Are you ready to rise to the challenge of increasing the metabolic rate and success of your business? The Other End Of The Telescope is a high speed gallop through the absurdities and challenges of getting things done in large companies, and the inherent contradictions in leadership and organisational behaviours that prevent businesses from realising their potential and achieving greater success.

In this collection of thought provoking essays, Ian Russell draws on more than 25 years’ experience of leading and working in large organisations around the world to distil the key themes and challenges confronting big business today. The book tackles key topics such as organisational cholesterol, the loneliness of leadership, human capital strategy failures, performance destroying ‘head offices’ and the ‘myths’ of talent scarcity and the socalled Fourth Industrial Revolution, among others. Each essay pairs a deep understanding of the real world and lessons learned the hard way, with powerful and pragmatic insights on how big business can change the way in which it does things.

Contributions from other notable thought leaders Valter Adão, Richard Mulholland, Happy Ntshingila and Rapelang Rabana add unique voices and insights to Ian’s vibrant and straightforward views. Together they are exactly what is needed to jolt businesses and their leaders into doing things more successfully and thoughtfully. The lightness of Ian’s style makes this a highly readable book, but it does not dilute the impact of his incisive observations and insights.

Passionate, irreverent and challenging, The Other End Of The Telescope will make you think deeply about your business and your career – and your role in both.

How should you write and present a business proposal? What is the best way to take minutes? When should a work email be formal and when chatty?

Communicating in a clear, concise manner with colleagues and clients is a key aspect of professionalism and good business practice. Yet many South African companies do not train their staff to do this, leading to confusion and lost hours - and it affects how people view your ability to do your job.

Now, help is at hand with plain-language experts Bittie Viljoen-Smook, Johan Geldenhuys and Wena Coetzee in this user-friendly guide to all aspects of written English in the workplace. Your journey to presenting yourself in an excellent, effective way starts here.

When Feyi Olubodun, CEO of one of West Africa’s leading creative agencies, witnessed one too many cases of brands failing in the African marketplace he began to ask himself questions:
- Why did brands, both global and local, so often fail to connect with the African consumer?
- What was it about the African market that brand owners were not seeing?

He began to reflect on his own marketing experiences and out of this emerged the framework for The Villager.

In Feyi’s view, the African consumer begins his life’s journey by moving from the village, his rural dwelling, to the city, carrying with him not only his own dreams but also the dreams of his community. He is a highly aspirational consumer, motivated to succeed, and he becomes the economic portal for the rest of his community back home. But although he may be exposed to global influences and technology, his essential identity remains largely intact. This is why Feyi calls the African consumer a Villager. The Village is no longer a physical space; it is a psychological construct that defines him and the filter through which he engages with and consumes brands.

In developing his construct, Feyi posits that if you wish to engage successfully in a market you may not understand, you must have the right ‘lenses’ to view a people. He believes the secret lies in applying these lenses at the confluence of commerce, culture and consumer. Data is not enough to understand the vagaries of a particular market. Drawing on his wide experience and wealth of astute observations, he provides a highly readable and indispensable guide to the mindset of the African consumer today, yet it is true to say that his insights apply, albeit in a more nuanced way, to consumer behaviour across the globe.

The Villager is essential reading for brand owners wishing to conquer new markets.

Being the best doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the business. Having the best pitch does.

Whether you’re looking for clients, investors or employees, you need to know how to pitch your products, services and ideas in a way that is most likely to secure you the deal. Justin Cohen’s internationally acclaimed six-step formula is designed to do just that. Having taught and refined his Pitch To Win programme for five years, and having helped win numerous multimillion-dollar deals in that time, Justin now shares his secrets for success in the Pitch To Win book.

In it he reveals:

• The number one reason a winning pitch gets chosen over the competition.
• The mindset of people who win the most pitches.
• A step by step guide to creating and delivering a winning pitch script.
• How to reduce nervousness and develop ‘big pitch temperament’.
• How to win without being salesy.
• How to win with integrity, by living your purpose.

The Fourth edition of The Art Of Persuasive Communication situates contemporary persuasive practices against the background of the rich history of rhetoric and within the setting of a democratic state.

