Title: “Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 skills to master business and life”
Author: Stefan Swaneole
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Many years ago I visited Serengeti National Park at Kenya; one of the most important World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. It was an extraordinary, unique experience which makes me want to re-live it!! It was just like a miracle coming so close to elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, cheetah, panther… and to observe how they live, how they react…how biodiversity is balanced in this ecosystem… how nature works.
Nine years later, I found out through a post at PMI’s internet site (Project Management Institute) that Stefan Swanepoels, a writer and successful businessman, wrote a book in 2011 entitled: “Surviving your Serengeti-7 Skills to Master Business and Life”. I was curious of reading it so I ordered it via internet (not published yet in Greek language) and believe me I read it in one day!!!
It follows the story of corporate executive Sean Spencer as he embarks on a three-day visit to Africa. Without cell phone coverage or any other form of technology to keep him worked in, Sean is forced to disconnect from the worries of his troubled business thousands of miles away. Instead, he becomes engrossed in the animals that rule this untamed land and the wisdom the Serengeti has to offer having as guide Zachariah. Zachariah is a man that studied business administration and after years he began to realize that much of what he had learned in business school seemed to correlate to various aspects of nature. So, he with some friends formed a company to study unique animal skills.
Surviving your Serengeti provides a larger-than-life metaphor for the problems and struggles humans and companies experience. The story reveals the primordial skills for overcoming adversity, conquering one’s fears and ultimately triumphing over all challenging conditions.
So, are you ready to make a small journey to Serengeti National Park and learn how to learn from nature???
Let me first give you the “big picture”:
The Serengeti shows us how different animals each possess a unique skill-skills that we all need to master in our own lives, but usually don’t.
Studying each animal’s particular skills, we can develop techniques to better comprehend our own strengths and weaknesses. We can learn how to apply them and gain the most from each skill. What makes Serengeti exceptional is that it isolates the core survival skills so unmistakably.
The goal is to understand animals’ world as a means to gaining insight into our own.
Let’s meet our animals…our skills!!!
The Communicating Elephant
Effective communication is the art of successfully delivering your message.
The Efficient Cheetah
Efficiency is the optimization of all resources to achieve the best results
The Enduring Wildebeest
Endurance is the steadfast capacity to hold on for one more day
The Enterprising Crocodile
An enterprising person explores all options and boldly seizes every opportunity
Read the full description of each animal and the resume of this book by clicking on each image above or by clicking the link: “Surviving Your Serengeti”
Take the Quiz: “What Animal Am I?”
Photo Credits:
Lion: Arno Meintjes Wildlife / iW / CC BY-NC-SA
Elephant: Arno Meintjes Wildlife / IWoman / CC BY-NC-SA
Cheetah: Rainbirder / iW / CC BY-NC-SA
Wildebeest: Rainbirder / iW / CC BY-NC-SA
Crocodile: Spiterman / iW / CC BY-ND
Giraffe: Tambako the Jaguar / IWoman / CC BY-ND
Mongoose: Tambako the Jaguar / IWoman / CC BY-ND
