All over the world the performance of organisations is suffering because of the so-called Employee Disengagement Plague, induced by poor leadership. Regrettably South Africa is no exception. Tracey Swanepoel provides a fully integrated solution in a very practical, thoughtful way. Her case studies illustrating “sins” and “secrets” make compelling reading and are easy to convert into personal action plans. More importantly, her passion for people and their morale, motivation and fulfillment shines through and inspires. This book is compulsory reading for leaders who want to turbocharge their effectiveness and the significance of their legacy, for the good of all.

It is an understatement to say that today the world needs better, more engaged, empathetic, and authentic leaders that truly care about their people. Thank you to an outstanding author, Tracey Swanepoel, for nailing the essence of leadership with extraordinarily useful insights and for sharing her own bold and vulnerable leadership journey, and key lessons learnt. This takes character and courage.
This book is filled with robust, practical tips and tools of desired leadership models - showing what we should be aspiring to in these challenging times.
The content is compelling and poignant for both current and aspiring leaders. Read it!

This is a book about leading to engage - through better communication, more understanding of what's really happening and connecting people to purpose. When leaders ask me about building staff engagement, I often tell them the best way to build engagement is to stop doing things that piss staff off. Whilst I firmly believe this is true, it falls into the category of 'interesting, but not useful'. Fortunately, there are thinkers like Tracey Swanepoel who can unpack the 'power skill' of staff engagement and provide a practical and useful guide to help leaders be their best - to create a workplace that energises and empowers staff and to lead their organisation to success. This book will help transform the way you think about leadership.

This is a must-read book for all leaders who are committed to create organisations where people are inspired to make their best contribution. This book describes a future that many of us are committed to… with clear guidance on how to get there. My hope is that leaders will apply what they have learnt from reading this book to lead courageously and authentically in order to turn their organisations into communities of belonging and contribution.

Tracey’s latest contribution reminded me that like investing, leadership isn’t rocket science - you must just get the basics right. That applies equally to the art and science of leadership, the focus of this book. Most readers will have come across Tracey’s seven sins and seven secrets in different forms, but the strength of this concise volume is that the logic of these leadership principles is supported by practical examples encouraging liberal use of them. The results from such application are sure to surprise – on the upside!

This book is not only well and practically written but absolutely aligns with my findings, realisations and potential solutions after 20+ years in the leadership space. Please read it. You won’t regret one moment of doing so. One senses Tracey’s years of experience through her own eyes and others close to her. A really great book.

Tracey’s simple but insightful approach to flush out the potential stumbling blocks to leaders and companies reaching their full potential (greatness) is a must read for all leaders who want to make a difference. At some point, most of us as leaders come to the realisation that your best leadership tool is your authentic self. Finding the confidence to do so is a journey and this amazing book can be a useful and practical guide along the way.