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AROUND THE BLOCH

Newsletter of Lance Bloch & Associates — First Quarter 2004

 
 
IN THIS ISSUE:
We welcome you to Around the Bloch, the new newsletter of Lance Bloch & Associates (LBA). This is being sent to individuals and companies on our mailing list, who are there by virtue of having had some contact with us in the past. We intend to bring this out quarterly, to update you with what we have been doing, and also to provide articles and messages of interest in today's fast-paced world. We trust this will be of value to you!
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Lance Bloch
Would you like to have a company or organisation -
  • Where employees and managers turn up each day with passion for their work, their teams and their company?
  • Where they are enthusiastic about what they do, willing to learn and improve, and are becoming world-class in their effectiveness?
  • Where the corporate culture is a caring and life-giving one, where personal and corporate values thrive, and there is a palpable sense of community?
  • Where conflict does not lie dormant, underground, sapping energy, but is turned into creative problem-solving, energy to be released in constructive ways by committed employees, and diversity becomes the huge competitive advantage it can be?
  • Where staff want to come to work because they can be themselves as human and cultural beings, express fun and joy and work hard and smart because they have a sense of ownership and belonging?
  • Where workshops and trainings undertaken are exciting, participative, never to be forgotten, add value to the people as well as the bottom line, and build SUSTAINABILITY in the organisation.
  • Where safety compliance is a natural behaviour and attitude, because all employees take responsibility and care of themselves and others in work environments where there may be danger.
  • This is exactly what Lance Bloch & Associates can do for you!

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    FOYSA AND TOYP INTERNATIONAL AWARD

    Many of you have asked about the "Winner, The Outstanding Young Person of the World Award for 1996" that appears under the LBA logo. This is an international award presented annually by Junior Chamber International, the largest leadership development organisation in the world (Lance having won the Four Outstanding Young South Africans Award the year before). It was presented in recognition of Lance's ground-breaking reconciliation work in helping develop, train trainers and run the PIP (Psycho-social Integration Programme) course that was adopted by the then Transitional Executive Council as an important part of the integration process for fighters from previously warring armies of Umkhonto we Sizwe and the South African Defence Force. While the programme had a powerful impact, there were strategic shortcomings, which have been identified. This, and much experience working within corporate and government, has led to the much improved "Building Workplace Community" process that LBA now offers. 
    Lance receiving the award in June 1997.

     

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    PROCESSES AND WORKSHOPS OFFERED

    The following are our most popular and powerful change programmes, based on unforgettable experiential learning exercises. They can be take as a whole ongoing organisational development process, or the elements are available separately as well. All programmes are tailor made, in ongoing consultation with you, to reflect your own organisation or team's specific culture and needs.
     
    BUILDING WORKPLACE COMMUNITY
  • The Challenge of Diversity
  • Building High Performance Teams and Organisations
  • Change Agents Workshop
  • Leadership & Transformation
  • Values & Umhlangano: Creating Sustainability
  • MAKING MERGERS AND  ACQUISITIONS WORK
  • Corporate Culture Building: The human factor during and after mergers
  • Leadership & Transformation
  • Values & Umhlangano: Creating Sustainability
  • SAFETY COMPLIANCE PROGRAMME (Suitable for any industry where safety is NB: Mining, transport, construction, chemical industry, engineering, agriculture, etc).
  • 2 day workshop for management and unions
  • 1 day workshop for all employees and contractors
  • 1 day safety leadership skills for supervisors
  •  

     
    SERVANT LEADERSHIP
    (In association with Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership Southern Africa)
  • 1-2 day workshop for all employees
  • 2 day follow-up for management
  • 2-3 day workshop for managers
  • ANGER MANAGEMENT
  • A 2 day workshop
  • Corporate
  • General Public
  • COACHING
  • From executive to shop floor
  • PUBLIC SPEAKING & CONFERENCING
  • 1-4 hour sessions
  • CORPORATE JOY: DRUMMING & BIODANZA
  • 1-2 hour sessions
  •  

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    LATEST SCOOPS

    AWARD WINNING BOLLYWOOD STAR, MISHKAA KHANNA TO SHINE FOR LBA!
     

