Nelson Mandela Day often comes with a well-meaning prompt: “What will you do with your 67 minutes?”

For many people and organisations, this leads to beach clean-ups, sandwich drives or school visits — all valuable acts. But this year, I’ve been thinking about a different kind of contribution.

The kind that happens in boardrooms, classrooms and team meetings. The kind that doesn’t require a campaign — just the courage to speak clearly and listen deeply. Because some of the most meaningful change doesn’t begin with charity. It begins with conversation.

Communication as contribution
When someone dares to ask a better question in a meeting — that’s contribution.
When a manager takes time to clarify their expectations so someone else can succeed — that’s contribution.
When a team member gives feedback with kindness or receives it without defensiveness — that’s contribution, too.

These moments don’t look like activism. But they are acts of service.

They build trust, reduce conflict and create a culture where people feel seen and heard — not just spoken to. And that changes performance, retention and lives.

What language has to do with it
If we want to build more inclusive, high-trust teams, we have to do more than put values on the wall. We have to equip people with the language to live those values out loud.

Being respectful isn't just a mindset - it's a skill. It shows up in how you:

• challenge ideas without attacking the person
• invite people into the room — not just to attend, but to contribute
• express disagreement without shutting others down.

This kind of language isn’t instinctive. It’s trained, practised and guided. And that’s where learning and development comes in.

A different kind of 67 minutes
So this year, instead of 67 minutes of outreach — what if we gave 67 minutes to inreach?

• 67 minutes of learning how to give better feedback
• 67 minutes of helping your team reset how they communicate under pressure
• 67 minutes spent building a skill that creates space for other people to succeed

Because the real legacy of Mandela Day isn’t the list of what we did. It’s how we show up for the rest of the year. And that starts with our words.