Hector Motau

10 Important Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Business –Lesson 9: Document the moments

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:56:13 GMT

When you document your moments, it becomes easier to track your growth and whether you are improving or not.

One of my biggest regrets over the last ten years is that I have not documented some of my best and worst moments as a speaker. With the kind of technology we have these days, I should have videos, pictures and recordings of most of the presentations I have done. What is my excuse? Hmm… all I know is that when I get a booking, I get so engrossed in the subject I’m going to speak about that I forget all things around the occasion. This goes back to the issue of having a team around you and systems in place.

When you document your moments, it becomes easier to track your growth and whether you are improving or not. It can also be a great source of income as you can easily package the material to sell later.

There were times when I thought of capturing some of my presentations, but simply didn’t have the resources. It is a lame excuse because such resources could have been organised if I had thought about them much earlier than the event. The costs involved could also be used as a good excuse, but with the kind of contacts and connections I have, that excuse doesn’t apply to me.

One of the great people I met on this path, Marlon Smith, told me about keeping a journal and the benefits thereof. I have only started writing one recently. I have always told myself that I am not good writer and that I’m lazy to write. That confession caught up with me in that I found it difficult to write anything until now. I have changed my thoughts and words to: “I am a great writer and I enjoy it!” It is has started working for me – as you see from my blog!

10 Important Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Business – Lesson 10: You can control your destiny by controlling your thoughts and attitude

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:54:41 GMT

If you think you can do it – you can!

I know it is a cliché but I’ll say it anyway: It’s all in the mind. You may say it in different ways, but those who we view as successful confirm that it’s all in the mind. I consider myself to be successful as a speaker given how I define success: When you are doing what you are supposed to do on earth, you are successful. That’s my definition and I am doing just that – although I admit that I lost focus of this mission several times in the last ten years. I attribute my success as a speaker to this often-stated fact: It’s all in the mind. Every time I face a new audience, like any normal person I get nervous, but the minute I convince myself I can do it, it is done.

This is not just pop-psychology stuff – it has been researched and proven by many around the world. More and more people around the world are trying this approach and proving it is true, and that is why it is becoming popular. It works! Life’s battles are first won in the mind. I just wonder why this is not taught in schools. Well, let me leave that question alone because I’ll start with another passion of mine – conspiracy theories. I am just happy that people are discovering this hidden truth and I happen to be part of those entrusted to reveal it to many others.

10 Important lessons learned in 10 years of business: Lesson 6 – it’s not about money, but it’s business

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:47:45 GMT

You must have a healthy balance between making money and helping people

My life has never been centered on money. I can boldly proclaim that I have a healthy relationship with money. It doesn’t control me at all. I have made many value-based decisions over the last ten years and some got me moving in the opposite direction to possible big cash. I have no regrets about that at all. I have to admit, though, that attracting and generating enough cash flow has been a challenge. I am still expecting and working towards a lifetime deal, and I know it is coming!

Most of the time when a person is driven by passion, money becomes secondary. I remember when I was pursuing an opportunity on radio in the early Nineties, money was not on my mind at all. I didn’t even have an idea of how much a radio personality earns. I just wanted to be on radio, and only discovered later that there was good money to be made from it.

When I moved to motivational speaking, I was not motivated by money either. Here, too, I initially didn’t know that some people got paid to speak. I didn’t know that one could make a career out of it. Only when I started working at the I Can Foundation did I realise that it could be quite a lucrative business.

Like I said, I was never motivated by money, but there have been moments when I had to do things because I had to survive. I have already mentioned the gifts shop I started in Mafikeng and I also accepted small offers here and there over the years. In the lesson on focus, I alluded to the fact that I took some training jobs that were not in line with what was in my heart, just to survive. There is nothing wrong with taking detours on your way to your destiny.

When I started my company in 1999, my aim was to help people make purpose-based career and life decisions. I am a strong believer that each one of us was created for a purpose, with special talents to help us fulfill that purpose. Mine is to help those, young and old, who haven’t yet discovered their purposes in life. My biggest challenge came with knowing how much to charge for my services. I didn’t want to charge in a way that would disadvantage those who would not be able to afford the standard of fees in the speaking industry. I started from R2 000 per hour to companies in 1999 – that has increased over the years. Honestly, I still struggle with charging people, and along the way I outsourced that function to my agents, Speakers of Note.

