Archive | 2011

Louis Nel – Destiny in the Icing!

By Rian Truter on August, Sunday 28 2011 in 2011, Wine 3

With Louis in Stellenbosch

Louis Nel is a creative winemaker who likes to push the boundaries in his quest to create quality wines.

He was born in the Paarl and matriculated at Paarl Boys High. Louis studied at Stellenbosch University and obtained his Oenology and Viticulture degree in 1992. He then started his winemaking career at Vredendal Co-op. After Vredendal he went to Vergelegen, Neil Ellis, Warwick Estate and Hidden Valley. As most winemakers do, Louis took his taste-buds overseas and he participated in harvests in France and the USA.

Louis believes that diversity creates challenges and it’s this challenges that keeps him going.

It was at the start of 2010 that Louis decided to concentrate on his own winemaking venture. He now has his own label, Louis, for which he produces his own hedonistic style of wines.

One would think that having grown up in the Paarl and being surrounded by vineyards and the smell of must, that his winemaking career would have been a given fact. Not completely true. His mother believes that she had an important role to play in his career choice.

On his first birthday his mother baked him a cake, but did not have any colouring for the icing. Being quite a creative person, she decided to use red wine to colour the icing. So Louis had a light red cake for his first birthday! She claims that this incident pointed him in the direction of his future career.

Louis doesn’t like to talk about accolades and winning prizes. He believes that it’s not important. It’s all about the wine and the experience. But don’t let Louis’s humility fool you. There are enough double gold and other prizes to fill a wine barrel.

Maybe Louis’s destiny was not in the stars but in the icing! Be that as it may. We are blessed that he decided to make winemaking his career.

To get to know what makes Louis tick, I asked him the following questions:

Why did you become a winemaker?

I wanted to be an engineer but my Math marks were a little suspect. So I went into winemaking.

What is the best wine you have made?

I think it’s my 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The best wine you have drunk?

I’m not sure of the cultivar but it was from a tank at Château Margaux. On that same day we had a bottle of Tassenberg on the stoep of Château Margaux. I still think it was the best I have tasted.

If not winemaker, what else?

Electrical engineer.

What’s left on your bucket list?

Lots of trips to places like New Zealand and Eastern Europe.

What pet(s) do you have?

None.

What’s your favourite TV Program?

Dexter

What song(s) do you sing in the bar/shower/car?

Songs from the Eels

What motto do you live by?

I don’t want to stagnate or get too complacent. For me happiness is to keep on developing.

What do you think of Box wine?

There is a place for it.

What wine do you drink if not your own?

Constantia Glen and Boschkloof Conclusion.

What cultivar was the wine at the wedding reception in the New Testament?

Shiraz. It’s the oldest cultivar.

Tent or Hotel?

Hotel

How do you relax?

Cooking over weekends and watching movies at home.

In the tasting glass:

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker’s comments: Wild berries, ripe plum, cassis and luscious cedar flavours abound on the nose of this expressive Cabernet Sauvignon. The red berries and plum follow through onto the palate and compliment the soft chewy tannins that create a lingering finish.

Winemaking Procedure: This wine was made from grapes from the Helderberg region, where selected parcels from the same vineyard were separately harvested, wild fermented, punched down and left to age on French oak barrels. The wine spent 24 months on French oak which 30% was new.

Serving temperature: 16 – 18°C

Food Suggestions: Beef Bourgogne, pan-fried fillet of beef with wild mushroom sauce, and oven baked brie with walnuts.

Contact: info@louiswines.com

http://www.louiswines.com

082 775 8 726

What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile. – William Sokolin

Wine is bottled poetry. – Robert Louis Stevenson

Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy. – Alexander Fleming

Pot-holes se moses!

By Rian Truter on August, Wednesday 24 2011 in 2011, Life 2

Almal ken die uitdrukking, hy ly aan klein-mannetjie-sindroom.

Maar hoe meer ek my op ons voorstedelike paaie bevind, hoe meer oortuig is ek dat ons hierdie uitdrukking moet verander. Die klein mannetjie moet vervang word met klein karretjie, want jy moet nie net op jou hoede wees vir gate in die pad nie, maar ook vir klein karretjies.

Net toe die klein 50cc piskriekmotorfietsie, met daai senutergende uitlaatgeluid soos ’n weed eater op steroids van die toneel verdwyn, en ek dink nou het ek vrede, maak die klein karretjie sy buiging.

