How did a teenage refugee from communist Poland become one of the richest women in South Africa? In what ways did she disrupt the financial services industry? What drove her to become an activist exposing corporate and government corruption? What are her secrets for succeeding in business and life?

The founder of multibillion-rand financial services empire Sygnia Limited, Magda Wierzycka is South Africa’s most successful businesswoman. In this engaging and insightful book, she tells the story of her life, from her childhood in communist Poland, her family’s escape and relocation to South Africa, her early struggles in the male-dominated financial services industry, and the formation and growth of her own company, Sygnia.

With a business model built on transparency and low fees, it was a natural step for Magda to become an outspoken critic of corporate and government corruption, exposing wrongdoing and making her many powerful enemies in the process.

In this book, Magda shares the life lessons and business principles that have driven her and brought her success. This is a fascinating story that will inspire you to speak out, lean in, break out, and ultimately empower yourself not only to survive in life and business, but to thrive.

The Business Builder’s Toolkit is not just about the knowledge of business fundamentals but a step-by-step guide of how to implement them. This is the business guru in your pocket; the mentor you wish you had and the handbook that you will refer to again and again.

Including topics like:

• Busting business jargon and exposing business lies
• How to increase sales
• HR basics for when you can’t afford HR yet
• Customer retention tactics and community building
• Mental health management strategies
• Efficient and effective marketing tactics

Maverick. Leadership genius. Self-made millionaire. Dragon. The rock star of public speaking. Vusi Thembekwayo has been called many things.

Join him in his inspiring journey from the township to the top echelons of South African business, to becoming one of the youngest directors of a listed company and CEO of a boutique investment firm. As a Dragons' Den judge and a sought- after public speaker across the globe, Vusi doesn't just talk business – he lives it.

Now you can learn the secret of his success and how to shape your own destiny.

Could you be the Branson of business, the Clarkson of cars or the Schwarzenegger of bodybuilding? Could you stand out as the great and lasting leader of your industry?

In this book, Douglas Kruger takes us on a tour of different worlds and industries, unpacking the answer to a single question: What makes some people leaders in their field? Is it their disproportionate level of knowledge? Their charisma? Their marketing abilities? Is it the way they portray their own identities as ideals to be emulated by tribes of believers, or is it the way they have moved a body of knowledge forward? Most importantly, is it possible for us to emulate their success?

The answer is a resounding Yes!

In What Makes Them Great?, Kruger’s 50 practical, easy-to-follow suggestions spell out exactly what it would take for you to become so formidable within your own industry that your competitors struggle to keep up. Because, when you are the industry leader, the undisputed expert, the entire dynamic changes: the media and the deals come to you; your level of earning is exponentially higher; you enjoy privileged access and extraordinary leeway; you arrive to find the door already open.

Find out what it would take for you to become the Branson of business, the Clarkson of cars, the Oprah of talk-show television, and reap the financial and personal rewards. Find out how you can become the leading name in your industry.

Did you know that, in South Africa, 70% to 80% of small businesses fail within the first five years of their establishment? Research indicates that this failure is often due to a lack of understanding of basic business concepts by the entrepreneur. In the competitive South African business environment, it is essential that aspiring entrepreneurs and new business owners have a solid foundation of knowledge on which to build sustainable businesses.

Entrepreneurship and how to establish your own business (6th edition) is a foundational book covering the key areas of entrepreneurship and small business development.

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.

With its application-oriented approach, the fifth EMEA edition of Statistics for Business and Economics teaches students the core concepts of statistics in the fields of business, management, and economics, with the needs of the non-mathematician in mind.

The authors interweave statistical methodology with applications of data analysis to enrich students’ understanding of how statistics underpin problem-solving and decision-making. Students develop a computational foundation and learn to use various techniques before moving on to statistical application and interpretation.

At the end of each section, exercises focus on computation and the use of formulas, while application exercises require students to apply what they have learnt to real-world problems.

DJ Sbu is not your ordinary entrepreneur. He was born to be great and refuses to settle for less.

Have you ever wondered what, exactly, goes on inside a successful entrepreneur’s head – how they came up with their ground-breaking ideas, how they turned them into a business, how they handle failure and what it took to get them where they are today? Billionaires Under Construction answers these questions, and more, as it charts the rise and rise of Sibusiso Leope, one of South Africa’s most dynamic entrepreneurs. From his childhood in Tembisa to the global stage as a best-selling DJ, from music mogul and co-owner of TS Records – the label behind some of South Africa’s brightest young stars – and, more recently, the force behind the country’s first black-owned energy drink, Sbu’s story is one of courage, resilience, inspiration and a refusal to let the put-downs stop him. In his own words, "you just can’t stop his go".

