Without doubt he was a leader in every sense of the word, fearless in standing up for what he felt was right and on occasions even stepping in to save others by putting his own life at risk. This standing up for what he felt was right moved from fighting Apartheid once that battle was won, into fighting against all injustices, as John Allen, a former managing editor of AllAfrica, and who covered Arch as a journalist for 45 years points out (here): “…he could not accept discrimination against a group of people on the basis of an attribute they could not change, whether it was their race, their gender or their sexual orientation.”

As we came into the close of 2021 we wrote about ‘Tuko Pamoja’ – “We are in this together” / ‘Ubuntu’ – “I am because we are”, (here) little did we know that one who embodied so beautifully such a belief in togetherness, would leave us at this time.

Throughout all of his life, his battles against injustice, his bringing together of people, he also brought an essential spirit to those around him. That of Joy.

What can we take from this great man’s life as we move into 2022 with Covid still around us and indeed Omicron seemingly unstoppable?  With supply chains still at breaking point and inflation rearing its ugly head? With political uncertainty and indeed climate inaction threatening our entire existence? Can we take from his incredible and inspirational life, a few simple strengths that will allow us to continue to see the light for our growth both in our lives and for our businesses, when all around threatens darkness?

We would suggest a first strength to take from this great man, was this incredible consistency. His consistency in a world that is constantly jumping from one trend; from one social media post; from one politically meaningful poll; from one climate disaster, to another was like a breath of fresh air. This consistency is a strength that as people and as leaders of our own businesses, is essential. No one likes working for a boss who has mood swings, smiles one day and anger the next, or changes decisions to fit the latest movement of the wind – how can anyone run their lives let alone their businesses like that – yet sadly many do. 

In a world of so many uncertainties, we must become the rock upon which all can lean. Being a ‘rock’ is not about forcing ourselves to be unemotional, uncaring, unmoving or unkind, instead it is created through the quiet strength of consistency. It is this consistency that makes people know that you are authentic and builds huge trust amongst those around you. We are constantly using the phrase ‘Fair but Firm’, as a way to describe the way we wish all business leaders would act, especially in the current environment where being kind has taken on a new urgency in this world. Being ‘Fair but Firm’ creates a consistency all of its own which in turn confirms your authenticity. Arch was certainly authentic and this came not only from his strong faith, but from his consistency. We may not have his level of faith (few do) but we can certainly learn from his consistency.

The second strength of his that we would like to take into a world that can be so dark, is his understanding and love of Joy that brought lightness to so many.

“Sadly, many of the things that undermine our joy and happiness we create ourselves. Often it comes from the negative tendencies of the mind, emotional reactivity, or from our inability to appreciate and utilize the resources that exist within us. The suffering from a natural disaster we cannot control, but the suffering from our daily disasters we can. We create most of our suffering, so it should be logical that we also have the ability to create more joy. 

It simply depends on the attitudes, the perspectives, and the reactions we bring to situations and to our relationships with other people.” 

This quote including the powerful last phrase comes from a truly beautiful book he co-wrote with his good friend, The Dalai Lama in 2016 entitled simply, ‘The Book of Joy’ (here). The sub title is certainly apt: ‘Lasting Happiness in a Changing World.’ As the ‘blurb’ states: “Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.”

Careful to emphasise that nothing they say should be taken as an article of faith, they produced a book that clearly shows their friendship and their understanding of life, within which as they say: “No dark fate determines the future. We do.”

Easy to say, difficult to do when our every waking moment is filled with Covid; Climate Change; Political unrest; horrific acts pushed upon us and so on, yet he truly believed it was possible, leaning on his strong faith in Ubuntu, which he saw as: “…Africa’s gift to the world: a model for expressing the nature of human community and of all creation as a delicate network of interdependence, one which speaks of a global society in which there are no outsiders but all are insiders, created in God’s image, and in which the welfare of every individual depends on the welfare of the other.” Through Ubuntu, through Joy, lightness could be brought to all.

Of course, we are not suggesting that we are here to bring Joy by agreeing to all demands from our suppliers, customers and employees – that would not create any future for our businesses and certainly no long term Joy. But as it is often said, generally women led businesses touch so many more within their communities than male run ones, both through the branches reaching out from their business that hold their families, employees, customers and suppliers, but also through the roots that touch so many within their communities, this is a huge opportunity to bring together this “delicate network of interdependence”. So how can one even start to bring Joy to so many?

