Teamwork Hackers: A real frustration

This is still one of the biggest factors causing disengagement and a major reason for the development of energy wasters in a team. The bad news is that leaders try to deal with this on a cognitive level. It won’t work. You have to locate where the hackers were able to enter your team and implanted the virus and you need to delete the virus so that the response is no longer triggered by the external problem. Fear and lies are key components of every virus and anchor the virus program in the team. The system malfunctions, resulting in negative behaviour or character flaws in your team.

Case Study: Employee does not trust his senior, hates performance appraisal and has no friends in the workplace.

·         Feels there is no one that he can trust in the workplace

·         Feels lonely and not part of the team

·         Virus like low impulse control causes him to sabotage relationships in the team

·         Where is the emotion coming from?

·         How do we fix the problem?

Do you need further help in dealing with this issue? Let me sent you some self-assessments on this issue or you can contact Dr Mario Denton at marden@mweb.co.za for further details or to help you tackle these issues in your team.

Our next two day seminar: Johannesburg 8-9 October and Cape Town 10-11 October. Contact us for full brochure and registration details 

The Noah Principle?

Healthy Leadership Essentials 16: The noah principle from TRUE AFRICA LEADER on Vimeo.



No more prizes for predicting rain, prizes only for building Arks.

Let's deliver, stop promising or always predicting what can happen. 

1) Build the ark: 

There are 2 kinds of people in this world: talkers and doers. Talkers may see life's problems and opportunities. When they do, they talk about them. Realising the problem is only the beginning. Nothing gets done to solve problems or develop opportunities until someone does something about it.

2) Get on board: 

Be committed to not merely lay out the issues, but to find solutions. 

3) See the bigger picture:  

The business world is constantly undergoing change, and no one can truly predict exactly how and for how long. The best is to gather as much information as possible and be prepared for as much rain as possible, and stay afloat. 

To find out more about the Heartbeats program and resources contact

Marden@mweb.co.za

Swartland Boudienste

Character First South Africa welcomes new member company, Swartland Boudienste from Moorreesburg as the latest organisation who have now come aboard doing the Character First Training.

 1.       But what does this entail?
2.       How do they ensure sustainability of this intervention
3.       What about your organisation?

 Simply said we take supervisors and management through a two day course covering the following

THE wisdom of humilty

“I think you’re over-thinking this.”

I was driving somewhere, and my sister was riding shotgun. The rest of the discussion has faded from memory, but I remember this moment.

And she was right. My arguments failed to recognize the two or three most important things.

Sorting out thorny issues requires wisdom, but there are different opinions even about what wisdom is. In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill explains wisdom as a sixth sense a person can develop, allowing him or her to receive flashes of inspiration.

The Character First definition emphasizes a person’s ability to put what is true into practice or to see connections between “character issues” and behavior.

When I think of what is wise in a common everyday way, it also involves what I believe and the way I figure it out. That sounds like a lot, but it’s not that complicated in real life.

For example, when deciding what to eat for lunch, we admire someone who has the self-discipline to eat a salad, even a hearty salad. This person values daily decisions. He or she appears well informed about the affect of diet on health. Perhaps this person even has the humility to defer to the wishes of a doctor or spouse.

It takes more than knowledge and more than intelligence to learn from others. It takes humility to assume that others might know something I don’t know. It takes humility to change something I’m doing because I trust someone else’s perspective, even if I can’t see exactly what they are saying.

On the other hand, we have trouble taking someone seriously who argues—against the evidence—that eating junk food doesn’t affect one’s health. We all know daily decisions add up, and we wouldn’t admire someone who ignored his or her doctors or loved ones.

In the film and book, The Princess Bride, Vizzini the Sicilian imagines himself a great mind, able to “predict the truth using logic and wisdom.” But when he is pursued by the Dread Pirate Roberts, the “inconceivable” begins to happen with alarming regularity. At least it should have alarmed him—and then maybe he would have survived to further complicate the plot.

But as it turns out, in his final battle of wits, Vizzini didn’t consider the possibility Roberts was immune to the deadly iocane powder.