Billionaires Under Construction is a blueprint of Sbu’s success; an honest and direct account of the setbacks he’s encountered, including his high profile dismissal from two of South Africa’s most prominent radio stations and his equally notorious run-in with Forbes. Sbu’s handling of these situations shows the triumph of his entrepreneurial spirit and the tenacity of a man who does, indeed, consider himself a billionaire under construction – and won’t stop until his goal has become a reality.

More than this, it’s a handbook to show other entrepreneurs how they can do the same; a slice of motivation to show them that it can be done, and a tool-kit to show them how.

CULTURENEERING = Building a strong business culture in a diverse workforce that delivers obsessive customer service.

Are you a leader who aims to drive real growth for the people within your organisation and at the same time deliver exceptional customer service that sets you apart from your competitors?

Running a business in a racially polarised country with a melting pot of diversity, requires leaders to understand the complexity of building an inclusive culture out of a fragmented workforce. A strong culture is not only focused on chasing financial objectives, but is based on trust, equality, respect and mutual tolerance. When every employee has a true sense of belonging, despite their differences, it is possible to create a common purpose of obsessive customer service.

Cultureneering is a philosophy and framework that Ian Fuhr has spent four decades developing, and which he perfected while building the Sorbet Group, Africa’s largest beauty salon chain. This book takes the reader on a journey of personal development and unpacks the unbreakable link between culture and service. It reveals the tools required to build a company culture that is good for its people, its customers and, ultimately, for sustainable growth.

Leaders need to embrace this culture-driven approach to business leadership as it promises to play an important role in the overall transformation of our country’s workforce.

For courses in Organization Development, Organizational Behavior and Organizational Change. A conceptual and experiential approach to understanding organizational development. With a focus on the development of students' interpersonal skills, Experiential Approach to Organization Development provides a comprehensive, realistic, innovative, and practical introduction to the field. The eighth edition presents new and revised information to help keep course material fresh and relevant

"Over the past two decades, Nene has gained a reputation both locally and internationally as a thought-leader in diversity and inclusion, values-driven leadership and transformation. She has authored numerous publications, including contributing to the book Leadership Perspectives from the Front Line. She is a member of the Diversity Collegium, a think tank of globally-recognised diversity experts. She is an associate lecturer at GIBS on Global Diversity and Unconscious Bias, as well as an associate lecturer on Transformation Strategy for the Stellenbosch Business School. She is a sought-after speaker for conferences around the world."

"The ideas and experiences shared by author Nene Molefi speak directly to the troubling prejudices and inequities that persist in our world. Diversity and inclusion are more pressing than ever. Injustices and deep social divisions persist, personally and systemically. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of fear and hatred are not isolated. They remain embedded and they demand courageous, deliberate work. In this book, Nene uses her own story to cast a bright light on the transformation journey. Nene’s book quite vulnerably takes the reader on Nene’s personal journey. In addition to the deeply personal content, each chapter ends with practical guidelines on how to lead inclusively. Nene’s book offers hope and substance in our vision of a diverse and inclusive and just society." —Justice Edwin Cameron

Lincoln Mali spent his youth as a student activist fighting the apartheid system. After spending many nights in jail and detention, he reached a turning point and decided to use his knowledge and skills more proactively. He enrolled at Rhodes University to study law. After realising that law wasn’t working for him and neither was his time in Mandela’s government, he decided to go the corporate route and joined Standard Bank. And here was where he thrived.

Most of Mali’s business and leadership lessons were learnt while working for Standard Bank around Africa. He had to overcome imposter syndrome, toxic work environments, transformation issues and learn how to motivate, inspire and lead. And with Mali’s guidance, you can do all that too.

So, are you ready to be inspired?

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.

Amidst a backdrop of political unrest and voter disillusionment, South Africa finds itself at a crossroads, challenging its resiliency like never before. Bruce Whitfield, leveraging his deep connection with the nation's most innovative minds, presents The One Thing: Small Ideas, Big Outcomes, A Brighter Future for South Africa. This book is a clarion call for focused action, inspired by the wisdom that when everything is a priority, nothing truly is.

Through exclusive insights from business leaders to pioneers in various fields, Whitfield orchestrates a compelling narrative on the transformative power of single, impactful ideas.

'The One Thing' is not just a book; it's a blueprint for individual and collective commitment to propelling South Africa towards a brighter, more potent future.

The much-anticipated and inspiring memoir by Indra Nooyi, the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo, offering clear-eyed insight and a call to action for how our society can really blend work and family - and advance women - in the twenty-first century.

For more than a dozen years as one of the world's most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman, person of color, and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company - and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time - Nooyi transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, My Life in Full offers a firsthand view of a legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.

In her book, Nooyi shares the events that shaped her - from her childhood in 1960s India, to the Yale School of Management, to her rise as a consultant and corporate strategist who soon ascended into the most senior executive ranks. The book offers an intimate look inside PepsiCo, detailing how she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile without curbing financial performance - despite resistance at every turn. At the same time, Nooyi built a home with her husband - also a high-powered executive - two daughters, and members of her extended family. My Life in Full includes her unvarnished take on the competing pressures on her attention and time, and what she learned along the way.

