STORIES THAT INSPIRE

In this interview, JP Duminy was asked if he thought South Africa was a successful nation. He responded that while there are many things to be proud of in South Africa, it needs to shift its focus away from focusing on differences to celebrating similarities with each other - which will lead us on the path of true relational success.

#SouthAfrica #Successful #nation

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JP Duminy shares his understanding of the South African Culture in sports. He discussed the lessons he has learned through getting a better understanding of who his teammates really are, and how that deeper connection would transcend in the playing field.

Sports are a major part of South African culture and the way that the public supports their teams brought about some unique customs. Watch this video to understand the different aspects that make up a sports-fueled society in this country!

#SouthAfrica #Culture #Sports

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JP Duminy, after his successful career, has spent his life celebrating excellence. He inspired others to do the same by building the JP21 foundation that helps enable children to play the sport cricket and celebrate all types of achievements in order to recognize and inspire people, especially young people who are just beginning their journey. Watch this video for more insights into why we should celebrate all kinds of successes because it helps us become better versions of ourselves.

#JPDuminy #Cricket #celebratingexcellence

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Pride and humility. Two opposite sides of the same coin, one can't exist without the other. And yet, we always feel like we're in need of more than one. But how do you find a balance?

JP Duminy shares his personal story of humility and pride and how he was able to find the right balance back. His story about humility and pride will teach you how to remain humble in spite of your adversaries looking down on you when you are battling with yourself for some reason, or even just maintaining a healthy ego. Watch this video where he shares his personal experience with these topics and get tips from him on how to be more humble while remaining true to oneself.

#JPDuminy #Pride #Humility

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JP Duminy talks about the power of humility in our world. Humility is defined as self-limiting but it can also create a better future for us all by serving others with love and compassion. On the contrary, he also shares what pride meant. Pride is a dangerous emotion because it has the word 'I' in its center. JP warns us to beware, for pride can lead us astray and make things difficult or even impossible sometimes!

JP Duminy is a cricket player, who has had great success in his career but he’s also an example of someone who understands the importance of humility. In this interview, he shares a unique take on what humility is, how one can remain humble, as well as ways one can practice humility. Humility can be difficult to understand or practice but keeping your inner circle close by helps cultivate it.   

Watch this interview for some insights on what it means to be humble and how you can practice staying humble with your friends and family around you.  

#JPDuminy #humility

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Bertie shares with JP his conversation with a Black South African friend when he asked him how he sees White South Africans. Their insights will make you understand how listening to others can help us better understand one another and why it’s one of the secrets to forming deeper relationships. They both agreed that each culture has its own strengths to offer and that there are no superior cultures than others because all humans deserve respect for what makes them unique in this world.

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Today JP tells us that he used to be a lazy player before he decided to wake up and give his best efforts.

He agreed with Bertie that South Africans are lazy; we look for shortcuts and want to get the most for the least amount of effort. He reckons that if we strive to give our best efforts we will be able to turn around our reputation. Sometimes when we put in our best effort and still do not get the results we wanted, it is disappointing, but it does not mean that we failed. It will always be good enough to give your best, regardless of the outcome or results. In a sporting context, we get so hungry for results, and our identity is shaped on the outcome, that we lose focus of the effort we actually put in.

Bertie asks JP why he chooses to live in South Africa, and his answers will inspire you.

He talks about the heart of South Africa that is broken right now and needs to heal. He was born here and he has the desire to see the country and its people flourish. He feels needed and valued and wants to give his best in making a difference here.

'There is a lot of good and many great people here,' he says, and I'm sure many of those great people share his vision for SA and also want to be part of the healing process. If we look at the country's natural beauty externally, we can see a glimpse of the future that's in store for us as a nation. And then of course there are the local jokes in South Africa that are not understood anywhere else in the world and are only funny where they originated. Subscribe to this channel to get notified of more great interviews by JP and other inspirational South Africans.

Bertie speaks to JP Duminy about his understanding of purpose and passion.

