The Bok Way

Discover how a Rugby World Cup–winning team builds organizational health and employee experience through practical, replicable principles.

The back-to-back Rugby World Cup–winning Springbok team has captured the imagination of South Africans in a way that has never been achieved before. This team serves as a fascinating case study of what is possible when an organisation focuses on being not just smart, but also healthy. By incorporating and modelling specific principles that aim to enhance the experience of players, staff and coaches, the team has managed to become more than the sum of its parts. This book unpacks these principles in a way that equips anyone responsible for leading a group, team or organisation with the tools to replicate what the Boks have managed to achieve in their own context. By drawing on personal and media interviews with those who helped shape their environment, including Jacques Nienaber and Steven Kitshoff, the book provides practical examples that will enable the reader with the know-how to do it themselves. The Bok Way is for anyone who wants to build a great team of their own and needs some stepping stones on the way. The principles highlighted are taken from the best-practice knowledge of organisational health and employee experience and is packaged in such a way to make it relevant, practical and entertaining.

PJ Claasen is fascinated by people, especially those who achieve extraordinary things against all odds, making others watch in disbelief as they accomplish the seemingly impossible. After nearly a decade working with some of South Africa’s largest corporates – and seeing firsthand how disengagement holds both people and businesses back – he co-founded PurposeWorks in 2020 with his business partner, Shinell Pretorius. Their mission is to equip organisations, leaders and employees with the tools to create environments in which people thrive and do their best work. He lives in Cape Town with his teenage son.