Andrew
Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual, group or organisation to influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organisations. Zimbabwe is full of such leaders yet one area of concern is that they may not pass on their leadership skills to future generations. In a broadcast by our sister company, Zimpapers TV network (ZTN) in partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ), Andy Hodges (AH), talked to the group chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), Mr Justin Bgoni (JB), on the leadership talk show and discussed his journey so as to inspire the next generation of leaders. Below are excerpts of the interview.
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AH: Justin, you were living outside Zimbabwe and then you decided to return home, why did you do this?
JB: It is because my country always took care of me when I was a young person, so I always knew in my heart that I would come back and give it back to my country. Also it was a sense of adventure because when I got the opportunity of having my current position, I told myself that I would regret it if I did not do this.
AH: You have worked for numerous companies over your career in various roles, what have been the highlights and milestones of your leadership journey?
JB: The most important piece was being an articled clerk and qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in Zimbabwe. The combination of working and studying at the same time helped me very much in terms of working hard. I also learnt about problem-solving which helped me to be rational at McKinsey in South Africa and at ZSE, I gathered the importance of the country in enabling companies to raise money, also enabling people to get wealth.
AH: Was it an easy or difficult journey? In fact, in your leadership journey, did you encounter any major challenges?
JB: I would say, I had challenges on the half part of my working life with adaptation to new environments after changing roles and organisations until I read a book called “The next 90 days”, which is a book that I recommend to anyone starting a new job/role because it basically tells you the framework on how to succeed and build relationships.
AH: Justin, you have a Masters Degree in Applied Finance (obtained with distinction) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, a Chartered Accountant Fellow at the Institute of Chartered Accountants Zimbabwe and you hold a Bachelor of Accounting Science (obtained with a distinction) from the University of South Africa. There has been much debate on the role of education in a leadership journey. Do you think education is important for any budding future leaders?
JB: I believe that most people need to have a foundation for them to succeed. That is why education is important because you learn something new and apply it in the real world.
AH: What about soft skills that may not or cannot be learned in the classroom. What about these? What would be your advice?
JB: The most important soft skill that I learned was you must have a philosophy in life because it helps you in terms of making decisions, as for me I used a philosophy called stoicism and it helps me in terms of resilience.
AH: Justin, every successful path comes naturally with failure. How did you and would you recommend that future leaders deal with this important issue?
JB: I believe that in life you have to learn that in whatever you are doing, things will always go wrong. There is nothing you can do about it, so you need to learn to live with failure and build resilience.
AH: What do you consider to be your key success factors during your journey?
JB: I’ve learned that when I do what I am passionate about, I tend to do better, and I’ve noticed that when I do that, I tend not to think of work as work, but rather I will be more energetic and creative. Whether it’s a job or an organisation, you have to do what you believe in and it will help you a lot in your life.
AH: Was the support of your family important in achieving your goals? I also suppose balancing work and home life is very important?
JB: In terms of support, I got a lot of support from my family because they knew how important what I am doing is to myself, ZSE and the country and also the life balance tend to be very important especially with my children because they needed me.
AH: What is your opinion or thoughts on future leaders, should they look for mentors to assist them or at the very least build up a significant network of individuals?
JB: You need mentorship since it is more diverse, it is not just a person that you know and talk to, but there is mentorship in reading a biography of someone that you admire and that quite helps a lot, but you also have to build a strong network for you to succeed.
AH: In your opinion what are the major traits that leaders must have or exhibit to be successful?
JB: The major one is resilience because you get failure and obstacles so if you are not resilient in life you get nothing, especially in Zimbabwe. Also never stop learning because nowadays there are many ways that you can learn with or without going to school, for example, social media and whatever you learn you need to apply it.
AH: Justin, what do you consider to be the greatest challenge facing leaders or future leaders in Zimbabwe today and in your opinion how can or should these be navigated?
JB: In Zimbabwe there is a lot of negativity hence you need a clear reason before doing something and you must know that you will face obstacles, therefore, you need to be resilient.
AH: Finally, as one of today’s leaders, what would you like to be remembered for?
JB: I would like to be remembered as someone who helped at least an individual in achieving his or her own goals or dreams.
Online Reporter