Surviving Your Serengeti - 7 Skills To Master Business & Life by Stefan Swanepoel BOOK REVIEW

Rating: 4/5
 
This book is a cross between fiction and reality. A couple vacation in the Serengeti away from their busy humdrum lives in America. The animals they encounter in the Serengeti teach them things about life and business that they had forgotten. They learn that:

1. The 1.5 million wildebeest rely on stubborn endurance and support from the herd to survive;
2. The crocodile is opportunistic;
3. The cheetah ruthlessly effective;
4. The giraffe embodies grace,
5. The lion is a master strategist,
6. The mongoose is a risk-taker,
7. The elephant is an excellent communicator – it can smell water from 25 miles away.

 
Over long distances a wildebeest will outrun the faster running cheetah because it has much more endurance. You need that kind of endurance to survive in business and in life.
 
Opportunism is described not with the negative connotations that it often is but in the sense of being ready to take advantage of opportunities that come your way. Opportunities usually present themselves and then disappear for good and it is up to you to a) see these opportunities and b) take advantage of them.
 
The cheetah is the fastest mammal but it can’t maintain that speed for more than a few seconds so it has to skilfully get within “winning” distance of its prey before making its move.
 
Add to these skills grace, strategic decision making, educated risk taking and excellent communication skills and you will be a sure-fire winner in business and in life.
 
Surviving Your Serengeti is available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

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