It turns me off when we are at a function and I hear some of the speakers boasting and bragging about how much they charge and how much they have made in a month. I seldom hear people talking about how many people they have touched or helped. What is this all about really? I think the focus must be on people. The money will come. It is business – one must plan, do forecasts and make budgets, but not at the expense of genuinely helping others. There must be a healthy balance between the two.

10 impertant lessons learned in 10 years of business: Lesson 5 – Time is money

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:33:01 GMT

A missed flight taught me a very valuable business lesson

Time is money – I learnt this the hard way. Early in 2001, I was invited to speak at Portnet in Durban. To this day, the talk I gave there in San Lameer stands out as one of the best I have given over the last 10 years. I got a standing ovation and delegates queued afterward to shake my hand – somehow disrupting the program as there were other things scheduled on it. The MC understood, though, because she also came to congratulate me.
Since these were very senior people responsible for big departments, most of them started to book me to motivate the staff reporting to them. The first booking came less than a month after the talk I gave at San Lameer. I was excited and arrangements were made and I was ready to go there. Let me give you a bit of background about the audience I was going to address. I was told that the group worked in one of the busiest sections of SA Port Operations, dealing with receiving imported cars. They are literally busy 24 hours a day, and to get all of them at the same time was generally not possible. But every year they had one hour where they could be brought together for a meeting, to be appreciated and so on. I called it the golden hour.

I still get teary when I think about it and for a long time I blamed my PA, but I have eventually taken responsibility for it. There were two flight options to Durban for that day – one that landed just an hour before I was to give my presentation, and one three hours earlier. My PA advised me to take the later flight otherwise I would arrive “too early”. I agreed and allowed her to book me into a later flight. A thought crossed my mind that it would better to arrive early to relax, but I disregarded it just to please her. On the day of the talk, I took a taxi to the airport trying to avoid parking fees. I am not talking about a meter taxi – I took a normal taxi from Sunninghill to Noord taxi rank in central Johannesburg and from Noord to the airport, and expected to be there on time. When I arrived at the airport and tried to check in, I was told I was five minutes late and could not be checked in! I have never begged anybody like that in my whole life but they would just not budge. There I was, almost crying, begging the officials at the airport and thinking about what the client would say. I can’t describe the feeling. It was a mixture of anger, disappointment and frustration. I cried. I sat at the airport for about an hour hoping for some miracle. Even if I were to catch the next flight I would be late for the golden hour. Needless to say, I missed the talk. The client was frustrated and I started to think of what people believe about “African time”. Eish…!

I have no doubt that I was going to get a series of talks within SA Port Operations, but after my “no-show” it wasn’t to be. Everything went quiet after that. Not only within Portnet, but my whole business just went… silent. It was as if the universe was asking: why did you waste an opportunity like that?! For the whole year after that incident, nothing worked for me. No invitations. I tried everything in the book and nothing worked. It was as if the word had spread throughout the industry that “this guy is unreliable!” I was fortunate because BPS approached me that year and that kept me going. This made it hard for me to forgive myself – and my PA. After that, we didn’t work together again. It was by far the lowest point in my speaking career and the most difficult year financially. As a result, I am very sensitive about time and I make sure to be very early for my appointments.

I find it odd that the “African time” thing is still an issue in the corporate world and in our township functions. The problem is that we tolerate it and that is why people don’t learn. It is so embarrassing every time I conduct training to see that “our people” are the ones who still arrive after everyone else. Let’s please do something drastic about it, as there is no more time to waste. We still have a lot to do.

Key lessons:
- Do whatever it takes to be on time.
- Instead of blaming others when things go wrong, find something you can learn from the incident.

10 Important lessons learned in 10 years of business: Lesson 4 – Be open to learning

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:43:36 GMT

You should never stop learning, and you should look for it in any form you can find

Learning never stops, especially when you are open to it. I have been saved from embarrassment many times because of my open-to-learning attitude. Since I use English as a medium of reaching my audiences, I have to be proficient in it – and I still work at it daily. I don’t know whether it has to do with the environment I grew up in or the kind of English teachers I had, but I found (and still actually find) myself struggling with pronunciation, articulation and grammar. I have improved a lot over the last few years, though! My improvement can directly be linked to my teachable spirit and the fact that I would laugh at myself when I made mistakes.

