When apologising, you have to look for a change of heart not only regret. Regret means that you are sorry but you do not change.

A change of heart means that you change your mind and you want to restore the relationship. An appeal to the conscience is a sure way of correcting someone as you than ask if your actions was truthful, punctual, wise, and exercising self- control

 

For more on dealing with the inner attitude see our website www.charcterfirst.co.za

Developing leaders of the future

INTERNATIONAL LECTURES: Dr Mario Denton recently traveled to Germany, Namibia and Ghana to present lectures about HR and Character First. All the lectures were enthusiastically received, with positive feedback and invitations to return with more.

This elective happen at Leipzig during the first week in April.
The primary outcome of this elective in HR is to help participants to:

• Develop an integrated and comprehensive understanding of the field of Human Resource Management.

• Equip participants with fundamental, critical and analytical diagnostic expertise to enable them to analyze, understand and apply complex trends in the area of HR and to apply theoretical HR concepts with a view to solving relevant HR problems in their respective workplaces.

• Draw up a comprehensive HR support plan incorporating all the significant facets of HR.

Character First Sabco

Character First! helps people see the value of good character, so they can build better workplaces and communities. We have received great feedback from a group of delegates and would like to share with you regarding their experience:

Hi Mario, I hope you are fine. I wanted to share with you some key developments since your training in PE. I must confess that the character first message is very REAL for most people I have exposed it to. You can hear a pin drop during some of the management meetings I have addressed to introduce the concept. Many managers have embraced it well that I continuously get information on how people have been recognized. The Management team continues to use the character first examples while addressing employees. It is now common to hear employees refer to character issues as they discuss any people issues. At our annual long service awards – this month, the management team decided to recognize the MD for having the character of Decisiveness.

Character First in Malawi

Untitled from Desmond Denton on Vimeo.



Malawi is among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries. The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population.

The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in growing the economy, improving education, health care and the environmental protection and becoming financially independent. Malawi has several programs developed since 2005 that focus on these issues, and the country's outlook appears to be improving, with improvements in economic growth, education and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008.

 

The purpose of the visit Jan Strydom Africa Director for Crown Financial Ministries has visited Johann van der Ham the local director for Crown Financial Ministries on various occasions. Johan is also very active in doing and training people on Farming God’s way.

 

Jan Strydom has also discussed and informs Johann about the role of CF as possible intervention for the region Johan have set up various presentations and during the period of 26-28 May myself together with Johan and Billy have done 8 CF presentations and answer and questions sessions to the following group

 
We have now set up plans again for the 24-25 June where we will train about 20 participants from the various organisations in the Basic CF implementation. To all the delegates and support team members- a big special thanks

Powerful testimonial from Tanzania

We would be to share with you the wonderful experiences delegates have with the Character First programmes. We would like to thank all of the delegates who have attended the Character First programmes and are passionately making the difference where they are. We are truly witnessing significant progress and are truly thankful to all involved. Below follows a powerful feedback all the way from the beautiful country of Tanzania.

Dear Mario, Trust you have arrived home safe. Many thanks for the briliant presentation thisafternoon. I have had very good feedback from delegates and you have real addedvalue to all of us. The Managing Director of CRDB Bank said it clearly overdinner - that if we addressed the character issue first, the rest will fall into place.
 
I am looking forward to working with you in the near future. All the very best Dave Kahwa Founder, President & CEO EQUIP GRC TANZANIA

More than clean water? Character First for a selected group of the City of Cape Town -Water and Sanitation

It was absolutely wonderful to train nearly 100 Character First champions from the Water and Sanitation department. We have trained the Director and his senior team and also showed a short DVD of the director’s message during the first opening session.

I fully agree with the following statement where Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, in an interview in the McKinsey Quarterly, illustrated the need for character training when he said the following:
 
“We are struggling ourselves, as a new democracy in South Africa, to restore values … Values are never a given. They have got to be developed, worked upon, and consolidated on an ongoing basis. Because if at any given time we as a society or as sections of society become complacent about them, we run the risk of losing them…. We are therefore duty bound to try at all times to bring to the fore the values that bring us together as fellow South Africans, as human beings, united in our diversity.”
 
Instilling the Character First qualities into each employee must be a passion for each manager. God knew the importance of instilling values. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 He said, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." If you want your Character First qualities embraced by staff, share them regularly and creatively


View director's message


CHARACTER FIRST INTERVIEW CAPE TOWN from Desmond Denton on Vimeo.



View Character Discussion


Character First training Cape Town Water and Sanitation from Desmond Denton on Vimeo.

Character and ethics: a group of BP staff in Johannesburg makes Character meaningful

To promote change you need people that are serious about instilling the change. It’s less about merely solving the problems- It is about a shift in priorities to keep the sustainable momentum of positive growth and character alive.

My suggestions to this team during the training were the following:

1.Establish a character-based culture in your environment.

2.Train all managers and supervisors and equip them with the character tools and bulletins. Encourage each person to take his character bulletin home.

3.Be an example of character and do the 49 character qualities assessment in your team and department twice a year.

4.Focus on one character quality per month. Hold character application sessions.

5.Get rid of employee of the month recognition schemes and recognize each employee once per year based on one of the 49 Character qualities.

6.Publicly recognise good character with genuine praise. It is one thing to talk about being an Character, it is another to actually take action on a plan to develop ourselves and others as authentic leaders.


When we see others finding their "True Character North", it helps us to see ours.