Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Leadership

  • Empowered: A new generation of leaders

    Empowered: A new generation of leaders

    The 14th century proverb ‘mighty oaks from little acorns grow’ is exemplified in Aviv Palti’s comprehensive leadership book “Empowered – a new generation of leaders”, which is the story of the establishment of the Cambodia Rural Students Trust (CRST) a non-government organisation (NGO) in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  The book explains how an educated 100 students, who have been drawn from the poorest of the poor in Cambodia, lead and manage a world-class organisation.

    In 2009 as a result of Aviv’s 14-year-old daughter Steph’s disappointment at missing out on joining her school’s Grade 9 volunteering trip to build houses in rural Cambodia, he and Steph undertook some research to organise their own trip to Cambodia. With four other family members they arrived in Cambodia to teach English. From this small beginning, over the years CRST has grown; overcoming the road blocks along the way.

    Today it continues to support 100 students and the NGO successfully operates many programs, which include Project B (Bicycles for Education), Project G (Empowering Girls) and Project Y (Frozen Yoghurt).   

    This easy-to-read inspirational book includes not only the graduates’ positive journeys of empowerment, but also the accounts of those who dropped out of the programme. By providing clear, helpful ‘Foundations of Leadership Takeaways’, which can be applied by the reader to successfully empower young leaders, he has provided a blue print for success. Aviv’s believes that empowered, this new generation of leaders is a legacy that will far outlive him.  

  • Elevate: A New Path for Leaders to Navigate Uncertainty

    Elevate: A New Path for Leaders to Navigate Uncertainty

    Elevate is an intriguing perspective on Corporate leadership well worth reading as Reba Patel references her own background within many aspects of her leadership roles over a diverse range of Industries which adds authenticity to what she has to offer.

    Like many executives she came to the realization that she was not enjoying what she was doing and that climbing the executive ladder of success was becoming a rather hollow pursuit; in short she felt like a fraud.

    Although she had accepted there was more to life than just simply being successful, she largely ignored her own inner advice until her health failed and as a result she was forced to take a very long pathway back to full to recovery. This presented her with time to find a better way to work, to still function as a leader and to maintain a good standard of health, to be able to enjoy what she loved doing, leading into a brave, new world of commerce and industry; namely the 4th Industrial Revolution comprising of physical, digital and biological worlds.

    Based on the time old practice and wisdom of yoga and mindfulness, with the requirement of courage to face yourself, no easy task, and to accepted where you are at on your corporate trajectory, Elevate is not offering a brand new way of doing better, being successful and enjoying what you do, it is offering the wise, canny executive or leader a fresh new perspective on using their hearts, minds, their own resources, to lead authentically.

    Patel uses case studies such as New Zealand Prime minister Jacinta Ardern’s handing of the Christchurch massacre with kindness and empathy, then by contrast the Morrison Governments leadership of Australia by a party that never expected to be leading the country, to better illustrate the need to change and how to go about change successfully.

    Nathan Buckley, the former coach of Collingwood, faced the sad fact that doing what he had been doing, micromanaging his Club into failure to bring home a premiership, needed to be changed and fast. He needed a brave new approach to his management style or he was facing certain replacement, not an option for a much lauded former AFL player. He decided to develop a more holistic leadership style and build a connected team at Collingwood.

    Patel also presents that the way forward is to bring curiosity, a willingness to try fresh new things and a desire to lead into a future that has been hastened into today, right now, by the advent of the COVID pandemic which has changed forever the way business is and has been done, to make the change to Elevate your leadership style.

    If you are in need of a fresh new perspective to the way you approach your leadership lifestyle, elevate will help you find the calm within the chaos to be able to regroup and lead successfully into the future. Perhaps the infamous Jack Sparrow’s words could be your mantra:

    ‘The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.’ Wise words indeed.