My free street lessons started while I was at the Tshwane University of Technology, where I was lucky enough to have friends who cared enough to not let me go on with broken English from Madidi (Ha ha ha!). We were not allowed to choose roommates at school, so you just had to make do with who you found in the room. Over the three years I was there, I became friend with Pule Setai and Colin Mateme, two “roomzas” who made an impact on my speech. I remember one day saying “some people are influensive” and Pule jumped in to help! Colin was just a marvel to listen to – he had lived in the United States for three or so years and his English was polished. I learnt so much in the year we shared a room – and I’m still learning from him, since we recently got in touch again after losing contact for many years.

Enter Francis Majola. He took over from where the “roomzas” left off. I still feel he was divinely brought to Radio Bop just to sort out my pronunciation and articulation. I don’t know why others left me to broadcast as I did, because I used to speak very fast and would swallow words. More like how Baby Jake speaks, ha ha ha! As soon as he took over in 1996, he listened to all of us and he singled me out for having a speech challenge – but instead of firing me, he helped me. I had to read to him in his office every day for about a month. Sometimes he would be reading a newspaper while I was reading out loud and, just as I would wonder if he was listening, he would stop me as soon as I made a mistake, confirming that he was indeed listening. Talk about multitasking! I hated those moments, but after a few months, I felt and heard a big difference in how I sounded on radio. He encouraged me to read a lot – something I still do. It was actually radio legend DDK (Daniel Dick Kgang) who first tipped me off about reading. He was so soft and subtle about it that I forgot about it, and I didn’t listen until Francis forced me to do it.

During my Midday Madness spell, Redi Direko, who was my good friend beyond just being a regular contributor, also challenged me to read. I don’t know why, but when women say things, men listen! Thanks Redi, your passion for reading rubbed off on me.

After leaving Radio Bop to join the I Can Foundation, I shared a townhouse with Deshun Deysel, that great mountain-climbing, history-making woman. My informal lessons continued. I strongly believe it was part of divinely orchestrated interventions to help me speak better as part of preparing me for my mission. She would always gently correct me when I erred grammatically or in pronunciation. By the time I left Deshun’s place after leaving the I Can Foundation, I was talking much better and ready to interact with the corporate world. All I needed was content.

The next level of learning came from Business Presentation Skills. I received a call from Flee van Rensburg one day in 2001, offering me an opportunity to be a facilitator for their popular 2-day presentation skills course. When I was first exposed to the course, I wondered how I had survived as a speaker up to that point. Fortunately, I had not yet done that many corporate talks. Soon my public speaking skills were taken to another level and I became even more confident. More than just presentation skills, I learnt about excellence, dress code and other business principles from the owners of the company, Beth-Ann Galvin and Barry Holley. I still facilitated the presentation skills course to the end of 2008, because it was a way for me to help with the skill, which I believe they dearly need.

I would not have been able to learn as much as I did if I was not open to correction and coaching. And I’m still learning today!

Key lessons
- Be open to correction and coaching.
- Learning is not only formal – most of the crucial lessons happen informally.
- Ask, read and listen. There’s a lot to learn around your chosen field.
- Make it easy for others to help you by having an approachable attitude.

10 important lessons learned in 10 years of business – lesson 3: You need a team to help you fulfill your purpose

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:11:32 GMT

It is important to draw inspiration from others, but never lose sight of your own vision

When I started Marang Consulting (now The Motivation Company) in 1999, I was worked until the beginning of 2008. That was not good! I should have put a purpose team together many years ago, and now I have finally begun. My company could have been a big operation, but for many years it remained the same size. Why was I in that situation?

I have tried to work with people over the last 10 years and I found it difficult. My personality is such that I prefer working alone, and this has not always yielded good results. I missed quite a few opportunities simply because I didn’t have capacity. Bra Zakes once told me that I needed to build capacity and have systems in place. All I managed to cultivate were strategic partnerships with companies like Business Presentation Skills, Siyanqoba Seminars, Mbuso Management Solutions and ITS. I facilitate some of their programs and I ask for their assistance when a need arises.

I still believe that The Motivation Company will one day have an office complex (The Motivation Company House), where a team of people who are committed to helping others to discover their purposes and find fulfillment, will be based. I’m in talks with individuals who are eager to work with me and that I’m eager to work with also. I am putting a purpose team together. It is important to find people who share the same vision and who have the same passion as you. Most successful people mention that you need to surround yourself with knowledgeable, competent people to help you reach your goal. What I believe strongly is that the people you bring in to be part of your team should be passionate about the position you offer them. They must be fulfilling their purpose within the parameters of your purpose. This will create a win-win situation.

