Do you remember the first time you experienced the thrill of a rollercoaster ride? Perhaps it was exciting or maybe it was completely daunting. Contrary to what some might experience, most people find rollercoasters scary and see them as an undoubtable trigger of their fear of death.
Sadly, this is how many South Africans also view South Africa and what we can call the ‘South African experience.’ We thoroughly enjoy the uplifting highs of our state and grit our teeth through the screeching lows.
The truth of the matter is that the South African experience is a rollercoaster ride, but so is life. In life we have highs and lows and the key to succeed at life is accepting and understanding that not everything is going to be a high and so we need to establish the resilience required. It has been said that South Africans have a high level of resilience and that “South Africa is a veritable living laboratory to study resilience.” (https://www.up.ac.za/centre-of-the-study-of-resilience).
However, even as resilient as South Africans are, more and more are finding it harder to stay positive and conversations in many circles continually veer towards looking for greener pastures elsewhere.
What if, as organizations, teams and individuals, we were able to view our country in its context and shift this limiting perspective about our state? As a result of shifting this perspective, we may then be better equipped to enhance, create and grow South Africa and grow as South Africans.
The SA Rollercoaster is a fast-paced, upbeat, yet realistic and thought-provoking presentation that will motivate your team to see South Africa through the eyes of opportunity.
Brought to you by TomorrowToday and Homecoming Revolution, this one-hour motivational presentation will help all South Africans feel a little bit better and be more informed about their homeland.
The presentation takes South Africans on a rollercoaster ride of four exciting highs that our country can be proud of, that set us apart as a nation. In between those highs, we’ve nestled four lows that affect all South Africans and are often the annoying topics at the Sunday evening braai.
Through partnering with the Homecoming Revolution, who are a headhunting firm that aims to reverse the ‘brain drain’ into the ‘brain gain’, the presentation has eye-opening insights from ‘home-comers’ who have returned to South Africa.
We (Buhle and Zanele) are looking forward to walking you through a brief insight into this presentation though our upcoming webinar (see details at the end of this article). We will provide you with a preview, as it were, of this presentation that help you motivate your team and provide strategic insight for your leadership team
We explore some of the highs that as South Africans need to celebrate and protect, while also giving some of the lows that need our ongoing and urgent attention.
Let’s provide an example of a high and a low that play a key part in the presentation.
High – The SA Outdoor Lifestyle
One of the key highs revealed by home-comers and is included in the presentation is our vibrant outdoor lifestyle as South Africans. There are few places around the world that can provide the great weather, diversity of fauna and flora, wildlife and sporting opportunities that South Africa, I (Buhle) should know as I have lived through six Canadian winters! From braai days and recreation; to playing or watching sports; to our fantastic weather, home-comers have revealed that the South African outdoor lifestyle is a key factor they considered when they made the decision to return home for good.
Where else do you get summer temperatures in the winter?
Low – Our Low Self-Belief
One of the SA’s lows that we explore in the presentation and probably the most crippling, is our self-belief, or lack thereof. Indices like the Misconceptions index indicate that South Africans show very little confidence in their country’s abilities and competence, especially in the contexts of our economy and how finances are managed and distributed.
This particular low is one of the main factors that inhibit the country from moving forward. Fast growing economies like China and Dubai have proven that once a country’s citizens and inhabitants can ‘buy into’ the success of that country and economy, the trajectory of that country’s progress takes off immensely. But this is not only true in the far and middle east, even here on our own continent, countries like Rwanda and Ghana continue to show the impact of positive outlook of citizenry on the growth and success of these countries. South Africans can turn this low into a great high.
Recommendations
So, what do we do as South Africans? Having noted that that our country is like any other in the global context, a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, there are four things that we can adopt going forward. We highlight the steps that our companies, organisations and communities can put in place, but there are also things that each and every individual can begin to put into practice. Three of these such steps are outlined in the presentation and examples are given of how South Africans can start today, to take South Africa to the next level. We are looking forward to share more with you during the webinar and we hope to see you there!
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