Die een kleiner en meer ekonomies as die ander. Die een groener en gesonder vir die samelewing as die ander. Almal met sulke kort naampies om by hulle statuur te pas.

Alles goed en wel, maar blykbaar het die verkoopsman gerieflikheidshalwe vergeet om een baie belangrike feit onder sy koper se aandag te bring: Hierdie is ’n klein karretjie! Nie ’n formule I-prototipe nie! Daar is net twee silinders. Ry versigtig.

Wie blits by jou oor die sperstreep verby? ’n Taxi? Nee, kyk weer. Dit is ’n klein karretjie!

Wie weet nie dat ’n mens stadiger as 120 km per uur mag bestuur nie? ’n Klein karretjie!

Wie het ’n klanksiteem wat elke taxibestuurder begeer? Reg geraai. Die klein karretjie!

En nou wil hulle my bakkie met een of ander groentaks kom belas! Wat dan van die klein karretjie?

Ek wil sê: Gee my enige dag die klein mannetjie, maar kry asseblief die klein karretjie van ons paaie af.

Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising. – Mark Twain

I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window. – Steven Wright

Have you heard about the Irishman who reversed into a car boot sale and sold the engine? – Frank Carson

Skets: Liana Erlank

Ashley Kaimowitz – For the love of our Children

By Rian Truter on August, Monday 22 2011 in 2011, Education, Life 4

Die vraag waarmee ek deesdae worstel, is hoe kry ons mense om meer te gee as wat hulle wil hê? Om in plaas van hand uitsteek om te ontvang, hand uit die mou steek om iets te doen. ‘n Moeilike ene, hoor ek jou sê.

Miskien is die antwoord: Van kleins af?

Ek weet maar al te goed daar is individue wat prysenswaardige dinge doen, maar dit voel of die meeste mense net besig is om bymekaar te maak in plaas daarvan om weg te gee. Nie dat daar fundamenteel iets mee verkeerd is om vir jouself te sorg nie, maar om om te sien na ander wat minder as jy het, bly tog ’n kardinale verantwoordelikheid van elke mens.

Ek sê nou die dag vir ‘n klomp matrieks op hul matriekkamp dat dit vir my lyk of ’n mens eers iets moet verloor voor jy iets uitsonderliks begin doen.

Want dit is mense soos Nick Vujicic, Hein Wagner, Natalie du Toit en Jessica Cox wat dinge laat gebeur. Dit is hulle wat sonder sig, arms en bene die hoogste berge klim en die vinnigste voertuie trotseer om ander te help.

Ashley behind the camera.

En iemand soos Ashley Kaimowitz… Hier volg ’n uittreksel van haar aangrypende verhaal soos vertel deur Carte Blanche:

Summer in Cape Town six years ago… and for 19-year-old Ashley Kaimowitz, the world was her oyster. Popular, talented and full of hope for the future, she was about to go to film school in Australia on a scholarship.

Then came the news that every parent dreads…

Ashley was killed by a drunk driver while driving to her home in Sea Point.

Losing a daughter and a sister was devastating. But beyond their grief, Ashley had left a legacy which would reach into other people’s lives for years to come.

Three years earlier, when she was 16, Ashley had been on a school trip to Khayelitsha organized by the local Rotary club. The school girls had met with community leader, Nocawe Mankayi, who had responded to a desperate need for help in her abuse-ridden area.

On the day the school girls arrived to visit the centre, Nocawe had been helping a little girl who had been brutally raped. She relayed the story to them, moving Ashley and her fellow pupils to tears.

Nocawe: You know they were all crying. And there was this particular child, who was Ashley, who said: Today, I’m taking a decision in terms of curbing the abuse of children in Khayelitsha.

Despite no film experience, Ashley was determined to raise awareness of the situation by making a documentary. She raised a thousand rand, rallied her friends together and took to the streets of Khayelitsha with camera in hand.

She called her documentary Uthando labantwana – For the love of our children.

During October 2005 Carte Blanch picked up on Ashley’s story. She knew Nocawe needed to raise funds for a new centre. Nocawe’s dream was to build a proper counseling center, with a safe house, a clinic and counseling rooms.

Support poured in from Carte Blanche viewers.

In April 2008 the Nonceba Family Counselling Centre was opened. That October, it was dedicated to the memory of Ashley Kaimowitz.

Kom ons leer ons kinders, en al die kinders aan ons sorg toevertrou, dat dit beter is om te gee as om te ontvang. Dat dit nóg beter is om jou hande in nat sement te druk om ’n huis te bou as om net jou geld in die bussie te gooi. Dat dit die beste is om sonder iets klaar te kom omdat jy iets vir iemand anders gegee het wat dit nodiger as jy het.

