Francois
Steyn
Executive Consultant and Integral Coach® (CfC) | Grow in wisdom
Navigating executive headwinds.
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Managing in this relentless and interconnected world has never been more challenging. We are surrounded by expert advice promoting the latest management theories and approaches. Our choices are as complex as the environment in which we work.
The dilemmas that executives face today defy conventional approaches. We encounter apparently impossible situations and problems for which solutions are not clear. We often have to make decisions in a morally challenging world.
I believe the answer to managing more effectively in these turbulent environments depends on more than technical skills and business models. Valuable though these are, management is about the people involved: those we manage and, above all, ourselves. We need to develop our Executive Wisdom.
Grow your executive wisdom.
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Executive wisdom is practical wisdom. It is knowing what the most appropriate goals are and how to pursue these goals in the right way and how to do so consistently. This is not a new idea: Aristotle believed that practical wisdom is essential to the effective management of human enterprise.
With its roots in Aristotle’s classic concept of phronesis, practical wisdom is drawn from everyday knowledge and contexts. The practical knowledge it produces stands in contrast to the specialised knowledge and technical skills so often preferred today. Practical wisdom allows you to use the knowledge and skills you and your team possess effectively. In other words, practical wisdom is the purposeful capacity for sense-making and action that draws from and augments technical executive competencies. It is a situational and practical skill characterised by interrelated Modes of Engaging, Knowing and Thinking, Being, and Acting
Managerial phronesis or executive practical wisdom (from Steyn & Sewchurran, 2019)
Practical wisdom is the “peak of excellence in leadership and decision-making.”
Sasse-Werhahn, Bachman and Habisch (2018)
Chief Digital Officer at the multi-national Sasse AG Group, Dr Laura Sasse-Werhahn and her co-authors claim that practical wisdom, or phronesis, is the most vital executive competence. Not only executives hold this view. Executive development thought leaders also regard practical wisdom as the most important human quality that twenty-first century managers should develop.
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Helping executives succeed and teams flourish.
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No two businesses are alike and within the contextual nature of executive management, off-the-shelf packages and theories are therefore no longer fit for purpose. The ideal solution to a complex problem, the appropriate decision or the suitable course of action is often not apparent at first. We need to leverage our unique skills more competently, and confidently. I work closely with you in developing your competence, or in guiding and supporting you and your team and enabling you to grow your wisdom-in-practice. The journey in developing your practical wisdom is an enrichingly personal one and specific to your needs..
A wiser executive practice starts here.
I can work with you on an individual basis, as a team or support you in organising your business.
Individual
As a certified Integral Coach®, I offer one-on-one consultation and coaching
Team
I will work with you and your team in strategising and systemic problem solving.
Organisation
I will help you in building your business’ resilience.
Grounded in empirical research, my work has taught me how to apply practical wisdom in the executive management context. I use a framework of critical and systems thinking and have developed integrative thinking methodologies for problem solving. My approach to coaching follows a respected international coaching framework.
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A better way to grow your practice.
“We’ve been working with Francois Steyn since 2010 and his integrity, leadership and business acumen have been of great value to Motswako Office Solutions and its group of companies. We are currently using Francois to coach our senior managers and the changes have been evident right from the outset. Our senior managers are now more equipped to handle everyday challenges which is of huge value to our group”
JACO FREDERICK DE JAGER
Managing Director
Motswako Office Solutions (Pty) Ltd
Take the first step and reach out. I’d love to help you grow your executive expertise and support you in reaching your goals.
Get to know me.
I have more than 20 years’ management experience in a corporate environment, so I understand the dilemmas of modern executive management. As a dedicated leader and management practitioner, I care deeply about working with my team so that as a collective we succeed in a complex and competitive landscape.
This success demands that I commit to developing myself and to making a contribution towards the development of others. This has been my journey to executive wisdom: I have spent much of my career investing in growing my competence as an executive manager and leader of others.
Working together, we can develop your executive wisdom and equip you to better meet the challenges of the future.
Some achievements.
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- Awarded the Old Mutual Gold Medal for outstanding academic achievement in the Executive MBA programme completed at University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
- Awarded a PhD in Business Administration, again through the Graduate School of Business, Africa’s leading business school.
- Guest-lecturer in practical wisdom at a Financial Times global Top 50 Executive MBA programme.
- More than 20 years’ management experience in a corporate environment.
- Co-author of a peer-reviewed article on executive practical wisdom published in a Financial Times top 50 global journal.
- Certified Integral Coach®. Completed Coaching for Development through UCT CfC (accredited by HPCSA and approved by International Coaching Federation)
How to reach me.
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francois@steyn.africa
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Contact / Whatsapp
+27 (0)82 883 2020
Contact me now.
Contact me