Author’s book shares powerful life lessons learned from the Comrades Marathon
An established author Lazarus Malebana who is a teacher by profession, recently published a book titled The Bus Driver, which he wrote during lockdown.
Author Lazarus Malebana’s Comrades Marathon experience will empower book lovers with leadership lessons through his newly published book.
The 55-year-old Brackenhurst resident, who is a teacher by profession, recently published a book titled The Bus Driver, which he wrote throughout lockdown.
Malebana is a father of three who currently teaches mathematics at Maitjibulo Primary School in Katlehong.
He worked for more than 20 years as a teacher and a principal.
He best describes himself as a prolific writer of school books for children which earned him prestigious literary awards including the MNET Book Prize.
His latest books include Bookelong bja digafi (2021, Sepedi Novel), Tšhelete ya Sepoko (2021, Sepedi Novel) and Long Live the King’s Tail (2019, Fables).
About the book
In an exclusive interview, he said his desire in writing this book was to share what he had learnt from 10 years of running Comrades.
“From the first time, I saw Comrades as something more than just a race. This book uses this road running experience as a metaphor for leadership. “The Bus Driver was conceived from my desire to make a difference in my workplace. The book roughly chronicles my struggles in attempting to accomplish this ultimate human race,” said Malebana.
In his book, Malebana skilfully connects this with life lessons he learnt from the race and from the leadership role played by those who “drive buses”.
“For those who have no idea what a bus is doing in a marathon, a bus is a South African running term for a group of like-minded runners who wish to run a similar time. They find motivation and companionship in the bus as they all strive to reach a goal time,” he said.
Malebana told the RECORD that the book wonderfully illustrates the leadership lessons that can be learnt from bus drivers.
“There are many valuable lessons from my book and each lesson is brilliantly illustrated with examples and anecdotes. The book presents each chapter with famous Comrades Marathon slogans such as ‘it will humble you’, ‘together we triumph’ and ‘hard is what makes it great’,” he said.
For Malebana, teaching leadership lessons through an experience makes it easy for ordinary readers to grasp the concepts.
The book, which costs R250, can be purchased from Nthabi Publishers.
Those interested may contact Malebana on 082 962 2483 or via email at maleba2006@yahoo.com
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