“In 2011, I nominated Ms Stojanovic as a candidate to serve on the HCRC of the NEF. She was selected from a range of potential candidates to be appointed in this capacity. This was a reflection of the committee’s assessment that Ms Stojanovic’s knowledge, skills and global expertise in the realm of HR and Organisation would contribute positively to the NEF
– Avril Halstead ; Director Oversight, National SA Treasury, Pretoria, South Africa
“McKinsey recognizes Sonia as a person of exceptional skills in the areas of Organisation Behaviour and Development, Values and Culture, Leadership Development, High Performance Teams – including Executive and Top Teams, Development of Facilitators of Transformation, HR Systems and processes and Change Management
– David Fine: Office Head – South Africa, McKinsey and Company, Johannesburg, South Africa
“A short note of appreciation for your session on Human Capital Transformation in the 21st Century as part of Dave Ulrich’s program here in Zurich. The live case example and world café approach was very engaging, relevant and well received as it invited participation and conversation amongst the HR leaders in attendance. We were delighted at the extent of synergy between your live experiences, and the key themes of the conference. Thank you again.
– Romeo Ruh, Head HR Academy, ZfU International Business School, Zurich, Switzerland
“Sonia possesses a unique combination of skills to support business in South Africa. She has a track record of being a successful HR Director in a large Australian Bank but combines these skills with a unique set of insights and instincts around helping strengthen the human side of the business. Since 2010, Sonia and I have facilitated a series of conversations at Kumba Iron Ore which we believe has resulted in true bottom line economic and social impact at the Company.
– Marc Van Olst, CEO Spinnaker Growth, Johannesburg, South Africa
“As a South African who has studied and worked abroad over many years, I have chosen to return to this country because of the huge potential of our people, and the equally huge need for truly innovative solutions to allow us to deliver this potential. The value of professionally qualified foreigners who bring new perspectives, and allow us to see emerging possibilities, is immense. Sonia is such an individual. Her insights, capabilities and passion for the unlocking of human potential are inspirational.
– Noah Maltz, Director, The Safety Lab, Cape Town, South Africa
“I have known Sonia in a professional and personal capacity since 2005, when she was working on a McKinsey Study designed to introduce Values Driven Leadership, under the sponsorship previous CEO Pat Davies….. I have seen her ‘in action’ in many different theatres of work, one on one, team effectiveness interventions, skills and capability development, inspirational speaking, as well as her personal relationships with colleagues and society in general.
– Masechaba Tenaka, General Manager Stakeholder Relations, Sasol, South Africa
“Our initial partnership was our joint creation of a series of dialogues called “At the Edge of Emergence” which we co-hosted in the USA, UK, Australia, India and Africa. I have experienced her in a number of forums to be a person of exceptional ability as a facilitator and leader in Organisation Behaviour.
– Markus Moses, Founder and CEO Ndawo Consulting, Johannesburg, South Africa
“Sonia was invited to present at the ‘Second International Conference on Appreciative Inquiry : Creating Extraordinary Organisation for Business and Society’, in 2004 in Miami. The invitation was motivated by the innovations made by Sonia in the process and learnings available for organizational transformation. Sonia was one of the few presenters from outside the US. Recognized as a leader in the growth and development of the field of Organisation development and transformation, who were invited to present
– Sallie Lee, Sun Shared Studio, Asheville NC.
“Thank you for your sessions with Tsogo Sun Manager of Manager, Personal Mastery for 2013. Congratulations your overall Lecturer Evaluation rating was 98.5%.
– Lesley Ann Adams on behalf of Corporate Education Gordon Institute of Business Science, South Africa
“I have had the privilege and pleasure to have Sonia support our cultural transformation program over the past 18 months. She is an extraordinary facilitator who can create magic and superb outcomes for those who are fortunate enough to experience her workshops. Her skill, experience and presence in supporting our program have been invaluable – I consider her a master in her field of work and would highly recommend her to any organisation seeking to make whole system change and those who need assistance with their leaders and teams in personal mastery and unlocking the EQ in an organisation. Top Class!
– Liz Raczi, Head of Cultural Transformation, BNP Paribas Security Services, London, United Kingdom
“Sonia is a rare combination of subject matter expert, performing artist, and empathetic servant leader. As a Master Trainer, her impossible task was to train a group of 50 overachievers (read “Champions for Change”) and highly influential people on the Titanic (read “Fannie Mae”) after the ship had hit the iceberg, (or fan, whichever metaphor suits you). She led the group to think and behave differently and to transform into effective, emotionally intelligent, change agents. As a result, I have patterned much of my new career as a transformation expert, on the wisdom, authenticity, and congruency of my archetype of organizational and human development: Sonia Stojanovic, Best-in-Class!
