Unleash Your Magic - Including a section on Kobus Kleyn

I was honoured to be included in Logan Naidu's bestseller book, Unleash your Magic, as one of four international successful financial professionals stories. You will find the extract below from this magical book. As an author, speaker, and influencer, he has significantly impacted my life and career over many years. PS: For those who asked me for the purchase links, here they are:

Amazon Global: https://lnkd.in/eQ69pnt2

South Africa: Takealot: https://lnkd.in/ePjhbWcJ

KOBUS KLEYN’S STORY

Kobus Kleyn attended his first MDRT Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, USA, in June 2013. He sent a highly complementary email to MDRT Headquarters on his return, full of enthusiasm regarding his experience. I was informed of this and immediately contacted him and proposed his name for MDRT Membership Communications Committee, Area Chair Gauteng, from 1st September 2013. I’d never met Kobus before that but believed that he would make a great MDRT leader in South Africa based on his track record in our profession. I worked very closely with him. Not only did Kobus deliver what was expected of him, but he also exceeded all expectations. He devoted extraordinary efforts and time to promoting awareness of MDRT with an urgency, drive and enthusiasm that was delightful to witness. He performed so well in his role as Area Chair that I took the unprecedented step of nominating him to serve as Country Chair South Africa in only his 2nd year of membership. Kobus galvanised a powerful team around him. Under his inspiring leadership, MDRT membership in South Africa increased by a significant 23% and is a record year to date and membership. 

Below is Kobus Kleyn’s story, in his own words

I joined the financial services profession on 1st August 2001 after 18 years working in the corporate world with some significant blue-chip organisations. I started as a mechanical engineer, successfully climbed the corporate ladder, and my last job title was Divisional Managing Director. I decided to leave the corporate world and follow my passion as an entrepreneur, where I could make a difference in people’s lives while creating wealth and a balance in my own life. It took me a year to work through all entrepreneurial options by attending many small and medium enterprises and franchise expos until I came upon the Liberty Group's offering of entrepreneurial advice partner’s practices. It came with low entry barriers, and it met my ‘Why’ and Purpose, and I could match it with my Passion.  

I built a successful practice until 2008 with advisors under this formula. I then decided to sell it to my partner, as it was again becoming a corporate, which I left to ensure a whole person lifestyle. I followed my passion for serving my client base with a practice within the company I created. As a Certified Financial Planner (CFP with FPI), Tax-Practitioner (TEP with SAIT) and Fiduciary Practitioner (TP with STEP), I operated with a well-structured continuity team and admin support structure. I immediately decided to get more involved with MDRT, but initially, unofficially, until I joined officially in 2012. I also joined the Financial Planning Institute Southern Africa (FPI) and the Financial Intermediaries Association South Africa (FIA), enabling me to learn practice building techniques and gain more excellent knowledge about financial planning and our profession, both locally and internationally. Over time, I joined IISA, STEP, FISA, and The Ethics Institute to grow my value proposition and intellectual property. 

I started following the MDRT best practices and operating systems in 2008, four years before becoming a full member. It gave me greater credibility, and I became an official member of MDRT in 2012 and was fortunate enough to attend the MDRT Annual Meeting and Experience meeting the following year. I also qualified for MDRT Top of the Table (TOT) in my first membership year. It was possible from the ideas and concepts I learned through my prior exposure to MDRT - from MDRT members, videos, magazines, MDRT’s website and any other material I could lay my hands on. I have maintained my TOT status every year since and have become a proud MDRT Life Member in 2021.  

I was blessed to have met long-standing MDRT stalwart and Top of the Table member Logan Naidu in my first year with MDRT, which was a life-changing event as he took a keen interest in me. Logan showed me pathways (especially after I read his profound book, Unleash Your Magic) within our profession, which I thought were impossible, or perhaps I would not have contemplated if I did not meet him. Logan is a seasoned 41-year MDRT mentor and not only believes in the MDRT Whole-Person Concept but lives it daily. Logan is an inspirational leader who has a passion for growing people through the concept of Self-Mastery. His published book “Unleash Your Magic” is one of the top 5 books (next to books like Long Walk to Freedom; Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and The Power of Now) I have read in my life, and that had a profound impact on my life. It has inspired me to pursue self-actualisation further.

Logan is a true gentleman and scholar, and I am proud to be associated with him and have learned from him in my formative years with MDRT. Logan took the bold step to nominate me as MDRT MCC Area Chair Gauteng South Africa, which threw me deep within MDRT leadership, but I accepted the position and have never looked back. A much bigger surprise was in store for me the following year when Logan nominated me for MDRT MCC Country Chair South Africa. It seemed like a significant challenge, exceptionally when, after my term as Country Chair commenced, Logan was abruptly appointed as Divisional Vice President (DVP) of Member Communications in Division 2, which did not include South Africa. I lost my guiding beacon but was determined to make it through the term. I was fortunate that Logan introduced me to MDRT's Past-President Brian Heckert, whom I met over breakfast during a conference. With his guidance and inspiration, I boldly took the MCC Country Chair South Africa position and have not looked back. Since then, I have served on many committees, task forces and PGA up to the level of PGA Director. One of the highlights of my short MDRT affiliation was when I was nominated and accepted the flag bearing duties for South Africa for the 2014 Annual Meeting in Toronto.