    We have the privilege of Mishkaa Khanna joining us from Mumbai, India. Not only is she one of the best international coaches and mentors Lance has ever met, but she has had outstanding success as a marketing and salesperson in India and the USA, where she made $8m worth of sales in 6 months for an IT training company. CEO's of some of India's top advertising and event management companies regularly consult her for her fresh and innovative marketing ideas and contacts in the movie and glamour industry.

    Mishkaa has starred in Bollywood (the Indian equivalent to Hollywood, which produces over 800 movies a year) movies and as Baby Geeta, was probably India's best known and loved child star ever. She was listed in the Guinness and Limca Books of World Records as the youngest ever winner - at 8 - of a National Film Award (the equivalent of an Academy Award). Apart from the above Mishkaa has successfully run her own TV and Film production company. In addition, for several years she was one of India's top models. Mishkaa will be available to Lance Bloch and Associates as a public speaker, coach and mentor, workshop facilitator and marketing / sales person.

     

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    ASIBONISANE SAFETY COMPLIANCE PROGRAMME: "WORKING TOGETHER TOWARDS A COMMON GOAL”: ZERO HARM

     

    "95% of mine accidents are due to lack of compliance with safety procedures"

    "If you haven't yet attended a (Asibonisane Safety Compliance) training session......look forward to it.....It's an eye opener, constructive to achieving a culture of compliance and really great fun" 

    "By the end of the workshops, Koornfontein had 131 and Douglas had 62 classified injury free days, an excellent result!"                     - Douglas / Koornfontein Friday Flash 10 Oct. 2003

    If you entered the Blinkpan Club near Witbank at the end of 2003, you may have encountered groups enthusiastically singing about safety. Reflecting BHP Billiton and Ingwe Coal's commitment to safety on their mines, almost 3000 employees and contractors of Douglas Collieries and Koornfontein mines - went through Lance Bloch and Associates' innovative 1-day Asibonisane Safety Compliance Programme. Just prior to that, a group of 30 management and union reps from each mine had been taken through a more intensive version of the workshop at Olifants River Lodge in August where they enthusiastically bought into the process. Asibonisane was then rolled out to all in the 2 mines between September and November. The name Asibonisane was agreed on by the management & union group, reflecting how the whole process was an ongoing collaboration between LBA and the mines for their specific needs and culture.

    In an exciting, highly experiential process, the focus was placed on commitment to a safety culture via building strong multi-cultural teams, creating a sense of individual and team responsibility for safety, building a group vision and values towards zero harm. Highly valuable information was gleaned from all, about why, despite knowing the rules and regulations, safety compliance often does not happen. This was fed back to management and unions, who have started addressing many of the issues, which are more HR, communication and morale questions.

    The success of the programme came out of a high level of participation not before seen in mine trainings according to Employee Relations Development Manager Pieter De Lange. This was reflected in the fact that 25 entries of high standard were received for the mine safety song competition coming out of Asibonisane. The cartoon characters of Asi and Boni were generated to continually reinforce the learning's. In addition, by the end of the workshops, Koornfontein had 131 and Douglas had 62 classified injury free days, an excellent result.

    "The feedback received from these 1-day workshops has been extremely positive and indicates a strong commitment by all to a new safety culture on our mines" - Christine Richards, Communication Manager, in the Friday Flash.

    "Feedback received to date has been encouraging with employees showing improved awareness to safety in general and higher levels of compliance to our safety rules, standards and procedures" - Jamie Ferguson, GM, Douglas-Koornfontein Complex

    Click here to view an article taken from the Friday Flash.. 

    Click here to view some pictures from the Friday Flash..

     

     

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    LANCE BLOCH & ASSOCIATES TO BECOME A BEE COMPANY

    Mishkaa Khanna will soon be assuming a majority partnership of Lance Bloch and Associates, defining us in South Africa Employment Equity terms as a black owned company. Lance Bloch and Associates has, since its inception in 1994, been actively involved in promoting and training top level black facilitators (for example, as far as we know, we were the first company with black facilitators running outdoor teambuildings), and has been committed to the process of racial reconciliation in South Africa, as recognised by our South African and International awards.

