When clarity disappears,
thinking becomes the strategy.
I help leaders and teams take responsibility, make decisions, and keep work moving when pressure is high and there is no clear playbook.
Entrepreneurial Thinking for organisations operating in uncertainty, change, and constant pressure.
A short conversation to see if this is the capability gap behind your slow decisions, escalations, and stalled execution. No pitch, no pressure.
Winner - Startup Coach of the Year 2025
What Entrepreneurial Thinking Looks Like in Organisations
Entrepreneurial thinking is not about starting businesses. It's a foundational life and work skill that anyone can learn.
In organisations, it shows up as ownership under pressure.
When plans fall behind reality, and information is incomplete, people stop waiting for perfect instructions and focus on what they can control:
- their decisions
- their actions
- their contribution
- their judgement
This reduces hesitation, prevents unnecessary escalation, and restores momentum when certainty is gone.
Entrepreneurial thinking strengthens not only how people think, but how they handle pressure emotionally and physically, so performance does not collapse when things become uncomfortable.
This is how organisations adapt without panic or burnout.
How I Work With Organisations
1. Keynotes
Orientation-setting sessions for leaders and teams operating under uncertainty.
Designed to:
- reduce hesitation and improve resourcefulness
- restore ownership
- reset how people think about responsibility when clarity is missing
2. Leadership & Team Workshops
Practical sessions that deepen decision-making, judgement, and agency under pressure.
Focused on:
- responsibility without escalation
- movement without certainty
- performance without burnout
3. Longer Programmes
For organisations that want sustained capability, not one-off inspiration.
Designed to:
- embed entrepreneurial thinking into how people work
- strengthen performance under ongoing pressure
- reduce dependency on individuals at the top (lower management overhead)
Award Winning Speaker
- Winner Startup Coach of the Year 2025
- Winner Startup Mentor of the Year 2023 (finalist 2022)
- Top Global Thought Leader in Lean Startup (2022, 23 and 25)
- Top Global Thought Leader in Careers (2025)
- Certified FIrewalking Instructor
"This empowering entrepreneurial thinking framework provides essential skills for stress management, resilience building, and solution-focused thinking and action taking that benefits students, workplace teams, and anyone navigating uncertainty and change”
- Ronel Mentz, Clinical Psychologist
The Entrepreneurial Thinking Compass
The Entrepreneurial Thinking Compass is an orientation tool I use in my work with organisations.
It is not a checklist or a model to follow, more of a sense-making tool.
It helps leaders and teams make sense of situations where:
- The map no longer matches reality
- Instructions run out
- and someone still has to decide
Like any compass, it does not replace judgment.
It supports it.Used well, it restores direction when clarity is missing.
Performance under pressure without burnout
Pressure is unavoidable in modern organisations.
What causes burnout is not pressure itself, but a lack of agency, clarity, and ownership.
Entrepreneurial thinking supports mental well-being by helping people:
- Take responsibility for problems they can influence
- Make progress without perfect clarity
- Recover from setbacks through action
- Stop feeling stuck or helpless under pressure
Rather than removing pressure, this work helps people function within it.
This leads to steadier performance, healthier decision-making, and more sustainable leadership capacity.
Keynotes & Workshops
Some of my keynotes and workshops.
Let's find out if we're a good fit. No pitch, no pressure. Just a 20-minute conversation.
Outlearn and Out-Earn Your Competitors:
How to Build Employees and Teams That Respond Faster and Perform Stronger
In fast-changing markets, standing still means falling behind. This keynote shows how entrepreneurial thinking can become a daily skill, helping staff stay resilient under pressure, adapt quickly to change, and solve problems in practical ways.
The result: teams that move faster, perform better, and strengthen your competitive edge.
- Gain the ability to adapt faster than the competition and stay ahead.
- Build stronger, more resilient teams that solve problems quickly and effectively.
- Create daily habits that drive better performance and lasting success.
Audience:
- C-suite and executive board members
- HR directors and L&D professionals
- Change and transformation teams
- General staff development
Find Your Rhythm of Success:
A Practical Guide To Building Steady Momentum And Achieving Results
Success rarely comes in a single leap; it is built through daily actions. This keynote helps teams focus on what matters most, stay consistent, and remove the obstacles that hold them back from reaching their best performance.
