It's never too late to go back to school!

I started working in Spar in 2004 and the company is still my home 20 years down the road. First, I worked in receiving in the perishable department. Since then, I’ve been promoted through various departments, and today I am a line manager. I enjoy interacting and engaging with my team.

I completed my matric in 1993 and got a diploma in Business Management in 1995. I thought I was done with school, but the HR team at Spar saw my potential and recommended me for further studies. That is where Henley Business School comes in. The company was willing to pay for me to study the business school’s RISE! Advanced Certificate in Management Practice, and I seized this opportunity with both hands. It was quite overwhelming at first – I was very anxious but excited.

I was startled to see how learning had changed in the 28 years since I’d last been in the classroom. It was so different to the traditional system I was used to, which was centred on textbooks. The digital systems that Henley embraces were all new to me: I struggled to adapt and ended up missing a lot of my deadlines because I couldn’t cope.

But the Henley team stepped in and supported me. That meant a lot. They helped me realise that I could do it. And then, I started learning quickly – for example, I learned that I mustn’t wait until the deadline to start my assignment. Now, the moment they give me an assignment, I’m on top of it. And if I encounter any problems, I raise my hand and ask for help.

I’ve learned a lot about my work – and about myself. Working in the warehouse, you are always pushing production – sometimes without listening to what others on the team are saying. And sometimes, this just isn’t right. Henley taught me how to listen to my staff. And more than that, not to listen to respond, but listen to understand. There is a big difference!

The personal lessons have been a highlight for me. You know, my team at work, they would sometimes call me ‘The General’, because I’m always pushing. But Henley got us to do an exercise where we had to ask our team and our family to write about how they perceive us. And this was eye-opening. I was shocked to see and read what they were saying about me, and obviously, you don’t want to accept it. But at the end of the day, you sit down and think about these things, because they mean something. It is a process. Bit by bit, I’m improving.

Even so, there have been times where I’ve felt a kind of imposter syndrome in the classroom. I looked around me and saw senior managers, general managers, and I wondered why I was there. But then I thought: they’re here for a good reason. And there must be a good reason that I’m here too. This encouraged me to complete my course.

After receiving my certificate, do you know what I said? I told myself no more Henley. But Henley is addictive. Come the following year, I found myself applying for the SOAR! Advanced Diploma in Management Practice, which is a degree-level programme. I know myself: if I want something, I go after it. I believe that this is an opportunity to show myself once again that I can do this, and I feel I can do even better than before.

My sons inspire me to try my best. One has graduated from UJ, and the other is in his second year there. I see them studying, and then I want to show them, look, guys, your dad is nearly fifty, and he is studying, too. I wanted to prove a point to my children that if you can do it at my age, then they can as well – every time they take out their books, I take out my laptop and start to study. And my wife is an inspiration to us all. She has encouraged and pushed me to achieve the best I can.

Outside of work, I love soccer. As the coach of Spar’s eleven-a-side team, every weekend, I bring my family to the game so they can see what I do. And if the team ever needs a goalkeeper, then I sub in. That’s where I’ve always played, in goals, at the back of the pitch – and you know what they say, you lead from the back!