Finishing one’s CA(SA) qualification presents new unpleasant challenges. Whereas before one had a definite and clear goal, the final attainment of this supreme qualification is one big anti-climax. Where you think you’ve hit the top of the pile there is a big reality check – your career has only just begun. Step out of the profession and you find yourself […]
I notice that, in my blogs, I often refer to the various human beings in the male gender. I humbly submit that I do attempt to use the words ‘they’ and ‘them’ instead of ‘his’ and ‘him’ to avoid any possible controversy. I concede that I usually get myself into a tangle resulting in me surrendering to the challenge and […]
With the economy facing the uncertainties that we are looking at right now, the question has to be whether the predictive financial models are showing enough ‘headroom’ to weather the storm. Scholastic modelling is a process of devising models that include the mechanisms that allow for the projections to be changed as specific risk criteria are altered. Some […]
I was asked an interesting question recently: is there a difference between a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and FD (Financial Director)? Well, for a minute I was stymied. I had to give it some thought. CFO is definitely a relatively new term – financial director has always been the classic description of the most senior financial executive. But there now seems to be […]
I am sometimes left aghast at the sheer naivety of some of my clients. They maybe aware of themselves in social situations, but at work this seems to magically disappear. Yesterday I met with a young woman. She came to see me because she was feeling stuck in her career and wanted to explore various options before making a […]
Regularly I meet emerging executives who are overly self-critical. I am usually stunned as, because I am entirely objective, I can clearly see parts of their value that they are missing. I had a rather interesting experience which I thought might be valuable to share with you. I recently met with a young CA who again reminded me of the power […]
A lot of he work that I do is about helping young CA’s with their career progression. What fascinates the most is how many of them play small. As a result they quickly become bored and begin to feel frustrated and stuck. In reality what has happened is they are not stepping up into the executive space. They might […]
Scientists have recently announced that they have discovered a planet that has similar conditions to Earth. They believe that it has the appropriate weather conditions and could even have enough water to sustain life. The only problem is it’s 4.5 light years away. At 186,000 miles per second (the speed of light), that is 25,000,000,000,000 miles away from […]
Working with different CAs(SA) is, for me, indeed an honour. I meet great people and, as a consequence, am given the opportunity to share in their growth, development and change. What saddens me is how senior executives can mindlessly mess things up – and in the process, they mar the careers of unsuspecting very talented young people. I have a […]
My life is filled with wonderful encounters! I meet a lot of CAs(SA) every week. Being in the career advisory space I often encounter clients who are stuck – they just don’t quite know which way to go. Using a few searching and hard-hitting questions it becomes apparent that usually they are avoiding that one thing that needs to […]