She asked it. We were all thinking it. Some of us grumbling under our breaths about it and may have even had altercations about it over the years. “Who are our people?” Thulile Khanyile, a fellow Obama Leader asked. There was silence across the room. It was clear. Poignant. Who are our people? Thulile spoke …
Continue reading Who Are “Our People”? A guide to conscious activism
For over a decade when asked to introduce myself at networking events, my standard response has been “I’m Lesley, a Pan-African Globalist”. My tone would range from calm to fierce depending on how engaged I sensed the audience to be. In the past week however, I found myself surrounded by kindred spirits who responded to …
In the past few months I’ve met up with friends who are social entrepreneurs in South Africa, Switzerland, Egypt, United States, Turkey and China who are all going through or have gone through the process of letting go of their role in organisations they’ve founded. Many have attached their identity to their work, carry guilt …
Continue reading The Social Entrepreneurs’ Dilemma – Letting Go
The past two years saw me writing quite a number of heavy blog posts that equalled public action; I made quite an effort to mainstream the topic of entrepreneurial failure in South Africa, shared details of my burnout and my journey to wellness. I thought it only fair to write from a place of abundance …
Continue reading Reporting From The Other Side
I’m not sure if it’s symbolic that I’m writing this blog post on 1st May, being Workers Day (Labour Day). I can think of many an entrepreneur (including myself) using this day “off” to catch up on work uninterrupted. This post is however a reflection on my past week spent in Millemont, France on retreat …
Continue reading I no longer want to be Awesome, I want to be Well
I was a guest this morning on the Frankly Speaking Show on CliffCentral.com with hosts Rorisang Tshabalala and Andrew Levy. This is how the topic was framed: There are over 200,000 NGOs in SA all tackling the same set of issues yet it would appear that we aren’t really moving the needle on resolving those …
Continue reading Are SA NGOs MoneyMaking Schemes or Agents for Meaningful Impact?
Tis the season of conferences galore in the entrepreneurship, innovation and impact sector both locally in South Africa and internationally. While these are good spaces to understand new knowledge creation from the past year, for both the budding and seasoned entrepreneur it is also a platform to “see” and “be seen” as being relevant to …
Continue reading Parking Pride for Startup Hustle
(Sharing a deeply personal journey in the hope that others will avoid making the same mistakes. I am now ready to share.) Through a random series of events including a missed return flight home, I found myself having cocktails at a beach café in Cape Town on Friday night with a few new girl friends. …
Continue reading Unsustained Glory – journeying with burnout
The last time I had a full-time job was at the beginning of 2005. Going out on my own was an exciting, yet scary time for me, what I would imagine it to be for a baby bird leaving its mother’s nest. When calling or emailing on behalf of the Gordon Institute of Business Science, …
Continue reading Sagas of a Freelancer – Contracts Matter!
Every so often I need to check myself to see if I’m not defaulting into a stereotypical race lens when not treated fairly or respectfully - because that’s what we do in South Africa, see things through a racial lens. In these attempts to self-correct my thinking and shake off the feeling sticking to me …