Click Here view a web copy of this message or here to subscribe
Leadership Intelligence Bulletin
17 May 2011
Final word
Final wordThe durability of vanity

If some-one gets referred to as being the bigwig around here, you know he is the boss man – the one with authority. He is the one that wears the crown so to speak in that particular environment. Not only big is his wig, but big is also the irony that the expression should originate from the vanity of an insecure man.

Read more...


Cricket watch
Cricket watchWho will fill the hot seat?

Who will it be? Will it be the South African exported to India, or the man who inspired the Cape Cobras to two titles during the previous domestic cricket summer? Most pundits believe that Gary Kirsten will be selected as South Africa’s new cricket coach, replacing Corrie van Zyl in the hot seat.

Read more...
Entrepreneurship
EntrepreneurshipFIFA WC-gains need consolidation

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research last week shows that the FIFA World Cup brought a spike in numbers of businesses being started in South Africa but long-term job creation prospects are poor. Unless drastic action is taken at policy level the gains that were made, may be short-lived.

Read more...


Football watch
Football watchA coach the defining factor?

It was a great weekend for the city of Manchester after the local football clubs, Manchester City clinched the FA Cup by beating Stoke 1-0, and the Red Devils, Manchester United, trounced the record held by Liverpool to win the English Premier League an unprecedented 19th time.

Read more...
Fracking
FrackingEvidence of harmful impact mounting

As South Africa waits for a formal government policy on the controversial natural-gas exploration technique known as hydraulic fracturing, generally just referred to as fracking, evidence of the potential harmful effects and dangers associated with this technology from elsewhere in the world seems to be mounting.

Read more...
Global markets
Global marketsInvestors are holding their collective breath

In the April issue of Market View, Cadiz Asset Management’s portfolio manager Matt Brenzel looks at the impact that  quantitative easing (QE) in the US has had on share prices. He scans  the international scene, takes a look at the local market and ponders what  next -- as investors  hold their collective breath over what might happen at the US Federal Reserve come June.

Read more...


Financial wizardry
Financial wizardryPutting a price on life expectancy

In 2008 the so-called subprime mortgage industry in the United States nearly brought the world’s financial system to its knees. Now, while taxpayers across the globe will for many years keep on footing the bill for bailing out financial institutions, clever financial dealmakers are targeting another home of ordinary people’s accumulated life-savings – life insurance.

Read more...
Ministerial Handbook
Ministerial HandbookA Better Life for the Few

As the public, we all have a right to know what rules and regulations govern the financial behaviour of our public officials and how they spend our public monies so that we can hold them accountable. Its called democracy, writes Dale T. McKinley about the Ministerial Handbook.

Read more...
Piracy
PiracyEscalating threat spurs SA into action

It appears the South African government has made an abrupt and complete about-turn in respect of its policy of not getting involved in combating maritime piracy off the eastern coast of Africa, even where South Africans have been affected. The SA Air Force (SAAF) is currently rushing about with an “urgent and important” mission to obtain new aircraft to bolster its anti-piracy capacity.

Read more...


Property
PropertyInvestment decisions remain challenging

The recently released Absa house price index for April seems to suggest that 2011 will see price declines in real terms in the South African market because inflation is picking up and nominal price trends are declining all the time. This also seems to be in line with what is happening in most parts of the globe, reports Piet Coetzer.

Read more...
Super Rugby watch
Super Rugby watchA weekend of upsets

It was a weekend of upsets for the South African teams. If anybody had told a South African fan that the Stormers would capitulate and allow a 17-point advantage against the Chiefs to slip away, or that the Cheetahs and the Lions would march to convincing wins against the Brumbies and the Crusaders, the fan’s retort would have been: ‘what type of pot are you smoking?’

Read more...
Racism
RacismMalema and Hofmeyr two sides of the same coin

A new song by Afrikaans singer/songwriter and self-styled right-wing “leader” Steve Hofmeyr in which he uses the racist k- word in retaliation for Julius Malema’s “shoot the Boer” song, comes as no surprise. It is what could be expected to arise from the wave of racism that has in recent times again been allowed to escalate in South Africa. Both songs represent two sides of the same, sick racist coin ­– the kind of thing that triggers tit-for-tat reactions that could easily spiral out of control.

Read more...


Post election
Post electionCan the ANC Alliance survive?

In the past few months the leadership of the African National Congress and  its broader alliance with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) have gone out of their way to minimise factional damage to the movement and to present as unified a front as possible to the world in order to try and secure a resounding victory in this week’s municipal elections. Will the Alliance hold post election?

Read more...
Leadership development - Issue 71
Leadership development - Issue 71Learning from the worlds best

With the co-operation of the The LR Management Group, we can now bring you the leadership training tool 50 Lessons, which is a powerful force in the world of corporate learning. 50 Lessons is the worlds premier multimedia business resource, offering more than 1 000 personal and authentic video lessons from internationally respected business leaders. It can assist you to increase the utilisation and return on investment of your learning programmes immediately!

Read more...
Election watch
Election watchClosed: Gone voting

Tomorrow (Wednesday) the country will shut down for the day as South Africans go to the polls in the municipal elections, ending months of exhaustive and often bitter campaigning by political parties. The campaigns will be remembered for three things: the high level of racial polarisation they exposed; the extent to which political leaders made bizarre religious claims; and the toilet politics of Makhaza and Moqhaka in which both the ANC and the DA were caught with their pants down.

Read more...

Media releases and previous articles:

Banner 1

Banner 2

Banner 3

Banner 4

Banner 5

Banner 6
Bottom Banner
You are receiving this online publication because you either have previously subscribed to one of our mailing lists, because you have had previous dealings with one of our publications or because we feel its contents are relevant to you. If for any reason you do not wish to receive further copies, we apologise for any inconvenience. Click here to unsubscribe
Terms and conditions