Book: The Great Run, Braam Malherbe

While I was growing up, I spent many hours at my grandparents' farm in Northem (Limpopo, a stones throw away from Oppikoppi).  It was a magical place, where many glorious childhood memories were made.  There was no electricity, only an old Arga stove in the kitchen, a 'donkey'  (an outside geyser heated by fire), paraffin lamps and candles and falling asleep at night was to the sound of jackals in the distance. I recall the long walks at dusk with my Mom and Dad and on more than one occasion thinking to myself just how much I loved being there and that I wanted to become a game ranger. These were distant memories that were triggered for some or other reason while reading Braam’s book.  

Braam and my paths recently crossed. Conservation lies at the core of his being, but besides that he has an impressive CV as long as my arm in a number of different areas (extreme adventurer, motivational speaker, business man, writer, to name just a few); I was therefore keen to find out more about his incredible journey along the Great Wall of China, to learn more about what motivates him.  

The book takes you on his and David Grier’s journey of  covering a marathon (42km) if not more-a day for six days a week over a period of 17 weeks. They were told that it was physically impossible. Goes to show, anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

What resonated with me is Braam's passion for nature and what struck me was his description of the desolation of the Gobi desert that there is absolutely no sign of life due to the years of overuse of the land and erosion; the prognosis for rehabilitation ever is non-existent. This made me realise that we are all on our way to a 'Gobi' desert if we don't start doing something. It's not someone else's problem, it is ours. There is not enough natural resources to sustain us all, yet we are all wanting the latest and biggest and newest material things.

Braam writes, "Challenging nature in a positive way, such as climbing Everest or crossing a stormy ocean, surfing a giant wave or riding a thermal column of air with a paraglider, feeds a hungry search soul. Challenging her in a negative way, overexploiting her resources by destroying forests or polluting the air causes her to hit back hard at us....

...I also believe that when we challenge ourselves in the embrace of nature, we show the Earth respect. It brings us closer to her in ways that enhance us beyond words. I believe nature shows us our potential and gives us humility beyond the ego we build based on our material trappings."

Recommendable: Definitely 9/10

Book: Crazy is a Compliment. The Power of Zigging when everyone else Zags, Linda Rottenberg

This was a wonderful birthday gift from my team. What a fabulous read! I battled to put it down once I started. The author, Linda Rottenberg, co-founder and CEO of Endeavor shares amazing entrepreneurial stories from across the globe. She says that she did not want to write another business / entrepreneurial book - there are already so many out there, but wanted to write something different, which I think she succeeded in doing very well.

I liked her description of different types of entrepreneurs (Gazelles, Skunks, Dolphins and Butterflies), as well as the different types of personalities (Diamond, Star, Transformer, Rocketship). There is a wealth of information and examples that are shared. It's not just about starting your own business, but also about employees being innovative and entrepreneurial within a business.

There is also a section on mentors, and how you should not just have one, but have a whole array. 

Besides being a special gift, it is definitely a book I will re-read again. 

Recommendable: Yes, 10/10

Book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni

                                          

This was a different type of business book. Instead of a lot of business gumpf, it is written as a fable. 

I read this book for a number of reasons, one is that I am exploring different types of writing styles and this one came highly recommended and secondly one of our ten building blocks to building a reputation is the importance of Human Capital and the role that employees play when it comes to building a reputation.  If you don't have a solid team in place and on your side, one which is built on trust, not afraid of conflict, committed, accountable and results-orientated for the whole team, you'll have a problem on your hands.

This is a very quick read. I downloaded it on Friday and completed it by Sunday afternoon. You should finish it in a couple of hours if you read it in one go. 

Recommendable: 7/10

Book: Dealing with Difficult People Secrets, David Brown

This is a really quick and easy read, focusing specifically on how to deal with difficult people in the work environment. There are two specific things I really liked about this book: 

Firstly, it confirmed a number of things that we are already doing. It is good to know that we are on track with the way that we do things at Reputation Matters. We have a very thorough recruitment process in place, which is pretty much the first step to getting the right people on board, and avoiding difficult people. We also have internal structures in place to make sure that everyone is on the same page to know what is required from everyone. We also have a number channels in place to make sure that we give and get feedback for continuous improvement. 

Secondly, I liked the layout of the book. Each 'secret' was presented on a separate page with core information, a quote and a short case study.  

As mentioned above we encourage feedback, what I liked was the EEC framework mentioned, which is another way to consider giving feedback:

E = Example. Tell the person exactly what they did. This should be as specific as possible about what they did. It should be relevant, supportive, helpful and clear. 

E = Effect. Tell them the effect of their actions on you. This will relate to how it made you feel. It is difficult for someone to take offence at how you feel, because it's not an attack on them! Your feelings can be either negative or positive. Again be as specific as possible. 

C = Continue or Change. For your feedback to be taken seriously, plenty of it needs to be positive! If your feedback is positive and the individual is not required to do anything different in future, your feedback sounds like "thanks" or "please keep this up". If the feedback is to change, agree with them how to make a change.  

Recommendable: 7/10