The Leading Conversation

This week we are joined by Robert Paddock, entrepreneur, leader and personal growth enthusiast. Rob founded Valenture Institute (an online high school) having been part of the founding team of educational giant GetSmarter. Rob talks about his unique journey to here, the need for failing, what the currency of business is, and about the personal growth needed to learn. This is a great way to end season 2. We will be back....

This week we speak to Jean De Villiers, Former Springbok Captain, current Supersport pundit and Head of philanthropy at Citadel Wealth Management. We quiz Jean (he is on insta I think) on all things leadership, success, transitions out of sport to philanthropy, and how he remained motivated for all those years of his career. Jean is consistent, honest and worth following through the course of this chat!

Katlego Maphai is the CEO of highly successful business Yoco. Based in South Africa, it has served to open commerce opportunities for many excluded people in the economy. The business is highly purposeful, as is Katlego. Katlego has walked a journey around the world and now leads this business with 3 others. He shares wonderfully about their journey, how they grow connections, maintain a culture whilst scaling, and maintain strength as a leadership team. It is quite fascinating if you are someone who loves a good success story

Kate Woods. Triple Olympian turned super manager. Kate is nicknamed the Lioness for her ability to be warm and caring but also as someone you dare not cross. Kate tells superb stories from her time at the Olympics, as well as what makes her and her teams tick in the competitive world of sports gear, where she now works for Adidas. Kate is passionate and smart - and tells a great story or two.

Sam is a serial winner and inspirer of people through his actions. Sam founded GetSmarter, a now global education company, leads the ever-growing JEFF fitness company, and is on the board of Yuppiechef. There is no sport in this conversation, but there is no shortage of gold to gain from.

Springbok world-cup winning captain #2, John Smit joins us this week. A man who has made a name for himself as unflappable, inspirational and a wise head certainly doesn't disappoint. He talks his own journey, who keeps him in check, how they navigated tough times at the Boks and what it takes to be a modern CEO. We manage to get a bit more out of John than your average interview.

Stormers head coach, John Dobson joins us this week. As someone whom we have both worked with we really worked hard to create depth of insight. John discusses culture, individualisation of coaching, how he 'cringes' at his early days, and what his key 'metric' for success on tightness of the team is. A real cracker.

Kevin Foote - Former Blitzbok captain, UCT head coach and now defence coach at the Melbourne Rebels. Kevin knows people, he inspires people & mostly he makes them smile! Kevin shares his thoughts on love, coaching during lockdown, what you need to focus on when leading and what his own journey of growth entails.

This week we are joined by Australian rugby star Will Genia. 100+ tests, 100+ super rugby games, played in 3 countries and sat in many leadership groups. Will goes in depth here around his favourite coach, how a young group won Super Rugby in 2011, how he deals with setbacks, his mate Quade Cooper, and how to do feedback well. Will also talks about how being selfish & selfless are not opposites and in fact you need both to succeed. MUST LISTEN!

Norma Plummer, former Australian and South African netball coach joins us to share her key insights on what creates success. The directness and simplicity are inspiring. She shares intricately about how she moved SA from also rans to contenders.

Coach, innovator, pioneer  and empowerer of people, Paddy Upton, joins us to share his views on the competitive advantages still available to leaders, how to deal with dickheads and how we can create high learning environments. Guaranteed to get your mind racing!

A career coach who has a wealth of experience in both success and failure. Gary Gold, current USA Eagles rugby head coach, and former Springbok (assistant), Sharks and Bath coach shares his wealth of insights with us. He talks player work ethic, obsession with results, the difference between environment and culture, and what you actually can control as a coach. Gary's optimism and passion will undoubtedly rub off on you.

The season is up and running and we are joined by a full blown professor! Damian shares great insights including this one that surely gets you thinking about what exists in your environment #theleadingconversation

Episode 1 of Season 2: We are joined for former protea, now broadcaster, and leader of the JP21 foundation, JP Duminy. He appeared cool on the field, but he opens up & lets us into his deep thinking about performance, leading, his purpose in life and whether he even likes being called a former Protea. JP will keep you engaged and certainly make you think.

In this final episode Kyle and Tom go it alone. They dive deep into the themes that emerged through the series, answer listener questions and attempt to make sense of what they heard. Of course they challenge, add and even disagree with each other. Series 1 concludes on a quizzical note.

