Phoenix Institute of Leadership & Learning

1. Business culture
It is essential that any organisation continuously sustains and increases its appetite to be a learning organisation in the way that Peter Senge describes in the ‘Fifth Discipline’, as well as a teaching organisation, with a teachable point of view as described by Noel M Tichy in ‘The Cycle of Leadership’. The primary way in which we recruit into The Phoenix Group (TPG) is to hire for talent and train for skill (H4T+T4S=High Impact Team). This is done by applying the four E’s model of Jack Welch, namely by finding people that have Energy, can Energise other people and the organisation, that have the Edge, and have the ability to Execute on a task or decision. Added to this model, we look for passion. 4 E’s + P = Leadership Culture.


2. Leadership engine
One of the principles and philosophies of TPG is the development and cultivation of level 5 leadership as articulated by Jim Collins in his seminal work entitled ‘Good to Great’. To ensure that this philosophy is programmed into the DNA of the entire organisation, The Phoenix Institute of Leadership and Learning (PILL) was created. The PILL is driven internally, directly by Rurik McKaiser, and the organisation’s HR department, as well as everyone in the organisation, effectively making the entire organisation an Action Learning Institute of Technology (ALIT). Thus, the foundation of The PILL is built on an ALIT way of being. Within The PILL, active knowledge creation, knowledge management and the application of this knowledge is the bedrock that feeds the intellectual capital of the business and in turn ensures that the exponential growth trajectory of the business is sustained into the future.

The PILL action learning model has a six step process, namely:
• piloting new venture
• advancing basic hard skills
• business ethos / business ethics and moral philosophy that drives business
• individual excellence
• business management skills and departmental management skills, based on the McKaiser model of “boundaried fluidity”, which could be likened to Jack Welch’s “boundarylessness”
• leadership – here, the ultimate aim is “level 5 leadership”

3. Career progression
Our core values of Teamwork, Integrity and Accountability (TIA) is used in conjunction with the (H4T+T4S = High Impact Team) and 4 E’s + P = leadership culture empowers the leadership of the business to constantly expose the High Impact Team (HIT) to the best opportunity for growth and development within the organisation with the resultant business benefit, and directly impacting positively on the bottom line.

The culture of career advancement in The Phoenix Group is not limited to traditional organogram or organisational silos, but instead is modelled on a principle of “boundaried fluidity”. This allows team members the freedom to advance themselves interdepartmentally from a career advancement point of view, as well as vertically and also across business industries within the group. In addition to this there is a flow of knowledge. 


4. Skills development
The organisation is focused on growing its talent base and has therefore formed strong links with external stakeholders to provide the necessary training. These include:
• Wholesale and retail SETA 
• LEAD
• UCT Graduate School of Business
• Cape Town Chamber of Commerce
• Abelusi


5. Mentoring
A culture of mentoring is deeply entrenched within the organisation’s DNA. Once a business need is identified a structured, hands-on mentoring process, is followed. Each team member has at least one mentor, as well as one mentee, thus making cross pollination and knowledge development along with knowledge sharing a norm at The Phoenix Group. 


6. Check-in circles
This technology is briefly referred to by Peter Senge in his now famous book “The Fifth Discipline”. The Check-in circles have been made famous by The Mankind Project, of which McKaiser is an active member. With these Check-in Circles, the Native American practice of “the talking stick”, made famous by Stephen Covey, is applied to ensure that the entire person is experienced at The Phoenix Group. With authenticity as its base, this practice is most definitely not for the faint hearted.


7. Performance assessment
The organisation is performance driven. The entire assessment process, which is constantly evolving, can be likened to an intense over-all performance and organisational health check. Here the principles of Systems Thinking, as professed by Russ Ackoff and Ken Wilber’s Integral philosophy are applied to view and review the HIT and the individual team members. 

Every 6 weeks the team’s performances are monitored by means of performance appraisals. Training needs are assessed and a strategy is developed to meet training needs. Team building exercises are held on a regular basis to enhance and improve the team’s morale and performance.