– James Parks, Founder and CEO – The Parksonian Institute, Washington DC
“Because of the depth and breadth of her experience, I invited Sonia to be part of the Whole Systems Change Summit, which was set up to coordinate global research and thinking on organizational transformation. Members of this summit were drawn from the leading experts around the world on issues regarding Organisational Change. I also invited her to present at The Values Centre’s annual conference in Punta Carna, at the CTT Users Conference in Australia, and recommended her to the Conference Board Meeting in Canada, the latter of which was attended by over 100 Human Resource Professionals
– Richard Barrett, Founder and Chairman, Author, The Values Centre and Richard Barrett and Associates
“Sonia and I partnered together on the South African part of an engagement that had her undertake a broad based advisory and training role with Old Mutual’s EXCo in London, and subsequently with the Emerging Markets EXCo based in South Africa. Part of the project was the running of a global survey on Old Mutual’s values, using the Cultural Values Assessment from the Barrett Centre, for in excess of 55,000 people… Sonia’s skills were key to the success of the initiative and it’s implementation in South Africa, Namibia, Malawai, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, through her interpretation and communication of results and support of the HR community in working with the outcomes.
– Belinda Kovachi, Organisation Development Manager, Old Mutual, Emerging Markets, Cape Town, South Africa.
“As Executive Director of Corporate Education at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, the business school of the University of Pretoria, I would like to acknowledge our professional association with Ms Stojanovic from 2011 till present. Ms Stojanovic is a seasoned facilitator, coach and learning practitioner who has become an integral part of our delivery teams who design and deliver customised learning events to over 75 companies and institutions across the world.
– Shaun Rozyn, Executive Director – Corporate Education, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria
“Since her involvement with “The Start of Bokomoso” Transformation journey at Sishen Mine, whilst working with Mckinsey. She has continued a close and trusting relationship with the mine and came highly recommended by the Mine Manager. She has worked with the Kumba EXCo, and the Technical and Business Development Team….. We appreciate not only her ability to deliver but also her direct, yet caring approach toward sometime challenging business issues and team dynamics.
– Virginia Tyobeka, Executive Head of HR, Kumba Iron Ore, Anglo American, South Africa.
“I have no hesitation in rating Sonia Stojanovic as one of the world’s leading practitioners in the field of Organisational Transformation and developing High Performance Cultures. She is fully conversant with the latest leadership and consulting thinking and practices relating to organization effectiveness and business transformation. Her ability to integrate such concepts and methodologies to the complex environments’ of major organisations is quite extraordinary.
– Paul Stewart, Director, TMI New Zealand
“It is my view that Sonia is one of those rare individuals that not only have the courage but also the vision and business sense to lead pioneering work, engaging the organization on the journey, holding the approach energetically and devising many of the key components of success. Being her direct mentor and supervisor over a period of four years as my appointment to lead the Cultural Transformation of the ANZ Bank, she demonstrated why this journey is still widely recognized as one of the most successful cultural transformations in banking globally
– John McFarlane, CEO, Australian and New Zealand Banking Group, Melbourne, Australia
“In my view Sonia’s clear and compelling record of driving and facilitating large scale organizational transformation provides one of the best real world case studies, and as a result of her involvement and leadership, credible and leading practices in the field of transformation have been developed along with her overall reputation in the international community who do this work.
– Steve A F Trevino, Chief Strategist for Global Sustainability, Booz Allen Hamilton, Virginia, USA.
“Talent Planet, a five company learning consortium involving Johnson and Johnson, Dell, Cathay Pacific, Shell and Prudential, of which I am the chair, invited Sonia to speak at the first Talent Planet consortium event for senior executives in Shell HQ in the Hague. While other commitments prevented her from attending, her nomination was unanimously supported and she would have been sharing the floor with the likes of Prof Michael Watkins, ex Harvard and author of “Predictable Surprises”, Dr Richard Pascale of Stanford and Oxford and author of “Surfing on the Edge of Chaos”, and Bala Chakravarthy of IMD in Switzerland who is a world renowned strategist and author”
– Drew Watson, Organisation Development Leader, Prudential, London Square, United Kingdom
“Thank you for offering and sharing your observations and reflections about organizational culture, elements of successful transformation, its challenges along with strategies and conditions associated with success. The ANZ story is still considered the benchmark longitudinal case in relation to impactful and whole systems culture change, and although the Colloquium wasn’t able to be done in person, the video feed from London still held great impact for our MBA students. Again our thanks and appreciation
– Marylyn Hamilton, Todd Thomas Institute, Royal Roads University, Victoria Island, Canada