Ongoing disruptive innovation has become the key competitive edge in staying ahead of the game in the inimitable, compelling, memorable experience-based economy. The 21st century organisation will be an ideas/imagination business. Within this business, people have moved centre stage in being the only true value unlockers and wealth creators as the source of imagination, creativity, innovation, and invention.

Given people’s centrality to the continued viability of organisational performance and success in the present and future, knowing the state of their People Excellence is critical for every organisation. If there is on top of this criticality a global war for top talent, then ‘critical’ turns into mission-critical. It becomes the stark choice between either merely surviving because of a shortage of talent; or thriving because of creating the conditions under which people become the best they can, and want to, be. They flourish and thrive.

People excellence sits at the confluence of thriving employees, delighted stakeholders, and a viable organisation. When organisations become excellent at helping their people to flourish, they in turn unlock real, amazing value and create worthy, lasting results to the delight of stakeholders, ensuring the organisation’s viability. This is why knowing the state of an organisation’s people excellence, as well as becoming smarter at people excellence, has become mission-critical for every organisation.

The People Excellence Star offers you the opportunity to perform an integrated, strategic stress test of the overall people-worthiness of your organisation. You’ll be guided on how to apply the five critical dimensions of People Excellence: Identity, Capacity, Delivery, Outcomes, and Relationships – along with their 20 Excellence elements.

You’ll discover the best thought-leadership, latest research, and cutting-edge practices regarding People Excellence to help you unleash the synergistic fusion of lasting People Excellence within your own organisation through the appropriate interventions.

"I hope this book will assist our leaders, particularly our young and corporate leaders, to enable our country to make the much needed and desired giant leap into the inclusive, prosperous and peaceful future we all yearn for so passionately. - Advocate Thuli Madonsela

In Leadership Excellence, 25 thought-leaders cover the following themes:

• Leadership excellence dimensions by Anton Verwey , Ronel Minnaar and Paul Mooney
• Leadership excellence across cultural settings by Lize Booysen
• Leadership brand modelling by Anton Verwey and Sonja Verwey
• Authentic leadership by Tineke Wulffers
• Mindful leadership by Errol Nembhard
• Virtuous leadership by Marius Ungerer
• Wise leadership by Lisa Ashton
• Spiritual leadership by Penny Law
• Ethical leadership by Leon van Vuuren
• African leadership by Vusi Vilakati
• Women in leadership by Mmasekgoa masire-Mwamba
• Multi-generational leadership by Graeme Codrington and Raymond de Villiers
• Diversity leadership by Nene Molefi
• Change leadership by Sesh Paruk
• Team leadership by Drikus Kriek
• Entrepreneurial leadership by Boris Urban
• Board leadership by Carmen Le Grange
• Leadership excellence measurement by Anton Verwey, Steven Teasdale, Marzanne de Klerk and Francois du Plessis
• The future of leadership by Andrew J Johnson and Theo H Veldsman

Leadership Excellence also features inspirational leadership stories from:

• Thuli Modonsela: Leadership as the giant leap necessary for an inclusive, prosperous and peaceful feature
• Shameel Joosub: Creating movement as a leader in a constantly evolving and changing environment
• Mohammad Karaan: Intuition, silence, giants and the cattle herder
• Dave Macready: Leadership built on vision, belief and passion
• Hendrik du Toit: Good leaders stand or fall by their principles
• Ian Donald: Being an authentic and confident leader by

"This book is rooted in the challenges facing leaders today, and offers current and future leaders a perspective to help them lead in a VUCA world." - Paul Norman, Group HR and Corporate Affairs Officer - MTN Group

In Leadership Dynamics And Wellbeing, 9 thought-leaders cover the following themes:

• Leadership as strategic organisational capability and intervention by Theo H Veldsman and Andrew J Johnson
• A flourishing and thriving leadership community by Theo H Veldsman
• Leadership identity by Ilka Dunne
• Leadership transitions by Theo H Veldsman
• Stress, burnout, derailment and resilience in leadership by - Jopie de Beer with Ina Rothmann and Renate Scherrer
• Toxic leadership and organisations by Theo H Veldsman
• Leadership maturity by Danie du Toit with Theo H Veldsman and Deon van Zyl

Leadership Dynamics And Wellbeing also features inspirational leadership stories from:

• Thuli Madonsela: Leadership as the giant leap necessary for an inclusive, prosperous and peaceful feature
• Mohammad Karaan: Intuition, silence, giants and the cattle herder
• Gill Marcus: What matters is the greater good
• Monhla Hlahla: Moving effectively through the stages of leadership impact
• Hendrik du Toit: Good leaders stand or fall by their principles
• GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar and Paul Harris: Leader excellence asks for a distinct, shared leadership philosophy

"As an aspirant leadership expert myself, I was pleasantly surprised at how much there is still to know and learn about this enthralling subject called leadership." - Dudu Msomi, Chief Executive Officer, Busara Leadership Partners

In Understanding Leadership, 14 thought-leaders cover the following themes:

• Leadership as strategic organisational capability and intervention by Theo H Veldsman and Andrew J Johnson
• The Leadership Landscape as a meta-framework by Theo H Veldsman
• Appreciative leadership by Freddie Crous
• Neuroscience in leadership by Ingra du Buisson-Narsai and Dan Radecki
• Action science by Andrew J Johnson
• Psychobiographical profiling by Roelf van Niekerk, Mark Perry and Paul Fouché
• Kegan’s competing commitments by Ian Lawson
• Arbinger’s changing mindset by Cobus Pienaar and Jim Ferrell
• Leadership psychodynamics by Pieter Koortzen
• Re-authoring leadership narratives by Chené Swart
• Action learning by Rosetta Pillay and Gerrit Walters
• The future of leadership by Andrew J Johnson and Theo H Veldsman

Understanding Leadership also features inspirational leadership stories from:

• Bridgette Gasa: Good leaders unite people
• Johan van Zyl: Get to know yourself early on in your career
• Dave Macready: Leadership built on vision, belief and passion
• Gill Marcus: What matters is the greater good
• Monhla Hlahla: Moving effectively through the stages of leadership impact
• GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar and Paul Harris: Leader excellence asks for a distinct, shared leadership philosophy

"This is truly a standout book that packs a real punch in the sea of books on leadership. This has to be the most updated, and most comprehensive and definitive compendium on leaders and leadership, written by an impressive array of prominent and respected experts in the field." - Prof. Shirley Zinn, Director of Companies and author of the best-selling book Swimming Upstream.

In Building Leadership Talent, 12 thought-leaders cover the following themes:

• Leadership as strategic organisational capability and intervention by Theo H Veldsman and Andrew J Johnson
• Leadership talent for an uncertain future by David Conradie
• Leadership assessment by Nicola Taylor and Paul Vorster
• Business schools as hubs of leadership education by Piet Naudé
• Leadership development: principles, approaches and processes by Nancy Keeshan and Sharmla Chetty
• Leadership coaching by Aletta Odendaal
• Corporate universities by Philipp Kolo, Rainer Strack and Jens Baier
• The future of leadership by Andrew J Johnson and Theo H Veldsman

Building Leadership Talent also features inspirational leadership stories from:

• Cheryl Carolus: Leaders must lead by example
• Johan van Zyl: Get to know yourself early on in your career
• Ali Bacher: Captaining on and off the field
• Ian Donald: Being an authentic and confident leader
• Herman Mashaba: Good leaders are guided by reality, not wishful thinking
• Pfungwa Serima: Head in the Clouds and feet on the ground