Sometimes the wisest course is to recognize what we don’t know. Sometimes even our little sisters can see things we have overlooked.

Healthy Leadership Essentials 30: Forgiveness from TRUE AFRICA LEADER on Vimeo.

Develop yourself

Inspirational thought for the week from Dr Mario Denton

Enthusiasm with Dr Mario Denton

Enthusiasm is one of the most divine feelings we can experience. It is energy vibrating at the highest level, energy vibrating in tune with creation. Enthusiasm is directly linked to passion. The word « Enthusiasm » has its roots in the Greek language; it literally means « the God within »

Happiness, sorrow and joy

My wife and I were studying temperaments and personalities some years ago. Of the several classifications we studied, the easiest to understand was the one illustrated with animals—the Lion, Otter, Beaver, and Golden Retriever.

Of these, the Otter is the life of the party. I’ve heard more than one person say, “The otter is the party!” They are often the comedians or comediennes. They know how to insert humour into almost any serious situation. They are always ready to help us see the brighter side of life, and society is truly blessed to have them. But there is often another side to the Otter.

Culture and character

Top 10 Things You and Your Wife Fight About

The well-known adage (one-size-fits-all) for family gatherings goes something like this. “Never talk about politics, sex, or religion.” That’s any family—modern family, traditional family, non-traditional family—you name it.
That well may be a practical suggestion for large get-togethers at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’s not the best advice for your marriage. Avoiding difficult topics doesn’t make the tension go away. To the contrary, unwillingness to communicate mostly serves to deepen the divide. Can you spell marriage conflict?
We recommend a marriage that values communication and acknowledges the potential for conflict in the context of mutual respect and affirming love.
Simply put, we’d better talk about the things we fight about. If we won’t talk, then fighting is all that’s left in the way of communication. Parenting 101 and marriage 101 are often, fundamentally, exactly the same class.  
To find out more about parenting for life and married for life course visit www.trueafricaleader.com  or contact Dr Mario Denton  marden@mweb.co.za
To register for free family character library with resources go to www.charactermakesthedifference.com
Read more about the 10 things...  (click on read more)

make-or-break factor for the dream of a rainbow nation

"Ethics is a make-or-break factor for the dream of a rainbow nation," observed Professor Deon Rossouw, CEO of the Ethics Institute of South Africa (EthicsSA). Speaking at the Second Annual Ethics Conference in Sandton on Friday, Prof Rossouw further said: "We have to look at where we have made progress, where we are failing and where we need to put more focus in order to build a more ethical, and thus ultimately more just, society. Both individuals and organisations have to take responsibility for their impact on society."

Speaking on the state of ethics in South Africa, Eusebius McKaiser, a political and social analyst at the Wits Centre for Ethics, argued that South Africa had to close the gap between the vision we adopted in 1994 and enshrined in our Constitution, and the reality of what is happening on the ground. McKaiser said that South Africans tended to confuse ethical with legal behaviour.

Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, chancellor of the University of Pretoria and chairman of Rothschild South Africa, agreed that the problem of ethics lies not in ideological beliefs but in people's everyday conduct. "Those who lead must be the champions of good ethical conduct. The implementation of ethics in an organisation should not be left to ethics officers and auditors," Professor Nkuhlu said. "We need to develop a common understanding of what serving the public interest means."

At the same time, he added, it was the actions of ordinary South Africans that will ultimately make the biggest difference. Both corporate and private citizens must insist that the national conversation be about the values that underpin policies and economic objectives, and should participate in this conversation more actively.

Sipho Pityana, chairperson of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, argued that an active citizenry could reclaim power from political parties and, in fact, increase the capacity of the state, provided the state recognised citizens as partners and not as enemies or opponents.

We can all be agents of change... 

We need to develop our character

Develop families, businesses and communities of character

To find out more visit WWW.CHARACTERMAKESTHEDIFFERENCE.COM

View video about character by Dr Mario Denton

Special recognition to SA Goodnews

Meeting real needs

We have had many family discussions in the car when we see people on the roadside with handmade cardboard signs. Our decision has been to give to the physical need—by taking food or beverages to them or referring them to an organization that can help.

what motivates compassion?

