Imagine learning from South Africa’s best of the best in their respective fields – be it business, sport, politics, entertainment or philanthropy – and having access to decades of experience in strategic planning, business and change management, human resources development, and the nitty-gritty of building a personal brand that extends to your business and everyone you employ. Look no further than the 200 pages of WIN! Inspiring Interviews with SA’s Top 20 Leaders by Jeremy Maggs.

With 30 years’ experience in journalism, marketing and public speaking, Maggs chooses the best of the best he has interviewed over the years, and succinctly captures their winning ways, business challenges, some spectacular failures and secrets of their trade to reach their ultimate goals – being winners! The book looks at attaining all brands of success – whether it be how one leader runs a multi-billion-dollar company; how another inspires masses of people to follow a trend, or how an idea can spark the innovation of a product so basic yet so integral to a community’s prosperity.

As you read the book, you will realise there are no hard and fast rules to reaching the top rung of the success ladder – there are unique twists and turns, which enrich each leader’s experience; they are faced with make-or-break split-second decisions; some get a lucky break, while others work, fail and work harder to become the cream of the crop. There is a method for each and every business owner, entrepreneur, manager or franchise owner to make their business bigger, better and a bold example of winning success.

Jonathan Jansen is the former Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State, with a formidable reputation for transformation and for a deep commitment to reconciliation in communities living with the heritage of apartheid. In this, Jansen’s most personal and intimate book to date, South Africa’s beloved professor contemplates the stereotypes and stigma so readily applied to Cape Flats mothers as bawdy, lusty and gap-toothed – and offers this endearing antidote as a praise song to mothers everywhere who raise families and build communities in difficult places.

As a young man, Jansen questioned how mothers managed to raise children in trying circumstances – and then realised that the answer was right in front of him in the form of Sarah Jansen, his own mother. Tracing her early life in Montagu and the consequences of apartheid’s forced removals, Jansen unpacks how strong women managed to not only keep families together, but raise them with integrity.

With his trademark delicacy, humour and frankness, Jansen follows his mother’s life story as a young nurse and mother to five children, and shows how mothers dealt with their pasts, organised their homes, made sense of politics, managed affection, communicated core values – how they led their lives. As a balance to his own recollections, Jansen has called on his sister, Naomi, to offer her own insights and memories, adding special value to this touching personal memoir.

Can racism and intimacy co-exist? Can love and friendship form and flourish across South Africa’s imposed colour lines?

Who better to engage on the subject of hazardous liaisons than the students with whom Jonathan Jansen served over seven years as Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State. The context is the University campus in Bloemfontein, the City of Roses, the Mississippi of South Africa. Rural, agricultural, insular, religious and conservative, this is not a place for breaking out. But over the years, Jansen observed shifts in campus life and noticed more and more openly interracial friendships and couples, and he began having conversations with these students with burning questions in mind.

Ten interracial couples tell their stories of love and friendship in their own words, with no social theories imposed on their meanings, but instead a focus on how these students experience the world of interracial relationships, and how flawed, outdated laws and customs set limits on human relationships, and the long shadow they cast on learning, living and loving on university campuses to this day.

It started as advice to his own two children entering adulthood, it spread to his students at the University of the Free State and now tens of thousands of his followers of Twitter and Facebook wait for Jonathan Jansen's words of wisdom every day.

Each day Jansen writes a "Letter to my children" - a nugget of advice on life, love and becoming a compassionate, thinking human being. Jansen has become South Africa's moral barometer in a time when leadership seems to be sorely lacking in many areas of our country which explains why this project has struck such a chord with South Africans young and old alike.

Jansen talks to young people using new media but continues to give them good old fashioned advice about how to conduct their lives as strong and caring citizens who live life to the fullest.

Professor. Pundit. Public nuisance. In his columns, books and on social media, Jonathan Jansen is prolific and he likes to speak his mind about schools and universities, race, politics and our complex South African society.

