The Other End of the Telescope with Ian Russell

Welcome to our first event of 2020!
This month, our Founder, Jacques Velleman, will be interviewing
CEO, leader, influencer, writer, advisor very talented speaker,
Ian Russell
about his book:
Ian is passionate about innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship and getting stuff done in the social impact space. His audiences are broadly, corporates, academic institutions, entrepreneurial and start-up companies. Ian’s been the CEO of a company with an employee base of 10,000. He has a great professional reputation and is well known and recognized in the areas he speaks about.
Ian's career has involved almost every continent and spanned a quarter of a century. Drawing deeply on his priceless real world experiences as a CEO and senior leader, Ian ensures that you will never think the same way again.
About the Book: The Other End of the Telescope
Are you ready to rise to the challenge of increasing the metabolic rate and success of your business?
The Other End of the Telescope is a high speed gallop through the absurdities and challenges of getting things done in large companies, and the inherent contradictions in leadership and organisational behaviours that prevent businesses from realising their potential and achieving greater success.
In this collection of thought provoking essays, Ian Russell draws on more than 25 years’ experience of leading and working in large organisations around the world to distil the key themes and challenges confronting big business today.
The book tackles key topics such as organisational cholesterol, the loneliness of leadership, human capital strategy failures, performance destroying ‘head offices’ and the ‘myths’ of talent scarcity and the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, among others. Each essay pairs a deep understanding of the real world and lessons learned the hard way, with powerful and pragmatic insights on how big business can change the way in which it does things.
Contributions from other notable thought leaders Valter Adão, Richard Mulholland, Happy Ntshingila and Rapelang Rabana add unique voices and insights to Ian’s vibrant and straightforward views. Together they are exactly what is needed to jolt businesses and their leaders into doing things more successfully and thoughtfully.
The lightness of Ian’s style makes this a highly readable book, but it does not dilute the impact of his incisive observations and insights. Passionate, irreverent and challenging, The Other End of the Telescope will make you think deeply about your business and your career – and your role in both.
You’ll never think the same way again.
About The Business Book Club:
The Business Book Club was founded in April 2017 with the purpose to share knowledge in a business context. Knowledge is the start of change, an inevitable process of business (and life), and one can obtain it through various means. Books are our favourite way and what better than to have a conversation with the author. Sharing knowledge through questions and answers helps us understand how each of us can affect change in a positive way.
The Business Book Club meets every month, where we invite an author to showcase their book and share their knowledge. Through conversations with the author, we grow our leadership capability by understanding how we can change our business environments.
*ENTRANCE: Any new or second-hand book.