It took a few years of experience in top executive positions in South African-owned businesses, to realize that women have a kind of pizzazz… a sort of flair that they bring to any business. Even more so does the South…

Pt Operational Services (Pty) Ltd implemented their Phambili Campaign in Rustenburg and Pretoria, during the end of March 2017. The Mindspa Institute, proud training partner, developed a series of motivational workshops presented to their toll-gate operators, route patrol drivers, comms…

By merely glancing at a green rectangle for two seconds led to improvements on creative tasks, German researchers discovered. Students writing exams perform better if there are windows in the classroom with natural light and nature-photos-screensavers do wonders for recharging…

Follow these Guidelines to Make Working from Home Successful 7 Expert Tips on How to Make Working from Home a Success The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown have a lot of people trying to make working from home a success.…

Diversity management recognizes individual differences and demands respect for all cultures, gender, sexual orientations, age, religious/political beliefs, physical abilities or ideologies and races. We all are different and come from different backgrounds. Managing a company’s diversified workforce, should be part…

In meetings, presentations or even at home, you think you can communicate, but are you sure you are communicating effectively. By enhancing your communication skills you MAKE people listen to you. They understand you better and want to listen to…

Since selling became a recognised profession, countless sales training organizations, sales gurus, writers and sales people of all sorts, have attempted to create effective cold calling techniques. There is no magical script, and while there are many helpful frameworks and…

On top of The COVID-19 virus, loadshedding and the recession, for South Africans Crime and Safety is a harsh reality we have to deal with on a daily basis. The CSIR wrote a manual called Making South Africa Safe: A Manual…

When my ten-year-old nephew leaned over me while I was writing this, he read the caption out loud and replied: “not far, because you have to learn out of your mistakes and correct your behavior.” This is one wise ten-year-old,…

5 Tips from Elmarie Pretorius, International Speaker, Trainer, Author and Owner of The Mindspa Institute, a soft-skills training company.

What is Psychological Safety and why is it fundamental to high-performing teams? Amy Edmondson, an Organizational Behavioural Scientist coined the term ‘Team Psychological Safety’ (TPS) in 1999, which she defined as “a shared belief held by members of a team…

Leadership is an insightful human process. Any leader, who can change their own mindset to a more optimistic one, is capable of influencing the mindsets of their subordinates in a positive way.  4 Quick Ways Leaders can positively influence their…

The World Economic Forum ranked Emotional Intelligence as one of the top skills to have by 2025. Yet, the vital role that emotional intelligence plays in sales, is often overlooked. Even research has shown that salespeople who received emotional intelligence training brought in more sales and closed…

– in shaping a more equal future at the office. Generations of women have been paving the way for their future peers in the fight for women’s rights and equality. Although we have come a long way, this is an…

5 Ways to rebuild your business by investing in your employee’s skills development: Globally, businesses are trying to recover from the havoc brought on by this pandemic. It is an ongoing process in which Human Resources features as a key…

Most people come back to the office after the festive holiday season feeling refreshed and re-energized. However, because they are rested, NOW is the perfect time to “whip” your staff into “shape” by focussing on motivation and upskilling them in…

Tim Tebow has a great quote that goes, “Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Our focus and energy need to be on the things we CAN control. Attitude, effort, focus – these are the things we can control.” These…

Change is daunting, but ultimately necessary and inevitable, especially in business. The businesses on the forefront of change are the ones that survive and prosper. And the employees who possess the skill of being highly adaptable to change, are the ones who get…

Getting one of those “Best Boss Ever” mugs from your employees is not easy. It is like a trophy you only obtain once you truly achieve that status. “A poll of over one million workers in the US by Gallup found that…

Have you ever heard of the job title Customer Experience Executive or Chief Customer Officer or Customer Experience Manager? When you search these types of jobs online in South Africa there are roughly 316 vacancies just on LinkedIn that pop…

A role model is someone who doesn’t necessarily tell you what to do but rather shows you how to act, react, live, work and improve through their good example. When you are in a managerial position, you are automatically seen…

Let’s talk about Business Etiquette when attending a professional dinner, your organisation’s end year function, award ceremony, Christmas Party etc.  Before you start to dancing on the tables drunk, remember that this is your place of work. You are the brand…

Some of the most difficult challenges faced by businesses is increasing employee productivity and improving their performance. This is especially true during a time where global economies are battling, people are required to work in remote teams, the work-from-home is…

Roughly, people who work an average of 40-45 hours per week, spend about 30% of their lifetime working. Did you know that a typical employee will spend an average of 2 years of their life in work meetings? People regarded…

