Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
March 11th, 2010 by Tracey
Team coaching is all the rage these days but getting the right person to bring out the best in you might be harder than you think. Coaching is a “soft” skill and regulation for the field is far from adequate. Helena Dolny, editor of Team Coaching: Artists at Work, takes a look at the questions you need to ask before hiring a coach:
My friend Oscar asked me what sounds like a simple question: “How do you choose a coach for yourself or your team?” Yet there is no easy answer to it.Professor David Lane, a doyen in the British coach-training industry and active in setting up the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), was the keynote speaker at the launch of the Coaches and Mentors Association of South Africa (Comensa) a few years ago. He began his talk with a description of medieval guilds.
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Image courtesy Julie Ford People Solutions
Cats: Business,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Artists at Work: South African coaches share their theory and practice,
Business,
Coaching,
Helena Dolny,
Mail & Guardian,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
Professional Coach,
South Africa,
Team Coaching
March 5th, 2010 by Tracey
There wasn’t much room to move at the launch of Ann Bernstein’s The Case for Business in Developing Economies at Exclusive Books’ Hyde Park branch on Thursday. Media and guests filled all the spaces between the shelves.
Penguin’s Alison Lowry welcomed guests, particularly the contingent of young, up-and-coming British publishers who are visiting South Africa to explore the industry – the 2009 UKYPE finalists, budding businesspersons in their own right. She called them the “most intriguing entrepreneurial brains in British publishing” and hoped they would learn much and enjoy their trip. Lowry then introduced guest speaker Bobby Godsell, Chairman of Business Leadership South Africa.
The UKYPE finalists
Godsell began by stating, “This book is a very important contribution to a very important debate”. He provided two reasons for this, saying the book is “a head-on, feisty response to the sentiment of anti-business” that prevails in certain sectors of African thinking; and that “it repeats strong challenges to the business community” about being good corporate citizens. Acknowledging Bernstein with a smile, Godsell stated that she “has never been shy to speak the truth to power”.
Godsell told how The Case for Business in Developing Economies is based on Bernstein’s South African experiences, but that it “also presents some good lessons for other developing economies”. He ended his speech with a challenge to the gathered crowd: “Let’s have the debate about what South African society should expect of its business community. And the business community should in turn be clear about what they can and cannot deliver – they are not Father Christmas, they’re here to produce goods and services in a profitable way honestly and by doing business that helps to build the nation. It’s not a debate about the state versus the market. We need a business community that has good South African values, we need a politics that can engage with those values and then we’ll have a smart state regulating a smart market – and what a good place that will be”.
Taking the mic, Bernstein touched on key ideas from the book, which include the question of the role of business in both just and unjust societies. She said that in the book she tries to “construct a developing country perspective on business and its social role”.
Bernstein acknowledged that companies around the world are being pressurised to do more to demonstrate what benefits they provide society, in addition to simply doing business. She said that one of the prevailing ideas is that the profit-making entity needs to redeem itself through “good work”; to pay reparations against the fact of its existence. She said there is now a need to restore the balance; for “the debate to take place within a much more comprehensive understanding of what just doing business actually contributes”, both directly and indirectly.
Citing India as a lesson for many in what a developing economy can accomplish, Bernstein said her book is in favour of the enterprise and the corporation. However, she was quick to clarify this statement: “I am not a business fundamentalist arguing that the business of business is only business. In the book much attention is paid to what else business and business leadership should be doing”.
In conclusion – and to applause – Bernstein stated that businesses need to “stop apologising for their existence, and stand up for what they do every day”.
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Cats: Business,
Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Alison Lowry,
Ann Bernstein,
Bobby Godsell,
Book Launch,
Business,
Business Leadership South Africa,
English,
Events,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
South Africa,
The Case for Business in Developing Economies,
UKYPE
March 4th, 2010 by Tracey
Coaching expert Helena Dolny, editor of Team Coaching: Artists at Work, maintains that team coaches have much to learn from horses.