The world cup winning, smiling, dynamic and out-the-box acting Schalk Brits talks emotional intelligence, how you have to get an environment right to get a player right and how he managed to go from selfish to team man! His exuberance and fun-loving nature doesn't hide his obvious deep thinking about leadership

Personal growth specialist, Angela Deutschmann, joins us and jolts us into some deep introspection. Angela dives straight into tools and tips for growing yourself in life and at work. She sure knows how to make you think, having had experience working with top execs all over the world. Keep your note pad at hand - you'll want to do some thinking after this one...

Gcobani is a dreamer, an optimist and someone who follows his heart. Despite changing positions, this schoolboy star still became a Springbok, led teams and now dabbles in media and entrepreneurial activities. He talks deep, he talks equality, he talks dreams and he even spits a few rap lines for us. You won't be let down.

Ben Darwin, former Wallaby prop and now director of Gainline Analytics talks team cohesion with us. He believes this is more important than any of the oft spoken about predictors of success. Listen in for what he means by cohesion and more. You will be left scratching your head!

World cup winning cricket coach, Gary Kirsten, joins us. He mixes a child-like enthusiasm for learning with serious significance as a person. Gary goes into his 'way', what collaboration means, a spot of parenting & how simplicity has been the key for some of the world's top names. The most easily transferable lessons yet!

Dr. Phathokuhle Zondi has had a glittering career thus far - young, tenacious and caring, she heads up SASCOC's medial council, has been to an Olympic and Commonwealth games and been CEO of Sports Science institute of South Africa. She also has been team doctor in the rugby circles. She shares her wisdom, her encounters with bias and discrimination and how you need to be willing to stand up for what you believe when in leadership positions in traditional male environments. Phatho is going places, and is someone worth listening to!

USA u20 soccer coach Anthony Hudson joins us all the way from Chicago. Having been a nearly-man in getting to both the Olympics and World Cup with underdog teams he's got a riveting story to tell. He's both inspirational and incredibly passionate about his craft. Football legend, Harry Redknapp, once described Anthony as 'The new Mourinho".

This week Olympic gold-medalist Ben Ryan, who took Fiji to glory in the rugby 7s joins us. Ben talks about being managed by a dictator and a criminal, how well the Fijians remain present, how dangerous a smiling Fijian can be, as well as why he fell out of love & back in love with coaching.

In episode 6 we are joined by Former England batsman Jonathan Trott. Jonathan was born and bred in Cape Town but had a goal to play for England. He got to number 1 in the world as a batsman, and his team got to the top too. He also experienced some difficulty with mental health leading to him having to leave an Ashes tour early. His openness about his experience, from top to bottom, is admirable and you will definitely learn something about the mind in performance.

This week we are joined by CEO advisor and founder of leadership consultancy, Lockstep, Rowan Belchers. We ask Rowan to decode leadership, explain how it's accessible to people and share some insights from the world of helping businesses thrive. He brings great insights.

We chat to Springbok and Stormers captain Siya Kolisi in the most authentic and inspirational conversation. Siya shares on his strange pre final ritual, how he doesn't always have the answers and on what is fuelling him. Kyle and Siya's views on diversity are also not to be missed.

Tom and Kyle are joined by Melbourne rebels head coach Dave Wessels. Dave, South African born, has been coaching in Australia for 8 years and is the youngest ever Super Rugby coach. Having a background in IT, and having worked in media, he found his real passion of rugby coaching. Dave is intriguing to listen to with his candidness. He shares stories of changes they've made in Melbourne, where he's succeeded & failed and how one empowers through being firm and clear.

Former Proteas head, and current Chennai SuperKings assistant coach Eric Simons joins us to discuss leading teams, how being a ‘nice guy' is harmful, what mistakes he's made, and the art of asking pretty tough questions. Eric is one of the most comfortably authentic coaches out there and is always happy to challenge and be challenged. His curiosity and challenge both come through strongly in this insightful conversation. Eric's wisdom leaves you wanting more!

Episode 1 of this podcast series with formers SA 7's captain Kyle Brown, and Performance coach Tom Dawson-Squibb sees them joined by WP Rugby captain, Chris Van Zyl. Both Kyle and Chris have had interesting journeys in leadership experiencing some highs and some lows. They both open up remarkably on their journey and how they managed these both trying and joyful times. This is a riveting conversation not to be missed.