Career advice to my younger self

Most of the best advice comes from hindsight. So what better way to get effective career advice than from women who have been there? Women who have smashed glass ceilings, carved out niches for themselves and managed to stand out.

This week, four women with the advantage of hindsight give us practical insights on the lessons they’ve learnt about shining at work and the things they would do different given another chance.

Irene Kinuthia, 48, is the director of executive coaching at Strathmore Business School

Every year, Irene has between 200 and 500 executives in middle- and upper-level management pass under her wing. Currently, she is training 12 CEOs from across Africa. Irene is also a mother of eight children aged between five and 23. She has successfully managed to achieve the ever elusive work-life balance.

If there is anything that she has learnt along the way, it is that your career will always catch up, but your family won’t. Ten years ago, she was faced with a difficult decision of choosing either her high-end job or her family.

“This is where I knew that I had to stop listening to the society and decide what is important to me. I decided that I wanted a big family and to be a present mother,” she says.

Deciding that money is worth the value that you give it, Irene took a three-year career break during which she added to her brood. During this time, she did a lot of research on work-life balance. She saw an opportunity and stepped into consulting.

“The other lesson I learnt was not to shy away from accepting my weaknesses. After my master’s degree, I started coaching on work-life balance but I saw that I was better at the coaching than I was at the business aspect of it. So I looked for an institution that had the same agenda as I and found my space there,” she says.

Irene has found her niche in executive coaching which she terms as a conversation that turns knowledge to action. Her job allows her flexi-time to be a present mother to her children.

“You can have both family and career. The trick is just knowing when to step out of your career to take care of your kids and being confident that when you do, your career will catch up,” she sums it up.

Maggie Ireri is the director of TransAfricaMedia East Africa, a sports marketing company. She is also a mentor who awakens hidden talents

The most valuable piece of career advice that Maggie Ireri can give from her own journey is to desist from pursing money at the beginning of your career and to pursue the right opportunities instead. When it comes to job hunting, she says, keep an open mind. When she graduated from university, career opportunities were scarce.

When she saw an opportunity to work at a job that could barely make her ends to meet, she took it.

“This job eventually turned out to be the launching pad of my career. I got the right experience, was a step ahead of my peers and was eventually shortlisted for a well-paying job. The interview entailed a practical test and I was able to apply my experience and get the job,” she says.

When she started her career, she had a dream that she would one day rise to a leadership position. She pursued this and ended up in various roles ranging from field work and research to mid-level management.

At one point, she became the most ideal candidate to be the Ipsos Synovate managing director.

This experience further placed her in a position to be the Kenyan director for the international company that she currently leads.

She is happy here but looking back, she has one regret, “I think I worked too hard – long hours. I would advise my younger self to work hard and also play hard too,” she says.

Angela Ng’ang’a is Microsoft’s corporate affairs lead in East and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands

Looking back at her journey up the career ladder, Angela has no regrets. She may have had rough patches but she prefers to see the glass as half full. She leads a contented life.

There are things that she could wish that she did different like spending more time with her children but when she looks at the situation now, she and her children share the best relationship, so the little pieces fell into place.

One thing that saddens her when she looks at young people just starting their careers today, is the blind chase for more money, for the next promotion or the next job title.

“To succeed, you need to set the right goals. You only get one chance, plan and invest in personal development. This way, you will have a clear view of where you are going. You will not just be jumping from job to job.”

This can best be demonstrated by the fact that she worked 10 years for AAR before moving to Orange Kenya where she worked for five years. She’s had her current job for three years and before she lives, it is important to her that she makes an impact.

So what is her formula for success?

“Commitment,” she says.

Not commitment just to her goals but also to others around her. Angela, a big football fan resonates with the Liverpool Football Club anthem, ‘You’ll never walk alone.’ By walking with others, she also gets to enjoy her success with others.

Muthoni Wachira-Kanyana is the head of marketing, CSR and sustainability at Imperial Bank Group

Muthoni had a big dream and she achieved it. In fact, this month, she was named by The Business Daily among the Top 40, under 40 women who have excelled. But not before learning her life’s most important lesson, “We are completely responsible for our own lives.”

Seven years into her career, Muthoni went through a personal situation that left her scarred. She tried to hide her pain by burying herself in work, but a friend dragged her to a Landmark Forum event where she learnt her first life lesson – Ignoring her circumstances would not change them. She seized the situation and rock bottom became a solid foundation for her to rebuild her life.

Muthoni then went through a period where she felt restless in her career but knew that a change of scenery would not necessarily change this feeling.

“I decided to bloom where I was planted. This change of mindset saw me start seeing the surprising number of opportunities that my job held. My job today is not an obstacle but an arena in which to fully express my capabilities and talents,” she says.

She started writing speeches for bank directors and press statements for the bank. When she put her foot forward, her employer recognised it and she was rewarded.

Her training and development was supported and she got leeway to hire talented staff.

This way, her role has evolved from just marketing to sustainability and being in charge of corporate social responsibility, something that she is passionate about.

“If there is one thing I could tell my younger self, it is that your qualifications or your CV, are not your life. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its turmoil.”