Mistakes only become a tragedy if you don’t learn from them

Mary M’Mukindia is an executive leadership coach and oil and gas expert

From experience, what are the key factors a young person should hinge upon when deciding where to go to school and what to study?

Do your research. In this age when we have a lot of online resources at our disposal, there is no excuse for ignorance. Take your time – read about the course that you want to take and research about yourself and compare your talents, passions and the course, as well as the opportunities that come with it. If looking to change jobs, don’t do it blindly; read about the company and see if it fits with your career goals. The key thing is to make informed decisions, but even as you make them, remain open to new experiences because the more you understand the job that you are doing, the better you become at doing it; so show up, volunteer and learn along the way. Be flexible; sometimes good opportunities find us just by being at the right place at the right time.

What opportunities, apart from school, should young people hoping to become oil and gas experts in future look out for?

The oil and gas sector in itself is not labour intensive and in many ways self-sufficient. What oil and gas does though, is to open up opportunities because this sector is a catalyst for national development, therefore, one should think in terms of the opportunities that revenues from oil and gas provide. In the wake of oil revenues, there is increased need for technicians, engineers, skilled construction personnel and people to provide social services such as doctors, teachers and nurses because of the developing infrastructure that oil portends. Young people will do well to position themselves for these opportunities. For the few who are truly passionate about oil exploration, I would recommend a course in geology, petroleum engineering or geophysics.

What other personal qualities does one need to work on to succeed in the oil and gas sector?

Discipline and passion. This is a very technical sector, and attention to detail is paramount especially because of the 24/7 safety, health and environmental considerations during operations. Patience is also very important because it takes a while before things begin to look up; One should be willing to put in time and patiently wait for their dreams to bear fruit.

Sometimes clever ideas don’t bear fruit – how does one recover from mistakes?

First of all, do not throw away any idea during the brainstorming stage, listen to advice, and when you do fall, take it as a learning process and move on. Do not let mistakes get you down. It is only becomes a tragedy if you fail to learn from your mistakes.

What would you say has been the greatest challenge of working in a male-dominated field?

Attitude is very important, it is what has got me through any challenges that might have been there. When you go to work and focus too much on the wrong thing, then chances are you will begin seeing shapes in the clouds. I started work at the world’s largest oil company – ExxonMobil, a strict professional environment and that set the pace for me. Remaining professional in the way I carry out my duties has been the key.

How would you say growing up without a mother impacted the person that you are today?

I became more aggressive than I think I would have been if I was brought up by my mum all through. This upbringing prepared me to be forthright and not afraid to speak up and defend my ideas and thoughts. Having an uncompromising father taught me how to be firm and very strong.

What is the fondest memory from your time at university?

It has to be spending three months in Turkey on an AISEC programme. Then I enjoyed going out with friends from all over the world– we would just hire a van or a boat and take a trip to wherever during weekends.

Young women today are encouraged to concentrate on school, then later, their careers. How does one know that they are concentrating too much on the career side while leaving out other aspects, such as their social lives?

You know there is a problem when you begin to lose certain parts of you. There should always be a work-life balance. Being in school should give you an all-round education. Eventually, when you get to your workplace, it is important to forge other relationships outside of work – join social clubs and build character. Do not disregard your health, your hobbies and spiritual nourishment.

What mistakes do you think you made in your early 20s? How did you deal with them?

It has to be overconcentration on work that got me rapidly promoted while ignoring other aspects of my life. I balanced this over time when I started to realise that I needed to have balance in my life. Nowadays, I try to give every aspect of life equal importance.
Do you mentor young people/young professionals?

Yes. I mentor young people in entrepreneurship and leadership. I am a trustee at the Mbugua-Rosemary Foundation, which trains individuals under 30 on how to develop and run their businesses successfully by starting right. We offer six-months of formal training followed by an 18 months mentorship programme. Young people interested can visit www.mbuguarosemaryfoundation.org and Facebook page (Mbugua Rosemary Foundation) for further details.

From your interactions with young professionals, what would you say is the greatest mistake that they make?

For women, the greatest mistake is that they underestimate themselves. Generally, the greatest mistake young people make is assuming that they know, so they do not invest time in learning details and end up glossing over things.

Was your passion something that you found or did it find you?

Passion found me. I gave myself the chance to explore and try out different things, and in the process, my passion found me. I say take up opportunities that are out there and learn; try out different things and your passion might just find you.