Gcobisa Mashegoana: ‘You have to value your people’
Gcobisa Mashegoana, Executive Manager – Contracts, Resource and Performance Management at Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, shares her opinion and experience on leadership; and insight on Eskom’s roadmap to achieve its Environmental, Social and Governance goals, and some of the challenges that the sector has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This interview was originally published in The Global Power & Energy Elites 2022
WHAT’S THE BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ THIS YEAR?
My favourite book is ‘Betting on a Darkie – Lifting the Corporate Game‘ by Mteto Nyati, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Altron Group. It’s an interesting story about the journey of an overachiever, a corporate leader who had to overcome many challenges in his career.
As much as it is interesting from a corporate leadership perspective, he also reflects on his life journey: Being a son of a shopkeeper, a family man, and a business leader from both local and multinational corporations.
WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES A SUCCESSFUL LEADER?
Having clarity of focus is the number one characteristic of a leader. You need to know what needs to be done and the goals that you need to achieve as a leader. Secondly is the connection. It is important to stay close with your team and be able to understand what inspires them daily and also how to ensure that they know that they are valued as your team. Thirdly, what works for me is compassion. There’s nothing wrong in showing the people that you work with that you care and that they do matter.
The last two aspects are agility – being able to read more and to listen more to what others are saying – and being able to communicate effectively.
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About Gcobisa Mashegoana
Gcobisa Mashegoana has over 20 years of experience in the field of project management, risk, IT, finance, contract management, procurement and supply chain management and multi-stakeholder management. Gcobisa is currently leading a research project that is looking at developing a comprehensive, just energy transition strategy to advance South Africa’s aspirations for a lower carbon economic growth and socially inclusive future. The ambition of this strategy is to transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with concomitant commitment to creating jobs, stimulating local manufacturing and contributing to a just transition for South Africa.