He explains that his perspective of purpose is knowing God and making Him known. Passion, on the other hand, is the one thing that burns in your soul and gets you up in the morning. The thing that drives you and inspires you to go out and do, is an indication of the passion that is built inside of you.

Glorifying God through the things you are passionate about is not defined by your job title, because your purpose and passion are already instilled within you. He explains how much light we shine in the care we put in what we do, that it radiates from us, and glorifies our creator. Giving our best in whatever, we do is his motto.

Over the last twelve weeks, we introduced different aspects of what we learned from Gary Kirsten in this interview. Today, we bring you the entire interview Mr. Bertie Lourens conducted with him. Gary was appointed as the India national cricket team coach in 2011 when they took the World Cup win.

What we took away from this experience is the following characteristics that Gary portrayed:

Humility, Integrity, Gratitude, Trustworthy, Successful, Compassionate, Hopeful and Optimistic, 

Go-getter, Balanced, Fair, God Fearing, Respectful

A heartfelt THANK YOU to Gary Kirsten for offering up his time to inspire our subscribers with his positive and hopeful outlook on life. If you are new here, subscribe to our channel to be notified of every new episode we publish on our next series. We're always on the search to find heroes with stories that inspire.

Gary explains what he has learned in the process of leading the Indian team to the World Cup victory in 2011. His offering to the team was "success, the right way" because there is a right way of achieving success. Building meaningful relationships and getting close to each individual person as well as having fun together build meaningful relationships. He explains how he was thanked for his friendship with the members more than what was mentioned about his coaching skills. Gary would take that friendship compliment more over the winning compliment because he just got along very well with all the players. What he learned from that experience was that no matter where you come from, or what your journey has been, but if you take the time and effort to connect and understand the people, they will be very loyal to you. The South African journey is exactly the same because we need to take the time to understand each other so that we can do so much better!

Gary explains what his take is on the definition of success, and ironically enough it is not about the scoreboard. It is a big concept and a complicated amount of layers that means something different to every person

He believes that if those around you can win and thrive because of him, he feels his day was successful.

He challenges viewers to wake up every day and ask themselves if they can make a contribution to other people's lives, and how they can add to their community. Does he/she represent themselves in the way God created them to be - in full purpose?

We must not get mesmerized by the ways of the world about what success is and what it is not. In the world of sport, it is very much about the winning and losing results. And if we build our lives on a snapshot of when things went really great, we miss the whole point because losing is also so powerful when one can learn and grow from it. When we underestimate the concept of losing, failure, vulnerability, and weakness, we miss what we could learn about ourselves as human beings.

The journey of life is not about winning or losing. They are imposters and should not be taken too seriously. They don't define you. What does matter is that you give your absolute 100% in all your all you do, the rest (winning or losing) is irrelevant?

Gary Kirsten reveals how important it is to listen to each other's stories. He shares how he was confronted with listening to his team manager's story and how it affected him. If we don't stop and listen to everyone's journey, we won't have a good understanding of each other's background and we don't understand each other.

We can start with a restoration process and find solutions together and build trust, but if we don't listen to people's stories, we can't build trust. We don't have to be qualified to listen. We want to tell more than what we listen to. We need to ask each other questions and rather ask how you can help instead of deciding what you want to help with.

When you get the opportunity to represent your country in a sporting event and you have success, it comes with the projection on to crossroads.

With fame and fortune, one can easily get puffed up, but if you are defined by your scores, you lose who you are.

Gary explained his wake-up call when he hit rock bottom in form when he battled to get any runs and was on the verge of getting dropped from the team. When he got picked for the boxing day game in December late 90's he told himself that this was his last game. The night before the last match, he and his wife prayed and surrendered the day and the match to God. He ended up batting for 14 hours and scored 275 runs. God showed up and indicated that there were another 50 test matches left for him to play and that it was not the end of the road for him.

