South Africa's global brain bank

Despite the "brain drain", with so many talented South Africans leaving our shores to start new lives overseas, there is a network that is trying to harness all this brain power and direct its energy toward our shores - some good news.

It's not just a flash in the pan either, as membership in the US is already up to 120 and includes finance experts, doctors, lawyers and entertainers, amongst others.

Let's be honest, we as a country are struggling because we cannot provide an inviting atmosphere suitable to retain these talented people, but at least this effort will help maintain ties with these individuals and allow South Africa to benefit in some way from their international experience.

While I can say that we should try create a conducive environment to attracting these and others like them back here, it's not as simple as that, since some of them require a larger challenge than South Africa is able to offer, purely because of its size.

And surely there is benefit to South Africa in being able to draw on experienced international resources when we need them? I certainly don't like the thought of people going from SA, but when they are growing and developing in this manner, it's possible that the benefit SA derives is greater than what it loses.

It's great to know that we are producing people of this calibre who have gone on to become global leaders, and it's also good to know that they still want to be involved with South Africa. Congratulations to all involved in the Global South Africans project - I wish you all the best with the project.

You can read the full article here.

Five things business leaders can learn from Michael Jordan

One thing that many people in business struggle with is a constant battle to keep your mind open to new and innovative ways of doing things.

The reason this happens is simple - we get caught up in day-to-day reality and worrying about the details that take up all our valuable time. To be successful, we have to rise above this and take our "game" to a new level.

I have great respect for Michael Jordan as an athlete, one who embodies success. Here are five traits he exhibited which can teach us a lot about how we conduct ourselves and our businesses:

1. Keep your eye on the end goal - by focusing on one thing, in his case winning the NBA championship, MJ was able to remove the other distractions and make critical decisions in all types of circumstances. On the way he also garnered many individual accolades, but these were never his goal - they were merely a by-product of the success he generated for the team by pursuing that one goal.
2. Make others around you better - MJ was always able to make his team better. With the exception of Scottie Pippen, his team-mates were not superstars. Not even close. Although he could easily have complained about the quality of people around him, he instead chose to lead them, inspire them and take them all to a new level by understanding each of their strengths and weaknesses, respecting them and winning as a team. You often hear that he carried his team, but you never hear that he was the team. The team always played a role, and he never tried to take all the glory for himself.
   
3. Attempt and practice the impossible - MJ made the impossible happen on a regular basis. Although there were others before him that made spectacular plays, he turned amazing into the ordinary, and he did this by practising the impossible. Just have a look at these top 10 amazing plays by MJ and you'll see what I mean. We all get stuck doing the same regular things each day, and doing the same things over and over and over. Why not set time aside to practice doing amazing things. When you first start, you might only succeed once every 100 times, but over time that will improve to a point where you could make the impossible seem normal.
   



4. What you're doing is a thing of beauty - Basketball is just a game, like business is just business. MJ didn't just play basketball, he was an artist creating a masterpiece everytime he stepped out on the court, and watching him play was absolutely breath-taking. He didn't just go out to play basketball, he went out to create something of beauty that the world could look to and appreciate. He took pride in doing what he did exceedingly well, not just doing it to get by.
   
5. Believe [have no fear] - The only time you really need to believe is when it seems there is no hope. The greatest example was in game five of the 1998 Finals against the Utah Jazz, where MJ was incredibly ill, and not only played, but led his team to a win with a spectacular performance. What made him great wasn't the fact that he believed and played hard when things were going well - its that he gave his all when circumstances seemed totally against him and that there was no way to win.

Yes, Michael Jordan had great abilities and skills, but so do many people. It's what he did with them and the way he conducted himself that makes me respect him.

These are just five things that stood out to me, but I'm sure there are many more. If there are others you think should be here too, please leave a comment and let us all know about it.

Microsoft top dog heads for professional sports. Is Mr Gates next?

If you were to ask me what Microsoft and the NBA [the National Basketball Association in the US] had in common a little while ago, I would have probably just looked at you funny. But since the NBA announced their formation of NBA China, they have decided to dig into Microsoft’s pockets [skills pockets, not financial pockets] and appointed Microsoft Greater China CEO Tim Chen as CEO of NBA China. Yes, I know the NBA won’t be competing against Microsoft in the computing field anytime soon, but its interesting to see that they’ve managed to lure away a key player in such an …. unrelated… industry.

