Book Interview: Uncovered by Tshepiso Dumasi

Hi Awesomers!!

It has been long since I updated the blog. I hope you have all been well as I have been. I know the lockdown hasn't been kind to everyone and if you have lost a loved one, I am sorry for your loss. May God comfort you and your family. This season will pass, we will rise again. 

In the midst of the lockdown I was lucky to receive a book from SA Indie Author Publicity and I ideally wanted to review it on my podcast however travelling has been a mission. I did manage to get the author to answer some questions. This is an important part of the blog because I care about stories, I love books and South African writers need us to talk about their books. It is going to be an ongoing segment and I hope you guys enjoy it and also try when the opportunity arises to buy South African books.

The book is written by Tshepiso Dumasi, he was born in Limpopo Teneriffe and is currently based in Kempton Park. 

Uncovered is a book about leadership, it is written as a guide to help you uncover the leaader within you using practical examples and real life experiences.

Learn more about Tshepiso...

Q. When did you start writing Uncovered?

A:  In 2017 November after having an amazing spiritual encounter about the lack of leadership in the youth of South Africa. 

Q: What moment can you say for sure that it led you to writing this book?

A:  When I saw the path young people are taking, this broke my heart and I asked a question, how can I intervene so that I help them to recognise who they are and what they are capable of.

Q. What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing your book(s)?

A:  I discovered the importance of leadership and how Africa is in desperate need of a new breed of leaders

Q: You share a lot of your family history and the impacts of Apartheid in your life (I appreciated that because not many people speak about their experiences), why did you feel that was important?

A:  The old system shaped our world view and in a way shaped our thinking patterns which are not necessarily good, I am challenging these views all the time with myself and people around me. Leadership has not been reserved for a certain race nor tribe, I believe that everyone is born a leader.

Q:  How did you choose the title? 

A: I truly uncovered a lot of things about myself when I was writing the book and I would like the reader to uncover themselves and approach the book with a sense of discovery they would like to experience.

Q: I enjoyed the book and took away many lessons (which we will discuss when we meet), what's the one thing you wish for people to take away from this book?

A: I want people to believe that no matter your background, you are born a leader and you can change your environment with your God given potential no matter how small or big your potential might look like.

Q: In South Africa, getting your book published can be a lot of difficult work, can you please take me through your process? 

A:The grace of God was with me. After writing the book, my editor hooked me up with a potential distributor but that distributor refused to do it because he was an aetheist and he felt that he could not promote a book that is against his beliefs but fortunately he referred me to Phil from Proteas Distributors. I signed a distribution contract with them but most importantly I added a clause which gives me the right to distribute to any place where they are not distributing, I think this is important because it give an author a bit of autonomy. The distributor placed it in a lot of bookstores including Exclusive Books accepting it as well. 

Q: I love how each and every chapter is structured, what was your inspiration for that?

A: I want the book to be practical, I did not want the book to be a feel good story but I wanted the reader to take something practical from the book hence I tried to force the reader to do a bit of homework after reading a chapter.

Q: Your decision to climb Mount Kilimanjaro was very spontaneous, what made you stick to your decision and would you do it again?

A:  I am stubbornly perseverant, I refuse to be defeated because I don’t take defeat kindly so I avoid to be defeated at all cost!!

Q: When I started reading this book I thought it's going to help me navigate corporate better but it translated to all areas of my life. Can you briefly (for someone who hasn't read the book) touch on the importance of leadership and why this book is a must read.

A: I will challenge your mindset regarding leadership, I will challenge what your true purpose is and I will challenge your belief system. It is always good to interrogate yourself every so often. Leadership starts with self-leadership, if you cannot lead yourself, how can you lead a family, community, organization and people? Lead your time, lead your own work and lead your life, then we can talk about leading people. Can anyone do this? Off-course, we can all lead ourselves and I can assure you, if we can all lead ourselves in an honest and ethical way then Africa has a brighter future. What is the problem of Africa? Not wealth, minerals and talent, our problem is selfless leaders. After all has been said and done, Africa has a challenge of LEADERSHIP! Period! 

"Potential is a dormant ability, reserved power, untapped strength, unused success, hidden talents and capped capabilities. In other words, all you can be but not yet become", This is one of my favourite lines from the book.

You can get the book at: Exclusive books for R180 and at Amazon.

I hope you enjoyed this interview, please leave your comments or questions below.

I would appreciate it if you can also share this post.

You can connect with Tshepiso on social media: Tshepiso Dumasi

You can conect with me: Ayanda Being

Stay safe and keep well.

See you on social media and on the next post.