     
    ANGER MANAGEMENT

    The topic of anger and its management is not new. Roman philosopher / educator Seneca wrote a book called De Ira (About Anger). Unfortunately for him, Emperor Nero did not internalise his teachings and had Seneca put to death in 65AD!

    The 5th of February 2004, saw Lance Bloch address a group of members of the Johannesburg Young Presidents Organisation (YPO), an international organisation consisting of CEO's and owners of companies with turnovers in the $m's.

    The focus was on anger management, a popular topic following the recent movie starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. Lance gave members an informative, fun and participative run-down on the causes of anger - something especially widespread in South Africa due to our past - its effects on physical, mental and group health, and how to manage and express it in healthy ways. The very positive feedback received has led to further invitations to Lance to speak and also appear on radio. In fact, Lance was a guest of radio psychologist Dr. Dee, on national radio 702/Cape Talk, where the producer claimed that this was one of the best received of such programmes in a long time!

    A 2-day workshop on Anger management is available to corporate and other groups.

    "An eye-opener"   "Excellent"  “In the top 5% of presentations we have had!"

    - YPO Members

     

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    LANCE BLOCH - A KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES IN UK & USA     
    In June 2003, Lance had the rare honour of being accepted as a speaker from 100's of applications worldwide, at both the ASTD (American Society of Training and Development - the largest training organisation in the world) Annual Conference in San Diego, and the Annual Servant Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, where he also represented South Africa at meetings of International representatives.

    His interactive talk, "Servant Leadership In South Africa": Lessons for the World" was so well received that he was invited to be the keynote speaker (in an interactive 3 hour presentation) at the Servant Leadership UK conference in London in November. Due to heavy work pressures, Lance's presentation was very ably delivered in his place by Benji Phangela, our longest serving associate. Feedback has been extremely positive, and we expect to continue our international engagements, presentations and workshops in 2004.

     
    SERVANT LEADERSHIP

    What do leading management gurus such as Ken Blanchard, Margaret Wheatley, Peter Block, Steven Covey, Max DePree, Peter Drucker and M. Scott Peck have in common?? They all have explicitly or implicitly been influenced by the writings of Robert K. Greenleaf about Servant Leadership. As opposed to the clear greed and egoism shown recently by many corporate leaders in the USA and elsewhere, the "difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant leader to make sure that other people's highest priorities are being served." According to Herb Kelleher, former CEO of Southwest Airlines (one of the top 5 US desirable companies to work for, and the only airline company that did not retrench after Sept. 11th):

    And, sure enough, companies based on Servant Leadership principles in the USA in 2000 had 50% greater profit than non-SL companies.

    Lance last year compiled a groundbreaking highly experiential 3 day workshop on Servant Leadership -written specifically for the African and South African context-, but adaptable to anywhere in the world-, which can also be run in 2 day or 3-4 hour modules. This is for management. However, considering that leadership capacity is inherent in all of us, there is also a 1-2 day version for all staff, down to shop-floor level. This was run highly successfully for the whole of Multimed in August 2003, for example followed by a 2-day program for managers.

    Lance was honoured to be invited to make a 4 hour interactive and experiential presentation, the longest by any speaker, at the inaugural conference of the Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership for Southern Africa in May 2002. As a result of the enthusiasm with which his presentation was received, he was asked to join the Greenleaf Board, which has now constituted itself as a company with Lance a director in charge of training and development. The Centre has an aim of bringing the Servant Leadership model and philosophy -absolutely essential in today's world- into the mainstream of corporate, governmental and community leadership practices. Lance as mentioned earlier, was invited to present on "Servant Leadership in South Africa - Lessons for the World" at the international Conference in Indianapolis last year in June, and as the keynote speaker at the Greenleaf Centre UK conference last November.

    Read more about Servant Leadership ...