- Learn how to build success step by step through consistent daily actions.
- Find ways to stay focused and remove obstacles that hold you back.
- Develop the rhythm needed to achieve steady progress and long-term results.
Audience:
- Accelerating productivity through high performance and consistency.
- General staff, teams, division meetings, conferences.
Custom Keynotes & Workshops
Let me design something specific for your needs and goals
I can create a customer keynote or workshop for your business using entrepreneurial thinking as a life skill. Set up a meeting with me and discuss your goals.
What People Say
“The Innovation Session was a turning point in how I approach challenges. In sales, we encounter high-pressure situations that demand swift solutions… The Entrepreneurial Thinking Compass equips me to handle high-pressure sales situations with greater confidence and agility.”
Karabo Moremi, Internal Sales
"Willem’s human-centred, action-driven approach aligns with our vision to equip students with the mindset and tools to thrive in today’s economy. The impact on our students has been tangible, unlocking confidence, creativity, and sustainable business thinking."
Shaaista Hassan Ally
Employability Manager - MANCOSA
"We thoroughly enjoyed having Willem host his Side Hustle workshop with our students. He provided them with practical, applicable, appropriate and implementable steps to starting their businesses. He emphasised the need for access to action instead of worrying about access to markets, and that the most important person in the business is the entrepreneur himself. His methodology is engaging, his enthusiasm is refreshing, and his knowledge on the subject matter is invigorating! "
Hasan Evans
Hub Manager at Regent Enterprise Development Hub - Regent Business School
"I really enjoyed and learnt a lot from Saturday’s masterclass. The part that stuck with me most was your point about stepping out of your comfort zone or, as you put it, coming back from your fantasy world to reality, because that’s something I personally struggle with.
Your lessons about how success starts with action, that fear, rejection and failure aren’t obstacles but opportunities to grow, and that the only person standing between you and success is yourself, also really stayed with me."
Wendall Casey Davids
Aspiring CA(SA)
"Willem brings professionalism, charisma, and strategic insight to every engagement. He has a proven ability to connect with diverse audiences and an intuitive sense for what resonates. His adaptability and dedication to excellence make him an ideal partner for any organisation."
Aneesa Sardinus, Human Resources, Hiconnex
"Willem’s ability to connect with diverse audiences, inspire confidence, and deliver tangible, results-driven strategies makes him an exceptional choice for any entrepreneurship or business development event. I highly recommend him for his expertise, passion, and impact."
Dr Jabulani Nkosi
Office of the Dean: Economic and Management Sciences - The University of the Free State
"Willem brought energy and thought-provoking insights to our conference. This was the third time we invited him, and it won’t be the last!"
Craig Blignaut, Founder
Business of Business South Africa Group
"Willem’s advice is practical, and my team implemented it immediately. The feedback was spectacular—new advisers and veterans alike found value. If you need a speaker who delivers real impact, Willem is the guy to call."
Mano Appasamy
Business Manager, Sanlam South Africa
"Willem Gous is one of the easiest, most engaging conversations I’ve had on the Mindset Profits podcast. He thinks differently, questions everything, and isn’t afraid to push against the status quo. His perspective forces you to look beyond the obvious and rethink what growth really means."
Ntando Maseko
The Mindset Profits Podcast
"Today at the Africa Must Rise Global Conference, I witnessed something rare. When Willem Gous took the virtual stage, he did not speak to impress us with technology or trends. He spoke to awaken something deeply human. His message stretched far beyond innovation. It reminded us that the future of Africa will not be built by machines, but by people who dare to imagine beyond what they see.
Willem showed us that technology is a tool, but humans are the engine. He invited us to ask braver questions, to listen more intentionally, and to co-create solutions that honour the realities of our communities. As he spoke, I found myself reflecting: What could happen if Africans truly believed that the power to shape the future already lives within us?
In a calm but piercing way, he brought us back to the centre — our humanity. He reminded us that Africa will rise because its people rise. Because we choose creativity over limitation. Because we choose possibility over fear.