MDRT has played a pivotal role in my transformation from managing a practice with advisors to focusing only on my practice and clients while building a sustainable hybrid virtual practice with continuity and succession in place. However, I soon realised that there was much more to my passion. I fully embraced MDRT’s Whole Person Philosophy. With influence and guidance from Logan and following his lead, this became a “Passion for my Profession” movement, with over 25 000 financial professionals now connected to the movement on LinkedIn. More can be viewed on my LinkedIn profile and domain at www. kobuskleyn.com.  

I decided to become a stakeholder within our financial services Profession to give back to all that I benefitted from this profession and make a positive contribution as a dedicated volunteer for the benefit of fellow advisers and many of my affiliations, associations and FSPs. During the last couple of years, I decided to enhance my involvement with my affiliations, including MDRT, FPI, FIA, FISA, SAIT, IISA, STEP, The Ethics Institute and Unashamedly Ethical.  

I use every opportunity afforded to me through media, publications, presentations, workshops, speakers, events and much more to give back to our profession to influence my fellow financial professional as newcomers to the profession. I do many pro-bono talks for organisations I support and external organisations. I have taken a leading role in key legislative processes with some of my affiliations. Some of these include TCF, RDR, POPI, COFI, etc. Over time, I hope to get more involved at higher levels of pro-bono work within our profession (possibly board positions with the FPI and FIA), enabling me to make a much more significant difference while balancing life. My primary vision and mission are to be part of a holistic team effort to elevate our industry into a profession with the same status as our counterparts in the legal and medical professions. It is a long-term dream and vision we should all work towards, and, with the necessary commitment and teamwork, we can make it happen in the years ahead. I am also heavily involved with the mentorship of MDRT aspirants and across the profession, and I mentor, on average, six people annually.

In my early years, after selling the company I started in 2001, it was apparent that I would not be able to get the balance in my life right between family time, work, and my passion. I had to rely a lot on guidance from Logan Naidu and MDRT to sort this out sooner rather than later. Thankfully, I have moved forward significantly to achieve a balance between such diverse demands on my time. I can only thank Logan, MDRT, my affiliations, and my family for their support - we are all now benefiting from a much better balance in life, including many overseas and local holidays and spending quality time together. Under my enhanced Virtual Practice, I have become a swallow/nomad adviser who can work anywhere and enjoy a whole lifestyle with my family globally. However, my greatest reward and recognition would be when I, together with all other essential stakeholders, witness our volunteer and pro-bono work leading to our profession being accorded the same status as other long-standing professions.  

Kobus Kleyn Brief BIO:  

Kobus Kleyn is a Certified Financial Planner at Kainos Wealth (Pty) Ltd. He obtained his Post Graduate Qualification in Financial Planning at the University of Free State (South Africa) and his MDP & AEP from UNISA (Southern Africa). He holds many other designations & qualifications. He has and is serving on many past and current committees and task forces for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), Financial Planning Institute of South Africa (FPI), Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) and Liberty Group over the years in the roles of Chairperson, Vice-Chair, Director and Assistant Director. He served as Area and then Country Chair for MDRT South Africa. Kobus also serves on NPO boards as Director, and The South African Youth Project Organisation (SAYPO- Diepsloot) was his most recent NPO. Kobus holds ten consecutive Million Dollar Round Table Top of the Table recognitions and MDRT Life Membership status and is a well-recognized CFP in South Africa and globally, with a fully functional professional hybrid virtual Practice. Kobus is affiliated with eight organisations, inclusive of the FPI (with the CFP designation); SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners, with the Tax Practitioner designation); FISA (Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa); STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioner, with a TEP designation); FIA (The Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa); IISA (The Insurance Institute of South Africa); The Ethics Institute of South Africa; and Unashamedly Ethical. He was the inaugural winner of the Financial Planning Institute’s “It Starts with Me” award in 2015, received it again in 2016 and was awarded the FPI Media Award in 2017. He was awarded the MDRT leadership Award (2014) and the President’s Award (2019). He is a very active FPI, FIA and MDRT Pro-Bono Volunteer and an MDRT Foundation Diamond Knight. Kobus was awarded the Financial Planning Institute’s prestigious Harry Brews Award in October 2021, which honours a remarkable individual for a lifetime of service to both the FPI and the financial planning profession in general.

Kobus has a Passion for the Financial Services Profession and works purposefully with like-minded stakeholders to help transform the financial industry into a fully-fledged profession. He accomplishes it through the power of social and print media, presentations, workshops, talks and his involvement on committees. Kobus has published over 200 articles on various media platforms and magazines. He has been a speaker at the Annual MDRT Convention, FPI Annual Convention, MDRT Greece Day, CARAIFA Annual Congress, BLISS and IFFA virtual events and on several other platforms locally and internationally. He is an inspirational speaker and takes the audience with him through energy and passion. Kobus is rated in the top 1% on LinkedIn, with over 25 000 financial professionals connected to him globally. He uses LinkedIn as a movement to drive awareness of the financial services profession, the CFP Designations, Professionalism and the Power of Social Media. He is a thought leader in many sectors, including the financial services profession, within the regulatory environments, on social media, personal branding, futuristic leadership, crypto & Blockchain technology, and other disruptive Fintech subjects. Kobus is the author of the books Passion for the Profession - Mastering the 9 P’s to Professionalism, RDR - Mastering Key Elements to RDR and CryptoMania-Mastering the Crypto. He will be launching his 4th book, Accelerate your Brand - Mastering your Brand, in the near future. Kobus has been invited to speak at the MDRT Global Conference in Sydney, Australia, on 28-31 August 2022.