Throughout, the author addresses critical issues that are important to communication science scholars and practitioners, as well as those active in related disciplines such as political science, sociology, social psychology and rhetorical studies.

The Fourth edition differs from the previous one in the following ways:

• The arrangement of the contents has been revised to facilitate greater understanding
• There is much new material, especially in chapters 4, 5, 7, 8
• The role of social media is discussed and considered in chapter 7
• Chapter 8 includes a section on image management
• Chapter 9 is a new chapter focussing on political debates
• A new chapter 12 on Persuasion and the rhetorical imprint of a public rhetor has been added
• New contemporary examples related to South Africa have been included

Speak to the heart of your target audience and create a movement around your mission or campaign through this comprehensive, step-by-step approach to crafting messages that resonate.

Donald Miller, author of the bestselling Building a StoryBrand, has helped thousands of individuals, corporations, and justice-oriented organizations turn vision into action using the organized, easy to implement communication framework outlined in these pages.

Based on proven principles individuals and entire companies are using right now to bring awareness to their missions and brands, in this book Donald teaches you how to:

• Build a communication campaign that flows across key customer touchpoints to effectively develop, strengthen, and communicate your mission to the marketplace.
• Cultivate long-lasting awareness for your mission that can lead to a socially relevant movement around your message.
• Utilize the same practical, straightforward advice and actionable principles to create subsequent campaigns that leave a direct impact on the people they are meant to reach.

Simple and easy to understand, turn your vision into an amazing campaign that people not only pay attention to but also rally around as they become advocates of your brand and mission.

Communication is often described as the glue that binds an organisation, enabling interaction with its customers, agents and the broader public. Communication flourishes in organisations and is central to their activities and functions: as marketing communication, public relations, management communication, corporate communication, etc.; in determining and implementing strategy, operations and processes; in all interaction - interpersonal, mediated, digital and social; as the foundation of corporate culture. Integrated Organisational Communication 2nd Edition covers these aspects and addresses the growing need among students and practitioners for a book that takes a broad look at organisations' communication, and then delves into the detail. This book adopts a multidisciplinary approach to organisational communication, and while it takes cognisance of individual academic and professional disciplines, it avoids alignment with any one of these.

Over the course of four years Matt Brown has interviewed hundreds of local and international entrepreneurs and business experts for his podcast, The Matt Brown Show, and in the process has created a lexicon of business, growth, start-up and funding hacks that anyone can learn from and implement. He has also come to the conclusion that the single defining factor between entrepreneurs who make it and those who don’t is internal. It’s all about the inner game. Entrepreneurs with a strong inner game live, breathe and work according to a set of principles that define everything they do.

In Your Inner Game – 12 Principles for High-Impact Entrepreneurs, Matt draws on the lessons he’s learned, both as an entrepreneur who has launched nine businesses, and as a podcast host with hundreds of interviews under his belt. He delves into what separates great businesses from their mediocre peers; the mindset that entrepreneurs should embrace if they want to grow their businesses; and, ultimately, the secret to building a business of purpose that fulfils a greater need for their founders. Full of real-life anecdotes, tips, success hacks and actionable insights that you can implement in your own start-up or business, Your Inner Game unpacks twelve principles that you can put into practise today to take your life and business from good to great.

Thoughtful, honest and willing to reveal both the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, Matt takes his readers on a journey that will give them the blueprint to relook at everything they thought they knew about business.