In an article by The Harvard Business School they “recently asked 600 CEOs: What is keeping you awake at night during this global pandemic? A major and multifaceted concern that emerged is how to keep employees motivated when their world is crashing…

A diverse group of people mixed within the workplace is bound to stir up some interesting issues. Creating a workplace where there is a positive culture of tolerance is the key to harnessing the competitive edge a diverse workforce gives the business.  What is…

A lot of the time we concentrate on the emotional intelligence of the individual leader of a team, but what about the rest of the group and their dynamics as a collective unit? Because emotional intelligence is a skill that individuals require, this skill…

Emotional and Mental Wellness is an essential part of overall Workplace Wellness. It ensures employee productivity, positive workplace morale and helps employees build good workplace relationships. When wellness problems are left unchecked or not detected early enough, it can ultimately lead to…

According to a fact sheet published by the World Health Organisation, “Globally, an estimated 264 million people suffer from depression…” Their studies also, “estimates that depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy US $1 trillion each year in lost productivity.” October…

Very few organisations and employees in South Africa were prepared to convert to blended workforces so suddenly. But as the lockdown was systematically lifted, a lot of companies that went back to their old traditional office spaces are now weighing…

8 Tips for Managing Teams Remotely If someone told you in 2019 that two years from now most of the world will be working remotely, you would have had your reservations. Managers would automatically assume that it could not work,…

COVID-19 has been declared a national emergency in South Africa by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday 15 March 2020. The novel Coronavirus causing havoc on all levels of society and in the world leave many businesses and workplaces in limbo. The…

We are currently in our winter months which are already associated with numerous sicknesses and illnesses, never mind all the noncommunicable diseases people already deal with. In addition, we must deal with the infectious novel Coronavirus. Absenteeism and increased health…

Many people who are new to the job market, especially young talent, feel bewildered, not knowing what to expect. They are unsure of themselves, feel uncertain about all the skills that they will need and hesitant to perhaps take action…

Many South Africans don’t have a hold on their personal finances and not knowing how to manage your own finances, means not doing anything to take control of your private financial matters. Part of not managing your personal finances also means a lack of…

If you think “I am not good at speaking in front of crowds; I am not a good public speaker; I bore people with my presentation etc.” you immediately raise your anxiety levels and break down your self-confidence. Being afraid of presenting…

Mentorship is a vital tool that can bring about the necessary change needed for the next generation of leaders. Most successful industry leaders will testify that they had or still have mentors. Mentorship benefits both the mentee and the business because it drives results.…

Many Managers will tell you that one of their greatest challenges is to get and retain top talent. No business wants to have a high staff turnover. It’s not only costly, time consuming, hampers productivity and decreases staff morale, but also…

In the words of Gil Amelio: “Developing excellent COMMUNICATION skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can’t…

As with many things, women communicate differently than their male counterparts. They simply approach a situation differently. Then again, so many women are afraid or don’t know how to effectively get their concerns or point across in the workplace. For…

…without using the labour law as the judge. How you as a leader handle insubordination is a true test of your leadership abilities. Insubordination shows a lack of respect and one bad apple spoils the batch. Although the labour law…

Here is some business advice from 4 Phenomenal Women in Business, who happen to be my friends, in the form of a Q & A session.  Article by: Elmarie Pretorius Marilyn Monroe said, “A wise girl knows her limits, a…

Oscar Wilde said: “Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards.” While nothing truly teaches you like, real-life happenings of your own, hopefully through my experiences, I can at least prepare…

Yes, the business world is obsessed with Artificial Intelligence, aka AI or commonly referred to as coding. Most business experts believe that coding is the must-have skill future jobseekers will look for.  It’s predicted that this skill is no longer…

What will become of the leaders of tomorrow if they don’t have positive role models and good mentors? Just look at the news and listen to people talking. Our youth is in desperate need of leaders they can look up to, someone that guides…

There is an old African Proverb that says “it takes a whole village to raise a child.” Investing in our youth is up to all of us. The 16th of June marks Youth Day 2017. Every year we celebrate Youth…

Alarming statistics indicate that diabetes is rapidly increasing globally. Approximately 422 million people globally have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common under adults, and four times as many people have Type 2 diabetes today compared to 36 years…

If you tell someone how great they are and constantly remind them of their strengths, you make them feel better about themselves. If you focus on people’s talents you enhance their chances to succeed. Don’t you? If you lift someone…