It has been suggested that businesses or employees that do their ‘little bit of good’ as Arch described it, that encourage charitable giving or working for the greater good of some cause outside of the business have a far more happier outlook on life. It brings the employees together and creates a sub-conscious well-being that then permeates into the business itself and through this into the “delicate network of interdependence”. We have seen across our huge network of Lionesses this thought for the world less fortunate outside the business gates is so strong and all these Lionesses (although it will not have been the intention) will have felt the strength emanating from these simple acts.

One of his strengths was also to make the person to whom he was talking, believe they were the only person in the room, even if he only spent a few moments with them. In this age of speed, of a thousand moving parts and issues, let us practice ‘Presence’. Let us be present with the person with whom we speak. Let us listen and not be ignoring while thinking of our reply (we have all been guilty of this at some time or other!). In our private and also business lives, this simple act will bring joy to so many.

As for within the business itself, we suggest the answer can be found in the words of Ben Horowitz, the Founder of the famous Tech PE Fund – ‘a16z’ in his book: “The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers” (here).

“Do you know the difference between a good place to work and a bad place to work?…In good organisations, people can focus on their work and have confidence that if they get their work done, good things will happen for both the company and them personally. It is a true pleasure to work in an organization such as this. Every person can wake up knowing that the work they do will be efficient, effective, and make a difference for the organization and themselves. These things make their jobs both motivating and fulfilling.

In a poor organization, on the other hand, people spend much of their time fighting organizational boundaries, infighting, and broken processes. They are not even clear on what their jobs are, so there is no way to know if they are getting the job done or not. In the miracle case that they work ridiculous hours and get the job done, they have no idea what it means for the company or their careers. To make it all much worse and rub salt in the wound, when they finally work up the courage to tell management how [terrible] their situation is, management denies there is a problem, then defends the status quo, then ignores the problem.”

As Ben says “It is a true pleasure to work in an organization such as this…These things make their jobs both motivating and fulfilling.”

This is not about agreeing to all demands, not about being all things to all people, this is about finding the strength to be Consistent, Present, Authentic, ‘Fair but Firm’, Truthful, Thoughtful for others and doing our ‘little bit of good’, and through all of these, bringing Joy to all those we touch. 

Not a bad New Year’s Resolution!

Thank you Arch for showing us the way.

Stay Safe.

Tell us a little about your team

Our team consists of a creative director/ founder, two tailors, one person specializing in leathercrafts, one brand/ social media manager, and one sales person. Our team is always working on learning new skills and techniques to better the functionality and durability of our products.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

I have always been involved in the creative industry since high school where music, poetry, art, and fashion always gave me peace of mind. I never imagined then that the creative industry would allow me the freedom to work on my own schedule and create job opportunities too. Having studied Engineering and working in different part-time jobs at a young college student I knew then that I didn’t want to work a 9-5 job. I wanted a career that I enjoyed. So before I graduated from university I drafted a business plan and went to look for investment. I landed a small business loan which allowed me to begin my entrepreneurial journey. In 2020 I opened my first shop in Kazanchis, Addis Ababa and started working full-time on the brand, knowing all my hard work goes into bettering myself as a person as well as my company.

Book Review

Scaling Up Simplified by Shannon Teague is a book for small business owners who are serious about growing their businesses to the next level. Building a successful business is a difficult job; people put in everything to come out victorious. However, a few businesses scale up effortlessly because they practice a series of steps that makes them more proficient, productive, and profitable. In this new book, Shannon shares the roadmap to being among those incredible organizations.

In her new book, Scaling Up Simplified, Shannon Teague recognizes that as a startup entrepreneur, you may be facing a dilemma in your business. Perhaps you are struggling to acquire new clients, wearing multiple hats, launching products, barely keeping up with the trends, etc. And no matter how hard you try, it isn’t enough – you are not alone in this arena. It’s time you find out the right way to do things. In this book, you will uncover the roadmap that will lead to your financial salvation; it is tested multiple times, and the results are astounding. 

In Scaling Up Simplified, you will unravel how to:

1. Unlock the proper mindset for success

2. Practice compounding habits and experience phenomenal transformations

3. Discern the authentic way of setting goals

4. Build a positive workplace culture to manifest explosive business growth

5. Decipher the core values that add to the company’s vision

6. Establish an efficient method of recruiting a team of high-achievers

7. Set up systems and processes that will encourage productivity and efficiency; hence saving time

8. Break the complex chain of accounting and grasp the simple building blocks for consistent cash flow

9. Create a raving fan base and entice people to be loyal even when you raise your prices. Marketing and branding 101.

It’s a fact 64.2% of small businesses struggle to recruit qualified talents, only 19% have the right culture, 50% lose their dynamic employees, and 17.9% of them never get new clients; this nightmare ends now. Scaling Up Simplified gives you the opportunity to read and gain the foundational knowledge that will help you build your business and scale it up quickly.