'An invaluable resource for making sense of the world, making good decisions, and placing smart bets. A fast-paced and fun read jam-packed with useful information on every page.' Annie Duke, author of Thinking in Bets ________________ Turn yourself into a superthinker and make the right decisions every time. You want to make better decisions. You want to be right more of the time professionally and personally. However, being more right consistently is a hard problem because the world is such a complex, evolving place. How do you navigate this complexity? Mental models are decision-making tools that guide our perception of the world and our behaviour in it. They help us understand life, make decisions and solve problems. The best models help us make intelligent investments, develop ground-breaking technologies and even travel to outer space. - Note your frame of reference before debating someone with different political views. If you understand how your perspective contrasts with someone else's you can prevent the conversation from getting hostile. - Apply the sunk cost fallacy to the end of a doomed project. Just because you've put a lot of hours into it doesn't mean that you have to keep going. - Before blaming someone, consider Hanlon's Razor, 'Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by carelessness'. - Try to solve mysteries with Occam's Razor, 'Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected'. When you hear hoof beats, think of horses not zebras. Building on our knowledge of well-known models such as the Bandwagon Effect or Paradigm Shift and introducing us to the lesser known like the Eisenhower Matrix or the Boiling Frog Symbol, this indispensable book distils the most effective mental models into a single, digestible volume. It will make even the most complex models accessible and engaging to enable you to make better, more informed decisions in every part of your life. ________________ 'Internalizing these mental models will help you understand the world around you. Once you can spot them, you can change your own behavior to avoid common traps, adjust how you interact with people to get better results, and maybe even articulate new mental models of the world that have yet to be discovered.' Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO, Coinbase 'You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form. You've got to have models in your head.' Charlie Munger, vice chairman, Berkshire Hathaway

Pitching sucks. The word alone conjures up dull PowerPoint decks, pushy tactics, and shouty emails. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Danny Fontaine, an expert in innovative pitching, presents a game-changing guide that transforms pitching into an exciting, creative and enjoyable experience. Drawing from his billion-dollar pitching experience, this book delves into the psychology of connection and storytelling mastery, alongside practical methods for persuading any audience. And it's all backed with anecdotes of some of the very best, and worst, pitches of all time.

These techniques work in any context, from corporate boardrooms to classroom lectures to after-dinner speeches, proving that great pitching is all about creating experiences and evoking emotions.

Forget PowerPoint and discover how to captivate any audience, win more deals, and have fun doing it.

It is almost impossible to keep up with the pace and direction in which business and technology are moving today.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. AUTOMATION. BLOCKCHAIN. BIG DATA. INTERNET OF THINGS. THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

Who actually knows what any of these concepts mean for their business, much less how to integrate them? Things are moving at a faster pace than ever before and trying to keep up has become intimidating and overwhelming. It’s tempting to bury your head in the sand than try to make head or tail of it all. But none of the buzzwords actually matter! You don’t have to jump aboard every single change and adjustment in the market, or trade in your suit for a T-shirt, jeans and sneaker combo. If you have the right context, it’s a lot simpler to understand and use technological shifts as an opportunity to transform your business.

Tech Adjacent is about understanding the principles of tech and its pace, hearing the footsteps of where it might be going, knowing how disruption and innovation work tangibly and, most importantly, leveraging it for your individual exponential success. Innovation is contextual, so while Uber, Airbnb and Facebook are grandiose Silicon Valley success stories, they have little relevance in our own market. This book shares stories and case studies of African businesses, exposing who is getting disrupted as we speak and why, as well as how new companies are leading the next wave of growth. Mushambi Mutuma’s experience and expertise in both business and as a tech entrepreneur give real-life context to rapid change, unlocking future opportunities and offering tools to predict where your audience and industry are heading. He sells no big ideas, but genuinely shares his unique perspectives and know-how to help whoever he can in the process.

Tech Adjacent isn’t just another book on growing your business in 100 days, nor is it dry academic theory. It is the guidebook for not only surviving but excelling in a world of exponential growth. Whether you are a start-up entrepreneur or a corporate executive, this guide is a must for both present and future leaders.

Meetings are an essential part of our everyday lives. There are numerous things to know, and what actions need to be taken, essentially to make the meetings run smoothly and to avoid arguments regarding procedural matters.

Nothing is more annoying and counter-productive than to have to deal with interruptions, which are often a result of participants at the meeting, including at times the chairman, not knowing the correct way of doing things. One often hears participants passing remarks such as ‘That was a bad meeting’, ‘the chairman made wrong decisions’, or the more positive ‘well, that was time well spent!’

