
The CEO X Factor
Secrets for Success from South Africa's Top Money Makers
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Mwaba
About this listen
CEOs can build up a business from nothing, or turn around a company that is on the verge of bankruptcy. Inspiring with their relentless drive, strong leadership, and innovation that can turn whole industries on their heads, they are the dynamos of our economy.
What is the X factor that ensures a CEO’s success?
KC Rottok Chesaina seeks to uncover the unique personality traits, business acumen, and leadership values that have turned CEOs into captains of industry. Based on extensive research and focused interviews with the leaders of some of South Africa’s top companies, including Vodacom, Bidvest, Capitec Bank, RMB, Dis-Chem, Discovery Health, Nedbank, Sanlam, Momentum, Curro, Exxaro, Harmony Gold and MTN, Chesaina’s book takes you to the heart of corporate South Africa.
With real-life examples, The CEO X Factor shows that reaching the top is about much more than money—it requires a very specific kind of character, straightforward strategies, a true focus on people and a value-driven approach.
©2023 KC Rottok Chesaina (P)2023 Jonathan Ball PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Infinite Game
- By: Simon Sinek
- Narrated by: Simon Sinek
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules, and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable, while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers - only ahead and behind. The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in? In this revelatory new audiobook, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset.
-
-
I love Sinek but...
- By Amazon Customer on 11-11-19
By: Simon Sinek
-
Winning
- By: Jack Welch, Suzy Welch
- Narrated by: Jack Welch
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Welch knows how to win. During his 40-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.
-
-
Jack's Alltime-Best
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-05
By: Jack Welch, and others
-
BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0)
- Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company
- By: Jim Collins, William Lazier
- Narrated by: Jim Collins, Paul Michael
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
BE 2.0 is a new and improved version of the book that Jim Collins and Bill Lazier wrote years ago. In BE 2.0, Jim Collins honors his mentor, Bill Lazier, who passed away in 2005, and reexamines the original text of Beyond Entrepreneurship with his 2020 perspective. The book includes the original text of Beyond Entrepreneurship, as well as four new chapters and 15 new essays. BE 2.0 pulls together the key concepts across Collins' 30 years of research into one integrated framework called The Map.
-
-
Very very very good
- By Amazon Customer on 05-15-22
By: Jim Collins, and others
-
Everybody Matters
- The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family
- By: Bob Chapman, Raj Sisodia
- Narrated by: Steven Menasche
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starting in 1997, Bob Chapman and Barry-Wehmiller pioneered a dramatically different approach to leadership that creates off-the-charts morale, loyalty, creativity, and business performance. The company utterly rejects the idea that employees are simply functions to be moved around, "managed" with carrots and sticks, or discarded at will. Instead Barry-Wehmiller manifests the reality that every single person matters, just like in a family. That's not a cliché on a mission statement; it's the bedrock of the company's success.
-
-
A Much Better Read
- By Bob Burton on 12-14-18
By: Bob Chapman, and others
-
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
- Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround
- By: Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the company was on a watch list for extinction, victimized by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent.
-
-
Moderate Start, Picks up FAST!
- By Art H on 02-08-05
-
The Heart of Business
- Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism
- By: Hubert Joly, Caroline Lambert - contributor
- Narrated by: Hubert Joly, William Sarris
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having recently stepped down as chairman and CEO of Best Buy, Hubert Joly shares the leadership principles illustrated by multiple vivid and concrete stories that underpinned the remarkable resurgence of Best Buy and that he believes are at the heart of business: pursue a noble purpose, put people at the center, embrace all stakeholders, and treat profit as an outcome.
-
-
We do need leaders who can anchor strategy in a Noble Purpose.
- By Angela on 07-03-21
By: Hubert Joly, and others
-
The Infinite Game
- By: Simon Sinek
- Narrated by: Simon Sinek
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules, and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable, while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers - only ahead and behind. The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in? In this revelatory new audiobook, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset.
-
-
I love Sinek but...
- By Amazon Customer on 11-11-19
By: Simon Sinek
-
Winning
- By: Jack Welch, Suzy Welch
- Narrated by: Jack Welch
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Welch knows how to win. During his 40-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.
-
-
Jack's Alltime-Best
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-05
By: Jack Welch, and others
-
BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0)
- Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company
- By: Jim Collins, William Lazier
- Narrated by: Jim Collins, Paul Michael
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
BE 2.0 is a new and improved version of the book that Jim Collins and Bill Lazier wrote years ago. In BE 2.0, Jim Collins honors his mentor, Bill Lazier, who passed away in 2005, and reexamines the original text of Beyond Entrepreneurship with his 2020 perspective. The book includes the original text of Beyond Entrepreneurship, as well as four new chapters and 15 new essays. BE 2.0 pulls together the key concepts across Collins' 30 years of research into one integrated framework called The Map.
