Wait & Speak Podcast

#30 –Unlock your entrepreneurial potential

In this episode, I speak with Willem Gous about how aspiring entrepreneurs can shift their mindset to unlock their entrepreneurial potential. As the founder of The Human Entrepreneur, Willem helps people to become self-employed through entrepreneurship training and building a business to become financially sustainable.

Willem Gous, an entrepreneur for more than 25 years and ASEB (African Startup Ecosystem Builder Awards) Startup Mentor of the Year 2023 South Africa, is a South African entrepreneur who developed a recipe for job creation in Africa. In his business, The Human Entrepreneur, he works with unemployed people in townships. He helps them develop the right mindset, mental fitness, and rhythm of success to start a profitable business with customers without external funding in just 5 weeks.

His focus on micro-entrepreneurship continues with his latest book, “Side Hustle Success - A Low-Cost, Low-Risk Way to Make More Money in 5 Easy Steps”. Written for Africa, easy, simple and contextual to the African continent, it focuses on awakening the entrepreneurial spirit in schools, universities and communities.

Website: https://TheHumanEntrepreneur.org   

LinkedIn: http://za.linkedin.com/in/willemgous

#29 - Coaching conversations: how coaching can help you to reach your full potential

In this episode, I speak with Felicity Hodkinson about how coaching can unlock previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership.

Felicity Hodkinson is an experienced International Coaching Federation (ICF) credentialed PCC (Professional Certified Coach) level coach who works with individuals at all stages and transitions of their working life. She enables individuals to both connect to, and also show more of their inherent talent in their lives and work. She has a reputation for coaching in a style that has been described as ‘challenging, not soft’.  She works intuitively and intelligently to create a space for growth that is bespoke for each client. 

With over 20 years experience in marketing, commercial and change management within the food and retail industry, across both small business and corporate FTSE100 companies, Felicity brings lived experience to her passion for coaching. She holds an MSc in Organisational Transformation, and her continued development includes a Diploma in Supervision: A Relational Process. 

She is committed to expanding the availability, access and quality of professional coaching and supports coaches with Mentor Coaching for ICF credentialing and with supervision. In 2020, Felicity led the UK Chapter of the ICF in the role of President, and remains a committed member of the ICF. 

Connect with her:

• On LinkedIn
• Via her website: bendtheriver.org
• Visit ICF: https://coachingfederation.org/

#28 - Remove, Replace, Restart: how to reset your mental attitude and achieve success

Have you ever had the feeling that you're treading water professionally; that you're coming up against limits in terms of what you can achieve? In his new book, Christian Greiser shares insights on how we can reset our mental attitude and achieve success and fulfilment. He draws on insights from his many years of experience as an executive coach and incorporates research findings, case studies and exercises.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Christian about the book: Remove, Replace, Restart – The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success.

In addition, we talked about what good coaching looks like and the benefits of meditation for professional development.

More about Christian:

Christian Greiser is an executive coach and management consultant. He guides thought leaders, decision-makers, and entrepreneurs on their personal development journeys, helping them figure out their values, talents, and strengths. As he does so, he brings not only his perspective as a senior strategy consultant with operational leadership experience, but also an intuitive understanding for the role of personality in business. Prior to establishing his own consultancy, Christian held the role of Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and led one of the largest practice groups worldwide. An engineer by education, he occupied managerial roles at German industrial conglomerate Mannesmann AG before entering the world of consulting. He studied in Braunschweig, Paris, and London and is a Fellow of the Institute of Coaching (McLean/Harvard Medical School). Christian has been featured in Knowledge@Wharton and Forbes. He is author of the book “Remove, Replace, Restart – the Essential Maintenance Manual for your Engine for Success” (GABAL).

Christian and his wife divide their time between the German town of Meerbusch, near Düsseldorf, and the Greek island of Corfu. Christian has been practicing meditation with Zen masters of Europe and Asia for more than fifteen years and is the founder of a global mindfulness network. Insights from this meditation practice are also incorporated into his coaching.

• Christian’s website: https://www.greiseradvisory.com/
• Get a copy of the book: Remove, Replace, Restart – The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success

 

#27 - The art of Communicative Leadership

I spoke with Emilio Galli-Zugaro about Communicative Leadership, gaining credibility and trust with your stakeholders, the fork test as a leadership analogy, and how leaders can practice communicative leadership.

Emilio Galli-Zugaro is founder and Managing Director of the Orvieto Academy for Communicative Leadership and Senior Advisor of Methodos S.p.A Milan, The Change Management Company. He is member of the board of the Allianz Foundation in Munich and the Giovanni Bassetti Foundation in Milan. He sits in several advisory boards (Safe Deposit Bank of Norway, Actyx, Gk Personalberatung et al.). As a Certified Business Coach he coaches C-suite people, teaches and publishes on leadership issues. From 1992 to 2015 he was Head of Group Communications of Allianz. He studied political science in Würzburg and Rome and worked at different PR levels in Rome, inter alia as head of PR of the Organization of Italian Chambers of Commerce.

