Thabo Mbeki, cited in:

This tells all of us that this person whose working day will not be governed by the hours he is contracted to work, but by the quality of the product he will have produced by the end of that working day.

Although I am a product of my circumstances, I believe we carry knowledge within us from elsewhere, enabling us to make better choices in this life. If we get the right parents, as I did, these choices come easier. Inner knowing helped me choose the right mentors in the form of brave managers, who took the risk of betting on a darkie in time when people like me weren’t considered for thinking roles in business.

This is what I have come to know about white privilege. The playing fields are nevel level. One can be angry about it, or weep about it. I don’t waste my emotions on bigots. I just try to outperform racists. I subscribe to former US first lady Michelle Obama’s adage - ‘When they go low, we go high’.

We don’t need carrots and sticks to incentivise people. We need those with a deep understanding of our values - that is what guides us. And if we’ve got people who are not living the values, they might have to work elsewhere.

Denzel Washington, cited in:

Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living - if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on, or showing the way. A mentor.