Uthando labantwana!

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. – Maya Angelou

I hate the giving of the hand unless the whole man accompanies it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do. – Khalil Gibran

Photo: Steven Yafa

How to create White Space

By Rian Truter on August, Wednesday 17 2011 in 2011, Leadership 2

When I hear the term Visionary Leader a picture of a person perched/sitting on a hilltop sprung to mind. And this imaginary person is not sitting around idly but is diligently peering into the distance. To the faraway horizon, to the future …

This is what all leaders do. Not all the time, but leaders have to schedule time to climb the proverbial hill and to go and see what is happening on the horizon. Maybe you will see the trouble or the solution coming. Before it unexpectedly hits you between the eyes.

Yet, the demands of leader’s jobs don’t allow them that luxury. Let alone the space to actually stop and think.

Sabina Nawaz wrote in an article, This Space Intentionally Left White, that leaders are hired for their intellectual horsepower. But in the midst of the hustle and bustle of their job, there is little space to breathe.

And breathe they must. For when you breathe you start to think. Perhaps when somebody tells you to take a deep breath, they are actually telling you to start thinking!

Nawaz recommends that the leaders she coaches have to schedule a time during their busy week for doing nothing but thinking and to pay attention to what emerges in the absence of the noise of their normal activities.

She calls this the creation of white space.

To do precisely that, is difficult. Allowing for white space in our lives goes against our normal way of doing things. But according to Nawaz white space gives us the opportunity to think beyond our current problems and issues.

She recommends that to be successful at creating white space, leaders must be intentional about setting up some quiet time. The following is her four prerequisites to succeed in creating your personal white space:

Set aside a specific time in the week. Block out that time in your schedule.
Turn off the noise. Don’t answer telephones or emails.
Experiment until you find the right format for you. Journal, walk, meditate or go climb the hill.
Keep your white space dates. You need to practise perspective.

All of us have heard of the sacrifices leaders made for their career or work. How they have missed their children’s birthdays and how they operate under tight timelines and competitive pressures. But most of them don’t make time to make their minds wander. To climb the hill …

Creating white space in your busy schedule lets you hear and think in a new way.

Source: HBR Network, Sabina Nawaz, This Space Intentionally Left White, July 1, 2011

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. – Henry Ford

If you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big. – Donald Trump

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking. – George S. Patton

Image: Apple/’s Eyes Studio

Pinotage and the Grace of God

By Rian Truter on August, Sunday 14 2011 in 2011, Wine 6

South Africa’s winemakers are as colourful as the rainbow nation they represent. Innovative, creative, funny and some of them even cheeky. But as down to earth as the soil from which they harvest the fruit for their individual masterpieces.

Over the coming months, or maybe years, Piesangs & Jellietots will let you meet the men and woman who put their passion and craftsmanship into a bottle for us to enjoy.

To kick-off this series, there is no better person than my brother Beyers Truter from Beyerskloof.

In the cellar with Beyers

Beyers were born in the Klein Karoo town of Oudtshoorn. Matriculated in Jan van Riebeeck High School in Cape Town and studied at the University of Stellenbosch.

He started his career in winemaking at Kanonkop and from there moved to his present location, Beyerskloof.

Beyers are known around the world as the Pinotage King and his passion is undoubtedly red wine. As co-owner and winemaker of Beyerskloof he still believes that all his success is due to the grace of God.

He has won numerous local and international awards throughout his career.

Locally the one which stands out is being an unequaled 10 time winner of the ABSA Pinotage Top 10 Awards as well winning the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year award in 1987 for Pinotage.

Beyers have won a multitude of International recognition and awards, and have particularly achieved great heights at one of the World’s most respected International Competitions, the IWSC.

He received the Robert Mondavi Trophy for the international winemaker of the year in 1991 and the Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for the Best Blended Red Wine were awarded to him twice. (1994 and 1999)

To get to know what makes Beyers tick, I asked him the following questions:

Why did you become a winemaker?

I initially wanted to be a medical doctor, but I realized at the time that wine was my hobby and passion. So I decided to follow that calling.

What is the best wine you have made?

I still have to make my best wine. I’m still trying.

The best wine you have drunk?

1972 Simonsig Pinotage and Chambertine Closde Bezé (year unknown)

If not winemaker, what else?

Medical Doctor.

What’s left on your bucket list?