Author Quotes

I am incredibly passionate about starting and growing businesses, reaching financial freedom, taking the profits, and reinvesting them into the business and other investment strategies to create generational wealth in many forms.

It’s finally time for you to learn a simplified method of scaling up your profits, have more time in hand, and go way beyond your current level to attain your wildest dreams.

In scaling up, you must have a team that balances each other’s strengths and weaknesses; and a leader that can lead the team while ensuring the systems and goals are followed, and the business is on track.

About The Author 

Shannon Teague has been a successful businesswoman running various companies for the past eight years. She has established numerous businesses, from selling popcorn flavorings to huge cinema chains across the UK to a full-fledged recruitment organization for blue-chip companies. In the midst, she faced most of the struggles new business owners come across. Nevertheless, setbacks didn’t stop her from finding ways to learn, persist, and prevail. She is now trying to showcase business owners worldwide through her new publishing company on implementing the exact Scaling Up process.

http://www.scalingupsimplified.com

by Brigette Mashile 

It’s a new year (grin emoji), and I honestly cannot tell if I feel it or not. I just feel like last week was December and today it is January. What I know for sure is that I am exhausted and need a new way.  Those are the two things I am sure of. I need to rest more, no matter what is happening; and secondly because the world has changed and is changing every day, I too need to change. This is not a list of ‘what I wish for in 2022’, 2021 taught us to relax on the wishing and just hope we live to see the 31st of December. 

My ideas for this year:

1. Rest (bafowethu…)

Please rest.  No, you cannot rest in December. Show me one person who has ever had a silent, peaceful December…ok in South Africa?  You may be alone in your house but the business at the mall will get you agitated; don’t even mention at the salon to do your hair. So I think we need to plot in resting weekends, or resting days as we go throughout the year.

Another reason is we have no clue what is coming in the year ahead.  If we keep busy all the way to June, and in June some big thing happens (whether good or bad); and it keeps you busy to December, you will wish you had rested in March a bit. I once read that it is better to do things while you can rather than when you have to.

2. Save

Something. This has not changed at all; we still need to keep saving regardless of where we are and what we think tomorrow brings. Saving is just a way of buying yourself ‘softness’ in the future. You are saying ‘ if ever there is a disaster next year, I will have something to help’.  Many of us did not expect 2020 and its happenings; we now have no clue what 2022 will bring; but we have learned it is good to always be ready.

Another reason to save? Many of us withdrew from a lot of our savings this year. We have to start again or continue but from less income. It is a tough challenge but it is better to put away R50 than totally nothing.  And the feeling you had when you realized you could withdraw from your savings must have been amazing; let’s ensure we can give ourselves this again.

3. Diversify

I think we can all agree that ‘doing the job you studied for’ left the room a long time ago! Right? Yes, except for jobs of specialization, health and maybe spiritual positions. But if you studied a Bachelor of Commerce straight, you are winning, the field of work is bigger today.  Some jobs are disappearing but many are showing up.  Birthday parties may be more challenging with the new Covid regulations, but party packs are picking up; even for 40 year olds!  People are still growing and having their special days in between the challenges of corona, so why not sell a 35 year old an individual party pack? Again, we are challenged to think further and deeper. We need to find ways to solve human problems today. It may mean diversifying or narrowing your business/job model; either way, take the opportunity.

4. Work

When you are done resting, work. Don’t think too much about everything because you honestly don’t know what is coming. We can lose our ability to work again in June, so work today if you can. Make that money, save some and grow yourself with the rest. Most of my friends eventually became frustrated with staying home and doing nothing during lockdown. They simply had enough of waking up, breakfast, tv, lunch, nap, supper, sleep…the mind needed some work, some activity.

5. Help

I know that if you are experiencing a challenge, one way to deal with it is to give your attention to someone who also needs attention. Helping will give you a break, give your mind time to rest and recoup. Obviously, human contact is not possible now, so we need to help differently. There’s always someone needing the bit that you are able to give. Covid is a worldwide problem, but humans need humans to survive.

by Lori Milner 

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.” – Tony Robbins

2021 required a new set of tools for working and a new way of being. In order to thrive in 2022, you need to follow the same theme. Do not approach your new year’s goals with the same thinking as last year – you know it well, ‘This year I am going to get healthier, start running, write that book or do that course”. Inevitably after about two weeks, your motivation wanes and you drag up the same list the next New Year’s Eve. How about ditching the resolution list and replacing it with a ‘drop list’?

