I am fortunate to have my birthday align with the time when many people set New Year’s Resolutions. It’s a season for reviewing the past year, perhaps conducting a life audit, envisioning the upcoming year, and for the ambitious, initiating new habits and habit stacking (as suggested in “Atomic Habits” by James Clear). Considering the […]
Hedging Bets on Your Future Read More »
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
Who Are “Our People”? A guide to conscious activism Read More »
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
We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For | My Week on the Obama Leaders: Africa Program Read More »
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
The Social Entrepreneurs\’ Dilemma – Letting Go Read More »
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
Reporting From The Other Side Read More »
Chateau De Millemont 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,
I no longer want to be Awesome, I want to be Well Read More »
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
Are SA NGOs MoneyMaking Schemes or Agents for Meaningful Impact? Read More »
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
Parking Pride for Startup Hustle Read More »
(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.
Unsustained Glory – journeying with burnout Read More »
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,
Sagas of a Freelancer – Contracts Matter! Read More »