I want to catch a big galjoen and a massive crayfish. Also to be able to keep on making wine for a long time to come. And a food and wine show about sea-food; how to prepare it the natural way. And a standup show with my brother Rian.

What pet(s) do you have?

Dogs. The flagship Diesel Pinotage was named after my last dog Diesel; a cross between a Great Dane and a bull mastiff. I now have two blends.

What’s your favourite TV Program?

Ultimate Survival, The Naked Chef (Jamie Oliver) and Gordon Ramsay’s cooking show.

What song(s) do you sing in the bar/shower/car?

Psalms and Hymns.

What motto do you live by?

Live life to the fullest.

What do you think of Box wine?

Lekker, ja!

What wine do you drink if not your own?

Any nice and tasty wine anywhere in the world.

What cultivar was the wine at the wedding reception in the New Testament

Pinotage, off course!

Tent or Hotel?

Both

How do you relax?

Fishing, diving, golfing and spending time with my family.

In the tasting glass:

Faith Cape Blend 2008

The benchmark. A full bodied Cape Blend with an intense dark claret colour. Sweet berry and pepper flavours are superbly balanced with new French oak. This wine is big in structure, although supple, with strong tannins ensuring a long finish with a refreshing acidity. A wine to treasure, with the complexity to age for 12 – 15 years. Ideally matched with game dishes, red meat, pork and spicy foods.

Price: R450

www.beyerskloof.co.za | 021 865 2135

Pinotage is a wine made of woman’s tongues and lion’s hearts. If you have drunk a sufficient quantity, you can fight the devil and talk forever. – Unknown

Hoe min mense sou te veel drink as die hoofpyn in die prop was, in plaas van in die boom van die bottel. – C.J. Langenhoven

Photo in Cellar: Thinus Slabber

Uiteindelik! ‘n Steakhouse met Styl.

By Rian Truter on August, Tuesday 9 2011 in 2011, Culinary 4

Ek vang ‘n groot gly aan restourant- en kosresensies wat vir my in die fynste detail alles wil vertel.

Van die wurmgehapte, organiese slaaiblare wat agter die linkerwiel van die ou trekker gepluk word tot die hoofsjef se kleinkind met die kroephoesie laat in die nag.

Al wat ek eintlik wil weet, is die plek OK?

En The Hussar Grill in Stellenbosch is OK. Inteendeel, dit is baie meer as OK. Dit is besonder OK. Só OK dat ek genoodsaak voel om iets daaroor te skryf.

Saam met die WOW-mense van Hussar Grill in Stellenbosch.

The Hussar Grill is definitief ‘n besoek werd. En moenie dink jy kan net daar opruk en hulle gaan ‘n traan wegpink omdat jy by die voordeur is nie. Nee, bespreek liewer, want hulle bly tjokkenblok vol geboek.

Vir my is die grootste pluspunt dat hulle nie ‘n kurkfooi vra nie. Iemand het uiteindelik gesnap dat ons in die Kaap bly en dat die meeste van ons nie net vir die WP skree nie, maar ook ons eie wynversameling het. En dat ons graag daardie spesiale bottel wil drink sonder om nog ekstra te moet betaal. Volpunte aan Hussar!

Met die eerste hap aan my rib eye was ek terug in Argentinië. Die smaak, geur en reuk het my teruggevat na ‘n vleishemel êrens in ‘n steakhouse in Beunos Aires. Ek het amper omgekyk op soek na die gaucho en sy meisie wat die tango gaan dans. Olé, Señor!

Die nagereg is iets waarvoor ‘n mens maar ‘n week of twee ekstra by Weight Watchers sal moet bly. Ons het, behalwe die gewone crème brûlée, ook hul Choclate Vodka oor die lippe geneem. Laat ek dié skepping net opsom deur te sê dié nommertjie sal ‘n kerkmens laat sonde doen … baie sonde, só lekker is dit.

Die atmosfeer van The Hussar Grill is statig sonder om jou aan die parlement te laat dink. En die diens is van die beste wat ek in ‘n lang tyd ervaar het. Persoonlike diens wat jou laat voel hulle het toe regtig nét vir jóú gewag.

Die eienaars, Graig Foxcroft en David Pieterse, kry dit reg om ‘n ete by The Hussar Grill in ‘n WOW-ervaring te omskep. Dit help natuuurlik ook as die kelnerin ‘n oud-Dee Effer is!

My raad: moenie wag nie! Gryp daardie spesiale bottel en sit oop-en-toe af na The Hussar Grill. Onthou net om eers jou plek te bespreek!