     

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    OTHER SUCCESSES

    FNB VUKA

    White managers with brooms and hockey sticks in the middle of Soweto, catching trains and taxis, walking around meeting the people and sleeping cramped on floors in residents’ homes? All part of the highly successful Project Vuka within First National Bank Metro Delivery, where all 8 500 urban branch employees were taken through a change process that is still making waves nationally. We were proud to be strongly involved, working directly as Senior Consultants under visionary consultant Mike Boon - previously CEO of South African based multi-national Group Africa - and his Vulindlela Network. Lance and Lolo Maka, were part of a six-member team that helped Mike select, train and coach 22 internal facilitators within FNB and also facilitated the many sessions scheduled to expose the entire workforce to the experience.

    This was an exciting programme that created a national debate. Not only were there 2 full page articles about Vuka in the Sunday Times Business Times and commentary in the Star, but also excited interviews on national radio. Wendy Lucas Bull, in a Sunday Times interview, claimed that while morale as measured had been at “minus 5” before Vuka started, it now stood at 80%. Whereas before Vuka 90% of FNB staff were considering leaving and sales were declining, a record new transmission and cheque accounts were recorded in March. Together with another initiative, it appears the workshops, together with the values-based follow-up Umhlangano process –in which “people issues” are tabled and resolved and a sense of community is built into each branch’s corporate culture – have enabled Inland North region (most of the old Transvaal geographically) to reduce internal fraud by 95%. Great results from a great programme!

    RESULTS:

  • Internal fraud reduced by 95%

  • Record new accounts

  • Morale up from –5 to 80%.

  • “An overwhelming success” –Peet van der Walt, FNB Metro Delivery Chief Operating Officer

  • Praise for “nation-building” and real transformation –Max du Preez in article in the Star and John Robbie on Radio 702

  •  
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    SPOORNET STRATEGY & SYSTEMS: BUILDING TRUE COMMUNITY

    Driving with a blindfold is not easy at the best of times! Yet that is what was one of the skills required of top managers of Spoornet Strategy & Systems Department, on a Leadership Development workshop in the Waterberg. IN addition, all approximately 260 members of the department were taken through a 3 day Building Workplace Community workshop, 20 at a time, at Orion Safari Lodge in Rustenburg, where we have an outdoor course built - including exercises such as the Spiders Web, The Great Wall (a 15 foot high wall which has to be crossed by all) and the Yellow Brick Road, a puzzle which tests teams' abilities to identify problems and learn from them.

     

    Miriam Mkhwane, HR Manager, noticed that after the workshops -apart from a general increase in morale, departmental problem solving and enthusiasm - there were noticeable changes in self-esteem, with previously quiet and shy employees performing unexpectedly well in promotional interviews.

  • Post-workshop ratings by employees: Approximately 80% Excellent, 19% Good, 1% Average

  •  
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    LAFARGE ALUMINATES

    It took a helluva lot of courage for top managers at Lafarge Aluminates to face their fears and abseil down the quarry face into the waiting dinghy in the water below, maybe less so to raft down the gentle waters of the Vaal River above Stonehenge River Lodge. And then again in 2003, they faced the mighty Zambezi in Zambia, paddling past crocs and hippos, and river rafting one of the most exciting and difficult rivers in the world.

    But it took more courage to spend a day dealing with longstanding issues that most companies usually cover up so as to not 'rock the boat'. This was the case too in the Lafarge factory in Richards Bay, where factory manager Pieter du Preez has seen many previously underlying issues resolved by the combined intellectual capital of workers, supervisors and management in the Umhlangano process. Whilst initially a bit laborious, the Umhlangano is enabling them to deal with people issues and perceptions that threaten production capacity at the plant. It has been amazing to see workers and artisans / supervisors, usually silent in meetings and divisive afterwards, starting to participate and interact fully in the meetings in a new spirit of togetherness.  

  • "Lance Bloch must be one of the leading trainers in Change Management" -Colin Oxley, MD, Lafarge Aluminates

  •  
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    THE SYNGENTA MERGER

    A merger naturally produces a fair share of problems. Employees of the merging companies maintaining separate identities, conflicts over ways of working, fear of further retrenchments, perceptions of a leadership vacuum, low morale and disillusionment, poor and insufficient communication.

