Q & A UNIVERSITY OF MPUMALANGA
Being a VC is a lot of responsibility – how have you managed to ensure that while you have grown the institution, you continued to develop yourself?
Setting aside time to read and reflect has proven extremely helpful. Reading books on leadership, management, coaching, and journals like The Harvard Business Review has all helped me stay informed and assisted me in staying ahead. Spending time on self-care and safeguarding mental health and emotional wellness has been an ongoing focus.
Informal conversations with a few trusted Vice-Chancellors have allowed me to keep my feet on the ground and remain a perpetual scholar – forever seeking to improve and stay relevant.
How do you measure success?
For an institution like UMP, a variety of metrics can be used to measure success: positive throughput rates, an increased number of rated researchers, growth in publications in accredited journals, a widened Programme Qualification Mix, 11 consecutive years of clean audits, increasing numbers of students at each graduation, growth in Masters and Doctoral students, timely and budget-friendly completion of building projects, well-provisioned and state-of-the-art ICT, and high-quality collaboration partners nationally, continentally, and internationally. All these metrics are positive for UMP, indicating that we are a successful organisation.
Setting aside time to read and reflect has proven extremely helpful. Reading books on leadership, management, coaching, and journals like The Harvard Business Review has all helped me stay informed and assisted me in staying ahead. Spending time on self-care and safeguarding mental health and emotional wellness has been an ongoing focus.
What are key lessons you have learned on your journey of leadership?
A leader needs both soft skills – emotional intelligence( EQ), resilience and empathy – and hard skills, such as effective communication and the ability to take disciplinary action against staff and students in the case of transgressions. Strategic thinking and being a visionary are also essential. What’ s more, the leader must have the ability to pay attention to detail.
The competence to delegate while keeping people accountable is important. The presence of individuals who can act as sounding boards is central to a leader’ s life. The ability to take feedback and grow from it goes a long way on the leadership journey. A leader must also fill her emotional bank account, as Covey calls it, by taking breaks, recharging, and refuelling. Most crucially, having unconditional support from both family and friends is vital.
When looking back at your career journey, is there anything you would do differently and why?
There are core aspects of myself that I would keep: determination, diligence, discipline, and dedication. All the other inputs I have mentioned earlier that contributed to success are ones I would also retain. Life is forever changing and dynamic. What I would do differently is embrace technology more and consciously familiarise myself with the latest trends, such as AI and ChatGPT.
What do you cite as being your greatest accomplishment – and what was key to you achieving it?
My greatest accomplishment has been starting UMP from scratch to the now iconic structure it has become, offering 75 qualifications from Higher Certificate to Doctoral Degree. The pioneering journey of taking others along, from conception and conceptualisation to concreteness and completion, has been the most rewarding. Not many people get the opportunity to start a university de novo.
Key to achieving this was being driven by purpose, informed by vision, assisted by pioneering and innovationinspired staff, and supported by courageous students who entrusted us with their careers and futures.
Nothing could be more gratifying than leaving a legacy that will serve the Mpumalanga province for decades to come. ■
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