THE book, Leadership in the Trees, written by entrepreneur and Berea SAPS reservist, David Allen, was launched in Durban on Monday, 4 December.
Incorporating lessons learnt in business, from family and friends, as well those he learned volunteering as a reservist and working with, among others, the elite Special Task Force Unit and on a few protection details for former President, Nelson Mandela, David takes the reader on an easy, and sometimes funny, journey through the principles of good, effective leadership.
Using practical examples and written conversationally to transcend language and age barriers, David subtly dismantles the often confusing and even boring elements of leadership and makes them relatable to everyone – from the corporate warrior to the sullen teenager. The illustrations of the witty Stephen Clark help keep the tone casual and add many a chuckle-worthy moment to the already engaging read.
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David is co-director of Challenge Tours, which runs leadership courses at Greystone Adventure Centre and Camp Solomon. He is the director of the Leadership Training Camp at Village Camp Leadership School in Switzerland and York, England. Every July he leads the Village Camps’ award-winning leadership training programme based in Switzerland.
As an accomplished motivational speaker and leadership coach, David is in demand both at home and abroad. He has volunteered as a police reservist for more than 20 years and has trained in hostage negotiation and served with specialised units. David has also presented a variety of leadership and development talks to corporates, school groups and police tactical and detective units in South Africa and abroad. He guest lectures at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s leadership and business programme and is a regular speaker at Babson College and Bentley University, two of the leading entrepreneurial and business schools in Boston, USA.
“I started with the leadership camps which was the more practical side of leadership, and I realised I needed more on the theoretical side to explain leadership to kids, hence the book. With my work in the police, I have seen brilliant and terrible leaders, and with my work in specialised units I had the opportunity to work with top VIPs, politicians and movie celebrities. It was interesting to see how they interacted with people. Being around Nelson Mandela and seeing how he did things taught me a lot,” said David.
Studies have shown that people absorb more information when they are actively involved in the presentation. In light of this, David tailored his interactive approach, which involves active audience participation to ensure that people retain what he teaches.
“My talks are popular and the kids respond to them. With staff development and with corporates, I prefer the ‘peanut butter and jam’ demo, rather than the PowerPoint presentation, as people respond to this. Storytelling is a hundred times more effective than dry facts, figures and pie charts. With a story, you engage the audience, they relate to the characters and scenarios, become emotionally invested in the outcome and therefore retain a lot more than they would from a ‘boring’ lecture,” he said.
David said the leadership programmes have exposed him to a different sphere of leaders and has inspired his passion for understanding leadership.
“My main passion is to make people better leaders as this can change the planet and make a positive impact. Everyone can be leaders, mothers, fathers, the street sweeper in charge of a team, the captain of a swat team and the CEO of a company,” he said.
This is David’s first book, which he said took him around a year to put together in between his busy schedule. A second book is in the pipeline.
“I could have put together one book of 16 chapters or two of eight chapters, so I chose to go with the latter. It is great as I can use this book as a sort of business card to give to CEOs,” he said.
David is married to Debbie and is the proud father of two daughters. The Allen family is adored by their dogs, Marmite and Charlie, and owned by Cleo the cat. When he isn’t working, David enjoys MMA and playing with Emily.
Download the book to your kindle or the kinde App online at Amazon.com at R150, or email tours@challenges.co.za to order a hard copy of the book.
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