I can’t help wondering whether Mr Gates himself appears on the list for potential NBA Commissioner replacements after current Commissioner David Stern retires... [I bet you were picturing Mr Gates playing professional football or ice-hockey. Sadly, I don't have photoshop to add a pic of what that could look like]

With most of the known world flocking to the hugely appealing Indian and Chinese markets recently, its not surprising to see professional sports also taking the leap. As it stands, China has not only provided the NBA with one of its tallest superstars ever [Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, standing 7’6 tall], but now also provides its greatest growth opportunity as a new market.

According to the article above, Tim Chen has a sparkling history in corporate China, as Microsoft sales grew more rapidly in the Greater China region than in any other market in the world in his time there, and before that he helped Motorola become the leader in the competitive Chinese mobile phone industry. It will be interesting to see how Tim handles a career in professional sports and whether he can repeat these past successes there.


[Yes its true, I’m writing about this because I love basketball and the NBA, and have done so since I can remember. And for this reason, I have to drop a note about the South African link to one of the best players in the NBA…for those of you who aren’t aware of South Africa’s influence in one of the world’s greatest professional sports, here’s a little known trivia fact – Steve Nash [currently with the Phoenix Suns] was the Most Valuable Player in the NBA for two consecutive years [2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons], following in the footsteps of greats like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Charles Barkley. Steve was born in Johannesburg and spent several years here while his dad played professional soccer. He later moved to Canada, and is now sadly billed as Canadian. So while it is officially a Canadian that was the NBA MVP two years in a row, we know better – he’s South African!]

How much do your good decisions really cost you?

Consider this:

You’re selling a house, so you put it on the market and you get a high offer of R1 million, but you know if its fixed up a bit you could get as much as R1.5 million. So to sell at its highest value, you hire a consultant/designer/whatever [lets call her Sue] to help you with it.

Sue puts together a list of everything you can do that will help and gives it to you. Her list looks something like this:

• general maintenance and repairs – R50,000
• new paving – R50,000
• waterproof and paint roof – R50,000
• garden landscaping – R100,000
• and the cost of employing Sue for the whole time is R50,000.

Total expected cost R300,000.

Two possible scenarios

Scenario 1 – You trust your vision

You dislike the idea of spending an extra R300,000 when all you actually want to do is make more money. You tell Sue to only spend R30,000 on general repairs and maintenance, and forget the rest. She does this and then resigns from the job [so you cut her fee to R20,000 citing any number of legal arguments]. In total you spend R50,000 and after a few weeks of waiting, sell the house for R1.2 million. You give yourself a pat on the back for your excellent money-making skills and the fantastic R150,000 windfall. Well done.

Scenario 2 – You trust Sue [the expert that you hired] and back her

You tell Sue to go ahead. She gets everything done, total cost comes in at the R300,000 and the place sells straight away for R1.7 million. You and Sue see how well you work together, and with the extra profit of R400,000 you start a successful renovation business together that just takes off.

This begs the question...

...what if that house is actually your business [sure, perhaps you’re not trying to sell, but you are trying to maximise its value]. And what if Sue is actually one of your top employees. While your decisions might seem good at face value [extra R150,000 cash], are you sure that they are the best decisions, and that you’re not actually missing out on so much more value [extra R400,000 cash]? Open your mind to this possibility.

To me, the moral of the story – as a great business leader, its not only important to surround yourself with people who are better than you. You must also encourage them, support them and trust them [and the other difficult one – back them with cash when its required]. Because you can go 98% of the way [choose the right people, the right business, get the right tools in place, etc], but if you don’t do that last 2% and finish strong [empower your stars], its all for nothing really.

... and following on from those wise words, it should also ask this simple question

"Ask yourself this question….if you lost your title, position and power tomorrow, would others still support you and want to work with you" - Donna Karlin

[Read post about this on The Practice of Leadership]



Well?

Don't know about you, but for me that's a big one. Hugely challenging! And all part of the process I think.

Right said Fred, or rather Well said Fred

Excellent post on Ideate about South Africa needing leaders to step up to the plate -> South Africa needs us to become leaders

Very well said! I trust you are leading by example in your sphere of influence, as we all should be!