It was the last day of life coach training with Martha Beck. Surprise, surprise: we were asked to show up at an equestrian centre. Fiona Hoekstra of Equisight co-facilitated the programme.I knew so little about horses. I’d managed to sit and stay on a horse on holiday rides, but nothing more. I arrived not fearful, but wary and respectful; I know a farm manager whose horse-loving daughter died as a result of a horse’s kick.
The lecture began. Horses apparently have special eyesight. From afar they can read human beings impeccably. They read the very essence of our being and decide how to respond.
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Image courtesy Shareware Connection
Cats: Business,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Artists at Work,
Business,
Coaching,
Equisight,
Helena Dolny,
Horses,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
Professional Coach,
South Africa,
Team Coaching
February 25th, 2010 by Tracey
Economist and author, Raj Patel, looks at the world differently to you and I. He digs below the surface to discover how much the things we eat, drink, wear and keep really cost us. The Value of Nothing succeeds previous works by Patel such as Stuffed and Starved.
Readers who aren’t familiar with your work will want to know what qualifies you to write such an ambitious book. Can you tell us a little about your background?I was born in London from parents born in Kenya and Fiji and with ancestors in India. My family have been living globalisation from way back when it was called imperialism. I’ve studied mathematics, philosophy, economics, and sociology, with some of the best teachers in the UK and United States but actually none of this qualified me to write a book about how we might value our world differently. I’ve learned most of the ideas and insights that propelled this book forward from being an activist, and being lucky enough to meet and learn from ordinary people in social movements in South Africa, Mexico, India, Brazil and right here in North America. And even then, I don’t think I’ve got all the answers. What I’ve managed to do is pick up more good questions, though, and seen how people in different democratic experiments have created ways to learn from their mistakes.
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Photo courtesy OpEdNews
Cats: Business,
International,
Non-fiction,
Politics,
South Africa Tags: Business,
English,
International,
Markets,
Non-fiction,
Penguin SA,
Politics,
Portobello,
Portobello Books,
Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System,
Raj Patel,
South Africa,
Stuffed and Starved,
The Value of Nothing
February 22nd, 2010 by Tracey
Penguin Books and Exclusive Books take pleasure in inviting you to meet Ann Bernstein at the launch of her book, The Case for Business in Developing Economies.
Bobby Godsell, chairman of Business Leadership South Africa, will introduce the author. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Cats: Business,
Events,
Non-fiction Tags: Ann Bernstein,
Bobby Godsell,
Book Launch,
Business,
English,
Events,
Exclusive Books,
Hyde Park,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
South Africa,
The Case for Business in Developing Economies
February 5th, 2010 by Tracey
In a climate in which companies are frequently painted as social outlaws, and where much pressure is exerted on them fundamentally to change their ways, business for the most part takes the line of appeasement and acquiescence. In corporate circles this acquiescence is evident everywhere and has given rise to the burgeoning industry of “corporate social responsibility”. Should business be going along with this?
The current conversation about business and society is dominated by the perspectives and interests of those who live in rich western countries. Activists, analysts and others – however well intentioned – do not grasp the realities of poverty and the hard choices of development outside the rich industrialised world. As a result, the debate about business, “responsibility” and corporate involvement in development is distorted, with few voices from developing countries being heard and the positive legacy of business remaining unacknowledged.
In The Case for Business in Developing Economies, Ann Bernstein argues forcefully and cogently that a new approach and a new discourse are required to cut through an increasingly flawed conversation, one which has potentially dangerous consequences for the poor and for developing countries in particular. Informed by many years of living, working, and championing the role of business in growth and development in a middle-income developing country, Bernstein urges business not to let such attacks stand unchallenged. It must find the confidence and strategic vision to stop apologising, develop its own public agenda, and start propagating the phenomenal benefits of competitive capitalism for the less developed countries of the world.
About the author
Ann Bernstein is the founding director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) in Johannesburg. She is acknowledged as one of South Africa’s leading development experts and is a strong proponent of the importance of economic growth in promoting democracy and sustainable development. Well known internationally, she travels extensively, regularly addressing conferences and other meetings both in South Africa and abroad. She is a regular commentator on radio and television and frequently contributes articles to journals and newspapers on a wide variety of issues.
