Every little thing counts. Remember, raindrops make oceans.

As a leader – how do you instil good habits in your leadership team and employees to get the best out of them?

I don’t think you can really instil good habits in others, but I think you can inspire people by how you live it yourself, how you show up. People watch what you do, more than they listen to what you say. For example, because I’m always 100% prepared, I find that people are not unprepared when they come to me.

I have instilled rituals in our executive meetings – we are radically transparent with each other, there are no holy cows or unsaid things left on the table. We have contracted with each other the freedom to speak your mind, and there will be no offence taken. This is the foundation of a healthy culture.

Culture can determine the success of an organisation – what are some of the crucial things you think need to be done to ensure that employees and leaders have the right mindset to form the right habits?

Behaviour is critical, even more so than mindset. Often you don’t think yourself into a new way of acting, you act yourself into a new way of thinking. People wait to ‘feel different’ before they take action. It actually works the other way round: you first need to take action, then you start feeling different.

Think of exercise – it is not a habit immediately. You don’t wake up one day and love running and is an athlete. You start with new behaviours – you start running short distances regularly. You get up early in the morning. Then it becomes a habit and you feel weird if you don’t run. And then you start loving it, and next thing, you ARE a runner. And then you start performing better and you are rewarded by the results of your perseverance. And that feeds your mindset and before you know, you are not only enjoying that marathon, but you also change other habits such as eating healthier! It’s a virtuous cycle.

Habit stacking is about small, consistent steps in the right direction. What role does purpose play in making sure that a person stays committed to the most effective habits?
Purpose moves you forward. If you know it’s worthwhile, you won’t stop. At times when there isn’t progress and you feel stuck, purpose is what will get you unstuck.

I believe that being plugged into something bigger than just yourself, inspires a person to go further and dig deeper than they ever thought possible.

Mine is to make a purposeful impact. Everything you do has an impact, and I want mine to be positive in every little thing I do. And that’s what I measure myself against.

Akhona Mongameli

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Akhona Mongameli