Key features of this book:

• Clarifying the rules
• Getting things done efficiently at meetings
• Useful for corporate libraries
• Facilitate getting an inexperienced person acquainted with the subject

Excellent business communication skills are especially important for information management professionals, particularly records managers, who have to communicate a complex idea: how an effective program can help the organization be better prepared for litigation, and do it in a way that is persuasive in order to win records program support and budget. "Six Key Communication Skills for Records and Information Managers" explores those skills that enable records and information to have a better chance of advancing their programs and their careers. Following an introduction from the author, this book will focus on six key communication skills: be brief, be clear, be receptive, be strategic, be credible and be persuasive. Honing these skills will enable readers to more effectively obtain support for strategic programs, communicate more effectively with senior management, IT personnel and staff, and master key forms of business communication including written, verbal and formal presentations. The final chapter will highlight one of the most practical applications of applying the skills for records and information managers: the business case. Based on real events, the business cases spotlighted involve executives who persuaded organizations to adopt new programs. These case histories bring to life many of the six keys to effective communication.
addresses communication skills specifically for records and information managers while clarifying how these skills can also benefit professionals in any discipline includes case history examples of how communications skills made a difference in business and/or personal success focuses on written, verbal and presentation skills, where many books emphasize only one of these areas

There’s something sucking the life out of audiences everywhere, transforming them from the very people who can change your business into the disengaged masses. It’s called The Boredom … and your job is to slay it!

Whether you’re a seasoned public speaker, or getting ready for your first company presentation, this candid and practical guide by renowned global speaker and presentation coach Richard Mulholland will give you key insights into:

• Grabbing and keeping an audience’s attention
• Structuring talks that command fees and change companies
• Dispelling the myths around public speaking that are getting in the way of that standing ovation
• Speaking like a true leader

It’s time to fight back. It’s time to save the world ... one bored audience at a time.

Keep your cool and get the results you want when faced with crucial conversations. This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever.

The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation―especially difficult ones―leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, the book teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person.

This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You’ll learn how to:

• Respond when someone initiates a crucial conversation with you
• Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it
• Communicate more effectively across digital mediums

When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results.

Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, crucial conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.

Understand what mentoring really is and how to do it well The Mentoring Manual is based on methods developed - and proven - in business, this highly practical book will show you how mentoring works, take you step-by-step through everything you need to know and do, and show you how both parties can get the best from the relationship. Get the most from mentoring: help your mentee, develop your skills and make a positive difference.

In the age of digital transformation, effective communication strategies and means in the workplace are essential. Great communicators are the ones who bring solutions, drive change, and motivate and inspire their colleagues. By improving communication skills, it is possible to enhance employee engagement, teamwork, decision-making and interdepartmental communication. People who are good and empowered communicators are also great ambassadors for their place of work. For these reasons, communication skills are the soft skills that employers seek the most in their employees.

Effective Communication N6 - empowering the workforce aims to help develop a solid strategy to keep employees informed and engaged; to avoid communication silos and overload; to build interpersonal relations, and to encourage a productive and conducive work environment. Tips are provided on how to promote an open organisational culture of trust and satisfaction, where knowledge sharing and healthy relations are prevalent and the use of various media is facilitated.

There are ample timely, concrete and real-life exercises and applications, and examples and illustrations of communication in action.

Effective Communication N6 - empowering the workforce is designed to take workplace communication to the next level and can be used by students, employees and those at executive management level.

To communicate effectively needs accurate information and precision in method, especially in the world of work where major decisions and the success of the organisation can be impacted negatively or positively by what is conveyed. Communicating globally in an ever-changing digital world can be challenging. Effective communication N5 - empowering the workforce therefore includes content on managing these changes, ethical work and communication practices, and communicating efficiently in multicultural and digital environments.

Communicating @ work unpacks the various and complex communication challenges in today's multicultural and technological working environment. It is written in a conversational, accessible style, and covers not only a range of communication situations and formats but also uses a holistic, practice-based approach to illustrate the application of effective communication principles in the workplace. Examples, margin comments, provocative chatroom questions and online supplementary material elaborate on concepts and offer down-to-earth guidance on everyday business communication transactions and conduct. Every chapter has been updated with the latest findings and debates. Given the accelerated proliferation of multimodal digital devices and networking opportunities and challenges, the authors have also increased their focus on new media, particularly the role played by social media in business contexts and corporate reputation management. This edition's comprehensive coverage of spoken, written and visual communication for business and industry makes it an ideal textbook as well as a valuable reference in the workplace for professionals.