The business landscape in 2025 is a veritable minefield. From the unstoppable rise of artificial intelligence and cyber risks to the escalating pressure to address societal and environmental concerns while geopolitical tensions continue to ratchet up, leaders are facing unprecedented levels of complexity in the year ahead.
Navigating this terrain safely requires not just resilience, smarts, and strategic nous but also a unique brand of optimism in a time when optimism is in short supply. ‘Leaders must be able to see beyond the immediate challenges, identify emerging opportunities, be realistic about what they are facing and still inspire their teams to walk towards the future with confidence,’ says Prof Bernd Vogel, Head of the Henley Centre for Leadership Africa (HCLA).
Prof Vogel adds that it is hard to get the balance right, but there are impressive leaders on the frontlines who exemplify this approach and are connecting and empowering people and building businesses that matter. The HCLA has captured some of their stories in an inspiring leadership series. We share six key insights from this series below.
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Know yourself – and then get out of your own way
To be a successful leader, you don’t have to bend to the dominant culture to fit in. In fact, your real power lies in knowing who you are at your core and embracing that. This kind of self-awareness is critical, says Lolly Gwabavu, Group Head Leadership Development at Nedbank, because it creates space for others who are like you, too.
She relates how she did something revolutionary back in 2002 by going to an interview at a male-dominated, Afrikaans-speaking earth-moving business, with dreadlocks. ‘I remember getting feedback around that and questions, and just having to stand my ground and say, this is who I am. This is what I bring.’
She got the job and went on to help that company shift. Today, the organisation that often had no separate ablution facilities for women on site when Gwabavu joined is consistently recognised for its holistic approach to gender mainstreaming and diversity efforts.
Building her self-awareness has helped Gwabavu manage her career path in spite of both external influences and internal battles. One thing she has learned along the way is the importance of being able to get out of your own way at times. ‘We are shaped by our experiences, what has happened to us, and how we frame situations. This means we can sometimes develop a certain mindset that is not the most conducive to a straight path to a goal,’ she explains.
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Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Getting out of your own way can also mean knowing when you need to ask others for help. The pressure to have all the answers can be overwhelming for leaders, says Viktor Sekese, CEO of SNG Grant Thornton. But leaders are people, and all people need help.
‘It’s important to leverage the experience of a range of guides,’ he says, noting how he sought out Jack Maree, the former CEO of Standard Bank, for guidance in growing SNG from a medium-sized firm to a bigger organisation with notable ambitions in Africa.
Sekese knows that asking for help can be difficult. So, SNG Grant Thornton is helping its future leaders overcome this step by offering help pre-emptively. ‘We partnered with Henley Africa Executive Development to develop a unique programme for our future leaders,’ says Sekese. ‘Our Africa Director Development Programme aims to capacitate promising professionals within the firm who have the potential to lead the firm to the next level.’
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Create the spaces for coaching and mentorship to co-create success
Coaching and mentorship are also key means to elevate leadership skills and good leaders, like Genine Jacobs, Standard Bank’s Executive Head of People and Culture in Personal and Private Banking South Africa, have almost always benefited from workplace support to overcome obstacles and self-liming beliefs including imposter syndrome.
Now, Jacobs is paying it forward by coaching her team on their journey, too. In fact, she believes that when creating a strategic vision for the company, all of those involved should have a voice in shaping the path toward the shared goal. She explains that mentees learn from their mentors’ mistakes and successes, and these individuals then become a valuable sounding board when it comes to making critical decisions.
Jabulane Hlalethoa, the divisional executive of Corporate Services at the FSCA, who started the first mentoring programme at the FSCA after himself benefiting from such guidance, agrees.
‘For the last 20 years, I’ve been a mentor to many professionals in the HR space, producing leaders who have now become senior managers in HR,’ Hlalethoa explains. ‘We still engage and brainstorm solutions when they face difficult issues. It doesn’t mean that I know it all, but I impart the knowledge I have to my colleagues and senior staff members in the organisation.’
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Invest in young talent and harvest fresh ideas
Tebogo Baloyi, Head of HR at Bryte Insurance, is another leader who believes that firms must take the initiative to grow their own talent. That’s why Bryte Insurance launched the Bryte Academy in 2019, which gives employees access to high-quality education through Henley Business School and other partners. One of the goals of the Academy is to help employees advance within the organisation. ‘Talent and succession are key,’ says Baloyi.
The scope of the Academy’s work continues to expand. The latest addition is NextCo, Bryte’s first shadow board, which provides an opportunity to engage talent within the business. Baloyi explains: ‘We want diverse thinking in how we approach projects and strategic initiatives, and we want to hear the voice of our younger generation. So, NextCo is the practical experience that allows talented individuals to shine even more and get more exposure to projects. The shadow ExCo also sits like an ExCo; they are mapped to a portfolio and will be given real projects to execute as a team.’
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Put people first and listen to what they have to say
All of these initiatives have at their heart a commitment to people. In a world where profit often comes before people, leaders like Katherine Gibson, deputy commissioner at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), are striving to enshrine the principle of putting people first.
Gibson says: ‘The focus of business activities should be to provide true customer value and not just gain market share. We are confident that the one will lead naturally to the other.’ For the FSCA, this is very much about helping South African consumers embrace and benefit from financial products and services.
Putting people first extends beyond the customer base, too. Within the FSCA, Gibson also urges all members of the team to have their voices heard and contribute toward the solution to a problem (a practice that has been proven to enhance productivity in the workplace).
‘I’m definitely one that believes that hearing people’s views gives you more power [as a leader]; it doesn’t take away from your power,’ she Gibson.
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Take responsibility and uplift others
Ultimately, as leaders in South Africa today, it is important to take responsibility and understand your role within the wider society. Gwabavu believes that reflective and transformative leadership is critical to corporate longevity and the future health of the country and welcomes the fact that there is a growing acceptance that leadership does not start and end with government; it is about people, communities, and neighbourhoods. ‘I’m excited by that,’ she says of the maturing of community involvement in South Africa and a return to a more straightforward time when ‘we were all responsible for each other’.
One leadership capability that Sekese would like to see receiving more attention in the future is the uniquely African approach of Ubuntu, which taps into aspects of humane leadership and interlinked futures.
‘Had we paused in 1994, with our transition, and discussed what type of society we wanted, and then if we had adopted those cultural principles and brought them into government, business, and society, then maybe we would be performing more to our potential today,’ he says. ‘I would say if we can leverage our culture and our approach to life, we can export it to the world.’ DM
These leadership insights are extracted from a series of profiles of optimistic leaders developed by the Henley Centre for Leadership Africa. Established in 2023, the Henley Centre for Leadership Africa is a sister centre of the Henley Centre for Leadership and is focused on recognising, developing, transforming, and sustaining positive and optimistic leadership in Africa. Both centres honour and advance Henley Business School's strong heritage and reputation as a pioneer in the thinking and practice of leadership and its development.
For more information on Henley Business School in Africa please go to https://www.henleysa.ac.za