The parallels between sport, business and life allow people like Craig Joubert, John Mitchell, Timothy Harkness and Stephen Light to share practical approaches to being a leader in your field.

This process takes place in the boardrooms of business and is often handled poorly. The leader makes the decisions and sells it based on his position. You have compliance, not much else. On the sports field we notice a shift with a team being responsible for the collective credibility of decisions leading to the right result. In our private lives we are reactive and either seek to control and dominate situations or we back down and allow others to walk all over us. All these areas have huge insights into leadership and how we as individuals can be great leaders in our lives. We just need practical ways of doing it.

We are running a 1-day workshop titled Practical Leadership. The facilitators will impart practical leadership skills backed with evidence that you can immediately take away and use in your leadership role. With the use of video, experiential activities underpinned by experience in high level situations we will demonstrate how simple and practical leadership is.

The purpose of this leadership workshop is to bring the authentic, practical, tested and proven side of leadership to leaders. We will share 4 unique and different leadership approaches with practical application in various settings

We want delegates to walk away with a simple and practical understanding of leadership
They will have 8 simple principles they can start using in the leadership journey right away that will impact positively on the people they lead
Delegates will have simple tools and knowledge on how to change behaviours in service of their company / team / family objectives

Defining Leadership through your peoples’ eyes
Understanding the power of relationship
The control vs. choice debate leaders get right
Integrity, Trust & Influence as a way of being
The Communicating Leader: Listening & Questioning

Know where you are going
Being prepared is key – deal with what shows up in the moment
Have agreements in place how you will be as a leadership team
Empowering each person to perform their role and holding accountability
Communication – Great and poor examples and how effective it can be

The science of leadership
A resilient Leader – what makes us resilient?
Trust – made simple
Credible outcomes as a result of self-evaluation

The purpose of a leader
Being Visionary and having people buy in with their hearts
Optimising peoples strengths in service of outcomes
Mental strength and maintaining structure to make important decisions under pressure
Trusting yourself & overcoming self doubt – You are a leader with talents

Craig is an international rugby referee who has refereed over 50 Test Matches including the Quarter Final, Semi Final and Final of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2011. He studied Business Finance at University before working in Corporate banking in South Africa for 5 years before taking up a contract to be a professional referee.

On a weekly basis Craig carries the responsibility of coordinating not just his team of officials, but also collaborating with 30 testosterone filled athletes under the glare of television cameras that take this interaction to an audience of millions. Drawing on skills learnt in the Corporate Banking boardroom, but refined and developed in practice in the worlds greatest rugby stadiums, in front of 80 000 people live and under enormous public scrutiny, Craig is uniquely placed to share his experiences and leadership skills that make him successful.

- How he develops trust in a small team of 4 officials (which changes on a weekly basis) to ensure that they operate efficiently under enormous pressure and scrutiny.
- How he empowers this team to collaborate in decision making while still being ultimately responsible and owning the ultimate decision-making.
- How to “stay in the moment” under pressure and make relevant and considered decisions when time is of the essence.

John Mitchell, the former New Zealand All Blacks Head Coach, has been appointed CEO at Egli - Pietermaritzburg of KwaZulu-Natal. Mitchell joins a 40 year old family business that manufacturers packaging machines and snack lines. Complete with full service back up and technical support in house as well as all critical spare parts and consumables available in house. Owner Gus Egli and the team are excited to have John join them to take Egli into its next phase of business development and believe both their customers and staff stand to benefit significantly from working with John.”

As a player, Mitchell played 134 matches for his province Waikato, captaining the team a record 86 times, scoring 67 tries, wresting the Ranfurly Shield from Auckland in 1992 and winning the inaugural National Championship a year later. He was recently named in Waikato Rugby’s “team of all time”. Mitchell (All Black number 940) played six games for New Zealand on their 1993 tour of Great Britain, captaining the All Blacks in three tour matches. He returned to the UK a few years later, and from 1997 to 2000 was Head Forwards coach on Sir Clive Woodward’s England coaching staff for 33 Test matches. This period with England included a Six Nations title and a memorable win over South Africa (preventing the Springboks from achieving the world record of 18 successive victories).

In 2000, Mitchell returned to coach in New Zealand, where he successfully molded a professional Chiefs franchise from five, previously distinct provincial unions. Soon afterwards, Mitchell was appointed Head Coach of the All Blacks, who promptly reclaimed the coveted Bledisloe Cup from Australia’s stranglehold. Mitchell’s All Blacks went on to win back-to-back Tri Nations titles, as well as the bronze medal in the 2003 World Cup. He finished with an 86% success rate during his All Blacks tenure and is one of just three New Zealanders to have played for, captained, and coached the national team.

Mitchell was subsequently headhunted by Perth-based Super Rugby expansion franchise as their inaugural head coach for the Western Force, assembling a successful team in Australia’s rugby hinterland. The Force, initially made up of only a handful of professionals, supplemented by club players, managed to beat every Super Rugby franchise under Mitchell’s tutelage.

Mitchell chose to get back into a rugby loving country on a short term contract to eventually taking charge of the Golden Lions, with whom he won the Currie Cup in 2011 (the Lions’ first home final win in over 61 years and 12 years away from home). He was awarded South African Rugby Coach of the year.

