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He would call her to his office. She'd turn cold. Obliged. Knowing what was coming. "You know what happens when you speak about this", he'd say. She'd nod, but he'd tell her anyway. "You'll lose your job. That's what'll happen. But that's the least. I'll destroy you. You know this, right? I'll fucking destroy you." She knew. She knew it from the other stories whispered in the corridors. From the larger-than-life sportscar-poster against his wall. The framed accolades. The shrugs [...]

(English translation below) Ek luister gisteraand na Ernst Roets se gesprek met Tucker Carlson. Hy vertel die Afrikaner se storie van vervolging in Europa, die skepe Kaap toe, die Groot Trek weg van die Kaap-kolonie af, die veldslae met die Zulus, die oorloë met die Engelse, die konsentrasiekampe. Apartheid. 1994. Die ANC-regering se wanbestuur, korrupsie en ras-beheptheid. Die saak vir self-beskikking. Dis die storie van 'n groep mense se stryd om oorlewing. Ten spyte van terugslae en struikelblokke. Dikwels in isolasie. [...]

It's now been six years since we started the first Consultancy Training Group in Pretoria, South Africa. Since then consultants, coaches and senior managers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, The Netherlands, India, Turkey, Israel, the UK and Germany have participated. One thing that I have learnt, given the fact that I've been reading the material again and again before each session, is that there is no end to the learning. Each session is different. And the dreams, insights and challenges that people bring differ from [...]

It is now 16 years since that fortnight in England that changed everything. I remember arriving there, in that typical ‘not-knowing-what-I-don’t-know’ certitude. Thinking the fact that I was a psychologist put me in a better position than the business executives around for what was lying ahead. I remember having tea with a group of people, who seemed more or less my age, just before the conference started. There was a guy from Singapore, one from Denmark, a woman from Romania and one [...]

I remember the review and application group. It was in the second week of my first Leicester Conference, 2008. We were six in the group. Two presented the previous day: A woman from Sweden and another woman from Kuwait. That day, it was my turn, together with a man from the Netherlands. I presented some sort of mind map of the various roles I found myself in outside of the conference. The previous night I had worked into the morning [...]

We were living in Chicago. My wife was posted to the South African Consulate there, and I had to take care of our children (aged 6, 4, and 2), finish my dissertation, and teach. Additionally, I began psychoanalysis: four years, four days a week, on the couch. One day, my son fell ill and couldn't attend school, so I had to take him with me to my session. He was 6 years old. I made sure we arrived early so [...]

South Africa is in trouble. Our society is traumatised and the trauma continues. Colonization, war, Apartheid and poverty, amongst other factors, have contributed to a historical cycle of perpetual trauma. Today, violent crime, rampant corruption, gender-based violence, drug abuse and unemployment are not only some of the manifestations of this ongoing trauma but are also continuing to keep the traumatic cycle in place. ​ Simultaneously, we are experiencing a collapse of the institutions that are meant to provide the physical and [...]

We know that South African society is traumatized, that trauma shatters mind and society, and that unworked trauma repeats itself over generations. We also know that trauma impedes our ability to think together rationally and therefore we know that there is no way out of our current mess if we don't simultaneously deal with our collective underlying trauma. What we don't know, is how to do this. How do we work with our collective trauma, on a large scale, in [...]

dare I be human at work? dare I imagine love care excel mess-up learn forgive surprise and be surprised? and dare I see you too? or múst we be little tin soldiers immune to our selves and each other cannon fodder till our time is up?

One of our local schools regularly posts a new quote on their billboard. This week it reads: "Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful." This made me think of our recent family road trip on South Africa's backroads. We travelled on gravel and pot-hole-riddled tar roads through towns such as Wolmaransstad, Schweizer-Reneke, Coligny, Jan Kempdorp and Prieska and Carnarvon. Forgotten towns on their last breath. I couldn't help but fear that this is the future. [...]