Rising woman: Empowering women, embracing diversity

What is your personal story? How have you gotten to where you are today in your career?

My personal story is a reflection of the goodness of the Lord, and an epitome of hard work. I graduated from University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in 2000 with a Bachelor’s Degree (BCom). I immediately joined PwC as an Associate, but worked for only 3 months before going back to UDSM to pursue an MBA after obtaining a DAAD scholarship. I rejoined PwC after my master’s degree in 2002. By then I had developed some sense of direction in terms of what I wanted to achieve and that is to become a Corporate Leader in Tanzania.

With this determination and the tremendous support I was receiving from my employers and career mentors, I was able to climb the corporate ladder at PwC and at Standard Chartered Bank. When NMB Bank came knocking with a vacant position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2018, I knew it was the beginning of greater things to come. I worked diligently in the CFO role, making remarkable contribution to the bank in terms of strategy, governance, cost efficiency and overall leadership. And when my predecessor left, 9 months thereafter, the board of directors invested trust in me to hold the position of CEO on an interim basis. In August 2020, I received the honor and a humbling blessing of becoming the first Tanzanian at the helm of NMB as CEO.

Did you always know where you wanted to be?

This is an interesting question, because if I say yes, that will be disheartening and unfair to thousands of youth who are at their career infancy and clouded with so much confusion and lack of clarity in terms of career direction. If I say no, then I will be downplaying the importance of self-determination, clarity of thoughts and ambition. So to be honest, I would say that depending on what stage of my life you are referring to, then I can say with certainty that I knew where I wanted to be. To me, clarity of where I wanted to be, came with exposure, and maturity.

Can you tell us a little bit about those experiences? Like what has been the most vulnerable moment of your life or in your career?

Before focusing on my personal vulnerability story, first I would like to point out that vulnerability has traditionally been viewed as a weakness in the workplace. I once belonged in this category, until I came to discover that being vulnerable at times represents the ability to show people that I am not perfect, that I can also make mistakes, and I for one don’t have all the answers. In 2006 working for PwC, and about to have my third child, I became quite ill. I felt that this was unfair to my team and decided to resign from my position as senior associate. I gathered courage to speak to one of the partners. To my surprise, they understood my concerns and agreed to the decision. Six months later, I was pleasantly surprised to receive flowers from PwC on the day my son was born. A further three months later, I got an even bigger surprise when PwC asked me to go back to work and was promoted on the day I rejoined the firm.

Does NMB have any policy in place that aims at creating gender balance, especially at managerial levels? Share tangible successes

In 2015, we formed a platform called ‘Women Arise’ aimed at empowering women leaders through capacity building in a number of interventions such as identification and mentorship of female talents, targeted training which focused on preparing female staff for leadership positions, making the workplace user friendly for female staff being more productive and making sure we have policies that support work-life balance. Through ‘Women Arise’, a number of our women leaders got exposure to attend a number of courses including at Association of Tanzania Employers’ Female Future program, Women’s World Banking in USA and Rabo Women Development in the Netherlands. We have a flexible working policy, which enables women to have a work-life balance, but also a burring room at our headquarters that allows female staff to take care of their children in a work setting - all these are meant to create a better working world for female staff.

What is your leadership style and how did you find out about it?

I have a range of leadership styles and I use them differently in different situations depending on what the situation demands.

The most common ones to me are democratic style which is a participative leadership style where you engage people, involve them in the decision making, but you remain accountable for the decision. Coaching is also very much in me because of the audit background over the years. As a person, my motivation and purpose is to be a role model and impact lives in my community.

For those who want to be leaders, do you advise that they get any formal training on how to lead?

Leadership trainings have a place in terms of giving you knowledge on emerging concepts, technologies, insights, new trends etc. It is good from time to time to invest in formal trainings.

However, interestingly Robin Sharma in his book on leaders with no title touched upon this classic question. He said that we should all aspire to be leaders with no titles. This is experiential learning that I advocate. Therefore, formal training while is necessary for knowledge gaining purposes, experiential learning is also equally important in leadership journey.

What do you think is causing the lack of diversity in top leadership? Why are women not rising to the top?

Fortune 500 companies have only 16 percent women directors, 10 percent women CFOs, and only 4 percent women CEOs, but strategically more than 57 percent of degrees are awarded to women in the developed world. Tanzania’s top 140 companies comprise a paltry 9 percent women CEOs.

Barriers include; male-dominated culture; childcare (women are the primary caretakers across the globe).

Our organizations need to be more aware of this and actively support our young women leaders. Gender equality can be achieved through deliberate programs by all players to create cultures and environments that empower women and embrace diversity.

What can women do to take these matters into their own hands to change these situations?

I think women have a role to play to improve the situation, but they cannot do it on their own. We need to have policies that embrace the realities of women and accommodate their unique leadership journey.

What do you think is the best strategy to sustain women empowerment initiatives to last for posterity?

Sensitize the leaders and the community and instill consented commitment on the value of empowerment. The moment women empowerment becomes a collective dream it is when we will witness a significant change that is sustainable.

What three pieces of advice do you have for your younger self?

You are in charge of your career. Build the right competence and create a strong support network and always lean in, do not be afraid to make contributions and raising your hand when opportunities come by. Believe, behave, become.