-
-
Very very very good
- By Amazon Customer on 05-15-22
By: Jim Collins, and others
-
Everybody Matters
- The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family
- By: Bob Chapman, Raj Sisodia
- Narrated by: Steven Menasche
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starting in 1997, Bob Chapman and Barry-Wehmiller pioneered a dramatically different approach to leadership that creates off-the-charts morale, loyalty, creativity, and business performance. The company utterly rejects the idea that employees are simply functions to be moved around, "managed" with carrots and sticks, or discarded at will. Instead Barry-Wehmiller manifests the reality that every single person matters, just like in a family. That's not a cliché on a mission statement; it's the bedrock of the company's success.
-
-
A Much Better Read
- By Bob Burton on 12-14-18
By: Bob Chapman, and others
-
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
- Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround
- By: Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the company was on a watch list for extinction, victimized by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent.
-
-
Moderate Start, Picks up FAST!
- By Art H on 02-08-05
-
The Heart of Business
- Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism
- By: Hubert Joly, Caroline Lambert - contributor
- Narrated by: Hubert Joly, William Sarris
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having recently stepped down as chairman and CEO of Best Buy, Hubert Joly shares the leadership principles illustrated by multiple vivid and concrete stories that underpinned the remarkable resurgence of Best Buy and that he believes are at the heart of business: pursue a noble purpose, put people at the center, embrace all stakeholders, and treat profit as an outcome.
-
-
We do need leaders who can anchor strategy in a Noble Purpose.
- By Angela on 07-03-21
By: Hubert Joly, and others
-
The CEO Next Door
- The 4 Behaviors that Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders
- By: Tahl Raz, Kim R. Powell, Elena L. Botelho
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much of what we hear about who gets to the top, and how, is wrong. Those who become chief executives set their sights on the C-suite at an early age. In fact, over 70 percent of the CEOs didn't have designs on the corner office until later in their careers. You must graduate from an elite college. In fact, only seven percent of CEOs in the dataset are Ivy League graduates - and eight percent didn't graduate from college at all. To become a CEO you need a flawless résumé. The reality: 45 percent of CEO candidates had at least one major career blowup.
-
-
The real deal
- By K J Sunflower on 04-26-18
By: Tahl Raz, and others
-
Trailblazer
- The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change
- By: Marc Benioff, Monica Langley
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What’s the secret to business growth and innovation and a purpose-driven career in a world that is becoming vastly more complicated by the day? According to Marc Benioff, the answer is embracing a culture in which your values permeate everything you do. In Trailblazer, Benioff gives listeners a rare behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of one of the world’s most admired companies. He reveals how Salesforce’s core values - trust, customer success, innovation, and equality - and commitment to giving back have become the company’s greatest competitive advantage.
-
-
Most useless business book
- By Todd on 10-22-19
By: Marc Benioff, and others
-
Good Power
- Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World
- By: Ginni Rometty
- Narrated by: Ginni Rometty
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the world's most respected leaders, former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty overcame childhood and financial struggles to embark on a groundbreaking career that took her from entry-level engineer to eight years as the first woman CEO of an iconic global company. Forty years in business and public advocacy taught Rometty the transformative power of leadership that blends authenticity, relationships, and curiosity with vision, rigor, and conviction. In her personable yet direct voice, Rometty reveals experiences that taught her how to orchestrate change for clients, companies, and communities.
-
-
It fell really flat
- By Laurel Dobert on 03-18-23
By: Ginni Rometty
-
CEO Excellence
- The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest
- By: Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra
- Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being a CEO at any of the world’s largest companies is among the most challenging roles in business. Billions, and even trillions, are at stake—and the fates of tens of thousands of employees often hang in the balance. Yet, even when “can’t miss” high-achievers win the top job, very few excel. For those who shoulder the burden of being the one on whom everyone counts, a manual for excellence is sorely needed. To identify the 21st century’s best CEOs, the authors of CEO Excellence started with a pool of over 2,400 public company CEOs.
-
-
Political Agenda took precedence over education
- By Raina on 05-30-22
By: Carolyn Dewar, and others
-
Connecting the Dots
- By: John Chambers, Diane Brady
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson, John Chambers - introduction
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Silicon Valley visionary John Chambers shares the lessons that transformed a dyslexic kid from West Virginia into one of the world's best business leaders and turned a simple router company into a global tech titan.
-
-
How Cisco changed my life!
