Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene fell into the classic trap of not thinking far enough ahead when he made the fateful decision not to withdraw Caster Semenya from the Berlin competition. Most of the criticism and calls for his resignation have been from the emotional/human level, his failure as a CEO of Athletics SA […]
Dale Williams
Dale Williams lives a portfolio life. Working to bring out the best in people, he invests in individuals and businesses where there is mutual benefit. Investment comes in the form of time, expertise or money and returns are expected, either financially or in the form of new learning and experience.
He found himself an accidental banker in 2004 when he was asked to head up Standard Chartered Bank's retail business in South Africa. A great experience which confirmed that his skills lay in areas outside of banking.
More recently he has developed a portfolio of activities which include Executive Coaching, Lecturing, Facilitating Strategy and Scenario Planning Sessions and occasional writing. He has some entrepreneurial business interests and most importantly, family interests. He enjoys spending time with his two young daughters, his wife, his surfboard, mountain bike, microlight aeroplane and trail running shoes.
He has an MA from Middlesex.
http://www.connecteddale.com/
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
How we missed Madiba
It’s a strange feeling to watch the United States celebrate our heroes more effectively than we can. My father mailed me the link to the Arthur Ashe Courage Award presentation to Nelson Mandela which happened on the 19th July as part of the annual ESPY awards. If you haven’t seen it then stop reading now […]
Posted inBusiness
Broccoli project scoops two prizes
The Broccoli Project, the rewards programme for the poor that I wrote about recently, walked away with the 2nd prize in Hit Barcelona’s Global Entrepreneurship Competition this past week. Spanish company Bmat won first prize. The Broccoli Project also won the award for “best social value” walking away with total prize money of 25 000 euros […]
Posted inGeneral
Manuel: I could close my eyes now …
Imagine sitting in a room in 1991 with a group of South African’s trying to map out what the nation would look like in 2002. At the time we were in the middle of negotiations, the country was racked in violence and uncertainty, we were yet to have our first democratic elections and predicting the […]
Posted inBusiness
Vitality and Voyager-like rewards for the poor
The Broccoli Project, an innovative scheme created by Marc Anthony Zimmerman, offers rewards to the poor in exchange for socially beneficial behaviour. Zimmerman, a successful social entrepreneur was inspired by CK Prahalad’s book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. He explains that while the rich are offered numerous incentives through reward schemes, there […]
Posted inGeneral
Intellectual vandalism
A friend told me about a house he was building. It took months to get it nearly complete. Lots of work by lots of people, creating something of beauty that everyone could admire. A week before completion vandals broke into the property and ripped the place to pieces, just for fun. Vandalism sits on the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s state of the nation challenge
South Africa isn’t short of skills, people, resources or imagination. What it is short of is a common vision. Common implies most of us buy into it and will take whatever steps it takes to achieve it. Sometimes we will need to make sacrifices in the short term for the long. The world has known […]
Posted inGeneral
The case for optimism
Even if I’m completely wrong. If there had been two ways that something could work out and I have chosen the incorrect one. If I had been smoking my socks and there is no validity in what I thought would happen. If it is now entirely clear that I have been unrealistic and out of […]
Posted inLifestyle
SA: Best place for kids to grow up
I’ve met many people who have left South Africa or are planning to leave because of their kids. I think it’s a lousy reason. It’s seldom about the children and even if it was, it’s a mistake. Our children get more out of growing up in South Africa than they would in some safe little […]
Posted inGeneral
Coaching South Africa
I spend some of my time coaching executives in South Africa and across Europe. I got thinking the other day what South Africa could need from a coach. I mean the whole country. Not the president — not any individual — all of us who live on this southern slab of Africa. All together — […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zille’s decision contrary to research
Harvard Business Review have just emailed me the story that is being run by most major French publications about how women on management teams have fared better than men in the current financial crisis. Elle, Le Monde and many other publications have presented CERAM Professor Michel Ferrary’s research, which shows that companies with more women […]
Posted inGeneral
On being a recovering racist
I have had a few cathartic experiences living in this beautiful country of ours. One of them was in 1989 sitting in a room full of fellow students debating issues which to us at the time were very important for our organization, AIESEC. We were gathered from twenty or so campuses around the country in a meeting room at Wits. At a point I looked around the room and realized that everything I had learned about race until that point was a lie.