Surviving Your Serengeti by Stefan Swanepoel - Book review

Surviving Your Serengeti

7 Skills to Master Business and Life

By: Stefan Swanepoel

Published: March 1, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 192 pages
ISBN-10: 0470947802
ISBN-13: 978-0470947807
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons












"The obstacles that those who live and die on the Serengeti face are, in many ways, no different than the challenges we face at the office or at home every day", writes successful business person, widely traveled public speaker, and visionary real estate trend watcher Stefan Swanepoel, in his fascinating and perceptive business parable Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life. The author shares the personal journey toward self discovery of corporate executive Sean Spencer, as he embarks upon a three day safari in Africa's Serengeti plain.

Stefan Swanepoel describes how Sean Spencer, cut off from the usual trappings and intense communications that characterize twenty-first century business, begins to examine the world in entirely new ways. Far from the day to day worries of the office, and the concerns of his life back home, Sean becomes engrossed in the lives of the amazing animals who call the Serengeti their home. The author shows us how Sean begins to recognize the different traits and strategies employed by each animal, as they live their lives in a constant struggle to survive. Told with all of the harshness and the life and death challenges of the thousand mile wildebeest migration intact, the author presents the animals in their daily lives of predator and prey. The insights gleaned by Sean Spencer, in his African sojourn, provide him with a more clear understanding of the skills necessary for finding business success, and for achieving a richer personal life.



Stefan Swanepoel (photo left) has lived among the animals of Africa, and has returned to the vast and harsh Serengeti, and recognizes the strategies utilized by each species to survive in that unforgiving land. The author shares these concepts through the experiences of the corporate executive, as he becomes more aware of the world around him, and that within himself. The insights gleaned by Sean Spencer, in his African sojourn, provide him with a more clear understanding of the skills necessary for finding business success, and for achieving a richer personal life. The various animal survival strategies include:

* The strategic Lion
* The enterprising Crocodile
* The efficient Cheetah
* The enduring Wildebeest
* The risk taking Mongoose
* The communicating Elephant
* The graceful Giraffe

These survival traits are proven and effective in one of the harshest of environments on Earth. The author provides them as models for achieving more success and fulfillment in business and in life.

For me, the power of the book is how Stefan Swanepoel puts his wide knowledge of the animals of the Serengeti to good use as models of various survival strategies. Each species of animal has different characteristics, they also utilize different means of overcoming the life and death challenges of their inhospitable land. Each strategy is different, but is highly effective for survival. Their different techniques of hunting or of avoiding becoming prey form a powerful metaphor for life in the modern world. Just as their is a wide variety of animals in Africa, so too is there a range of personalities in the world of business. Each individual must discover the strategy that works best for survival and success in the corporate Serengeti. The same tactics that work for the strategic lion are not well suited to the graceful giraffe. Different people require their own personal strategies as well.

Stefan Swanepoel's concept of describing the Serengeti survival strategies in the form of a business parable gives the book an immediacy and an instant connection with the reader. The animals of Africa, and their lives in very difficult conditions, might not be the most obvious parallel to the twenty-first century business environment. As a result, the business fable approach transforms the animals into potent and effective metaphors for business strategies. The eye opening experiences of protagonist Sean Spencer, and his journey of self discovery, reflects the need of everyone to uncover their own personal journey. With the various wildlife strategies in place, the reader is able to discern their own personal tactics for their own wildebeest migratory trek.

I highly recommend the unique and inspirational book Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life by Stefan Swanepoel, to anyone seeking a profound and enjoyable guide to overcoming both business and personal obstacles. While the corporate world may not contain literal lions, cheetahs, elephants, or crocodiles, their human counterparts are very much a part of that business landscape.

Read the enjoyable and intriguing book Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life by Stefan Swanepoel, and discover your own inner animal traits and strategies. While you might not ever live out the survival drama of the |Serengeti, the concepts in this book will hone your survival skills for the challenges of the corporate jungle or the voyage of your personal. This book is a certain to be a classic, and read for a very long time.

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