Full Name: Gavin Kelly
Position: CEO of the Road Freight Association (RFA)
Main Activity of the Company: The RFA is a trade association for the road freight and logistics industry
Date and Place of Birth: October 19, in Durban
Education: Bachelor’s degree in the social sciences; various certificates in leadership; Management Development Programme (Project Management), University of the Witwatersrand; Higher Diploma in Education and Training, University of South Africa; Higher Diploma in Curriculum Development, North-West University
First Job: A short sojourn at the foreign desk in the banking sector
Career History Prior to Current Position: Various positions in the transport sector
Size of First Pay Packet: R370 a month
First Job with Present Group: Technical and operations manager
Value of Assets under Your Control: Roughly R2-million (we are going virtual)
Number of People under Your Leadership: 15, including service providers
Management Style: Hersey-Blanchard Situational
Personal Best Achievement: Finally letting go – killing the delegation fears monster
Professional Best Achievement: Developing people to achieve greatness
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My father, a Scot, for the way he dealt with challenges and difficulties and for the way he treated people; and my mother, an Austrian, for what she experienced during World War II and how she treated people
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Experience
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Vladimir Putin
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Philosophy of Life: Allow everyone their right to exist in the world
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Green Card to the US
Biggest Ever Disappointment: What the world has become
Hope for the Future: That we get it right here in South Africa and across the world
Favourite Reading: Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien
Favourite TV Programme: The Blacklist and anything Star Trek, Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica
Favourite Food/Drink: Eisbein mit Sauerkraut und Weissbier
Favourite Music: Bee Gees, Smokie, Credence – everything 70s and 80s
Favourite Sport: Benson & Hedges one-day cricket (it does not exist anymore)
Favourite Website: PriceCheck
Hobbies: Woodwork, taking things apart and fixing them, fishing, traveling ‘in the sticks’
Car: Mahindra Pickup – ready for those off-road adventures
Pets: Great Dane, fish (Malawi, Angel)
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Crayfish, caviar, dry champagne, corruption, politicians
Favourite Other South African Company: Takealot, DSV
Favourite Foreign Company: DHL
Married: To Yvonne Kelly, for 22 years
Children: Laura, 19; Megan, 17
Clubs: Scouts South Africa