In order to make progress in your life, you first need to let go of what isn’t serving you. If you need to do a renovation in your home, you don’t build on top of mould hoping no one will notice. You’ve got to strip the wall down, remove the mould and start fresh. It’s the same with you. Let’s remove what isn’t working first – the destructive pattens, negative thoughts, self-sabotaging habits and emotional baggage of 2021.Once removed, you can shift to new tools and a fresh mind-set to truly own 2022. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Drop Procrastination – shift to the habit of starting

“The challenge is turns out, isn’t in perfecting your ability to know when to start and when to stand by. The challenge is getting into the habit of starting” – Seth Godin

The common misconception about procrastination is that it is a time management issue but it’s really a stress management and an emotion management issue. Covid has elevated your daily stress levels, blurred the lines between work and personal life and completely overwhelmed your cognitive and emotional load. You have spent most days worrying about aging parents, family and financial uncertainty. Now you arrive at your computer to work and must tackle a daunting presentation.

In order to avoid the feelings associated with the task, you just ditch the entire task and revert to cat videos to ease you into the day. Eventually two hours pass, and you are no further on your presentation. Then the self-loathing begins which pushes you into more negative emotions like guilt and shame. In this state, there is no chance of producing your best work. Sound familiar?

The reality is you cannot change the stress, there will always be stress in your life. You need to shift into creating a starting ritual to get you going. Sit down at your desk with the commitment that you will only work on it for 15 minutes. That’s it. Then break down your task into its simplest steps. Don’t think about the presentation, think about slide 1. Then go one step further, what is one bullet point that relates to slide one? If exercise is a huge mental block for you, can you put on your training shoes and do 5 minutes of the activity? One pose, one squat, one mindful breath… just make progress. You will wonder why it took you so long to begin.

What if it’s a bold goal?

“Most of the things happens only in our imagination, if we stop imagining, it will stop happening” – Anonymous

Perhaps the goal in question is not as simple as a presentation. Maybe you want to write a book? The thought of this giant goal is exactly what is preventing you from starting. It feels too massive. Ask yourself ‘how can I test this on a smaller scale?’ If you want to become a writer, don’t focus on the end product of a book. Can you write one short article to post on LinkedIn? Can you write one blog for your website? Begin to see yourself as a writer by creating the evidence with action. Writer’s write. If an entire article feels too daunting, then how about writing one sentence? That’s it. Start the process. Then the next day write the next sentence. Maybe on the third day, you get inspired to write three sentences? There is no such thing as runners block; they just get on the road and go. Recognize if there is fear associated with the task and begin anyway. Are you delaying because you have created a story about being judged? Combat these feelings with action rather than the habit of avoidance. The truth is your own inaction will reinforce the story. If you want to change your story, take that first step. Today is the day to begin.

Drop self-criticism – shift to self-praise

‘Belief without talent will take you far further than talent without belief. But if you have both you can go far.’ – Marissa Peer

Psychologist Marissa Peer reminds us that the mind likes what is familiar and avoids what is unfamiliar. When someone offers you genuine praise, do you say thank you or do you deflect it with comments like, “Oh this is so old, I’m still so overweight – but you are so smart, you look fantastic’. The way to drop the habit of self-criticism is by praising yourself. Stop waiting for the big outcomes to give yourself permission to acknowledge your progress. You don’t have to run the race or finish the book in order to feel entitled to accept self-praise. By taking action, no matter how insignificant it may seem and then celebrating it, is the path to real change.

Stanford Professor BJ Fogg says that ‘Emotions create habits. Not repetition. Not frequency. Not fairy dust. Emotions.’ This is why celebration and self-praise are so important as part of your habit creation formula. Fogg says “Scientists learned decades ago that rewards need to happen either during the behaviour or milli-seconds afterward. Dopamine is released and processed by the brain very quickly. That means you’ve got to cue up those good feelings fast to form a habit. Incentives like a sales bonus or a monthly massage can motivate you, but they don’t rewire your brain. Incentives are way too far in the future to give you that all-important shot of dopamine that encodes the new habit. Celebration is habit fertilizer. Each individual celebration strengthens the roots of a specific habit, but the accumulation of celebrations over time is what fertilizes the entire habit garden. By cultivating feelings of success and confidence, we make the soil more inviting and nourishing for all the other habit seeds we want to plant. Above all, celebration teaches us how to be nice to ourselves—a skill that pays out the biggest dividends of all.”