One of the mistakes I made, was to hand over my vision and wait for others to make things happen for me, as they appeared to be more successful (especially materially). But I’ve found that it doesn’t work that way. You have to follow your own path and not jump in with others – trying to shine in their shine. It is important to draw inspiration from others, but never lose sight of your own vision.

10 Important lessons learned in 10 years of business Lesson 2: Focus amd act on what you truly believe in

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:58:26 GMT

Once you discover your true purpose in life, it’s important to stay focussed and not lose direction – but there will always be distractions

Discovering my purpose at a tender age was one of the best things that could ever have happened to me. I was full of zest and wanted nothing but the best for myself and others. I thought it was going to be easy sailing, but there were many challenges and distractions.One of the major lessons I learnt is that you have to focus diligently on what you are convinced is your purpose. With the revelation of my purpose came ideas for running public seminars and youth camps, making school visits and giving corporate talks. I knew I had to do it all, but I didn’t know where to start.

Before I made up my mind about pursuing my purpose full-force, I got distracted many times – but one man, who is still an important part of my life, helped me on my way. Mr EK More, or Bra Zakes as I’ve come to know him, was my Public Administration lecturer at TUT. He helped me lot in my first few years after graduating, first with giving me a job, then a place to stay. I realised my dream of working at Radio Bop in Mafikeng with his help and also ran a shop, which unfortunately had to close down eventually. I opened another shop, but soon after moved to Johannesburg to join the I Can Foundation. I employed two people to run the shop in my absence, but running a business long-distance doesn’t always work. After a few months I finally closed down the shop – and started focussing on my purpose.

At the I Can Foundation, I learnt a lot of things about the speaking industry and it was truly an honour to be in the presence of Bra David Molapo. His commitment to empowering the youth and his giving spirit are unsurpassed. It was even exciting to see him in action on stage. I was given a few chances to speak at schools and it was fun. Bra David also created an opportunity for me to be on Kaya FM, presenting an inspirational Sunday morning show. My experience from Radio Bop was put to good use – and this time I was on radio doing what was my passion: motivating others!

I quit the I Can Foundation eventually, as I felt I needed more challenges in the motivational field. I left without having a plan of what I was going to do next – not a good idea, as I ended up having no place to stay and no transport. I even thought of going back home to Madidi, but fortunately Kaya FM asked me to continue presenting my show. I stayed with my friend George, since I wasn’t earning enough to live on my own. He George covered my deficits when things were tough and I cried day and night, overcome by feelings of despair, regret, failure and worthlessness. Sometimes I would pray until dawn and still have the energy to go out and look for a school where I could speak for free, just to feel like doing something. During this time, I learnt a lot through reading and revelation. I would sometimes wake up and go to a place where some speaker would be and just listen and learn. Slowly but surely, my confidence and vision became more vivid. I rehearsed daily and gave talks at local schools until I got better and gained more confidence.

I wanted to approach companies and offer my speaking services, using the contacts I had. The first company I went to was Eskom, who were luckily looking for a speaker – and so I got my first corporate gig. After that success, I formed The Motivation Company. It hasn’t always been an easy ride – I sometimes found myself accepting offers that I knew I wasn’t passionate about, but I acknowledge that it crossed my path for a reason, as it polished my presentation skills. However, there were other offers that I should have turned down as they took me off my purpose.

One of the most important benefits of focusing and specialising in a particular thing is that branding of your product or service becomes easier. When the market thinks of a service, you must be the first one to be considered because of how prominent and excellent you are at it. That’s why I’m repositioning, reloading and reinventing myself as SA’s premier speaker on issues of personal development and coaching people to be high and fulfilled performers.

Key Lessons:
- There will always be distractions. Some are necessary for you to learn something, but always check that you haven’t lost your focus.
- Practise is important for excellence and confidence.
- What you do while in the valley will determine whether you’ll come out quickly or whether you’ll come out at all.
- Don’t just say yes to everything because of financial difficulty.

