When motor industry veteran Brand Pretorius retired as McCarthy CEO in 2011, it was clear he wanted to use his hard-earned knowledge to mentor South Africa’s budding boardroom leaders.
While he has since achieved this goal on many levels, he is now also set to launch his book In the Driving Seat – My Leadership Journey, at the end of February.
Pretorius played a pivotal role in establishing Toyota as South Africa’s market leader in the 1980s and was also instrumental, during the second part of his career, in turning around an insolvent McCarthy group.
Although the book is not an autobiography, it does contain an overview of Pretorius’ childhood, as well as a frank account of his 38-year career in the motor industry. The single biggest focus of the book, however, is on leadership and its importance during the inevitable highs and lows experienced during a long career in the ranks of SA Inc.
Pretorius outlines the attributes and skills required for effective, inspirational leadership. Based on his own experience, his key conclusion is that servant leadership provides the strongest foundation possible for sustained influence, as well as in securing a high level of commitment from others.
In the Driving Seat – My Leadership Journey provides practical examples and case studies to illustrate Pretorius’ advice and recommendations.
The book also contains chapters on service excellence and the successful marketing of products and services.
A separate chapter is devoted to the role that business leaders should play to bring about a better South Africa.
The last part of the book covers the likely challenges leaders are going to face in the future and how they will need to adapt to deal with these successfully.
Pretorius describes the book’s core message as one advocating that leadership should be about character, influence and contribution, for the good of all.