Drop busyness – shift into clarity

“It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal” – Steve Maraboli

The blurring of work and personal life and the absence of the impromptu meeting in the office has created more fragmented time in your day. These shorter bursts of time where you are moving from one activity to the next in complete overwhelm. Your calendar has become a multi-coloured collage of calendar invites where people are searching for any open gap with the subject of the meeting – urgent! In a nutshell, you have become addicted to busyness and the ‘always on’ bustle.

When was the last time you had white space in your calendar?

“You’ve got to slow down to speed up”- Rich Litvin

White space is often perceived as a negative thing. It brings up fear that you aren’t doing enough. The most important meetings are the ones you have with yourself. Block out slots in your calendar every week with the subject line ‘Meeting with EXCO’. You are the executive committee; you are leading you. Use this time for things that are important but not urgent like proactive work, creative thinking, planning, prevention, relationship building and learning. This is about recreation, as in Re-Creation. Spend time letting your mind wander so you can find innovative solutions to your new reality. Although these activities are less clickable and adrenaline boosting, this is where you take charge of your own life and do the things that will make a real difference in terms of results. Time spent planning reduces crises and firefighting that takes away your time and drains your energy. Even if you are convinced you do your work under pressure, science confirms otherwise.

Drop self-judgement – shift to self-observation

“If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.” – Daniel Goleman

Think back when you made a huge blunder – you sent that rude message, copied the wrong person on the email or lost your temper with someone. It was most likely because you never paid attention to your internal signals. The bridge between where you are and where you want to be begins with self-awareness. That means paying attention to your body wisdom; it knows when you are getting frustrated and anxious before you do. When I get tense, I can feel my throat closing. Some people feel it in their stomachs, jaw and fists clenching, or they have a tightness in the chest. Pay attention – once you are aware of it, you can insert that mental pause button that will allow you to respond rather than react. State management is so important, it is usually trigged by one of these 4 conditions: Hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Use the acronym HALT to remind you to check in with yourself when you can feel your emotions driving the bus. If you get triggered by a snotty email, take some deep breaths and neutralise the adrenaline in your body. Draft the email but walk away from it or save it in your drafts until you have calmed down. When you come back to it, I guarantee you that you will not send it. Rather than berating yourself for the destructive behaviour and allowing the inner critic to make it worse, develop self-observation and tune in to the warning signs first so you can operate from a state of calm confidence in the heat of any situation

Drop self-sabotage – shift to self-leadership

“Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance.” –  Anthony de Mello

Each day is made up of moments but it is the micro choices you make throughout the day that will determine the path you take on how you experience the next chunk of time. For example, do you choose to watch Netflix or go for a run when you are stressed? Do you give yourself a much needed break or do you power through your fatigue? Research done at Duke University found that 60% of the actions you take every day are not decisions but habits. When was the last time you pressed pause and put your habits under a microscope? Perhaps you have been doing this behaviour for so long, it doesn’t even register to you that it may be destructive and it has become a choice. 

In order to break the cycle of self-sabotaging behaviour, you need to conduct a habit audit. How can you interrupt a pattern you cannot even see? How can you expect to change when you are not aware of the actions holding you back? Create a habit journal and map out your daily activities for one week. Start with the habits around energy management and self-care:

• Nutrition

• Sleep

• Hydration

• Movement

• Relaxation

• Clutter

• Connections

Identify the pattern and trigger

“Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be” – James Clear

Once you have identified an area you want to change, perhaps drinking alcohol during the week, you can put a spotlight on the trigger for the behaviour. Is it a location, a time of day or an emotion? Most people reach for the wine when they’re stressed or simply because it is a Friday afternoon. The more honesty you can bring to the choices you make and understand what is really behind them, the more power you have to lead yourself effectively. Once your week of habit watching is up, ask yourself:

• Are these actions serving or sabotaging me?

• Are they aligned to my 2022 goals?

• Do I really want to continue this behaviour in the new year?

• What habit can I replace this with to better serve me?

Conclusion

“The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today” – Les Brown

By letting go of what no longer serves you, you create space for new possibilities. Imagine its December 2022 – what do you want to be able to report back from your year? What did you achieve, how do you feel? Knowing what actions to drop and what to replace them with will enable you to confidently own your days, focus on the micro choices that have the highest impact, and reverse-engineer the life you want.

Wishing you a blessed 2022. Here’s to new possibilities.

Warm wishes
Lori