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.

The greatest gift we can give to our children, and the future South Africa, is our own healing.

South Africa may have moved beyond apartheid, but not beyond racial polarisation. Virtually every problem we face in this country is touched by our legacy of systemic racism and the psychological trauma it has caused to people of all races.

Racial healing is not a new, woke, talk shop. It is also not a ‘how-to guide’ for do-gooders. On the contrary, racial healing requires diverse people of all ages to embrace the unique and challenging complexity of racial diversity and to forge a human bridge between multiple opposing truths that can peacefully co-exist.

Only a sober admission of this complexity can help us to heal from the open, festering wound of ongoing racism which has left South Africa with the unenviable distinction of being the most unequal country in the world. A wound not necessarily unique to South Africa, but indeed also the reason behind the violent conflict seen around the world.

Ian Fuhr and co-author Nina de Klerk have created a powerful examination of the deep-rooted causes of continuing racial polarisation in South Africa and suggest a road map for the journey towards racial healing. The book is enhanced by influential collaborators who share their authentic and often emotive perspectives on racial healing.

The Human Bridge is an ambitious but achievable vision of the future. If people are willing to familiarise themselves with each other’s life experiences, own up to their own fears and racial biases, and engage in authentic dialogue, South Africans may once again become an example to the rest of the world.

WITH ESSAYS FROM: Bonang Mohale; Carin Dean; Jonathan Jansen; Leon Wessels; Loretta Feris; Lukhanyo Calata; Max du Preez; Mbali Baduza; Padhma Moodley; Roelf Meyer and Sylvester Chauke.

When Ian Fuhr started out as a businessman 40 years ago, the secret of his success was already cemented in two traits - humility and a desire to break the rules. A spirit of fearlessness, fun, honesty and respect has underscored his every venture, which spans the music industry, discount department stores, a labour relations consultancy and, eventually, South Africa's biggest beauty chain, Sorbet. In Get that feeling Ian shares the principles that have guided him over the years and takes the reader through the arduous but fulfilling process of building a pioneering people's brand that was born on a dream and built on a 'feeling'. By emphasising customer service and putting people before profit, his vision holds valuable lessons for entrepreneurs who are keen to make a sustainable contribution to South Africa's economy.