    Syngenta, a merger of Zeneca and Novartis agro-pharmaceuticals, was no different. What was different, though, was that they decided to tackle the issues head on instead of ignoring them, and -in line with management's policy of working with and consulting employees- they brought in Lance Bloch & Associates to take their whole company, approximately 20 at a time, through a 2-day workshop in Rustenburg to build a new identity, corporate culture and sense of community. Most mergers fail precisely because these "people issues" are not dealt with. One of the key tasks was to express and let go of old legacies, unhappiness and divisions so as to "cross the line" into the new company and its new values and cutting edge principles. Remarkable too was top management's openness to adopting every one of our recommendations made in a report back to them on all the workshops. One of the results was that a workshop was held at Mt Everest Lodge in Harrismith to build real unity and direction within their own team.  The team itself discovered the benefits of Umhlangano processes to deal with issues and build a new values-based culture, and agreed to run these throughout the company. Over a 2-day workshop 20 internal facilitators were taught to manage conflict and facilitate Umhlangano's themselves. 

    A celebration for the new company and a "crossing the line" ceremony were held at the Brits plant, which included company awards and the whole company drumming together in harmony. 

    FEEDBACK: This highly successful programme had the following impressive results:

  • In the year of these programs Syngenta SA had the best results and improvement of any Syngenta company worldwide.

  • Cementing improving business results

  • Building a new unified Syngenta culture

  • Better motivation and attitudes

  • Ratings of participants from the whole company after the workshops: 71% Excellent, 27% Good, 1% Average, 1% Poor

    Jenni Bailey, HR Manager at Syngenta, says: "After the workshops held over a 6-week period, there was a tangible change within the organization. The majority of interpersonal relationships have improved. The process of change within Syngenta is ongoing but Lance has assisted in creating the momentum and giving us strategies for success. As a company we have no hesitation in recommending Lance Bloch to any organization needing to address change challenges."

    "The workshops and Umhlangano's have enabled us to build enough trust and ability to engage with each other to enable us to start with World Class Manufacturing. This would never have been previously possible." Alan Smith, Factory Manager.

    In addition, a visiting British Syngenta manager was absolutely stunned at the level of engagement, discussion and problem-solving evidenced by all at the Brits factory, when witnessing an Umhlangano facilitated by us.

     
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    ABOUT BUILDING WORKPLACE COMMUNITY

    BUILDING TOP-LEVEL ORGANISATIONS, PEOPLE AND PROFITS

    "Commitment becomes contagious. One person might be inspired and improve individually, but when a team is inspired, growth takes on a life of its own. They learn together, and return together to the workplace -ready to unleash positive change throughout your organisation." Tom Peters, Management guru

    WHY WORKPLACE COMMUNITY?

    Is your organisation an example of harmony, where all employees are passionate about customer service and their work? Probably not. Cultural and racial conflict (often very subtle), negativity and low motivation and morale amongst employees, poor teamwork, high levels of stress, bullying by insecure managers, too high absenteeism: these are all symptoms of most modern workplaces. Figures show that these can reduce productivity by up to 40%. This is hardly a desirable situation, yet it is one seemingly taken as a given by most companies and organisations. Employment Equity and other changes, if poorly handled, have the potential to further polarise workplaces. Yet, this does not have to be the story at all. Lance Bloch & Associates has developed a winning process, based on years of experience in the South African marketplace, which results show can make a major difference in making your workplace happier, more integrated and more profitable. This process we have called "Building Workplace Community", which is also essential for organisations to ensure success of their Employment Equity programmes.

    WHAT IS WORKPLACE COMMUNITY?

    A company or team is in a state of Workplace Community when its members are able to be totally committed to each other and the organisation. Their energy, usually bound up in conflict and negativity, has been freed to allow them to be creative, dynamic, and fully effective and efficient. Much research now shows, in fact, that such participative workplaces, are one of the most important factors in increased productivity. Huselid, for example, shows that productivity in such environments can improve by at least 16%. We were able, for example, to reduce errors by a leading bank's IT division by almost 90%, a result maintained over a period of at least 2 years. Building Workplace Community is thus impactful and powerful, and lasting. 

    THE PROCESS:

    Depending on the size of the company, BWC is a transformative process that takes place over 3-6 months or more, and ensures deep and lasting change that is built into the corporate culture and strategic programme of the organisation. Here follows a simplified version of the minimum input required to ensure success. The nature of the company and its workforce would determine the exact format of the process.