From no-confidence and readiness to give up, Gary explains what surrendering meant and how he was lifted from that low place when he acknowledged that it was not about him after all, but rather God's plan for his life.

In this episode, Gary talks about his journey as a coach and how he learned to facilitate an already talented team with his leadership and coaching skills. If all the members of the team are already talented, how did he create a safe space for the players to thrive in? 

The keys to good leadership according to him and the experiences and lessons from his own journey start with defining leadership for himself. He asked himself "How are you going to lead?" "How do I help this team to become the best versions of itself?" So he decided that if he has something to offer,  that will differentiate him from any other coach,  it would be that he would work tirelessly with the players and he is not going to tell anyone what to do. 

He made 3 points that guided his leadership coaching throughout the three years he was appointed: 

1. He wanted to be available to each player individually. 

2. He is not going to tell the media what he is doing. He did very few press conferences during his time as a coach to the Indian team.  

3. He decided to lead by example. 

His Christian values were very important as his guidelines, and he communicated that. Also, Gary said his team was quite shocked when he lost his temper - once - no one was expecting that! He did his best to facilitate this journey so that he and the team had the time of their lives while working towards a common goal.  

Gary talks about why he chooses to live in South Africa instead of abroad. He elaborates on our human behavior and how critical we are of ourselves. The successes we have had on the sporting front were remarkable, and as a country transforming itself, our national sport was a major component. Nowadays everything is about winning and being the best, but as he looks at the journey our people are on towards sustainable success, he is very hopeful when he looks at the common and shared goals in the sporting arena.  

Gary elaborates on the concept of celebrating the one and not the ninety-nine, and in this analogy, he motivates us to look at all the other success stories, and not just the top 10 or the top 100. Bertie is wondering what happens in the hearts of the 99 when they worked just as hard to get where they wanted to be.  Gary is of the opinion that we are conditioned by the world to be the nr1 and that you only get noticed when you get to the top.  He tells us about a book he read of a golfer that was ranked at nr 200 and how he struggled to make it into each tournament.  There are so many magnificent success stories locked up in the lives of the other 99. We should learn from them as well,  as they have powerful lessons learned and success stories as well.   

When one has a lot of people who love you and tell you how great you are, you need to have a very different conversation with yourself to keep yourself grounded. Gary explains how he stays away from the public domain as much as possible and has his social media managed.

He is authentic in who he is as a person and realises that he is incredibly privileged to be in the space he is in.  He does not take advantage of his position and does not see it as his right to do what he wants to and go where he wants to. He keeps himself grounded by reminding himself that he is not entitled to anything.  Gary explains what happened on the day that India won the world cup, and how he honored the people's response in humility. 

As a coach, Gary Kirsten points out the tactics of scouting and identifying real talent. Scores are never enough. Watching someone in the game, and looking for coordination, and see how well someone is acquainted with the ball as well as the bat gives him a better idea of what could be possible. Gary explains that it takes a trained eye to see the little flared moments to understand coordination with a ball, and seeing that the talent is there, and it can be developed.  Gary also emphasized that we must check in with what we believe in - who told you what you believe and how do you see yourself doing it?  

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"Open your ears and ask questions" This is Gary's advice on facilitating leadership. He defines leadership as the facilitation of a group of people and the individuals in that group become the best version of themselves.  Gary believes that one can increase the intellectual property of a group, give people a voice, and align them to their collective bigger purpose by just letting them speak. This is how a group's performance progress and they become successful. 

What are the various components of your life, and what effort are you putting into each one of those components?  What does hard work look like? Isn't it different for everyone? The bottom line, it's not being lazy, and willing to get to work (hard or smart)  We can look at every aspect of our life and judge for ourselves on how well we are balancing all the components. What area are you struggling with and how can you give your best without compromising on the other areas. How do you use every hour of every day, and are you showing work ethic in every component? Where are you out of balance?  Finding balance is challenging - let's go for it! 