This book, as has her personal journey, will inspire young women everywhere to believe that they, too, can climb to powerful roles without giving up on the desire for a family and children. But, as Nooyi eloquently argues, her story is not a call for women to simply try harder, but is proof of the importance of organised care structures in all of our success. Nooyi makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritise the care ecosystem, from skilled care networks to zoning policy, to paid leave and flexible and predictable work hours, each so critical to unleashing the economy's full potential and helping families thrive.

Generous, authoritative, and grounded in lived experience, My Life in Full is both the story of an extraordinary leader's life, and a moving tribute to the relationships that created it.

The topic of wealth is divided into two sets of opposing solutions: the ones sold by smiling politicians who want your vote, and those quietly explained by entrepreneurs and businesses owners who have been through the mill and know what it takes to become extremely rich.

Douglas Kruger, bestselling author of Is Your Thinking Keeping You Poor? and Poverty Proof, returns with his hardest-hitting book yet. This take-no-prisoners exploration of how money works will challenge you on everything you think you know while arming you with economically sound principles for growing your prosperity. No holds are barred when it comes to discussing how governments, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, keep people poor, and which deeply held belief systems promote poverty.

The book explores and debunks all the accepted clichés, which are more dangerous than you might think. It also asks what sort of society becomes prosperous, and what political moves inhibit wealth-building for individuals. And then we get to the gold: you, and how you can think, act and plan in order to radically transform your own wealth potential. It may be a bumpy ride, but the information in this book will change your life, your wealth and your entire worldview about money. When the outcome is the rest of your life, will you choose destitution? Or will you learn how to escape generational cycles of poverty and become a self-made, first-generation millionaire?

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.

Business is a cut-throat environment. Even with an excellent idea or brilliant marketing plan, there is no guarantee of success. Besides having innovative ideas and the willpower to succeed, you need sound management and business skills, and you need to know how to apply the best business practices, whether you are an entrepreneur or professional manager.

A business is fundamentally a cash-oriented process. This means that its ideas, image or products, no matter how remarkable, are still not as important as the ability to earn an income to stay afloat and have a reliable and accessible cash flow. A manager must be able to keep track of all income, expenses, assets the business owns and the cash flow. Poor fiscal management and inadequate accounting practices produce weak or incorrect information, preventing management from making well informed decisions or adapting adequately to changes in the environment.

Basic Financial Management is written to answer the question: What does ANY manager or entrepreneur need to know to guarantee sound financial management?

Are you bored and baffled by spin doctors telling you how to succeed, how to make $1 000 000 or how to build the best business in just 30 days? Everyone claims to have the next best short cut or hack to help you along the path of entrepreneurship. It’s all nonsense. In his business autobiography Nic Haralambous discusses the truth about the last 15 years of his entrepreneurial journey.

Nic openly discusses his failures and sacrifices over the past decade and a half spent building businesses. There is advice all over the place about the rules to follow if you want to succeed, the do’s and don’ts of running a company, the how-to of how-to do this, that or the next thing. There are also many personalities out there telling young entrepreneurs to hustle non-stop, risk everything and never sleep if they want success.

No one talks about how hard it is, how lonely it is and how difficult it is to build a business. No one is willing to forgo their ego and be honest. If nothing else, Nic Haralambous is honest about his journey. Nic has lived the hustle; he has pushed through physical pain, mental suffering, business failures, personal torment and relationship strife all in the name of building businesses.

Nic decided to write a big book of his failures so that entrepreneurs around the world can begin to understand that it is not always glamorous, easy or fun to build a business. If entrepreneurship is calling you then you absolutely cannot miss out on the truth, behind the business, written by Nic Haralambous.

Principles of General Management: A Responsible Approach for Southern Africa responds to the need for a resource that provides students entering the field of management for the first time with fresh insights into responsible management.

In particular, it is a resource that helps them to become responsible managers and leaders, to be change agents, and to act as the human foundation for responsible businesses.

It is currently the first and only book written by South Africans for the South African and broader African market and that at the same time integrates the pillars of responsible management into the principal managerial functions.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable effect on the world and redefined for us what is truly important. We’re witnessing a reversion to the basics of Maslow’s hierarchy as we find ourselves seeking to safeguard our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Why? Because we no longer have the luxury of certainty.

For generations, we’ve grown up believing that studying for a defined career and securing a job would guarantee our future. This 'essential' and predictable sequence marked us as productive members of society. But is our society even a healthy one? Are we heading in the right direction or have we been blinded by collective greed and delusion? How can we justify such inequality and environmental degradation in the world? These were questions being asked even before Covid struck – and now the pandemic has accelerated a desire for change. For all the stress and disruption Covid has caused, we now have a gilt-edged opportunity to change things for the better. Now is the time for each of us to cultivate new skills, qualities and characteristics to bring about the collective future we want.