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Cats: Business,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Ann Bernstein,
Business,
CDE,
Centre for Development Enterprise,
Corporate Social Responsibility,
CSI,
English,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
South Africa,
The Case for Business in Developing Economies
January 22nd, 2010 by Tracey
Business calculation skills in the corporate world today are astonishingly weak. The main reason for this, David Zidel has found, is that many people have a completely irrational ‘fear of numbers’. Others may have skills that have become rusty, and some have only minimal numerical abilities.
Basic Business Calculations will show you how easy it really is to become adept at the most commonly used business calculations. It focuses on practical, simple calculations and it takes the user from the basics, without assuming much prior knowledge. It is essentially a users’ guide which follows a step-by-step approach.
Included in this book are chapters on:
Business graphs
Percentages and ratios
The stock exchange – share prices
Introduction to statistics
Break-even analysis
Project evaluation methods
Management account analysis
Future value and present value tables
Reference list of formulas
About the author
David Zidel went into business consulting after completing his MBA at the Wits Business School in 1992. He is an experienced lecturer, teaching both at the Business School and conducting lecture courses for companies. He also does some motivational speaking and assists companies in the development and analysis of management accounting. Website: www.sportsrun.co.za.
Book details
Cats: Business,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Business,
David Zidel,
English,
MBA,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
South Africa,
Sports run,
The Penguin Book of Basic Business Calculations,
Wits Business School
January 6th, 2010 by Tracey
As might be expected of someone who was married to Joe Slovo and once ran the Land Bank, editor of Team Coaching Helena Dolny is intimately familiar with the world of SA politics. She has just spoken out against SA’s seemingly ever-lengthening gravy train at the commemoration of the fifteenth anniversary of her husband’s death:
“As much as Joe liked the good life he didn’t change his old car when he became minister. He would have been distraught if he read the papers today,” she said.
Dolny was speaking at the 15 year commemoration of Joe Slovo’s death at Avalon cemetery in Soweto, Johannesburg.
Book details
Cats: Business,
Non-fiction,
Politics,
South Africa Tags: Artists at Work: South African coaches share their theory and practice,
Business,
Coaching,
Helena Dolny,
Joe Slovo,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
Politics,
Professional Coach,
SACP,
South Africa,
Team Coaching,
TimesLive,
Wabenzi
November 13th, 2009 by Tracey
You may believe yourself to be an excellent leader, respected by your peers and subordinates. Butare you really? Are you sure those around you perceive your actions the same way? Helena Dolny, editor of Team Coaching, makes a good case for leadership perception surveys in her latest Mail & Guardian column:
I suggested to a client that we do a leadership perception survey. She laughed — she didn’t see herself as a leader. In the conversation that ensued we explored how we are all leaders.
We lead ourselves, every day, in the way we are in our lives. It shows up in how we allocate time and effort to what we think is important: self-care, parenting, spirituality, professional development, work-life balance and so on.
Many of us also lead others. We may or may not be a managerial leader of employees. It may be that we are leaders in the way our children see us as role models. Or we may be leaders in our wider family. We may be leaders in our community or in our professional sphere.
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Image courtesy WhosWho.co.za
Cats: Business,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Artists at Work: South African coaches share their theory and practice,
Business,
Coaching,
Helena Dolny,
Leadership,
Leadership Perception Survey,
Mail & Guardian,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
Professional Coach,
South Africa,
Team Coaching
November 6th, 2009 by Tracey
Penguin Books and Kalk Bay Books take pleasure in inviting you to the second Cape launch of Kiki Theo’s new book, Money Well.
How do you contain the money in your life? Do you have a container? Is it big enough, sturdy enough? Does it leak? Can it withstand the test of time? How you contain money is reflected in how you contain other things in your life – your joy, your talents, your relationships, your goals and aspirations, your humanity.
Come learn more about Theo’s alchemic money processes at the event – see you there!
Event Details
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Cats: Business,
Events,
Lifestyle,
Misc,
Non-fiction Tags: Business,
Events,
How to contain wealth,
Kalk Bay Books,
Kiki Theo,
Lifestyle,
Misc,
Money Alchemy,
Money Well,
Non-fiction,
Penguin,
Penguin SA,
Self Help,
South Africa
