South Africa’s leading women CHROs and their mentees gathered to share knowledge and engage on what groundbreaking leadership means to them at the annual event.
On the evening of 1 August, the country’s top HR leaders and their executive counterparts in IT and finance gathered for the 9th Annual Executive Women's Dinner at the Focus Rooms in Modderfontein in honour of Women’s Month.
Under the theme Seismic leadership: shifting landscapes, shaping leaders, the 300 strong trifecta of communities shared strategies and mindsets that enable women to lead with impact, fostering environments where innovation thrives and diverse perspectives are valued.
MC for the night, Radio 2000 media personality Ntombi Meso kicked off the evening by welcoming the attendees and introducing the fireside chat moderated by FloatPays CPO Andisa Liba.
During the discussion, Wired4Women chairperson Nomonde White-Ndlovu, said, “When you have a seat at the table you have a responsibility to that seat, as leaders you need to challenge yourself and do better. Perhaps the most fundamental question now should be to those of us who are senior leaders on how we ought to shoulder the responsibility to create space and those that are coming up behind us.”
Sharoda Rapeti, independent non-executive director at Altron, cautioned the mentees in the audience to be kinder to themselves even when climbing the corporate ladder.
“Women are their toughest critics. It is so important for women to afford themselves grace because we are already in a tough world. Today, I laugh at myself for being so serious when I was younger. I was tortuous of myself and overly demanding; I have learned late in life to be kind to myself,” she said.
Closing up the fireside chat, moderator Andisa asked the ladies in attendance to re-evaluate the impact their style of leadership has on their respective organisations, “Ethical and conscious leadership has been topical in the past few years, but it is time we take action on this and not use it as a catchphrase. We, as leaders of some of the most influential companies in the country, need to do better.”
Following what was a thought provoking fireside chat, the ladies were given an opportunity to share among themselves the biggest seismic event that they have each gone through in either personal or career and what they have learnt from it. Many stories ranging from how others navigated the journey to motherhood to finding their voices within brought encouragement and enlightenment to both the mentees and the mentors in attendance
After the intense session of story sharing, musician and actor Khanyo Maphumulo, known for her work in The Lion King and Sarafina, delivered a scintillating performance while guests enjoyed a delicious main meal courtesy of the chef and staff at the Focus Rooms.
Innovate to dominate
Following the delicious main course, 2023’s CHRO of the Year and Standard Bank’s chief people and culture officer Sharon Taylor joined Webber Wentzel CFO Aneshree Naidoo and Dr Denisha Jairam-Owthar, CIO at the Council for Medical Schemes, on stage to deliver a thought provoking panel discussion under the theme, Women of the future – innovate to dominate!
Sharon, who spoke about women’s representation in the banking sector, said leaders need to be more conscious about creating a fine balance.
“The banking sector, in particular Standard Bank, has 68 percent female workforce, so it has a huge female workforce. If I look at my leadership team, it is mainly women. Nowadays, guys are asking if there is room for them to grow, asking what does it mean to be in a workforce that is predominantly female?” she said.
“For me it is about balancing diversity and ensuring that the organisation does not become anti-male. We have to work hard at keeping this in balance, but at the same time we also have to be realistic about the various issues that women face,” she added.
Sharon said that work means nothing if it doesn't have a desired impact, adding that the future generations are going to be judged on our impact one day.
“It is not about what we said but more so about what we helped to do,” she highlighted.
The evening wrapped up with reflections and takeaways from the evening's conversations while guests appreciated the Sandton skyline from Modderfontein’s viewpoint, while enjoying beverages, socialising, and the opportunity to forge new connections.
This dinner was made possible with the support of principal partners Entelect, iOCO, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, MakwaIT, Mercer, Ntiyiso Consulting and Old Mutual Corporate; executive partners Africa Data Centres, BCX, BDO South Africa, Equinix, Stanlib and Workday; as well as associate partners Franklin Covey and Zoie Health Technologies.