More recently Mitchell has been in charge of UKZN Impi in the Varsity Shield tournament where the team lost narrowly in the final (UKZN first final) to CUT away in Bloemfontein to gain promotion into Varsity Cup. He has also been in a consultancy capacity as advisory coach and mentor to the Kingswood College Sports coaches. He completed a High Performance ‘Powerade’ Schools Coaching program around the country as well as writing a book with Gavin Rich and Penguin Publishers. He keynote speaks for corporate events on being a leader and leadership in life and sport. He is also well known as a television pundit on Super Sport.

Speaking from Durban, Mitchell sounded excited about his new role. “KwaZulu-Natal is my home now and I have to consider my own future and have decided to transfer my leadership, coaching and vast range of skills into an already successful family business. For me, it is about being responsible to 40 families who earn a living from Egli and our customers whose business rely on our reliable machines, snack lines - in short our stakeholders. I believe I am in a position in life to impart knowledge and pass on my experience to serve and work with our people. I look forward to leading, nurturing, teaching, and inspiring our people. This is a very important time in my life as well as Egli’s. This is about building on what has already been done and taking Egli to another level without losing the terrific culture, work ethic, ethos, and fun aspect of our work.”

A qualified quantity surveyor, Mitchell also holds a Diploma in Sports Psychology from Newcastle College and a Postgraduate Certificate in Sports Management from the University of Leicester.

Stephen’s background ranges from experience in sales and marketing and now a change agent consultant for PeopleActiv, his own company over the past 13 years. Stephen invested heavily in himself to grow his own personal brand and is now a Professional Certified Coach and a strong facilitator of change management processes and leadership capability upskilling.

Stephen prides himself on his practical approach to situations, and through his coaching assisting people in discovering themselves through the process of self-awareness. His coaching enables people to acquire capability that creates the behavioural changes they are seeking. He blends the approach of self-discovery with skills acquisition that places people firmly on the path to self-reliance and positive delivery in all their relationships.

Stephen believes that relationships are built or broken one conversation at a time. Every time you have a conversation you either add value to or take value away from a relationship. Stephen is on a mission to equip people with the necessary awareness and skills to have relationship building conversations, irrespective of whom the conversation is with and what the conversation is about.

Stephen is a very strong communicator with a depth of knowledge in various communication models. He has strength in coaching individuals and teams and enjoys seeing potential become results. Stephen has an amazing ability to connect with people, build trust and from a place of curiosity, assist them with their growth. His coaching approach with people is to guide them towards self-discovery. Putting the topic aside Stephen guides the conversation helping people see the limitations within and what needs to change.. He does this effectively one-on-one and with teams.

Stephen has worked in major corporates at all levels. He has coached leaders at all levels and facilitated leadership programmes growing future leaders. He has coached individuals and teams moving them to high performing effective teams focused on relationships to achieve results. He believes in himself and he believes in others. His driving philosophy is, “If you want something you have never had, you need to do something you have never done.”

Stephen has worked in Africa and the UK extensively in the banking sector, IT sector, motor industry, the mobile industry and with media groups amongst others. He is very quick to identify what the real issues are and with his commitment to people’s greatness he has a very direct and yet empathetic approach to guiding change

Executive and Business coach 10 years
Facilitator of Leadership programmes and change initiatives
Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) with The Coaches Training Institute (CTI)
Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaches Federation (ICF)
Organisational Relationship Systems Coach (ORSC – CRR Global)

Tim Harkness is a South African psychologist working in London.

He grew up in Durban, and did a science degree at the University of KwaZulu Natal with Stephen Light in 1992, before beginning to work as a psychologist in 1998. Tim also worked as a SCUBA instructor and instructor trainer from 1990 to 1995, working out of Durban, Umkomaas, and Sodwana Bay. As part of his Masters degree, Tim studied baboons in the Drakensberg Mountains, spending time observing social behaviour within the troop.

Tim ran a conventional psychology practice in Durban from 1998 to 2009, working with ordinary children and adults facing normal life challenges like parenting, marriage, work and school. Tim had a special interest in ADHD and concentration, and this interest spread into his sport psychology practice, where he became interested in developing techniques to teach athletes to perform better under pressure.

His emphasis is on skills, common sense, and practice and experience, rather than theory. Tim collaborated closely with John Dickson, a top PGA teaching professional, and with Professor Tim Noakes. Tim worked with a range of athletes, including professional rugby players, cricketers, golfers, surfers and Olympic and World Athletics Championship gold medalists.

Parallel to his psychology practice, Tim was a consultant to wellness consultancy Energi from 2001 to 2008. Energi offered health management and behaviour change services to health insurers, whose clients included Standard Bank, ABSA, FNB and the Reserve Bank. In 2014, Tim collaborated with the Anna Freud Centre on a project called SmartGym – an initiative that uses technology and elite sports techniques to teach life skills to disadvantaged children in London. Tim travels to Europe frequently, and consults to businesses in Iceland and Hong Kong.

Since 2009, Tim has been employed full time as Club Psychologist at Chelsea Football Club.

Tim is married with 3 sons, and played provincial squash for KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, and is currently a competitive cyclist, holding a 2nd Category BC racing license.

Stephen Light is a Leadership Expert & Executive Coach who uses Neuroscience as a platform for being more effective at understanding and changing self. He assist leaders in finding more effective ways of leading people through changes resulting in the objectives of teams being met.

Stephen@stephenlight.com

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