10 Important Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Business

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:56:53 GMT

I started my personal development company in 1999 – and now, 10 years later, I reflect on the journey I have travelled and the lessons I have learned. Over the next 10 weeks, I will share these lessons with you, because even though the paths of entrepreneurs are many and varied, I believe there is much that we can learn from each other
BY HECTOR MOTAU

Lesson 1: Know and Pursue your Purpose
When I was a student at the Technicon Northern Transvaal (now the Tshwane University of Technology) in Soshanguve, I used to listen to a hilarious radio show called The Jolly Good Show, which was presented by George Manyosi and Ben Dikobe – but little did I know that in 1996, I’d be paired with the great George Manyosi to co-present the Midday Madness Show. It was targeted at the youth, but we had the ear of parliamentarians, lawyers, teachers and other professionals.

It was at the height of this successful show that I discovered my purpose – it was to guide others to discover their purpose, and to give hope to those in despair. I joined Radio Bop in 1994, and the first two years were all about finding myself on radio. I was being introduced to general radio principles, and I learned a lot in that period. It was indeed a great honour learning from the likes of Tich Mataz, Glen Lewis, George Manyosi, Vincent Maseko, Brenda Sisane, Segale Mogotsi and Nothemba Madumo.

Long before being asked to present the show, I was watching a Christian television network called TBN via Bop TV, and I heard Dr Myles Munroe talk about purpose. I still remember the message as if it was yesterday, because it changed my life forever! Before, I would go to the radio studios and have fun on air, but still feel empty afterwards. I couldn’t understand this depressing feeling, as I was doing what I believed was my life’s purpose, my ultimate dream! But after hearing Dr Munroe, I realised that I had reached a milestone, but I didn’t know what to do. After his powerful message I finally realised that for me, radio was to be a platform of empowerment and inspiration. I accepted the responsibility, but didn’t know how I would make it happen. I believe, however, that just that step of accepting that responsibility opened doors for me to fulfil my purpose. Another strange thing is that as I was listening to Myles, I saw myself doing what he was doing – motivating and challenging people to realise their full potential.

The Midday Madness Show became very big, due in part to the strong motivational element that helped so many people. I still meet people from all walks of life whose lives were changed one way or another by what they heard on the show. In 1997, while enjoying the show’s success, I became restless about continuing with it. It was in the midst of this turmoil that my purpose was confirmed, when we got an invitation from a church youth group (Young Eagles Fellowship it was called) in Soweto to speak at their annual rally. Their regular guest speaker, Dr David Molapo, couldn’t make it, and George and I were asked to fill in for him. I didn’t realise the gravity of it at that time, but I recently realised that my first ever public speaking invitation was to replace the man who would be my mentor at some stage.

At the time, I’d never even heard of motivational speaking. I was surprised that people heard me and thought I was a great speaker. For me, it was just a talk, like I used to participate in debate meetings at school, enjoyed reciting poetry, and also had fun being an MC at big functions during my student days – but it was all just natural to me. No big deal. Only now do I realise that those were signs of a great speaker in the making. After that talk, I just went back to Mafikeng to go on with Midday Madness.

On Sunday mornings on Radio Bop, Modisane Modise used to host Dr David Molapo and I remember hearing him and liking what he had to say – he spoke the kind of things I wanted to say to people. I received an invitation to the Student Christian Fellowship at TUT for an alumni gathering, and the main attraction for me, was listening to Dr Molapo live! I even went with recording equipment from the station to interview him. That day, I knew I had to be a motivational speaker. He didn’t say much as he had a guest from the USA, but for those few minutes he was on stage, I knew I had to do what he was doing.

After that weekend I started to wind my process down at Radio Bop. I called Dr Molapo to enquire about possibilities of working with him. It was difficult to get hold of him, but through persistence I got his attention, and I eventually joined his organisation in April 1998. I spent six months being mentored by and observing Dr Molapo, and in 1999 I ventured out to start Marang Consulting (now called The Motivation Company), which I still run. I was a man in pursuit of purpose!

Key lessons:
- Be conscious of why you want to do what you want to do
- Acknowledge your uniqueness and be comfortable with your role in life
- Appreciate the greatness in others without feeling inferior
- Once you establish and are sure of your purpose, go for it with all you’ve got and never look back
- Knowing and pursuing your purpose gives you peace and fulfillment
- Recognise and thank those you meet on your path. Don’t wait until it’s too late

Next week: Lesson 2 – Focus and act on what you truly believe in