From 1985 until 1992 Emilio worked as a journalist and correspondent for various international media like Fortune, Wirtschaftswoche, L‘Indipendente, Finanz und Wirtschaft, The European. Since 1996 he has been an Associate Lecturer of Corporate Communication and Crisis Communication at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. He also lectures Communicative Leadership at the executive programs of esmt, Berlin, since 2006. In 2016 he has founded the Orvieto Academy for Communicative Leadership offering leadership workshops in Germany and in Umbria (Italy) for executives and communications professionals (www.orvieto-academy.com).

In January 2017 Pearson FT, UK, published Emilio and his daughter Clementina Galli-Zugaro’s book on Communicative Leadership (“The Listening Leader”). In June 2018, Ariston/RandomHouse has published his latest book “Ich bin so frei – Raus aus dem Hamsterrad und rein in den richtigen Job” (“I am free – out of the hamster wheel and into the right job”), written together with Jannike Stöhr. In 2023 he completed the WABC Chartered Business Coach Programme

• You can contact Emilio via his website: https://www.galli-zugaro.com/
• Emilio and his daughter Clementina Galli-Zugaro’s book on Communicative Leadership can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Leader-performance-communicative-leadership/dp/1292142162 

# 26 - Equipping leaders for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

I spoke with Dr Cobus Oosthuizen about the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for organisational leaders, and how leaders can orientate themselves for a future of exponential automation across the various sectors of the economy.

Cobus is the Dean of Postgraduate Business Programmes at Boston City Campus, South Africa. His research focus is on leadership cognition, mental modalities, and neuroplasticity to enact peak leadership performance.

He is a member of the Southern Africa Institute for Management Scientists (SAIMS) and an endorser to the Responsible Research in Business Management (RRBM) initiative. He serves on the conference board of the International Business Conference (IBC), and is also a member of the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) Africa Chapter Steering Committee.

In April of this year (2023), Cobus received the Morné Mostert award for a Futures-related PhD thesis at the Stellenbosch Business School: “A 4IR Integrated intelligence Taxonomy and Measurement Framework for Top Management.”

Cobus holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship and a PhD in Leadership (Futures).

Link to publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jacobus-Oosthuizen

# 25 - A sustainable karate-ka

I spoke with Sensei Scott Langley (7th Dan) about his latest book, A Sustainable Karate-ka: A Small Book About a Long Journey. We discussed motivation, the elements of being a sustainable karate-ka and instructor, how to keep on keeping on, how karate is not a thing but a karate-ka is, and his advice for karate-ka who have just started and those who have trained for many years.

Background to the book:

“From a prematurely early age, I have been concerned with the longevity of my karate journey. Before I was anywhere near my prime. I was already predicting my decline and busied myself with ideas of how to counteract my natural tendencies to be lazy, fat and aging.

Now, as I approach my fiftieth birthday, I am somewhat justified in my anxiety over general decline. Therefore, I have written a short book about the long journey I embarked upon all those years ago. This book is about me, no one else. However, I do hope that the lessons I have learnt as I meandered through life speak to you a little.

This book isn’t about making big gestures or disclosing huge revelations. It doesn’t contain secrets or answers to mysteries and enigmas. It doesn’t even share salacious gossip about well-known karate-ka (I am sorry to say.) What it does contain is how I have approached the difficult question of how do we keep on keeping on? So, I do hope you enjoy how I have tried to become a Sustainable Karate-ka”

About Sensei Scott Langley 7th Dan:

Scott is one of the youngest people ever to win the World Championships and has over 30 years’ experience practicing and teaching karate.

Scott has been practicing martial arts since the age of 5, however, he started his karate career proper in 1986 under the instruction of Howard Milson, a senior member of Kodokai and one of the very few 5th dans in the UK at the time. Scott trained hard with Howard and Kato Sensei and gained shodan in 1992. After travelling to Japan with Kato Sensei in 1993, Scott started university in Staffordshire and trained on a daily basis with him.

During this time, he assisted Kato Sensei teaching around the UK and Europe. Scott also competed regularly, winning, both in kata and kumite, the National Championships five times, European Championships three times, and the 1996 JKA World Championships in Moscow. Building on this success, Scott travelled once more to Japan in 1997 and started to train full time at the JKA (Asai fraction) Hombu dojo.

Under constant pressure from the instruction of Asai, Abe, Yahara, Kagawa, Isaka, Yamaguchi etc, Scott went from strength to strength and in 1998 was asked to enter the instructor’s course. Unfortunately, an injured knee prevented this, so after considerable rehabilitation, Scott, along with Yasuhisa Inada, entered the course in 2000 and became the first instructor’s course class of the newly formed Japan Karate Shotorenmei. Two intensive years later, Scott graduated from the course and became the fifth non-Japanese person ever to do so (JKA/JKS).

