Get on with it Archives - Delphine du Toit

When you start out as an entrepreneur, networking can feel daunting yet exciting. It’s not just about handing out business cards; it’s about making genuine connections and leaving a lasting impression. Discover the essential rules of networking, the importance of follow-up, and the lessons learned from both successful and failed attempts. From beautifully designed cards to the reality of clutter, this journey reveals the true value of relationships built through networking. Join me as I share insights and experiences that highlight the power of connection in business and beyond.

Networking and Business Cards

6 min read

<658 words> I have a sideways pear tree in my backyard. It fell over some years ago before I moved here, so I don’t know what happened. But, by the time I moved in, it had developed a very different stance from what one normally expects of a pear tree. The… Read More »TENACITY AND RESILIENCE

TENACITY AND RESILIENCE

4 min read

<1197 words> Twice in the past 48 hours my GPS on my not so smart phone encouraged me onto roads very infrequently travelled. My standard mode of transport is a 9 year old Toyota Corolla – so middle of the road that I regularly have to use the little… Read More »The Roads Less Travelled

The Roads Less Travelled

7 min read

From Wikipedia on Indian Ocean Cyclones 1993/4

<1457 words – yes, this is a long one but it contains an interesting story and some pictures :-)> And, I’ve added a link at the bottom of this blog to a very informative article on resilience that appeared in the New Yorker in Feb 2016. More on the science of….… Read More »What does resilience really look like, anyway?

What does resilience really look like, anyway?

10 min read

In preparation for my previous blog (YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FIRE NEGATIVE FRIENDS) I looked around on the Internet for quotes. I landed on one of my favourite sites www.businessballs.com where they listed an entertaining elaboration on the theme of whether a glass is half full or half empty. I… Read More »The Ongoing Debate about whether The Glass is Half-full or Half-empty

The Ongoing Debate about whether The Glass is Half-full or Half-empty

1 Comment
5 min read

There are those who have a predisposition to entitlement. They feel that everything they have is theirs because it is their right to have those things. They typically also feel they’re entitled to things they don’t yet have and will set about causing others to hand over those things, or… Read More »What if I were predisposed to being grateful?

What if I were predisposed to being grateful?

2 min read

Fundamental need for fairness is confounded by our cultural expression of it.

<4230 words> This is NOT A BLOG. It is a conference paper that I decided to make available via my blog. The PPT (available on LinkedIn) is on a safari theme, so these giraffes suggest we take the long view of where our need for fairness comes from.

FAIRNESS:

A CULTURAL CONSTRUCT OR A UNIVERSAL HUMAN NEED?

The challenge to HR:

Improving workplace fairness by stepping back and taking it all in.

Background paper to a presentation given at the Atlantic Universities and Colleges Human Resources Association (AUCHRA) Conference in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 22 October, 2015

Presenter/author: Delphine du Toit. Mediator/Coach/Facilitator.

Fairness is the default position

1. INTRODUCTION

Fairness is a baseline requirement for humans, yet it feels like the harder we try the more difficult it is to achieve. The difficulty with being universally fair is that it is a balancing act. No-one discusses ‘fairness’, generally speaking, unless someone has alleged that something has been unfair. The withdrawal of fairness is a bit like the withdrawal of oxygen: you don’t know you have it until it is taken away.

Unfairness – perceived or real – is a great source of conflict in the workplace. Sometimes it bursts forth in a flurry of accusations; more often it festers in someone’s heart and head, gradually poisoning their feelings about the workplace; being at work; co-workers; management, which then manifests itself in reduction of effort; sloppy work; argumentative responses to requests; squabbling; gossiping; and, in more extreme cases, in absenteeism or overt sabotage.

Fairness is simple. Bring culture into it and bedevil everything.

22 min read

Toddler Transport for Leadership Learning

The Trudeau Leadership School offers an innovative child-transportation method that builds leadership in the next generation, as can be seen in the featured photograph.

1. Close physical contact with Dad without being mushy or coddled.
2. Eyes forward to take it all in.
3. Build responsibility for keeping self in balance with just enough support to make it safe but not enough to stifle the survival instinct.
4. Build strong neck and back muscles to carry the weight of responsibility for fixing your damaged country.
5. Observe the respect Dad gets from people in uniform and learn to expect same.

5 Leadership Outcomes offered by the Trudeau Leadership School (TLS)

2 Comments
3 min read

Who is the expert? There is sound theory on how adults prefer to learn, and there is sound theory on how individuals have their own learning styles. The true expertise lies in knowing how to facilitate a learning conversation, not in having the one definitive answer.

The answer is in the room.

1 Comment
4 min read

I am going to talk about two things that have happened this week. On the face of it they may not appear to be related, but if one moves away from the detail – the ‘what happened’ or the ‘what is’, to the abstract where you might explore themes and lessons learnt, they are very closely related.

Firstly, it is about kitty litter as a tool….

I had just come from a coaching session with a client. This is the second thing I want to talk about. We had been discussing employee engagement surveys….

Use the right tool for the job

3 Comments
8 min read