Calendar

The Amrop Woodburn Mann Wildlife Calendar has been in production since 2006 and reflects our deep connection to the African continent. The images are taken by our Chairman and founder, Dr Trevor Woodburn, and our Managing Director, Andrew Woodburn and are enjoyed by wildlife and photography enthusiasts alike. The collection below is a photographic journey across the plains and oceans of Africa from calendars past.

November 2020

2020 0

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MANTA RAY FREE RIDE

The group of remoras hitch a ride underneath this ocean-going Manta Ray as it glides in to a coral reef where cleaner fish live and wait to remove the parasites and ocean growth from the manta. They are gentle creatures and will often approach divers in order to satisfy their curiosity. Divers can interact with them near cleaning stations like this one under a set of guidelines. They are so big that when they swim overhead it’s as if a cloud has blocked the sun, they move like a magic carpet in the water with unparalleled grace and speed.

Manta Ray - Manta Birostris

Manta Rays are large rays. The larger species, M. birostris, reaches 7m in width, while the smaller, M. alfredi, reaches 5.5m. Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they gather with their open mouths as they swim. However, research suggests that they are actually deep sea predators, feeding on fish and other organisms that inhabit areas of the sea between 200–1,000m below the surface. They are listed as vulnerable, threats include pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, and direct harvesting for their gill rakers for use in Chinese medicine. They are protected in international waters.

Nikon D300 Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/160 sec @ f10, ISO 200, Sea & Sea Housing and Two Sea & Sea YS250, strobes on ¼ power. Taken on scuba at 27m at Amazon dive site off Tofo, Mozambique

Photograph by Andrew Woodburn

Clara Woodburn

Clara is an Executive Coach who operates at the Exco level across several industries. She consistently becomes a sounding board for executives who often struggle to elevate their leadership to the next level when their boss, the CEO and peers sit on Exco alongside them as well. Clara’s clients have spanned Industrial, Mining, Engineering, Financial Services, Retail and Education both in South Africa and other Emerging Markets in different time zones.

Trained in various 360 assessment tools (The Leadership Circle, Lominger), Clara’s most effective approach is to conduct a thorough 360 before commencing a medium-term commitment of coaching. These 360 tools assess key leadership competencies, while uncovering leadership behavioural habits and assumptions that could limit leadership effectiveness. Clara carefully co-creates with her clients a development plan out of the 360 insights and systematically works through these agreements using the plan as a GPS. The executive coaching can be contained and impactful over a committed 6-month period but often also extends beyond following the progression of an executive’s continued career success.

Clara is a qualified Integral Coach from UCT Business School. The integral approach is holistic, maximizing potential both as a leader but also as an individual, addressing the body, mind and soul so change is fully embodied and integrated. With this background, Clara is comfortable coaching off piste and exploring the humanness of her clients, while always keeping what they committed to changing as the compass and looping firmly back as they close the relationship.

Born and educated in the UK, Clara has subsequently lived and worked in Egypt, UK, US before now living with her husband and children in South Africa. Clara’s career began in executive search which spanned three different continents over a decade. In New York, she transitioned to VP, Human Resources within a top tier US investment bank. When she moved to South Africa, she changed tack and pioneered building a wellness business which she led for another decade and successfully sold 5 years ago. Interacting with senior executives in search, followed by addressing burn-out and wellness with up and coming executives, has segued her skills fluently to coaching which she experiences as the confluence of her life experiences.

Steve Woodward

BA, Psychology (Wits), MBA (Brunel University London)

Steve Woodward is an experienced global business leader who has held senior executive positions including CEO and CHRO roles in large corporations in the USA, Europe and Africa. He has led business units, M&A projects and organizational transformation projects in these regions.

Steve was most recently the Chief People Officer (EVP: People and Culture) for Imperial Logistics – a global Logistics and Market Access business, operating in Europe and Africa. Steve was recruited in 2019 to lead the delivery of a single global Human Resources entity and to lead the change and transformation of Imperial Logistics after the unbundling of Motus from the Imperial Group. Steve retired from the group in February 2022 following the acquisition of Imperial by Dubai Ports World.

Previously, he was a partner in, and the Chief Operating Officer of, SAFEmap International – a leading organizational safety consultancy specializing in Risk Management and Culture and Leadership Development with offices in Canada, USA, Latin America, Australia, Europe and Africa whose clients include General Motors, Boeing, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, PotashCorp and BHP Billiton.

Steve worked for SABMiller for 20 years in Human Resources, Corporate Strategy and Senior General Management. He was CEO of Pilsner Urquell Breweries in the Czech Republic (SABMiller’s flagship European operation) CEO of SABMiller’s Slovakian, Romanian and European Export businesses and Managing Director of two smaller subsidiary brewing companies in South Africa. He also spent two years working on global human resources projects for the CEO of SABMiller in London and his last roles in SABMiller were as SVP Human Resources of Miller Brewing Company and Chief Human Resources Officer of MillerCoors based in Chicago, Illinois from 2007-2011

He has guided global change programs to drive economies of scale through global shared service projects and through best practice transfer and the implementation of global learning and talent management systems. Steve led the operational due diligence for SABMiller’s multibillion $ acquisition of the Bavaria business in Latin America and was a member of the executive team which led the multibillion $ Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing merger and integration between 2008 and 2010.

Prior to SAB, Steve worked in the Mining Industry in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana for Anglo American and De Beers for 10 years in the fields of Labor Relations and Human Resources being appointed to the position of SVP: HR for Anglo in Botswana.

He was previously a member of the Faculty of the Lake Forest Graduate School, Illinois where he has lectured online MBA students in International Business. He is a past member of the LFGS Business Advisory Council. He is a certificated executive coach and mentor and is a member of Menttium and the Global Learning Network.

He is a member of the Advisory Board of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company based in Chico California