    Read more about Building Workplace Community ...
    What is workplace community — reprinted from The Star Workplace ...
    Employment Equity: An opportunity for growth and profit — reprinted from The Star Workplace ...

     
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    UMHLANGANO: BUILDING THE NEW CORPORATE CULTURE

    THE UMHLANGANO PROCESS: BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY

    In the Brits factory at Syngenta, the whole plant, from managers to shop floor dances and sings together, and then sits down excitedly to address issues that have been effecting morale and high level performance. Within 2-3 hours many issues have been resolved, and trust is clearly building. Many who did not speak and contribute before are now making their voices heard. A community is being cemented, and all have a sense of being active participants, no longer passive victims but shaping their own destinies together, for each other and the company. All in it together, one company.

    Much mention is made by us of the Umhlangano, which is a wonderful tool (ask Syngenta or Lafarge or Bateman Engineering, for example, where they have been run highly successfully by us) for building a new positive, participative corporate culture, and ensuring sustainability of any change process–a major criticism of most trainings.

    The Umhlangano (Nguni languages for “meeting” or “gathering”), or "Interactive Forum", as pioneered in the workplace by Mike Boon of Group Africa, provides an excellent approach and procedure for running meetings in a diverse work environment. It is essential that the team is well-trained before they take over running of the Umhlangano themselves. The format ensures openness of all processes and discussions, and hence the needs of the whole team are taken into account. Umhlangano also is a procedure for generating and ensuring the keeping of team values, so they are supported and nurtured by all in the team, as opposed to becoming rules laid down by management which then become part of a battle. Values consensually agreed-to and supported by all in the team (whether it be honesty or punctuality, for example) are much more likely to be adhered to ("These are our values")

    Umhlangano can be used for a variety of purposes: Communication of necessary information, decision-making, maintenance of team values, training and learning, discussion of any issues which are effecting the performance of the team. It is important to realise that Umhlangano ONLY deals with people issues and is NOT a forum for discussion of operational work.


    Umhlangano at Syngenta

    Read more about managing change in the workplace ...

     
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    COACHING

    "Coaching is a working alliance designed to help you move forward, enhance your learning, accomplish goals, overcome obstacles, increase your effectiveness and wellbeing, provide independent counsel, and generally help you achieve results."- Dave Goddard, South African Executive Coach."

    LBA now presents Coaching as a string to its bow, whether for Executives, managers or employees all trying to become more emotionally, intellectually, or operationally skilled, deal with issues stopping them from attaining high performance and life fulfilment and attain high-level goals. Lance is now a member of Coachville, the largest organisation for professional coaching worldwide. 

    As mentioned we now have Mishkaa Khanna, possibly one of the best coaches in the world, on board with Lance Bloch and Associates.

    Our experience, from psychology, training and development, health and emotional issues to marketing and the glamour industry, gives us the edge to give YOU the edge!

     
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    PUBLIC SPEAKING

    Mishkaa brings her international experience as a top Bollywood star, National Award Winner and top model, in her talks about individual, team and corporate excellence.

    Lance is a sought after public speaker, having many times spoken locally, to audiences in the USA and Canada and to international conferences. He can keep an audience captivated with his interactive and entertaining presentations, and also conference team-buildings, of 1-4 hours. He is represented by leading South African speaking agent Stuart Lee of Stuart Lee Marketing, who is also part of the World Speakers network. For exciting and innovative presentations, call us at 082 454 9528 or Stuart Lee Marketing on (011)784-3111.
     
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    DRUMMING, DANCING AND THE CELEBRATION OF CORPORATE JOY

    Drumming has become a popular process to facilitate team building and enhance other corporate interventions. It is also a form of celebration.

    How effective is drumming as a corporate spirit-builder?

    The Nigerian drummer Baba Olatunji says: "Where I come from we say that rhythm is the soul of life, because the whole universe revolves around rhythm and when we get out of rhythm, that's when we get into trouble. For this reason the drum, next to the human voice is our most important instrument. It is special."