He has brought an incisive analysis, compassion and sense of humour to some of the most controversial issues in our country for many years. And now, in this memoir, he goes back to his early years growing up in a loving, fiercely evangelical family on the Cape Flats,
being put on the road to purpose by an inspiring school teacher and becoming the first of his generation to go to university under the apartheid regime. Journey with Jansen as he finds a passion for teaching high school and becomes a leading academic and thinker
amid great transformation in post-apartheid South Africa.

This patchwork of memories tells a bigger story than his own life. It’s a tale of learning the value of ‘breaking bread’ with others, of finding mutual recognition in our different faith and fears, our ideals and frustrations, our hurts and our hopes.

Over the past few years, it has become clear that the path of transformation in schools since 1994 has not led South Africa’s education system to where we had hoped it could be. Through tweets, posts and recent protests in schools, it has become apparent that in former Model-C and private schools, children of colour and those who are ‘different’ don’t feel they belong.

Following the astonishing success of How To Fix South Africa’s Schools, the authors sat down with young people who attended former Model-C and private schools, as well as principals and teachers, to reflect on transformation and belonging in South African schools. These filmed reflections, included on DVD in this book, are honest and insightful.

Drawing on the authors’ experiences in supporting schools over the last twenty years, and the insight of those interviewed, A School Where I Belong outlines six areas where true transformation in South African classrooms and schools can begin.

The origins of On Becoming a Scholar lie in the realisation that there is a need for a vademecum, a handy compendium of ideas, plans and strategies for building a productive and fulfilling academic career to guide the host of prospective academics.

On Becoming a Scholar is geared to help relatively new scholars to construct personal futures and to find their way through the 21st century university. It is intended to be a map, and like any map it does not contain all the contours and details of the landscape, but rather seeks to reveal the important pathways and milestones in the journey to becoming an established academic.

Drawing on highly experienced academics and accomplished professors in their different fields, as well as promising younger academics already on their way, this book cover a concentrated resource of practical wisdom. The topics are broad and, cumulatively, they seek to answer the many questions that experienced mentors encounter every day in their work with new academics.

Toe Prof. Jonathan Jansen 'n kind was, het sy ma 'n spreekwoord gehad wat hom bygebly het: "My kind, bokdrolletjies is nou eenmaal nie rosyntjies, al lyk dit baie dieselfde. Moet nooit die twee deurmekaar kry nie." Dis dan ook wat hy voortdurend in sy rubrieke doen wat die afgelope jare so gewild geword het in die Afrikaanse koerante: hy skei die kaf en die korrels op 'n onderhoudende manier. Hy glo nie daaraan om te maak of iets reg is as dit verkeerd is nie. Hy glo nie in toesmeerdery nie. Hy glo daarin om goed reguit te sê, soos dit is. Prof. Jansen het al naam gemaak in die land, en nie alleen weens die Reitz-vier nie. Hy het die slag om die groot vraagstukke van ons land – menswees, ras, politiek, godsdiens, saamleef al is dit moeilik - uit 'n gewone persoon se oogpunt te bekyk, met 'n sin vir humor maar ook met deernis. Gevra oor die sukses van sy omstrede rubrieke, se hy: "Man, mens moet altyd minstens die helfte van jou lesers die duiwel in maak – dit moet net nooit dieselfde helfte wees nie." Dis ’n boek wat mens om die braaiplek, in die klaskamer of op die bus aan die dink en aan die praat sal si

Jonathan Jansen is die voormalige Rektor van die Universiteit van die Vrystaat, met 'n formidabele reputasie vir transformasie en 'n diepgewortelde verbintenis tot versoening in gemeenskappe wat met die erfenis van apartheid saamleef. In hierdie boek, Jansen se persoonlikste en mees intieme boek tot op hede, daag Suid-Afrika se geliefde professor die stereotipes en stigma uit wat so maklik op Kaapse Vlakte-ma's van toepassing gemaak word as luidrugtig, wellustig en sonder tande – en bied hy dié deernisvolle verhaal aan as 'n lofsang vir ma's oral wat op moeilike plekke gesinne moet grootmaak en gemeenskappe moet bou.