- By Brad Downey on 10-11-18
By: John Chambers, and others
-
Lead to Win
- How to Be a Powerful, Impactful, Influential Leader in Any Environment
- By: Carla A. Harris
- Narrated by: Carla A. Harris
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Powerhouse Carla A. Harris examines the journey from individual contributor to leader. She targets the essential skills necessary to succeed, such as the importance of taking risks, creating a vision, and leveraging assets like relationships and partnerships. At the heart of this book are the eight things you must be intentional about every day—authenticity, building trust, creating other leaders, clarity, diversity, innovation, inclusivity, and voice—qualities that you need to hone and manifest to become a powerful, impactful leader no matter where you work.
-
-
Is Everyone's Fingerprints on the Blueprint?
- By Shalena D.I.V.A. on 05-11-24
By: Carla A. Harris
-
Entrepreneurial Leadership
- The Art of Launching New Ventures, Inspiring Others, and Running Stuff
- By: Joel Peterson
- Narrated by: Josh Childs, Gabe Wicks
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Make a lasting impact by launching new initiatives, inspiring others, and championing innovative approaches with this from-the-trenches guide by trusted executive mentor, entrepreneur, and leadership expert Joel Peterson.
-
-
Guiding principles to manage and grow your business
- By Anonymous User on 12-08-22
By: Joel Peterson
-
True North
- Leading Authentically in Today's Workplace, Emerging Leaders Edition, 3rd Edition
- By: Bill George, Zach Clayton
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In True North: Emerging Leaders Edition, renowned leadership expert Bill George and Millennial tech entrepreneur Zach Clayton issue the challenge to emerging leaders—from Gen X to Millennials and Gen Z—to lead their organizations authentically through never-ending crises to make this world a better place for everyone. This edition is filled with stories from successful leaders such as Merck's Ken Frazier to PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi, and emerging leaders like OneTrust's Kabir Barday on how they overcame great challenges to build highly successful organizations.
-
-
Leadership for the woke
- By Anonymous User on 08-14-24
By: Bill George, and others
-
Choose Possibility
- Take Risks and Thrive (Even When You Fail)
- By: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
- Narrated by: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An indispensable guide to decision-making and risk-taking for anyone who finds themselves afraid of making a wrong choice in their career. This fresh, new approach comes from one of the most highly regarded and well-respected female tech executives in Silicon Valley, who made many wrong choices in her career, but learned how to turn those down moments into successes.
-
-
ok to listen to
- By Mahsa on 02-04-23
-
The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital
- Management Lessons from the Pioneers of Private Investing
- By: Robert Finkel, David Greising
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital, the pioneers of the industry share the investing and management wisdom they have gained by investing in and transforming their portfolio companies. Based on original interviews conducted by the authors, this book is filled with colorful stories on the subjects that most matter to the high-level investor, such as selecting and working with management, pioneering new markets, adding value through operational improvements, applying private equity principles to non-profits, and much more.
-
-
The 2nd 5 hours is awesome VC history
- By Jose on 04-10-22
By: Robert Finkel, and others
-
Reset
- A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval
- By: Johnny C. Taylor Jr.
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Informed by more than 70 years of experience and expertise and propelled by extensive original SHRM research, Reset delivers a candid and forward-thinking vision for leaders to reimagine their company cultures in a time of global upheaval. Part call to action, part strategic road map, Reset challenges business leaders’ underlying assumptions about workers and the workplace, delivers practical strategies for finding and keeping the talent needed to make businesses successful, and introduces dynamic tools to sustain that success over the long haul.
-
-
Hammer: Everything is a Nail!
- By Amazon Customer on 01-22-24
-
Black Faces in High Places
- 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top and Stay There
- By: Randal D. Pinkett, Jeffrey A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black Faces in High Places is the essential guide for Black professionals who are moving up through their organizations or industries but need a roadmap for how to get to the top and stay there. Based on the authors' considerable experiences in business, in the public eye, and as a minority, the book shows how African-American professionals can (and must) think and act both entrepreneurially and "intrapreneurially".
-
-
purchased by accident, too much one way
- By mimi on 02-22-22
By: Randal D. Pinkett, and others
Critic reviews
"A fantastic opportunity to drink from the pool of excellence." (Bonang Mohale, president of Business Unity SA)
What listeners say about The CEO X Factor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul Wombo
- 01-07-24
The blueprint of business success finally in an amazing SA context
I truly loved the selection of some of the most successful CEOs and leaders in the history of this nation and continent and with each chapter the underlying themes of the X Factor or Rules for Success make each story shine even more. A truly brilliant book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!