Celebrating Women's Month

To mark this special month, we’ve asked them a few questions to share their reflections on leadership, business demographics, and lessons learned:

What has been the most rewarding part of leading Odgers South Africa?

• Chania: Building a purpose-driven business, with an exceptional team.
• Lauren: The impact that our work has on people’s lives and their livelihoods.

How does the work that you do, impact the female leadership landscape in South Africa? 

Our search process is designed to promote diversity of gender, social, and ethnic backgrounds. It begins with our commitment to inclusion and belonging in our own workplace. 

What advice would you share with your younger self or women aspiring to leadership roles in the corporate world?

• Chania: Remain authentic and be true to yourself. Ask for feedback regularly, from a small group of trusted advisors.
• Lauren: Build a strong sponsorship and support base, listen to advice from experienced business leaders, and don’t shy away from hard work and long hours.

How has your leadership approach changed over time?

• Chania: It has evolved from focusing primarily on outcomes to placing greater emphasis on people. Sustainable success is driven by a team that is united around a shared purpose. My role is to create the conditions for collaboration, to inspire and challenge our team, and empower them to perform at their best.
• Lauren: Acknowledging failure as an important part of learning and improving. Listening more and saying less. Admitting vulnerability and asking for help more often.

What strategies have you used to promote diversity within your company?

Odgers “Unlimited” is a global programme of initiatives that embody our philosophy and our commitments to inclusion and diversity. We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace and, we focus on this in our employment philosophy and our team development objectives. 

What trends do you see for female leadership in South Africa? 

Unfortunately, female representation at a leadership level remains low in South Africa, with only 10% of the JSE top 100 companies (by market capitalisation) having female CEOs.  

At a broader executive level, this varies by industry; however, in a recent search assignment concluded across Retail, FMCG, and Telecommunications, we found that female representation at an executive leadership level remains below 40% across these sectors, with Retail showing the highest proportion at 39%, and Telecommunications the lowest at 31%.