Zanudeen Makorie ‘19 is a lawyer, General Counsel and Company Secretary at RioZim, the largest mining company in Zimbabwe. In this interview Zanudeen talks about his personal leadership journey since joining ALUSB, shares his thoughts on what leadership development applied looks like in his professional life, and highlights some leadership lessons from African leaders that other students in the programme can emulate.
“Leadership is not something that you are born with but it’s something that develops. All of us have the potential, it’s just a question of applying what we have.”
Here are some highlights from Zanudeen’s interview:
How have you grown and developed as a leader since joining the programme?
“I was privileged enough to come from a background where I was always in leadership positions…In my head, I assumed that being a boss was being a leader but after joining ALU School of business, all of that has changed. I realised that there are many bosses out there but there are a few leaders.
Leadership is a journey that begins with you. First lead yourself, and to do that, you need to know who you are…I learned self-awareness and that makes it easier for me to lead others.
The most critical thing with leadership is just being able to lead others so that they can lead themselves later.”
What does leadership development applied look like for you in this programme?
“The best learning curve for me was when we did character profiles at the beginning of the programme. Naturally I am conservative, quite mild, and I assumed that was not leadership. Most leaders you see are extremely charismatic…I found my personality more on the mild side and I assumed that some of us were not necessarily leaders. But regardless of your character profile, all of us have that leadership within us. Leadership is not something that you are born with, but it’s something that develops. All of us have the potential, its just a question of applying what we have.”
What African Leaders have inspired you and taught you and your classmate’s leadership lessons to emulate?
“In Zimbabwe I am proud of Strive Masiyiwa, the Founder of Econet. I studied him in law school and I have watched his company grow since I was a child to where it is today. When you meet him, he is a very humble man and he speaks to everyone. I think Africa needs good ethical businessmen who are doing it well, not corrupt…simple people like us who made it, through simple hard work and perseverance. That’s my role model.”
New Leaders are stepping up in Zimbabwe and across Africa.What is need from those leaders from your perspective?
“The future of Zimbabwe is exciting regardless of who you support. The people who are rising are those who appreciate the struggle that the ordinary Zimbabwean is going through…I believe what needs to be done is getting someone who unifies the whole country…through diversity, we are better. We are one Zimbabwe, we are one nation and I believe whoever is going to take us forward cannot ignore the need to unite all of us as a people. That’s the only way we would go forward.”
Watch Zanudeen’s full video interview here:
