Leadership is a process of social influence which maximises the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal. Ms Justina Mashiba, a lawyer and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Universal Communications Service Action Fund (UCSAF) says young women aspiring for leadership positions need to know that leadership is about determination to deliver at the level they serve with high confidence, honesty and discipline.
She disclosed this to the Go! Tanzania online Magazine recently through a telephone interview. She said such a move will enable that young women aspiring for leadership positions makes their contribution to the organization noticeable. “These young women aspiring higher positions in leadership also need to learn to manage stress which comes with taking more responsibilities in leadership,” she says.
However, she noted that for her, leading the UCSAF has come with great challenges due to ever rising expectation from their Key Stakeholders (the unconnected Tanzanian Population). “Every time I think we have registered a significant milestone in communication coverage in an area, I end up receiving new communication challenges in different areas OR from a different communication subsector.
This makes the CEO desk very busy,” she says. Asked on how she ensures that young women aspiring for higher positions in leadership are mentored to ensure they achieve their dreams, she says in order to be a good mentor, she decided to take a sizable number of mentees at a time and currently she has four of them.
“This ensures that I can create sufficient time out of busy schedule to meet each mentee at least once in a quarter to discuss on how they’ve been fairing since previous meeting,” she says. She says she considers the approach to be effective as she get to understand the mentees better and know what guidance they need to further their career. She points that every work has challenges and for her, it was about balancing the financial resources available to implement priority projects.
“Creating a work life balance such that I can deliver the office responsibilities without having to squeeze family time, was also among the daily challenges i face,” she says. The UCSAF chief executive officer advises young women aspiring to reach higher levels to be determined to deliver at the level they serve with high confidence, honesty and discipline to make their contribution to the organization noticeable.
She also says they need to learn to manage stress which comes with taking more responsibilities in leadership. Ms Justina, a holder of the Bachelor of Laws from the University of Dar es Salaam, worked for the Tanzania Revenue Authority and then the Government Procurement Services Agency before Joining the Universal Communications Service Action Fund (UCSAF) in 2018 and being appointed later in 2019 as its Chief Executive Officer. Ends/seen