FutureNEXT plots a new way forward by combining the accessible thinking of future strategist John Sanei with the deeply thought economic and philosophical principles of Dr Iraj Abedian. The result is a book about the things we need to rethink so that we may step confidently into the future. About the new roles and responsibilities we will each have as consumers, employees, employers, entrepreneurs and executives. And ultimately about reimagining a more harmonious, systemically fair and sustainable, yet prosperous world.

GOOGLE Search: my job makes me...

- my job makes me miserable
- my job makes me depressed and anxious
- my job makes me cry
- my job makes me sick to my stomach
- my job makes me suicidal
- my job makes me feel worthless
- my job makes me angry
- my job makes me drink

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING?!!! This was the authors' immediate reaction when they saw these prompts from Google (so many people had previously searched all of these that Google assumed they were going to as well). Consider how many millions of people need to have typed in these particular statements relating to their jobs for this to occur?

Are you feeling uncomfortable as you read them? Either because you feel the same way, or because you lead, own or work in a business full of people and if you’re brutally honest with yourself you may realise that this is quite possibly exactly how they feel. Do you have any tangible or quantifiable measure for how much this may be enhancing or diminishing your business bottom line? Most importantly, do you know what to do to meaningfully impact this? To create that work doesn’t suck! (step 1) And even better, is AWESOME! (step 2).

Brad Shorkend and Andy Golding are the co-founders of Still Human. They help businesses around the world remain relevant by creating exceptional employee experiences and being innovation-ready always, ultimately becoming Companies Behaving Awesomely.

What does it take to be an effective leader in today’s business world?

Mike Teke, the CEO of Seriti and well-known entrepreneur, has more experience than most as a leader. His opinion is heeded and followed by many. In The Future of Leadership is Collegiality, Mike shares some of his insights on leadership and the approaches that have made him successful. Indeed, it is a book that belongs on the desks of every existing and aspiring entrepreneur, CEO and manager.

Mike believes that ‘young leaders emulate and mimic experienced leaders – whether the habits they are copying are right or not so right. This happens because young leaders search for ways and means to be recognised, advance in their careers, or be seen as impressive leaders.’

He discusses concepts such as collegiality, fraternisation, ingratiation and self-respect, and illustrates his ideas with examples of South African and world leaders. On his own journey towards becoming a powerful leader, it was inculcated in him that one had to be ‘tough and ruthless’ in their approach to leading. However, times have moved on and the game has changed!

To be effective and deliver consistently in business, Mike has realised that collegiality is the way of the future. ‘There is no need to scream at others, bang tables or use foul language!’ He believes that collegiality works everywhere – as long as one is willing to lead effectively.

Business tycoon Patrice Motsepe is never shy to shake up the status quo. He has always followed his instincts to stay ahead of the curve. An icon of corporate South Africa, he is as much known for his leadership in the world of football as for his philanthropy.

He was a top lawyer when he followed his dream of being an entrepreneur, making a deal with Anglo American in the late 1990s that marked the beginning of a series of unique relationships which today define his African Rainbow Minerals empire. As the owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, he led it to becoming one of the most accomplished clubs in Africa. Then came the powerful seats of president at the Confederation of African Football and vice-president of FIFA, football’s global governing body, in 2021. Yet questions linger about his political ambitions because of his close links to the ANC and particularly his brothers-in-law, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jeff Radebe.

In this unauthorised biography, best-selling author and journalist Janet Smith mines public archives, academic papers and international media to find what lies behind this hugely successful, intensely private man, and what may lie ahead.

For our world to survive, and thrive, we need people who can lead the way to a better future for everyone, be that in corporate, government, or society in general. What we need is great leadership – not mediocre leadership; and an attitude of ever-learning, growing and developing.

Business leaders have a financial and moral obligation to uplift the people of this country. A narrow focus on profit won’t achieve that, but a culture that puts people first can. We need ethical leaders, visionary leaders, empathic leaders, courageous leaders, forward-thinking leaders, transformational leaders, human-centric leaders, purposeful leaders, curious leaders. This book is the antidote to the lack of mentorship, and is the resource for the saying: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Incorporating the collective leadership wisdom for both the leaders of tomorrow and for the leaders of today, The Book Every Leader Needs to Read is full of lessons, insights, pep talks, advice and direction for building your own style and approach to great leadership, and not shy away from the ecstasy (and sometimes agony) of becoming a significant leader. If you are striving for excellence as a leader, get your pen and notebook ready, start reading and make notes from the thousands of hours of lived experiences, and list what you can start doing, right now, to craft the art of leading.