Making more than money

Some think capitalism is a cold-hearted realm where business leaders ruthlessly use up and dispose of workers in pursuit of the almighty dollar. NBC’s show The Apprentice certainly fosters that image. But I don’t believe that is a fair image for most business leaders.

Start with your character development

Develop character in your family, your organisation and you community
Visit www.charactermakesthedifference.com today and find out how

Be happier, healthier and more successful as a family

Lasting solutions to family struggles come as family members develop character qualities such as obedience, sensitivity and forgiveness. By emphasising, requiring and recognising positive character qualities, you can help your children reach their full potential. Have you ever wondered why some families get along peacefully and find true contentment, while others are ravaged by anger, bitterness, and division?  Common experience indicates money, education and opportunities do not solve these challenges. Character makes a significant difference.

Register for free online family character library. Click here

Trust: The missing ingredient often in the workplace?

Trust relationship gaps are one of the biggest stumbling blocks towards greater transparency and better workplace relationships. Quite simply, If you have lost the trust of your employees - you have lost your credibility as an effective leader.

You can also lose trust by:

•    Not taking appropriate action when others engage in unethical behavior.

•    Not living the Corporate standards of your firm.

•    Not following through on commitments

•    Not communicating openly - even the simple act of being vague and ambiguous can build confusion which creates mistrust.

Some practical tips:

Time for a leadership revolution

TDDI in their Global Leadership Forecast report of 2011 have done some great research asking the following absolutely relevant questions namely:

What is the overall quality of leadership in organisations today?

Do organisations have a sufficient supply of capable leaders to meet the business challenges of tomorrow?  What can HR do to revolutionise the development of their leaders?  Are organisations focusing on developing the right leadership skills? Are organisations using the right methods and approaches?   

Participation consists of 2600 organisations with 12, 423 professionals and 1897 HR professionals from 74 countries (That’s impressive).  The results are mind blowing.  See for yourself.  Leaders are still ineffective as coaches. The current effectiveness of talent management systems is dismal

Only 31% of leaders and HR professionals rated the effectiveness of leadership selection as high

Only 22% of leaders and HR professionals rated their leadership succession systems as highly effective

Only 38% report that the leadership in their organisation is very good (31% good and excellent 7%)

Only one third of leaders and HR professionals rated their leadership developments efforts as highly effective

Watch video by Dr Mario Denton about leadership below

My summary: Time is right to seriously re-evaluate all your talent practices in this regard. The problems may be deeper than you think  
Please contact Mario Denton at marden@mweb.co.za for a copy of this report.

Make sincere deposits, recognise character

He was about 6'4", 260 pounds, ponytail, tattoos, Harley t-shirt, leather jacket, and his nickname was “Bull.” His supervisor was recognizing him publicly for his seventeen years of service. As the supervisor told stories illustrating “Bull’s” willingness to change plans without getting upset, every onlooker saw “Bull” transform to a demeanor reminiscent of a Boy Scout being appreciated for his community service. 

The benevolent leader

In my years of leading manufacturing organizations, I have found a contented employee generally contributes to a cheerful home environment; and when everything is good at home, the employee stands a much better chance of success at work.

Since the average working American spends more waking hours at work than with his or her family, it stands to reason the leader or the environment provided by the manager has a significant influence on an employee’s well-being.

So what does a benevolent business leader look like?

Building a culture of compassion

Although sometimes it may feel that work is simply about making money, most of us want more than just a paycheck. We want a place to work where we have opportunity to earn a living while working with others who genuinely appreciate our contributions to the team.

Often, when organizations are on the decline, they lose their personal touch. Instead of being places where a good work ethic is valued and respected, these organizations become places where cynicism and negativity rule. In time, such organizations will die. People will not continue investing themselves in a place where they feel devalued.

Meeting real needs

We have had many family discussions in the car when we see people on the roadside with handmade cardboard signs. Our decision has been to give to the physical need—by taking food or beverages to them or referring them to an organization that can help.

what motivates compassion?