Edition 31 | 21 April 2026

Welcome to The Perspective. Each week I share a few reflections on work, leadership, and clarity, not to add more noise, but to slow things down just enough to think properly. Some ideas are practical, others more reflective, but all are chosen with the same intent: to help us navigate complexity with a steadier hand.

This week’s note centres on something that feels familiar, but uncomfortable when you look at it more closely: how shared experiences slowly become selective.

When National Pride Becomes Premium

I was looking at ticket prices for the upcoming Springboks vs All Blacks matches the other day. At first glance, it doesn’t seem unreasonable. You see entry-level tickets starting at a few hundred rand, and it feels like there’s at least some level of accessibility.

But then you think about how people actually experience these games. It’s almost never just one ticket. It’s a parent taking their kids. A group of friends going together. A family outing. And very quickly, what looks like a R250 or R800 decision becomes something much bigger. Transport, parking, food, it all adds up.

The same thing happens on the other side. If you’re not going to the stadium, you’re might be watching from home. And that usually means a subscription. Again, on its own, it feels standard. But in the context of everything else, it becomes another layer.

And that’s where the thought started to shift for me.

We talk about moments like this as national events. The kind of occasions that bring people together. But the reality is that access to those moments is becoming more selective. Not by intention, necessarily. But by design.

None of this is to ignore the commercial side of the game. It costs money to run stadiums, to secure broadcast rights, and to keep the sport at the highest level.

But there’s another side to it as well. The Springboks aren’t just a team. They carry something bigger: a sense of identity, of shared experience. And when access to that starts to narrow, something changes, even if it’s not immediately visible.

It doesn’t show up overnight. It shows up slowly. Fewer people feeling part of it, fewer first-time experiences, a gradual shift from something shared to something aspirational.

And once that shift happens, it’s difficult to reverse.

Lessons from a Business Mastermind

Episode 4: Stay Calm When It Matters Most

Reading about how Indra Nooyi operated under pressure, one thing becomes clear.

Leadership is emotional, but it cannot be reactive.

She speaks about allowing emotions to exist internally while maintaining a calm exterior when making decisions. Not to suppress reality, but to provide stability.

Because when things are uncertain, people look to the leader’s tone.

The Lesson:

Calm is not a personality trait. It is a discipline built under pressure.

The more uncertain the environment, the more your composure becomes part of the strategy.

On My Desk

This past week, I found myself packing and preparing a large box of books for delivery.

It’s quite a different feeling seeing everything come together like that. What started as an idea, then a manuscript, and eventually a printed book, now physically moving into the hands of a group of readers.

There’s something tangible about that moment.

Up until now, most of the journey has been individual: one reader at a time, one conversation at a time. This felt different. More deliberate. More structured.

A reminder that ideas don’t just sit on paper.

They move when people engage with them.