    There is an old Arab proverb: "He who makes a mistake is still our friend; he who adds to or shortens a melody is still our friend; but he who violates a rhythm unawares can never be our friend."


    Drumming at Syngenta

    This is taken to mean that if you are listening, if you are aware that you are violating the rhythm, then you will know enough to stop and figure out where you are. This has implication for leadership in encouraging alignment with company vision and drumming is a powerful tool to facilitate this.

    Research has shown that the use of the drum in indigenous cultures for ritual and ceremony has specific neurological effects. These effects enhance community well being and the ability to access vision.

    Rhythmic drumming lifts my spirit and fills me with creativity. When I share this experience with others they report feeling good and quite often use words like "release". Release from stress, release of energy and release from boredom.

    There is a huge payoff for companies who encourage expressions of joy in achievement, fun in the work place and celebration.

    Our drumming events have a multiplicity of applications. We use them to enhance learning, anchor insight, entrain and align with company initiatives, or just plain let hair down and celebrate.

    And what about dancing? South American poet, medical anthropologist and psychologist, Rolando Toro, who recently visited South Africa to accept, amongst others and other things, Lance Bloch as a teacher/facilitator of Biodanza, developed the Biodanza system of integration through music and movement more than forty years ago in Chile in response to what he perceived as the increasing dissociation of individuals in modern culture.

    Rolando Toro Araneda, founder of the Biodanza system of movement full of meaning, presenting a Biodanza session in Johannesburg
    Toro started working with psychiatric patients in Santiago, Chile, and soon realised the profound effects of music and movement upon them: depressive people became more joyful, and the disintegrative states of paranoid schizophrenics stabilised.

    Today, Biodanza is applied and practised in numerous contexts, notably in the corporate world where its effects are to not only stimulate individual health, but also organisational health through fostering a sense of joy in work and a feeling of community, friendship and solidarity amongst co-workers.

    Participants report a renewed experience of well-being, and companies find that their employees consider their work, and their lives inside the company, to be more meaningful because of and through their experience of Biodanza.

    Drumming and Biodanza are available as part of longer workshops, for conferences, X-mas parties or once-off events, and Biodanza is also available on its own on a weekly basis.

     
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    WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

    " This has been by far the best and most valuable course I have ever done. This can make a difference!" Carina Wood, Chief Social Worker, SANDF

    "Magic happens on this course and, unlike other trainings, it gets better and better as time goes on." Natalie Stoltz, MD, Privest Natalie Stoltz

    "Important for any organisation, any group of people." Vincent Mntambo, past Director General, Gauteng Government

    "This is the best team-building I have ever attended!" Dawie de Villiers, Senior Manager Human Resources, Spoornet

    "Not just another workshop, but the basis for living and working together with understanding and common purpose" Deon Botha, Financial Manager, Protective Packaging

    "Lance Bloch must be one of the leading facilitators for change management. All our participants only had good things to say about him. I would not hesitate to recommend Lance to anyone." Colin Oxley, MD, Lafarge Aluminates Africa

    "As a company we have no hesitation in recommending Lance Bloch to any organisation needing to address change challenges!" Jenni Bailey, HR Manager, Symgenta

    "Brilliant!" "Enlightening" "Outstanding" "Unique" "Thought-provoking" "Wonderful learning experience"

     
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    LET'S MEET THE TEAM

    ** WINNER, JUNIOR CHAMBER INTERNATIONAL'S 1996 "THE OUTSTANDING YOUNG PERSONS OF THE WORLD" AWARD**

    Internationally acknowledged corporate trainer, management consultant and clinical psychologist Lance Bloch, MD of Lance Bloch & Associates for the past 8 years is a strong all-rounder. He is a former Junior Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa, an international hockey player, and has had poetry and prose published in various magazines.  He has often appeared in the media, locally and internationally, from interviews on CNN, American Public Broadcast Radio and several leading South African TV and radio programmes and channels, to articles on him and his work in Agence France Presse and most South African newspapers and many magazines. He also has written articles for many newspapers and magazines. He has had the rare distinction of being recognised both locally and internationally for his work, having being named one of the winners of the Junior Chamber International “Four Outstanding Young South Africans” Awards in 1995, and “The Outstanding Young Person of the World” Honouree in 1996, for the barrier-breaking, reconciliation and community building work he has done in South Africa, including for the integration of previously violently opposed military forces.