Time and patience are the two most important attributes Gary suggests one needs to build adequate trust in a team. When one has very little time, one can't build an established culture, of trust and many times when he had only 8 weeks to prepare a team, they played mostly on talent. Talent ebbs and flows and is never constant and is not enough. Gary also quickly realised that his kids didn't trust him, because he was never around, and had to make a call to retire and spend more time with his kids. Trust is a very complex thing and when he asks someone why they say they trust him, it is fascinating to hear the answers.  

This prestigious award is the Nation’s highest civilian honor. It is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.  

Past recipients have been movers and shakers in a range of fields, including public service, medicine, journalism, entertainment, and business. The impressive list of past honorees includes Steven Spielberg, Muhammad Ali, Angela Merkel, Nancy Reagan, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Gary Player explains how sentimental this is to him, he also shares many of his life experiences in the early days. He takes us back to all the things he did in the past, like building schools, raising money for the poor,  and building a facility for homeless people.     

His ability to thrive under pressure has taken him through the difficult times. His message for fellow South Africans is to hang in there and keep loving the people around you.   

Faith Family and Hard Work 

Brand Pretorius led a massive corporate turnaround by means of Ethical Leadership.  According to Brand, Integrity is the crucial currency that leaders should have in order to be effective. Leadership is not Charisma, but rather Character. It is not Personality, but rather a Principle-based. It is not a way of behaving, but a way of Being. When a leader behaves unethically, he/she discredit themselves, and can't lead effectively. Their followers will feel unsafe and will not trust them. This leads to reluctant compliance instead of commitment.  Unethical leaders start cancer in their organisation because you can't have two sets of values.  

We don't fight fire with fire! We treat hatred with love.  Love is the greatest word in any book on this earth. Gary shares how he lacked the love of his mother, because of her passing. Love is a gift of God and Gary shares how he respects great names like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., their stories, and how they modeled love and forgiveness to their persecutors.  South African history is exactly the same, our people have been going through really difficult times. 

Gary encourages us to beat hatred and rudeness with love and forgiveness by being polite and respectful.  

Life is not fair, and frankly Gary Player reckons that being treated unfairly is sometimes good for you. It teaches you how to become resilient, forgiving, and motivate you to keep trying. Stay committed, work hard, and stay in unity. 

We got to build together for a better future. We should not look at the economy and leave the country, Gary suggests that we have patience, stay in SA, and make it count. He believes that with the right guidance we can make a difference and make it work.  

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night"  Gary explains how he was constantly working harder than his opponents. "No one is entitled to anything, he says, "it is hard work that gets you to the top". Gary was the youngest golfer to win the British Open when he decided that that is what he wanted to do. He had a lot of difficulties growing up but decided not to let that dictate his future.  

Serving gives him hope.  

Brand tells us about how serving helps him make a difference and he is doing his best to ensure that his contribution is meaningful. He has selected education because it represents the key to a better future. He warns that one should stay away from toxic conversations and rather get involved. 

In this episode, he elaborates on the projects he is involved in, and how it inspires him   

Without the contributions of one's people, one can do very little.  Brand Pretorius speaks about his people as assets and not expenses. In this video, Brand explains how much value people can add to an organisation if they are motivated, committed, empowered and knowledgable.  Saving 7500 jobs was no small task, but together they managed to create miracles in saving their company from bankruptcy. 

Brand reckons that it was the team that stood together, brought amazing value by optimising their contribution and managed to pull through.  

The investment one makes in one's own people delivers a phenomenal disproportional return. With the top 10% of South Africans earning 58% of the country's total income, while the bottom 50% only earn 8%,  it is an illustration of the unacceptable inequality that still exists. We are creating a breeding ground for massive social unrest. There is a solution though. We have to create a more inclusive economy and a more equal distribution of wealth.   We should make investments in the development of smaller black entrepreneurs and support them in their journey to success by mentoring them and offer them a share in our businesses. They become living examples of the value they bring in the organisations they are involved in. It creates positive momentum.