Mentorship, at its best, is a transformative relationship that shapes careers and lives, and the dynamic between Julia Modise, group HR director at BMW, and Reabetswe Regina Motshegare, HR director at Scatec, has been a testament to this.
Their journey began in 2008 when Julia, then the group HR director for Africa at Cummins, sought a graduate to work alongside her. Reabetswe, driven and passionate, stood out during the interview process. “What stood out to me about Reabetswe was her drive, enthusiasm, passion, and presentability, but also just the determination to get the role,” she recalls.
“When we started working together, what I admired and appreciated was the ability to question the status quo, not fearing that she’s young and can’t ask questions. So the confidence to ask questions and to simply say, ‘I think perhaps this can be done this way’ was amazing for me.”
This initial impression solidified into a deep belief in Reabetswe’s leadership capabilities, leading Julia to integrate her into the leadership team. Reabetswe’s perspective on their mentorship is equally compelling, as she describes how Julia quickly transitioned from a mentor to a strategic career coach.
“In the beginning, Julia was definitely a mentor. She mentored me for probably the first 6 months. After that, she transitioned from being a mentor to what people today call a career coach,” Reabetswe explains.
“Julia quickly decided, ‘I’m going to groom this young lady and change her position to make her what I am.’ I believe everyone needs a mentor like that because sometimes people put you into this ‘mentorship programme’, and you don’t graduate from always being a mentee into being a well groomed professional that can equally deliver.”
Reabetswe also recounted a pivotal moment of growth: “When Cummins Africa was opening an office in Morocco (which happened to be my first ‘international assignment’, she needed me to go there and I asked myself, ‘What is in Morocco?’ And she simply said, ‘That’s why you’re going — you need to find out what we need to do.’ That, to me, wasn’t someone still training me; it was someone who already made a decisive choice about my career and future. To be honest she could have chosen other senior colleagues in the team at the time.”
Not without challenges
She further highlights Julia’s unique approach, characterised by vulnerable leadership, decisiveness, and integrity.
“Mentors often want to appear as strong and all-knowing, but that was not Julia. She was quick to act and quick to hold you accountable.. Julia is quick to call you out, and that, to me, just showed the authentic leadership that she has and embodies. With Julia, you don’t have to guess if you are doing something wrong or right; she would tell you straight away and is firm but fair in her approach.”
Their journey and relationship, like any long-term relationship, wasn’t without its challenges, as Reabetswe discusses her initial resistance to constructive criticism and her struggles with adapting to Julia’s rigorous standards. Reabetswe admits to moments of ‘attitude’ and Julia’s ‘very long rope to hang yourself’.
“There have been days where Julia would tell me, ‘Your attitude sucks. Stop it’. And there were days when she would call out my performance for not being great, albeit everyone else around me thinking she favoured me…boy did they know how tough it was.”
“Before the business pattering term became such a big thing, I used to see her model it. She would walk into a meeting and know everything about the business, the financials, the strategy, and HR agenda. Meanwhile, I would walk in knowing everything about HR but nothing else about the business and the strategy. And what happens when you do that? You lose the audience, the people that you serve.”
Julia, in turn, highlights Reabetswe’s strength in execution and a potential area for growth she had to focus on, related to the importance of patience and inclusivity. “Reabetswe’s strength was definitely in execution and delivering results and integrity. So if she said she’s going to do something, she's going to do it.”
“An area that I really had to work on for a long time was understanding that not everyone is working at your pace, has your capability, and has your emotional intelligence,” Julia explains. “So, in a nutshell, understand that in a team, you’ve got A players, which are your high performers. B players, which are solid, but you also have C players. C players sometimes are people who do what they’re supposed to do, and they leave it there. They don’t really have career ambitions, but you have to bring everybody along. So Reabetswe’s patience levels with B and C players were a challenge, and we really had to work on that one for a long time.”
Dual commitment
Both, however, agreed that active listening, commitment, and courageous conversations are essential. Julia also stressed the reciprocal nature of mentorship, saying, “It’s also important to create a psychologically safe space for her to equally give me feedback.”
