Exclusive Trusted Magazine Q&A with Dorcas Dube, National Marketing and Communications Manager of Citizen Leader Lab
How would you describe your career path in a few words?
My career path has be a journey of purposeful intent. I was certain that I want to be in the marketing and communications field however, I was confident that my purpose was to serve therefore I had to merge my interests in the field of communication and my passion for the development sector. I acquired qualifications in Strategic Communications with my latest qualification being a Masters In Strategic Communication with a focus on public school leadership in South Africa. I was deliberate in securing a job in Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and I am glad I stood by my commitment and believed in the uniqueness of my journey as I get to live my interests while fulling my purpose as the National Marketing and Communications Manager of a NGO in South Africa known as Citizen Leader Lab which utilises innovative leadership development models to grow conscious citizen leaders who catalyse positive change in their communities and across society, build social cohesion and work towards achieving a just society.
What was your most challenging experience and has it changed your mindset?
The most challenging experience has been being a young leader who has had to manage teams from the age of 22. In most instances, I find myself being the youngest leader on senior leadership teams, in the boardroom, at events and conferences. At times, I am undermined due to my age in comparison to other leaders in the room however over the years I have learnt to take up space as young leader and serve with passion and authority even when my voice trembles. I have learnt to trust my leadership skills, my voice, and be accountable to me without conforming to societal standards of the correlation between age and leadership.
My leadership journey has truly been stirred by my life mantra “go for it, regardless! While at it, intentionally leave room for growth as you are on a journey of continuously evolving to the very best version of yourself”.
Based on your experience, what's the key success factor for a female leader/manager?
The key success factor for a female leader is to inspire the next generation of female leaders. Leadership capabilities is not something that starts and ends with one person, at the core of leadership is serving and aspiring to inspire. Our desire as female leaders should be how we create a multiplier effect that will increase the number of female leaders in various sectors. We needto figure out how our leadership journey will impact and capacitate the next generation of exceptional female leaders and how that generation can pass it down to generations to come. Our time is now, we indeed stand on the shoulders of remarkable female leaders before us and have been empowered to be leaders of the present and carry our mandate into the future of female leaders. We are going somewhere as female leaders; we are taking up space and continuing to cement ourselves as we prepare fertile ground for the next generation of female leaders.