Articles

Leadership

Passion gives ideas a life of their own On Sunday last week, I found myself on a panel adjudicating business pitches presented by entrepreneurs from around South Africa. They entered the Legends in the Making Competition and won the opportunity to attend a weekend entrepreneurship boot camp in Pretoria organised by Somafco Trust, a social enterprise focused on youth development. I was intrigued to see young people, mostly from underprivileged backgrounds, following their dreams and committing to build businesses. It was truly courageous of them to stand up, speak their minds and receive a barrage of questions from a panel of adjudicators. Such behaviour puts them leaps and bounds ahead of those who have not even started turning their ideas into reality. I have been coaching people on effective presentations for many years – anything from personal talks to presentations for the boards of big businesses. One thing that I have found time and again is...