As jong man het Jansen gewonder hoe ma's dit regkry om kinders onder moeilike omstandighede groot te maak – en toe besef die antwoord is reg voor hom in die vorm van Sarah Jansen, sy eie ma. Deur haar vroeë lewe in Montagu en die gevolge van apartheid se gedwonge verskuiwings na te speur, werp Jansen lig op hoe sterk vroue nie slegs daarin geslaag het om gesinne bymekaar te hou nie, maar hulle kinders ook met integriteit groot te maak.

Met sy kenmerkende fynsinnigheid, humor en eerlikheid, volg Jansen sy ma se lewensverhaal as 'n jong verpleegster en ma van vyf kinders, en wys hy hoe dié ma's hulle verlede verwerk het, hulle huise ingerig het, sin gemaak het van die politiek, die liefde bestuur en kernwaardes gekommunikeer het – hoe hulle hulle lewens gelei het. Om sy eie herinneringe te balanseer, het Jansen hom op sy suster, Naomi, beroep om haar eie insigte en herinneringe te deel, en daardeur spesiale waarde tot hierdie roerende memoir toe te voeg.

How is new knowledge produced in the social, natural, and biomedical sciences? What is the role of serendipity versus planning? How has technology changed knowledge production, from AI to large datasets? This book presents insights into the pursuit of new knowledge from fields as diverse as medicine, engineering, linguistics, and theology. Over twenty researchers and scientists describe the modalities of discovery in their disciplines, offering a diverse survey of the social norms and politics of knowledge. Written in nontechnical language, this collection is designed to make research practices from widely different domains comprehensible to each other. A generative synthesis in the final chapter offers new insights into how discovery happens and its consequences for science and society. On Discovery will be essential reading for anyone interested in philosophical and social dimensions of knowledge.

Everybody knows that South Africa has an education crisis, despite the fact that the government spends the biggest slice of its budget on education, more than any other African country. And yet the crisis persists.

Jonathan Jansen and Molly Blank looked at South African schools that work, in spite of adverse conditions – schools in poor communities, schools with overcrowded classrooms, schools in both rural and urban environments – and have drawn out the practical strategies that make them successful.

19 short films (included on DVD) let you visit these schools and understand in the words of their principals, teachers and learners what makes them succeed. Then take look at the 10 key strategies identified and see how to implement them in other schools to effect transformation. As we have come to expect from Jansen, there are no complicated theories, no difficult to implement solutions – just lots of common sense!

Our nurses have witnessed the pandemic first hand, compassionately caring for patients amid war-like circumstances.

The havoc caused by the pandemic highlighted existing fault lines in the South African health system, and nurses faced shortages of staff and vital life-saving equipment. Colleagues tested positive and died. Visitors were not allowed, so nurses had to be intermediaries between patients and desperate family trying to glean information on the phone. Despite these pressures, they remained at the forefront of the fight against the deadly virus.

This book brings together deeply personal stories of caring for patients in wards and ICU, of feeling overwhelmed, and experiencing the fear of getting infected and passing Covid on to their families. There are also moving tales of personal growth and finding renewed purpose.

In Our Own Words shows the extreme resilience of nurses – even in the face of adversity. And that at the core of a ‘true’ nurse remains the commitment to the patient.

This book offers new theoretical ground for thinking about, and transforming, leadership and higher education worldwide. Through an examination of the construct of intimacy and ‘nearness’, including emotional, spiritual, psychic, intellectual, and physical closeness, Jonathan Jansen demonstrates its power to influence positive leadership in young people. He argues that sensory leadership, which includes but extends beyond the power of touch, represents a fresh and effective approach to progressive transformation of long divided institutions.

