To be among the leading women...
NTV MD, Aggie Konde, at the Women Wealth Wellbeing Network forum last year. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa.
What you need to know:
There are no guidelines set in stone as to how to get to the top and keep there. But, there are some standard things it might help to know. What does it mean for a woman to be in the corporate world and be a leader? Speaking at the Women Wealth Wellbeing Network forum last year, some women, among them Aggie Konde, Managing Director of NTV Uganda, shared from experience what they have learnt;
The available choices
In this world, there are two opportunities to grow; to get into the business world and grow from the bottom up, or falling into the world of entrepreneurship.
If you want to succeed, you must make yourself stand out. When something does not work out do not blame your boss or colleagues but look for a solution to the problem at hand. If you want to be wealthy, you need to set yourself a target and work to meet that target.
Boundaries are only set by us we are the ones that limit ourselves. Ask yourself what you are doing to remain relevant in the world and to open opportunities for yourself in the business world.
The reason people are employing men is because women do not want to get out of their comfort zone, they do not want to work upcountry, do not want to drive double cabins... You must always think of what you can do for yourself.
For entrepreneurship, Ugandans want to do things alone, which is limit ing. When you come together, you are able to bring resources together and if you don’t trust each other, engage a lawyer and make a contract.
Always be informed and get to know the information that will keep you relevant, do not limit yourself women limit themselves and even the places where you think we have a place like the fashion world the men are also invading us. As women, we have left space for man to occupy the places.”
Tips on how to succeed
• If you are going for an interview or a meeting, prepare yourself, read ahead that will give you an opportunity to ask informed questions and will get you noticed.
• Most of the times, after a meeting many women will walk away because you are thinking of going back home to the children but you forget that it is after the meeting when deals are cracked. Big meetings do not happen every day, so, if you having a meeting, plan to have an hour afterwards to meet people to form connections and hang out with the boys.
• As a woman, you should speak out. When there is a meeting, some women will come in with their notebooks. Do not lose the point; speak with confidence and do not stutter. Add value to the conversation scale up and add numbers.
• Women should stop being emotional about things. When you have made a mistake and it has been pointed out, do not break down and cry. How do you expect to be talked to when you are crying? When you have been criticised, take that criticism and work with it. It is a common occurrence when a woman is criticised she will take time thinking about it instead of being rational and thinking of what you can change about yourself.
• Distract yourself from the things that will hurt you and work to make yourself better.
• As women, we should learn to support the women that get to the top. If you get to the top, protect yourself because the workplace is a jungle and people will be trying to do everything to bring you down, both women and men. When they see you as aggressive they think of you as a man.
• Women should learn to support themselves and not bring each other down.
• Do not overlook opportunities when they come; there are many people looking to take up the same slots.
