10 principles to live by if you are a woman in business in South Africa

MBA alum Cleola Kunene is a South African woman who is rewriting the rules. A graduate of Henley Business School’s Flexible MBA, she’s making waves as the head of SME development at the JSE where she has grown one of the most successful business accelerator programmes on the Continent.

An entrepreneur herself, Cleola is instrumental in investing and growing companies in diverse industries, from e-commerce to green energy and commodities, increasing jobs, reducing red tape and supporting economic development.

In a country where small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, Cleola is leading the charge to create opportunities for them, and her work was recognised last year when she was a winner in the Mail & Guardian’s 2023 Power of Women awards. An annual event that recognises and celebrates the achievement of South African women across various sectors.

This Women's Month, her achievements resonate as a powerful reminder of the extraordinary impact women can have on our nation's progress. These are 10 of the principles that have guided her on her journey.

1. Education is not only about course content. It’s about the networks you build, the foundation it creates in terms of your thinking. When I started my MBA in 2016 I was already deeply interested in entrepreneurship because I knew that the work being done with SMEs in South Africa at the time was not really working and I wanted to change that. My MBA studies taught me how to unpack competitive opportunities and helped me build the muscle I needed for the next stage of my professional growth.
   
   
2. Oprah Winfrey once said, “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” As women we tend to undervalue ourselves, and that’s why I recognise my own value and support other women to recognise and celebrate theirs. Really valuing yourself starts with how you see yourself.
   
   
3. If you hit an obstacle, there will also be a way around it. What I know for sure is that there is no limit to what we can do as humans. We are fully equipped to navigate the world around us and solve our own problems. In the words of author Marie Forleo, everything is “figureoutable”. As long as we understand that the fundamental requirements are discipline, consistency and hard work.
   
   
4. I will always find a way to impact the world around me in a positive way. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to find a space in the world where I can make a difference. I come from a family of people who made a difference in our communities and hospitals and universities, a family of small business owners and academics.
   
   
5. Self-esteem and self-confidence are learned and are contingent on self-trust. When I was at school I was an A student. I was the one receiving the certificates and the awards at prize-giving. But what that teaches you is that you can win and that you can trust yourself to do so. It creates in your brain a pattern of expecting to win, the understanding that one win can lead to a second win and a third and so on. But this is where the discipline, consistency and hard work come in.
   
   
6. Aim high, there’s no point in settling for less than what you want for yourself. I think that often when people find out that I work at the JSE they assume I come from money and that I didn’t have to work hard to get to where I am today. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I was raised in a township in Limpopo. I went to §a government school and came to Johannesburg to study. But I aimed high.

7. Have you heard the statement, “Dress for the job you want”? In truth, it’s not really about clothes, it’s about the vision you have for yourself. If you say, “I want to be a Barack Obama”, you need to consider how you believe Barack Obama conducts himself in a day. Who are the people he surrounds himself with? How does he create his networks? What are the books he’s reading? Does he sit watching Netflix every evening? No. Because becoming successful is intentional. You have to be on the right path for doors to open for you. It doesn’t happen by osmosis.
   
   
8. If you do only what is required of you, then you are no more than a tick box. You need to be willing to think differently. To ignite the fire in your belly. To understand that the difference between you and someone else is your value, how you do things, and the willingness to be different, not just for the sake of it but for real and tangible outcomes.

9. You won’t achieve your goals unless you allocate time to the things that matter. When I started at the JSE the role I occupy now simply didn’t exist. I created it out of nothing while simultaneously doing the job I had been hired to do. Why? Because I saw an opportunity and even though nobody believed in it I persevered so I could demonstrate to my superiors that this was something that mattered, especially to small- and medium-sized business owners in South Africa.
   
   
10. In business, people want others to believe in them, to buy the products and services they’re selling. But to accomplish this you need to believe it first. You have to believe in yourself. You have to invest in yourself first. You’re not going to win a Mail & Guardian Power of Women award if you don’t believe you’re a winner.