My favourite animal is steak. – Fran Lebowitz

A recipe has no soul. You as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe. – Thomas Keller

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. – JRR Tolkien

Deel jou kennis!

By Rian Truter on August, Sunday 7 2011 in 2011, Leadership 2

Tom Peters

Tom Peters is nie iemand wat skroom om sy sê te sê nie. Hy glo ook daaraan dat kennis gedeel moet word almal sterker en beter te maak. Op soek na die WOW!

Soos gewoonlik beveel hy sterk aan dat ons hierdie stukkie moet steel en ons eie maak! Hierdie keer die skoenmaatskappy, Zappos, se 10 Korporatiewe Waardes:

Deliver “WOW!” through service.
Embrace and drive change.
Create fun and a little weirdness.
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
Pursue growth and learning.
Build open and honest relationships with communication.
Build a positive team and family spirit.
Do more with less.
Be passionate and determined.
Be humble. (The Korn/Ferry Institute Mag, Q2:2010)

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business. – Henry Ford

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. – Oscar Wilde

Image: Allison Shirreffs

Creativity-The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

By Rian Truter on August, Wednesday 3 2011 in 2011, Education 0

Terwyl hardwerkende onderwysers ’n bietjie kon asemskep, het die minister van onderwys, me. Angie Motshekga, die nasionale asseseringstoetse vir geletterdheid en syfervaardigheid (Gr. 3 en Gr. 6) bekend gemaak. (Waarom doen die departement altyd sulke aankondigings tydens vakansies?)

Hierdie keer met veel minder trompetgeskal as die martiekuitslae van verlede jaar. Want soos dr. Wilmot James tereg sê daar is geen rede tot feesviering nie. Wie wil na ’n dokter toe gaan wat net vier uit tien vrae reg kan beantwoord? Motshekga het die uitslae as hartseer beskryf, maar gesê dit was te verwagte. (Die Burger 29/6/11).

Hierdie toetse evalueer maar net, soos wat my oupa gesê het, optel lees en skryf. Wat nog te sê van die ander belangrike goed soos byvoorbeeld kreatiwiteit? ‘n Vaardigheid wat noodsaaklik geword het in ons moderne samelewing en ekonomie.

In the USA the conference Board and Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators, surveyed public school superintendents and business executives to identify and compare their views surrounding creativity.

They gave them a list of 11 skills or observable behaviours and ask them to rank which ones best demonstrate creativity.

The two groups agreed that the ability to identify new patterns of behaviour or new combination of actions and integration of knowledge across different disciplines are foremost in demonstrating creativity.

They also agreed that innovation is crucial to competition, and creativity is integral to innovation. And that arts training – and to a lesser degree, communications studies – are crucial to developing creativity.

But as with a lot of these theories it’s not so easy to put your money where your mouth is; or to walk your talk.

The findings of the survey also indicated that most high schools and employers provided such creative training and studies only on an elective or “as needed” basis.

When asked to name the educational backgrounds and experiences deemed creators of creativity, school superintendents ranked arts study as the highest indicator of creativity, followed by experience in performing arts/entertainment. The employers rank arts study second, topped only by self-employed work, as an indicator of creativity.

When the superintendants were presented with a list of 12 creativity-promoting educational activities/experiences, more than three-quarters reported that each one (excluding study-abroad programs) is supported within their high schools. However, in more than half of these schools, only three of these experiences/activities are part of the required curriculum.

Teen hierdie tyd dink ek weet ons almal al dat kreatiwiteit niks met kleinspierkoördinasie te make het nie.

Kreatiwiteit het te make met die aanbied van die regte vakke in ons skole en blootstelling aan aktiwiteite wat die kreatiwe deel van ons leerders se brein stimuleer.

Al wat oorbly om te vra, is: Hoe ingestel is Suid-Afrika se skole op kreatiwiteit? Meer nog: Hoe kreatief is jou skool?

(Bron: Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the US Workforce? James Lichtenberg, Christopher Woock, Mary Wright. The Conference Board, Research Report 1424, 2008.Report)

Ten slotte:

A public school teacher was arrested today at O R Tambo International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the Hawks with carrying weapons of math instruction.

“Al-Gebra is a problem for us’, the Attorney General said. ‘They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values. They use secret code names like X and Y and refer to themselves as unknowns, but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say,There are 3 sides to every triangle.”

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Zuma would not comment.

Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts. – Albert Einstein

Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected. – William Plomer

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. – Scott Adams

Image: Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wat doen jy op 14 September?

