"Maintaining dignity and kindness
Never accept mediocrity in performance"
Thirty Years Of Creating Impact
Through Leadership
I believe that any success I've achieved has been fueled by my “magpie-like” curiosity, doses of good fortune, and a discipline that reflects my father’s frequent admonition: “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” While my path may have been unplanned, I always knew that helping people was my natural calling. As an attorney, and teacher, I would actively solve problems, as a leadership coach, however, I now listen with an entirely different goal – to help clients find solutions themselves. As a coach, my role is to help you understand the issues that are standing in the way of your current role.
A good coach, a genuine one, helps you achieve those breakthroughs. And now, with training from the Center For Executive Coaching certification program, I've focused my energy into a new career as an executive coach for individuals seeking to achieve their best in life and work, globally or locally in the Triangle Area of North Carolina—Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
I’m a passionate British car collector, enjoy track driving at the Virginia International Raceway, taking leisurely walks with my Rhodesian Ridgeback or spending time with family.
I also enjoy traveling, including South Africa to visit my hometown.
Helping Others Attain Their Vision
As Executive Vice President and Divisional Executive for eCommerce, my teams and I built the then largest online financial services business at Wachovia, taking it from zero to over 3.3 Million active customers, driving on-line retail sales to over $1B in retail sales by year end 2006, representing over 90 million on-line transactions
My Story As A Leader And Trusted Guide
Graduated with Bachelor’s, law and doctoral degrees at the University of Natal South Africa (now KZN), where I became the youngest chaired professor, at the time, in the University's history
Graduated with an LLM and a Diploma in Legal Studies at the University of Cambridge, England, and subsequently a visiting fellow
Became a tenured teaching position in the USA with Duke University, becoming a leading thinker in American administrative law, financial regulatory policy and climate change as it impacts financial markets
Worked while on leave from Duke with the United States Senate Banking Committee in Washington D.C during and after the savings and loan crisis, helping to draft key provisions the 1989 and 1991 legislation designed to protect banks from failure and to protect consumers
On leaving Duke to enter the corporate world where I was promoted to Chief eCommerce Officer; EVP at Wachovia whereby team and I launched and built the firm’s financial services website to the one of the largest in the US, with 3.3M active customers, 90M+ online transactions, and $1B+ in online retail sales, while executing yearly expense budgets of $250M. Many teammates have proceeded to top executive positions in the industry
Senior advisor for Solidan, LLC, a commodity derivatives trading company, to help establish its business model and strategic positioning for providing commodity derivatives trading services to financial institutions and their clients
Returned to Duke to reinvigorate my academic career. In July 2018 I was awarded the inaugural Zhang professorship.
Retired from Duke, and began serving as the Governor's appointee and inaugural vice chair of the North Carolina Innovation Council, former Senior Advisor to Kaya Partners, Chairman of the Board
for the McColl Center for Visual Art, and other
charitable programs.
Found Strategic Catalytics, a strategic consulting organization, and become certified with the Center For Executive Coaching (CEC). With this experience and certification, top level executive coaching is
my current focus.
Lessons from the Racetrack
I have been fortunate to be a member of the Kaizen Motorsports & Formula Experiences where I frequently drive at the Virginia International Raceway. For several years, I have immersed myself in track driving, making wonderful new friends and providing me insight into the mindset, resilience, and pressures inherent in such a sport, one that mirrors specific situations and challenges in leadership. A particular pleasure for me has been to encourage the role of women and minorities in racing--and to be instructed by them!
One similarity is a psychological phenomenon that’s well-recognized in high-performance environments known as the “Challenge Response”—an adaptive reaction to stress where pressure fuels focus, confidence, and even joy, rather than
fear or panic.
When you're on a racetrack, you learn to navigate pressure in a way that helps you excel. It’s understandable that if you’re not emotionally prepared to handle competitive stress, you might find yourself reacting in ways that aren’t helpful—like veering off course, feeling frustrated, or not performing at your best. These challenges are not confined to racing; they also resonate in executive situations, where managing stress is vital for success. It's important to recognize these feelings and know that with the right support and mindset, you can thrive even in the most intense moments. You too can learn to thrive on challenge and summon positive emotions to carry out a winning strategy.
“For all of its challenges, America is still, for me, such an exciting place."
Teaching has taught me several important lifelong strategies:
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TEACHING & LEARNING
A rewarding path for imagination, intellectual curiosity and scholarship
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VERSATILITY
Always required to be versatile in our creative output, including audio/video capabilities, and working with A.I.
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ADAPTABILITY & RESILIENCE
Curricular constantly evolve. Change in a world of complexity provides an opportunity for growth, steering us through uncertainties with a forward-looking perspective
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LIBRARIES & DRAWING UPON RESOURCES
Despite the wealth of resources available in libraries of all types, most people do not utilize these resources to full advantage.
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WRITING & PUBLISHING
I have a large body of published work in print and e-pub, that gets purchased or downloaded globally. Author of the most heavily used treatise in South African law
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LEGACY
Through teaching and writing, I have Influenced future generations. I've taught many South African legal professionals who would later play significant roles in the country’s post-apartheid legal system. Creating published work lives on beyond one’s own life, assuring that future generations will benefit.
