My Dough Books

African leadership is in crisis. The legacy of colonialism has prevailed, while novel challenges such as the pandemic, substantial developmental setbacks, the scourge of corruption and troughs in growth have challenged the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative that once dominated. In a deeply fragmented and uncertain world, one might ask: ‘What is the source of inspiration for leadership?’ As leaders are faced with the seemingly insurmountable task of rebuilding Africa’s economies, structures and systems, there is an argument to be made that leadership approaches should be uniquely and distinctly African.

Today, building your personal brand is no longer an option – it’s a necessity. It used to be all about corporate branding or institutional branding. That’s all changed. Nowadays, life as we know it is all about YOUR name, your image, your digital footprint, and being the President of your personal brand. Fortunately, with today’s technology and social media, creating your brand is easier than ever before – and it’s crucial that you take control and manage the direction of your brand before someone else does. “What I do may be relatively simple, but how I got here, how I built my brand, has been a long story over many countries and cultures. It is a story of ambition and balance, of achievement and disappointment, of untimely disruption and spontaneous opportunity, of happiness and tears. How did I get here? Now there’s a question worth answering that just might inspire a few ‘wows’ and laughs along the way. To tell it chronologically, however, would be selfish of me. It would be my story, amusing to hear, but purely vicarious in its appeal. And let’s face it, the Jen Su brand has a wonderful story behind it, but it’s not the stuff of legends.

The world is rightly obsessed with the incredible power of a good story. Unfortunately too many of us take that to mean that it is our own story that’s important. It’s not. The magic happens not when we tell our customers the story of our past, but when we sell them a new story of their future. One in which we play a part. As a salesperson (and make no mistake, you are a salesperson) you have two jobs. Job No. 2 of the storyseller is to help your clients and customers slay their dragon. Job No. 1 of the storyseller is to help them see their dragon. You are in the dragon hunting business, but dragon hunting ain’t easy – there’s work to be done. In this short and highly practical book, renowned speaker Richard Mulholland shares with you how to use powerful stories to change minds, drive sales, and solve problems.

The heart of Mike Saunders’ exciting new book is how to build a successful business in the Fourth Industrial Revolution while focusing on human stakeholders. Never before have we had so much information so readily available at our fingertips and there is no doubt that acceleration of innovation and the velocity of disruption underpinning the Fourth Industrial Revolution are having a major impact on businesses. Is it realistic to be at the forefront of these disruptive forces? Is it even necessary? It most certainly is. Knowledge of these disruptive forces – notably mobile, social, the Internet of Things, data and blockchain – equips us to build our businesses in the change that is enveloping us, but we need a framework to help us understand how to operate in a new revolution, how to organise the chaos into success.

Brace yourself for a thrilling journey into the heart of black life and culture through the philosophy of Hibirism, masterminded by Donald Mokgale and Ernest Nkomotje. Hibirism, (noun): Derived from the social greeting ‘hibiri’, made famous by the South African song Sister Bethina (a hit by musician Mgarimbe in 2006), Hibirism adds depth and meaning to the salutation and signifier ‘hibiri’. The goal is to explain some of the underlying reasons behind our actions and uncover profound insights within the experiences of black life. Ultimately, Hibirism transforms an empty signifier into a noun, referring to a specific philosophy or set of ideas that elevate social situations and challenge existing norms.

The informal business sector is the next great frontier of Africa and it is undergoing an economic revolution – a new world of small people doing big things, transforming the continent. Prepare for this new generation, prepare for the Afripolitan Generation. A revolution is taking place in the great marketplaces of the informal sector and it contains an unquantified scale and power as an economic engine and a way of life for the majority of our low income populations. The KasiNomic Revolution may still be a murmur in the streets, a grassroots economic groundswell, but it is the future of African economic activity.