By Rian Truter on July, Sunday 31 2011 in 2011, Environment 0

Wil jy vir my wysmaak dat jy nie aan aardverwarming en die ander groenbollie glo nie. Nie eens die sneeu in Beaufort-Wes en die ongewone somer in die middel van die Kaapse winter gaan jou van sienswyse laat verander nie!

Al Gore se jongste inisiatief, The Climate Reality Project, poog om die neem van dringende aksie teen klimaatverandering, nog ‘n keer onder die wêreld se aandag te bring.

Hy beklemtoon dat daar te veel mense en instansies is wat baie geld bestee om die mensdom te laat glo dat daar geen rede tot kommer en vir die neem van aksie teen klimaatverandering is nie.

Op 14 en 15 September skop The Climate Reality Project met ‘n internasionale 24-uur mediagebeurtenis, 24 Hours of Reality, af. Hierdie gebeurtenis sal vir vier-en-twintig uur lewendig en in verskeie tale oor 24 tydsones gebeeldsend word.

Gore hoop om hiermee weereens die aandag op die klimaatsverandering wat deur die mens veroorsaak word, te vestig …

En reeds elke dag deur ons gevoel en waargeneem word.

Gaan kyk asseblief na die video hieroor by http://bit.ly/o7CdH9

All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it’s here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. – Barack Obama

For every expert that says humans are the cause of “climate change” there are 10 more who say we aren’t. – Bradley A. Blakeman

To be clear, climate change is a true 800 pound gorilla in the room. The effects of global warming threaten global environmental upheaval over the coming century. – Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Image: Carlos Porto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Perceptions

By Rian Truter on July, Sunday 24 2011 in 2011, Education, Leadership 1

Daar bestaan ‘n persepsie onder sportliefhebbers dat die Proteas chokers is. En dalk ook die Stormers, want hulle kom só naby, maar net nie tot by die beker nie.

Immediately I hear you say but it’s only someone’s perception. When you do this you unfortunately dismiss the other person’s perception and in reality that perception is their reality at that moment in time. Perceptions can only be altered when an individual is provided with new reliable information that compels them to change their perception.

All this got me thinking about schools and businesses that struggles daily with how their customers perceive them. You can ignore these perceptions or you can take a brave step back and look at your organisation through your customers’ eyes. Which ever way you choose, remember that perception is so powerful that it can make or break you!

Hoe dan nou gemaak met hierdie choker necklace wat ons manne saamsleep? As ek Graeme was, sou ek minder verskonings maak en meer probeer uitvind waarom die mense dink ek en my span op kritieke oomblikke nie die wa deur die drif kan trek nie. Omdat ek graag sal wil hê die mense tuis moet op Vrydae ondersteunershemde dra, sal ek probeer uitvind waarom hulle dink dat ons chokers is. Die naakte waarheid is dat hulle persepsie die enigste is wat regtig saak maak.

A customer or supporter’s perception of you or your company, team or family evolves from a variety of sources:

Their experience with you in the past
Their experiences with others that offer what you offer
The actual experiences of their friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances with you or your competition
Their interpretation of the experiences of their friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances
Their interpretation of what your policies and procedures actually are
Their opinion of what your policies and procedures should be
Their translation of what you have told them (The Training Bank).

Believe it or not, it’s a person’s perception that affects his behaviour. Each person uses past experience and processes current communication in making decisions and acting accordingly. Expectations are developed regarding a situation, service or product.

In order to influence a change in someone’s perception, eventually in the hope of affecting his/her behaviour, you first need to have a clear understanding of that perception. What does the person believe is true? Once you know that, you can work to influence change in thinking.

Of jy nou ‘n skool bestuur, produkte verkoop of ‘n krieketspan aanvoer, dit gaan nie help om stroomop te swem nie. ‘n Sinvoller oplossing is om uit te vind wat jou ondersteuner/kliënt se persepsie van jou is. Méér nog, om te begryp dat hulle persepsie vir hulle die enigste werklikheid is. En dit is met hierdie werklikheid, reg of verkeerd, waarmee jy moet handel. Miskien moet die woord eerder wees, onderhandel?

As jy verstaan waar persepsies vandaan kom en wat hulle ‘n werklikheid maak, kan jy hulle volgende keer oor die grens moker. Maar as jy dieselfde persepsies ignoreer of as onbenullig afmaak, mag jy paniekerig raak en op die kritieke tydstip been voor paaltjie betrap word.

Image: Ambro

← Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next →