“In coaching, we say you can only coach someone who is coachable. Mentoring is the same,” Julia explains. “If Reabetswe or anyone wasn’t willing to be mentored, if I didn’t see genuine, gradual changes in the areas we discussed, I wouldn’t have continued. Otherwise, it would have just been a tick-box exercise. Mentorship requires dual commitment and courageous conversations.”
Reabetswe adds, “When you have a leader rooting for you, even when you don’t believe in yourself, you don’t want to disappoint them. She took a chance on me, and truly taught me the value of hard work and dedication.”
As Reabetswe has also ascended to leadership, she has embraced the responsibility of nurturing the next generation, echoing Julia's inclusive approach.
“I’ve learnt from Julia that the people that you have influence and access to are the same people that you help in whatever shape or form. Some people don’t aspire to be directors. Some people don’t aspire to stick with a 9-to-5 or remain in the human capital space. But you can still be influential, a safe space for others. Julia believes in psychological safety — and you become that for those people.”
Julia, reflecting on their journey, expresses pride in Reabetswe’s independence and success, highlighting the essence of mentorship as unleashing potential. “Why do we call it mentoring? I actually believe it's more on-the-job coaching—helping to unleash potential in people. That's what it really is. As a leader, my role was simply to recognise that potential and provide the tools, guidance, and support to bring it out. With a coaching mindset, I truly believe we all have the answers—we just need someone to ask the right questions.”
Reflecting on her own 20-year journey in mentorship, Julia acknowledges the unseen obstacles that often hold professionals back. “There was this psychological block — if you don’t see yourself there, the people who need to put you there can see that you don’t see it. There’s something about removing that psychological barrier, and that takes confidence. But there’s a deeper, much deeper, psychological barrier, and I think it’s the fear of failure.”
“Reabetswe could have been an HR director probably three or four years ago, but we had to work through that. The CEO and I believed she could do it, but she didn’t. And if the CEO speaks to you and you don’t believe you can do it, then…” she pauses, letting the reality sink in.
But eventually, she overcame that internal barrier, stepping into the HR director role on her own terms. Furthermore, Julia reflects on how much she has learnt as a mentor.
“I think when the opportunity for HR director roles came, I could have pushed her harder to break that internal psychological barrier that she had. But I also believe in people progressing at their own pace. You have to believe you're ready for you to succeed as well, right? But in hindsight, I think I should have been a lot pushier,” she admits.
Being accessible
Yet, what makes this mentorship story remarkable is that Reabetswe didn’t just follow in Julia’s footsteps but forged her own path. “I left Bridgestone, and Reabetswe became an HR director. Reabetswe didn't become an HR director at BMW. So quite frankly, she did it on her own. She didn’t have to follow Julia to do it. She’s now her own person, her own leader. And I am so proud of that,” Julia says with admiration.
She also shares how this mentorship model has inspired her. “I’ve learnt to not restrict myself to one person. I’ve learnt to be accessible to people.”
Now that Reabetswe has stepped into executive leadership, she carries Julia’s lessons forward and highlights the true essence of mentorship: “There comes a time when the mentorship moves from career discussions to personal discussions. You have to first work on yourself to be a better leader, a better colleague, a better person.”
As the conversation drew to a close, Julia’s impact was clear. “I desire to develop more ‘Reabetswes’ in my career. Not all of them will be directors, but they will be successful and content in their own right. And that’s also good enough.”
Julia’s mentorship has truly left a lasting legacy, as Reabetswe recalls conversations with professionals around the world who attribute their success to Julia’s guidance. “There’s a lady called Mthandeni Nhlapo, who started as a graduate at Cummins and is now leading as a global director. She continues, “A gentleman called Xolani Mashinini is equally leading global organisations and now based in Singapore. These are but a few examples of her true impact not only in peoples lives but in society.”
As for Reabetswe, who has stepped into her own executive leadership role, she is eternally grateful for the coaching she had from Julia. She reflects on her current leadership team at Scatec as being changemakers who strive to make an impact both in the organisation they serve and the communities which they have presence in. Reabetswe concluded by saying “We all need Julias in our lives and once you have them, be sure to do the same as well.”
