PEAKING on the conference circuit is a great way to earn a living. I travel extensively to present my topics at conferences, seminars and workshops. I speak in venues of all types and sizes and I meet fantastic people from successful companies.

I've learnt that success really does breed success, and that successful people tend to gravitate towards successful companies.

This book has been written for you, the delegates with whom I've discussed these issues. Sometimes exhaustively.

Successful people like you have perpetually enquiring minds. You're always eager to learn. You understand that we will remain students to the end ... that your cup of knowledge will never be full.

To succeed in the world of business * a world buffeted by change with increasing ferocity * isn't easy. You have to be exceptionally tough to take the strain and achieve the goals you've set for yourself.

Interestingly, it's not only the large companies that employ me at their conferences and seminars. Successful little companies, led by dynamic go-getters, also call me in to speak to the people they employ.

I'm always amazed by the effort you will go to broaden you base of knowledge. But I'm never amazed when I read about your success in the press. I'm only proud. It has been my honour to have met and spoken to so many people like you who are guided by visions of success.

In essence, this book is about changing. More than that, it's about winning. Let's face it, we're a tenacious bunch, we South Africans. We've proved we can change. And we've proved we can win.

So, between us, let's make it happen.

I dedicate this book to you in the hope that the ideas we've set out will guide you along the path to even greater success and richer rewards.

This book would have taken a lot longer to complete if my friend Esmond Frank hadn't been around. We spend a lot of time drinking tea and shooting the breeze. But we always seem to pluck from the breeze the ideas with which to work.

Peter Cheales, Johannesburg
 

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