Considering richly textured narratives, chapters explore complex intimacies among Black and White university students in South Africa, post-apartheid and in the aftermath of a major racial atrocity. The stories reveal the students’ transformation in the process of ‘leadership for change’, interweaving concepts of racism, human relationships and intimacy, and in turn expanding the knowledge base of social and institutional improvement. This book explores how, when different kinds of nearness come together in leadership change, young people respond in ways that would not be possible through conventional instruments such as policy, legislation and the appeal to moral sensibilities alone.

Leading For Change will be critical reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of education, educational justice, higher education, educational leadership and change, social and/or racial justice. This book will also be of interest to those working in the fields of anthropology, social psychology, and South African contemporary politics, policy and institutional practices.

'I believe that citizen action is vitally necessary as we come out of the heady days of post-apartheid euphoria.' Professor Jonathan Jansen has become a trusted commentator on the state of South Africa -- reminding us of our past and asking citizens to leave their comfort zones and contribute to righting the wrongs of our society. Why should we get involved? Jansen gives seven compelling reasons: If ordinary citizens do nothing, we face even greater social instability in the light of stubborn unemployment and crises in the poorest of schools. If we do nothing we become part of the narrative of hopelessness. Without our action, millions of marginalised people could be doomed. If we do nothing we fail to demonstrate to the next generation how to live full lives. We must serve to compensate for the wrongs of our shared past. We must give back once we have been able to move ahead. We must take our places in the long chain of activists who have over centuries opposed poverty, illiteracy, government and gangs to give us this tender young democracy to work with. The articles in this collection, previously published in The Times, focus on education and the social realities of South African society. Jansen by turn horrifies us, inspires us and reminds us of the power of individual action.

This book offers new theoretical ground for thinking about, and transforming, leadership and higher education worldwide. Through an examination of the construct of intimacy and ‘nearness’, including emotional, spiritual, psychic, intellectual, and physical closeness, Jonathan Jansen demonstrates its power to influence positive leadership in young people. He argues that sensory leadership, which includes but extends beyond the power of touch, represents a fresh and effective approach to progressive transformation of long divided institutions.

Considering richly textured narratives, chapters explore complex intimacies among Black and White university students in South Africa, post-apartheid and in the aftermath of a major racial atrocity. The stories reveal the students’ transformation in the process of ‘leadership for change’, interweaving concepts of racism, human relationships and intimacy, and in turn expanding the knowledge base of social and institutional improvement. This book explores how, when different kinds of nearness come together in leadership change, young people respond in ways that would not be possible through conventional instruments such as policy, legislation and the appeal to moral sensibilities alone.

Leading for Change will be critical reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of education, educational justice, higher education, educational leadership and change, social and/or racial justice. This book will also be of interest to those working in the fields of anthropology, social psychology, and South African contemporary politics, policy and institutional practices.

Table of Contents

Preface 1 .A Researcher’s Guide to Intimate Storytelling 2. Dangerous Intimacies 3. "The Misnamed Free State" 4. Intimacy 5. The Resident Swastika 6. Intimacy Demands a Common Language 7. The Labour of Intimacy 8. Intimate Knowledges 9. Portraits of Intimacy 10. From Intimacy to Nearness 11. A Near and Present Danger 12. The Intimate Observer 13. Nearness in Leadership

Ways of speaking can help heal or they can provoke; they can inflame passions or settle nerves.' Professor Jonathan Jansen is fast becoming a household name in South Africa, for his critical and at times inconvenient voice. In this collection of articles previously published in The Times Jansen highlights the issues that confront our country -- the issues we need to talk about. With humour, humility, occasional anger and a good dose of common sense Jansen discusses education, race and identity, the state of our nation, leadership and even sport. When asked what the secret of his controversial columns is, he answers, 'A good column upsets half of your readers; the secret is that it should be a different half each time.' Jansen takes his inspiration from a diverse group of people -- statesmen, teachers, students, children and everyday South Africans he meets -- and introduces us to them through these stories to bring us a vision of the South Africa we can build, if only we pull together and work to heal the wounds of the past. A book to make you stop and think ... and then talk about his ideas around the dinner table, in the staffroom, in the classroom or on the bus. All the royalties from this book will go to the No Student Hungry campaign at the University of the Free State.