Listening to Willem today stirred something sacred in me. A responsibility. A renewed courage. A deeper commitment to build not only with strategy, but with soul.
If you ever get the opportunity to hear Willem Gous speak, especially in a room where Africa’s future is being written, don’t just attend. Allow yourself to be transformed. He brings clarity to the mind and oxygen to the human spirit.
Willem, thank you for gracing the Africa Must Rise Global Conference with a message that touched hearts and awakened leaders. Thank you for reminding us that innovation begins in the human heart long before it reaches the human hand.
Africa is rising — and after hearing you today, I understand why. Because its people are rising first."
Oliver Nshom
Founder of the Africa Must Rise Global Conference
Some of my Previous Speaking Clients
Why Willem?
Inspirational, empowering, relatable, insightful: motivating
Willem’s work is not built on theory.
It is proven in environments where certainty is absent, and failure carries real consequences.
He has worked in some of the most unpredictable conditions imaginable, helping people with little more than determination learn how to think, decide, and act their way forward. In those environments, entrepreneurial thinking is not a concept. It is a necessity.
If these tools work where there are no safety nets, limited resources, and constant uncertainty, they work even more powerfully inside organisations with talent, structure, and scale.
This is what makes Willem different.
His work is field-tested under pressure, not designed for classrooms or slide decks. The tools he teaches are practical, repeatable, and usable by anyone, from executives and leadership teams to students and professionals. When clarity is gone, responsibility remains.
He has more than 25 years of entrepreneurship and has experience across manufacturing, online, and creative industries. His work focuses on a single challenge faced by modern organisations: how people think and act when certainty is gone, and responsibility remains.
Willem holds a Master’s degree from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. He was named Startup Mentor of the Year in 2023, is ranked as a Top 50 Global Thought Leader by Thinkers360 in Lean Startup and Careers, and is the winner of Startup Coach of the Year 2025.
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Available worldwide.
As Featured On
My Community Work
The Human Entrepreneur is a non-profit organisation focused on one simple belief: people already have what they need to create an income and a future. They just need a new way of thinking and the courage to act, which we help them achieve.
Through practical, real-world programmes, we teach entrepreneurial thinking in schools, universities, and communities, helping people move from learning about life to dealing with life, even when resources are limited, and the future feels uncertain.
Our main programmes include the Side Hustle Success Masterclass and book, which show people how to start earning with what they already have.
The Rapid Entrepreneurship Development Programme helps individuals build or grow real, profitable micro-businesses in just five weeks without external funding.
Beyond income, this work restores dignity, agency, and belief. People stop seeing themselves as spectators of the economy and start seeing themselves as participants who can act, adapt, and move forward.
The Human Entrepreneur is a non-profit initiative by Willem Gous, a professional speaker, trainer, coach and consultant on entrepreneurial thinking.
The Human Entrepreneur partners with corporates, funders, and institutions who are serious about ESG outcomes, Sustainable Development Goals and real, meaningful impact, particularly around employment, education, equality, and economic inclusion. If you want to be part of a practical, human-centred initiative that delivers measurable impact in Africa and other developing economies, we invite you to work with us.
Accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals
5 Weeks to Create a Job
We reduced the time to create a job through entrepreneurship and self-employment to 5 weeks.
20 Times More Cost-Effective
We reduced the cost of creating a job by 20 times compared to the World Bank Estimate of what it costs to create a blue-collar job.
Job Creation at Scale
We can create hundreds of these micro-businesses in a city or region every month.
The Masterclass and Book
Awakening the entrepreneurial spirit within the people of Africa, at scale.
We deliver a half-day Side Hustle Success Masterclass in schools, universities and communities, showing people that they have everything they need to start generating income. Afterwards, everyone leaves with a copy of the book to serve as their roadmap to success. The book is based on my work with thousands of informal entrepreneurs in Africa.
For Sponsors: Branding and exposure are included in the book and at the masterclasses. Minimum order quantities apply.
“I have read your book and am impressed with how you use prominent concepts in the field of Entrepreneurship and simplify them to make sense for anyone wanting to start a micro business, regardless of their background and education. I like your approach very much.”
- Dr Andre van der Walt - Senior Lecturer @ Stadio Higher Education
Talk to me
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