Feeling it was time to move on and encouraged by the hombu dojo to develop JKS karate, Scott moved to Ireland. From 2002 until 2013 Scott was the Technical Director of the JKS GB & Ireland and the Chief Instructor of JKS Ireland’s Hombu Dojo. In that time the group grew from 4 clubs to 120 clubs, making it the biggest single style group in the British Isles. His own club also grew from the initial 8 members that showed up first night, to over 500 members and four full time instructors.

Scott is the best selling author of Karate Stupid and Karate Clever which tell much of Scott's karate journey so far.

Scott trains daily at the dojo with the other Sensei and takes the adult classes on Monday and Thursday nights.  He spends most of his weekends travelling around Great Britain and Europe teaching at seminars. However, he likes to surprise the kids every now and then so he might drop in on any class any time.

“Scott Langley is one of the few instructors to have learnt karate in Japan from the source. He teaches the true art of karate. In Europe this is very rare and should be taken advantage of!” Yutaka Koike 5th Dan – All Japan Champion

#24 - Late industrialisation and global value chains under platform capitalism

In this episode I speak with Prof. Wim Naudé. Wim is an economist active in academia, business and public policy making.  His focus is on innovation, technology and trade, and their consequences for human well-being, security, and prosperity. According to the Stanford and Elsevier rankings (version 5) Wim is among the top 2% of scientists in the world.

We discussed his recent research paper on late industrialisation and global value chains (GVCs)* under platform capitalism. Keywords: Digitisation · Digital platforms · GVCs · Industrialisation · Competition policy.

* A global value chain (GVC) is the series of stages in the production of a product or service for sale to consumers. Each stage adds value, and at least two stages are in different countries.” (World Bank, 2020:17)

Further reading:

Naudé, W. Late industrialisation and global value chains under platform capitalism. J. Ind. Bus. Econ. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-022-00240-2

World Bank: World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains

#23 - Innovation districts & startup success

I spoke with Mary Rodgers, CEO at the Galway City Innovation District. We discussed her work with startups, startup ecosystems and what it takes to become a successful founder.

Mary promotes ecosystem building activities to support the creation of high-value sustainable jobs in the West and North West of Ireland. Mary nurtures a transformative culture at the PorterShed Galway, supporting globally focused tech startups and facilitating technology innovation and collaboration. Mary is an accomplished executive with domestic and international experience in startup supports including mentoring, business development, scaling and fundraising. Mary has worked with both startups and growth organisations throughout her career.

Further reading:

The rise of innovation districts

Building a startup that will last

#22 - Insights for entrepreneurs

I spoke with Faris Aranki - CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting. We discussed his experience of starting a business and how he helps clients to sharpen their effectiveness and improve their success

Having spent over 20 years delivering strategic change for the corporate and non-corporate worlds, Faris has experienced first-hand the fine differences between strategic success and failure.

His work has spanned numerous companies (from global behemoths to small start-ups), in numerous countries, across a range of sectors, supporting them all to unlock strategic success. 

He came to realise that often what hinders institutions from achieving their goals goes beyond the quality of their strategy; it is their ability to engage effectively with others at all levels and remove barriers in their way. This has led to his passion for improving strategic effectiveness within all businesses and individuals and the foundation of Shiageto Consulting.

Over time, Faris has worked to distil his knowledge of how to solve complex problems in a structured manner combined with his skill on engaging effectively with others and his ability to quickly determine the barriers to a strategy's success. This knowledge has formed the foundation of Shiageto’s workshops, courses and methodologies. Faris believes that any firm or team can adopt these improvements; all it requires is a little of the right support - something Shiageto provides.

#21 - Futures thinking: Distinguishing trends from fads

I spoke with Doris Viljoen about the role of trends and fads in futures thinking. We considered the difference between trends and fads, the dimensions of change, the approach futurists use when thinking about the future, macrotrends, technology and the macro environment.

Doris Viljoen is the director of Stellenbosch University’s Institute for Futures Research (IFR) where she endeavours to interpret global as well as local trends and assess their relevance for South Africa and Africa. She has specialised skills in environmental scanning, the application of foresight methodology, scenario planning as well as strategy development.  Before joining the IFR, Doris did consulting work on feasibility and location assessment studies for large capital projects and received the top student award on the M.Phil Futures Studies programme. She has a wide range of research interests and is passionate about asking the right questions, searching for and finding relevant data as well as designing tools and techniques to facilitate thinking about plausible futures. She is well versed in multiple scenario planning techniques and has facilitated decision making teams through scenario exercises on topics ranging from infrastructure planning, higher education, and downstream metals beneficiation to the futures of work in South Africa.

Doris also lectures on the academic programmes in Futures Studies at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. Her particular areas of specialty are scenario planning, organisational foresight, futures studies frameworks, tools and techniques, and managing foresight projects.  Her research towards a PhD in Futures Studies looks at the future of work, specifically focusing on non-conventional employment engagements.

Further reading:

IFR: Futures of agricultural employment in South Africa 2035

OECD: About Strategic Foresight

George Day and Paul Schoemaker: See Sooner, Act Faster

Useful resources on Futures thinking

UNESCO on Futures literacy