    Bloch is in high demand for his skills and experience in organisational development and training, being recognised as one of the foremost consultants in South Africa and, increasingly, internationally (he has addressed and facilitated groups in Canada, the USA, the UK, Austria, France, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and at international conferences abroad and in South Africa), in the areas of Team-Building, Diversity, Leadership Development, Personal Development and Coaching, Change Management and Transformation and mine safety compliance.  In addition, both corporate and government, from shop floor to top management, rate him highly for his innovative experiential training and assessment methodology.  He works both indoors, and is well known for his exciting outdoor programmes, as well as for his ability to build powerful workplace communities. He was team psychologist to the South African Rainbow Team in the International Raid Gauloises, the toughest race on earth, and credited with the fact that they had by far the best team spirit of 47 international teams.

    He was recently Senior Consultant in a major transformation project, Project Vuka, for 8 500 employees of First National Bank Metro. In addition, of late he has been working on a highly successful safety and team-building project on coal mines in Mpumalanga province for 1000’s of employees and managers at all levels.

    He is currently on the Board of the newly established Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership in southern Africa, for which he is Training Director. He has been a highly praised keynote speaker at recent conferences in South Africa and the UK and also presented in the USA, on “Servant leadership in South Africa: Lessons for the World”.


    MISHKAA KHANNA

    Info on our Indian Bollywood star has already been provided earlier in the newsletter (see section on latest Scoops)


    LOLO MAKA has devoted all his life to education and training.  In 1987, he enrolled with the Faculty of Education at UNITRA where he was awarded The Mathematics Merit Award for excellent work. During this period he was elected President of the SRC and Director for Continuing Education, responsible for facilitating student training.

    After several training jobs, in 1999, he became an independent training practitioner focusing on leadership, transformation and change management. He facilitates education and training programs in the public and private sector. In 2001 he was part of a formidable team of senior consultants who worked with the Vulindlela Network on FNB Metro Vuka.


    BENJI PHANGELA is also a registered Clinical Psychologist, who has worked closely with Lance over the past 10 years, especially in the field of Diversity Training and Team-Building. More recently, he was a senior facilitator under Lance in a major project training Safety Compliance for 1000s of miners in Mpumalanga province. Benji was an ex-MK member, part of the National Training Team of the SA National Defence Force, trained by Lance to run the Psychological Integration Programme for the integration of the different forces.

    Benji has worked for another large parastatal, Telkom, first as a psychologist, and then as the Manager of the Employee Assistance programme, which runs courses, consulting and training for employees in a wide range of areas. He is one of the country’s leading experts in the field of counselling of people with HIV/AIDS. He is conversant in many of the official languages of South Africa. Benji also runs a part-time private practice as a psychologist.

     

    THEO COETZEE (M.A Educational Psychology) has been a Corporate Training Consultant for 23 years, facilitating soft skills training like Team Building, Sales Training, Team Role Analysis, Communication, Motivation and Attitude, Leadership, Managing People, Safety Compliance. He has consulted, developed and presented training programmes for major corporations and organizations in South Africa, the U.S.A., England, Scotland, Switzerland and Spain.

    He has also been an entertainer (musician, singer, comedian, dancing teacher) for 35 years- the last 10 specialising in corporate entertainment. He has appeared on stage, at festivals, on the radio and TV.

    This combination has resulted in his training presentations being extremely participative and highly entertaining. Due to this he is a sought after motivational speaker. Prior to becoming a training consultant he was a salesman, university lecturer, senior researcher for the Human Sciences Research Council, Head of the Labour Sciences Bureau and Assistant Director at the S.A. Chamber of Mines. During the last 10 years or so he has trained many up and coming H.R. trainers and facilitators.

    The following are also associates of Lance Bloch & Associates, and work with Lance on specific projects; Ntombi Langa-Royds, Sphiwe Zwane, Mafika Phangela, Eric Meyers, Jabu Madonsela, ‘Juice’ Kgoedi,and Mfimfi Mngomezulu.


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