Eers was die raad net bedoel vir Jonathan Jansen se eie kinders wat op die punt van volwassenheid gestaan het. Maar die stukkies wysheid het gou versprei na die studente van die Universiteit van die Vrystaat – en toe nog verder na Jansen se duidende volgelinge op Facebook en Twitter. Jansen het elke dag 'n "brief aan sy kinders" geskryf, 'n klein stukkie lewenswysheid oor enigiets van die liefde tot menswees. Die humoristies dog aangrypende twiets bewys oor en oor hoekom Jansen Suid-Afrika se morele barometer geword het. 'n Bundel met outydse raad, geskryf in 'n 21ste eeuse formaat, wat aanklank sal vind by oud en jonk.

This book offers new theoretical ground for thinking about, and transforming, leadership and higher education worldwide. Through an examination of the construct of intimacy and 'nearness', including emotional, spiritual, psychic, intellectual, and physical closeness, Jonathan Jansen demonstrates its power to influence positive leadership in young people. He argues that sensory leadership, which includes but extends beyond the power of touch, represents a fresh and effective approach to progressive transformation of long divided institutions. Considering richly textured narratives, chapters explore complex intimacies among Black and White university students in South Africa, post-apartheid and in the aftermath of a major racial atrocity. The stories reveal the students' transformation in the process of 'leadership for change', interweaving concepts of racism, human relationships and intimacy, and in turn expanding the knowledge base of social and institutional improvement. This book explores how, when different kinds of nearness come together in leadership change, young people respond in ways that would not be possible through conventional instruments such as policy, legislation and the appeal to moral sensibilities alone. Leading for Change will be critical reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of education, educational justice, higher education, educational leadership and change, social and/or racial justice. This book will also be of interest to those working in the fields of anthropology, social psychology, and South African contemporary politics, policy and institutional practices.

What are the real roots of the student protests of 2015 and 2016? Is it actually about fees? Why did so many protests turn violent? Where is the government while the buildings burn, and do the students know how to end the protests?

Former Free State University Vice-Chancellor Jonathan Jansen delves into the unprecedented disruption of universities that caught South Africa by surprise. In frank interviews with eleven of the VCs most affected, he examines the forces at work, why the protests escalate into chaos, and what is driving – and exasperating – our youth.

This urgent and necessary book gives us an insider view of the crisis, tells us why the conflict will not go away and what it means for the future of our universities.

Diversity High offers special insight into school change and social transition in racially divided communities. It underlines the obvious notion that change is difficult and confirms that leadership in an academic environment matters in changing schools. Vandeyar and Jansen provide a thorough investigation allowing readers to distinguish second-order changes (changes to curriculum, staffing, culture, and leadership), from first-order changes, (changes in student complexion in de-racializing schools). The study demonstrates the non-linearity of reforms by capturing the dynamism of change in powerful photographic records ranging from origins to change (demonstrated through black and white to color pictures). Conveying complexity through the ways in which race, class and culture intersect to produce unintended consequences; this book is concise and expertly researched. Ultimately, Vandeyar and Jansen celebrate human agency over determinist structures at the center of change through their in-depth analysis of a white South African high school that pursued transformation against the grain of its own racial biography.

Jonathan Jansen doesn’t regard the achievements he has made in academia and his contributions to public intellectual life as his own – rather, he sees these accomplishments as a product of the hard work and sacrifices of family, friends, teachers, colleagues and mentors around him.

Jansen recounts, in his indomitable way, how the people in his life invested love, direction, encouragement (and even money) to make his journey possible – in the hope that his story may give inspiration and direction to generations of young people taking their first steps in adult life.