How have some people broken the shackles of their circumstances to achieve extraordinary things? Can success be taught, or does it depend on talent alone? What role does luck play? Through more than 250 interviews with leaders in sport, business, war and politics, Greg Mills and Emanuele Pirro distil the ingredients of success and, conversely, the causes of failure. From rugby’s triumphant Springboks to winning Formula 1 drivers, presidents guiding negotiations, generals on the battlefield, and businesspeople building empires in the boardroom and on the street, successful people trust their instincts, focus on the things that will make a difference to their performance, and leave nothing to chance. With wide-ranging stories of achievement from around the globe, The Essence...
Emanuele Pirro is a five-time winner of the Le Mans 24-Hour endurance race, and a member of various bodies within motorsport’s global governing body, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile). He was a factory driver for BMW for nine years and for Audi for 17 years, has acted as a brand ambassador for both Audi and Lamborghini, and headed McLaren’s young talent programme. He is the president of the Grand Prix Drivers Club, founded by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1962.
Read more
Greg Mills is a visiting fellow at the University of Navarra in Spain and the strategic advisor to several African leaders. He served for twenty years as the founding director of the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation, established in 2005 to strengthen African economic performance. He has directed numerous reform projects with African heads of government and served four deployments to the International Security Force in Afghanistan as the advisor to the commander. He is a regular contributor to international journals and newspapers and the author of numerous books including Why Africa Is Poor, Rich State, Poor State and The Art of War and Peace.
Read more