This is what securing Tanzania’s future boils down to, two words “modeling” and “mentoring”.
If we want to fuel tenacious, patriotic, professional, ethical and competitive mindsets in our people, we need to “model”, that is ‘live out ourselves’ the picture of what we want others to emulate, such as to be a role model to them, and then “mentor”, that is, take deliberate steps to groom others to be able to do and be the values and qualities they have seen and want to emulate in us. It is as simple as that.
I think we often get overwhelmed and bogged down in detail when we think of the challenge of developing our people to move from State dependency, with everyone screaming for government to do everything from sweep their back yard to regulate industry, to independence, where people now see that they have a role to play in their personal and community development to eventually maturing to co-dependence where state and citizen, collaborate both at the local government and state levels to develop the values, constitution, policies, laws and programs that would lead to “a better life for every Tanzanian”.
I know that just the thought of lending one’s mind to the mammoth that is human resource development in Tanzania gets people in analysis-paralysis, not seeing where to start and how they, as an individual could ever do anything significant enough to even make a dent to the challenges in national value system, employment and self-employment opportunities, competitiveness vies a vies foreign competitors and equitable share of the Nation’s wealth. Aaahhh! All of that is too much gibberish for the average person who just wants to have the few square meals they can put together and pray that malaria doesn’t strike any family member such as to require healthcare because there is always more month at the end of the money.
But wait a second people, how do we eat the proverbial “elephant”? One piece at a time, right? And this is how we are going to develop the human resource that will propel Tanzania into her rightful position as an economic super power; by transforming one mind at a time through “modeling” and “mentoring” today, the values, knowledge, skills and attitudes, we want to see in our people, today and tomorrow.
When we think of ‘empowering all 45 million of us to change the way we think, perform and present ourselves for a responsible and competitive business environment’, we might hang our heads in despair, saying “not in my lifetime” but, what if as individuals who are ‘sick and tired of being sick and tired’ about the status quo of low morale, corruption, poverty, irrelevant education, inadequate employment, infantile entrepreneurship, inappropriate governance, unfair competition and of course, not to mention, erratic utility supply, decided enough is enough?
What I know is that there are always “bright spots”, people in our families, communities, societies, today, who live in the same environment as us but somehow think, act and speak differently, higher. Bright spots are people who, despite the challenges, have chosen to both know and live the values and competencies we want our Nation to be moulded from. The reason why, no matter how hard stricken the economy, no matter the illiteracy or poverty levels, there will still be role models to look up to, is because values and behaviours are absolute, transcending current socio-economic and political dynamics. Good remains good and evil remains evil and there are still people who will never pretend to merge the two into the grey area of “it depends…”.
So this is what I propose, because people will always find other people to model their lives after (and the younger the people seeking identity and affirmation, they more impressionable they can be, often taking in the bad with the good), it is on each individual to “model”, ‘live out ourselves’ the image of what we want to see more of in our relationships, families, communities and very Nation. As social beings, we fashion our lives after those of others around us, so whoever gets prominence to influence us, whether for better or for worse, many most likely lean towards that orientation. I have heard recently emphasised that “if you leave a gap, it will get filled”.
Let us then decide to fill this gap, choose to “be the message”, choose to “be the book” others will read and want to emulate. Because whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, you are somebody’s role model and they will cut out their life from your cloth, so to speak, so why don’t we deliberately choose to be patriotic, honest, fair, accountable, smart-working, driven, entrepreneurial, innovative, collaborative, competitive, joyful, optimistic, peace making, etcetera.
Choose to live by certain values and standards and others around you will emulate that and those around them will emulate them and so we will strengthen our national value system, work ethic, relevance and competitiveness.
But we all know that when we see people at face value, we may only get what is skin deep. This is where “mentoring” comes in. Whilst being a role model is “looking like” what others want to be, mentoring goes a little farther with the person who is the image of what others want to be, the “mentor”, deliberately taking others who aspire to also grow, prosper and achieve, the “mentees”, and grooming them with the values, knowledge, skills and attitude required to succeed in whatever the “mentees” aspire to be.
Mentoring someone says ‘I believe there is greatness in you and with some guidance, you can excel at your area of interest and competence so I gladly choose and commit to invest myself in preparing you to be the best you can be in your area of influence.’
This is how we are going to transform Tanzania into an economic super power; with each person modeling the behaviours they want to see prevalent in society and taking a step to “mentor” others so that they too can develop to be tenacious, patriotic, professional, ethical, entrepreneurial and competitive individuals. Multiplied, we will have a Nation with a strong foundation in values we believe and live, with accountability at each level and the knowledge, skills and drive to rocket Tanzania to where everything and everybody in the world knows she can rise to.
What do you say? You willing to take this on?
Now, for those who think mentoring might be too involving, let me share 5 tips I apply with my mentees:
1. Schedule in a monthly meeting (whether it will be at my office (it is private so others won’t listen in on the conversation) or somewhere where we can have breakfast or lunch (which I pay for)). (Duration: 45 minutes – 1 hour)
2. Walk or ride with my mentees to my appointments. Dar traffic helps us get a lot out of the way during the commute and for those who seek professional guidance, I sometimes ask who I am meeting with to allow my mentee to join us as an observer and at times, engage in the conversation. After the meeting my mentee and I will debrief on what they observed, learned, points of clarification, feedback for me and action points for how they will perform in a similar situation, etcetera. (Duration: 45 minutes – 2 hours)
3. Weekend activity together. Often when people are in a relaxed setting, they share more than the formalities of the agenda at hand. This is very helpful since as a mentor you care about their welfare and growth in every area of their life; mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and, informal settings allow for this exchange. (Duration: 2 hours)
4. Email on specific work, projects, where we work together to find a solution to a project challenge (but I always say that “I cannot want your success more than you” so I challenge my mentees to have worked through the execution of their proposed venture and I come in to challenge them on gaps). (Duration: 10 minutes)
5. Phone call to catch up on recent developments. This reinforces that you care about them as a person, even outside formal meet-ups. It also reminds them that there is someone out there that they are accountable to so they better be serious and follow through on what they started. (Duration: 5 minutes)
Because each mentee is an individual, with individual needs, I never lump them altogether, like I were teaching a class, I endeavor at all times to see each one individually.
More on Mentoring tips and tools in my next article.
In the meantime, I pray that this article has energised you, showing you just how much power you really have to influence how people think, perform and present themselves for their own and together, Tanzania’s socio-economic and political development.
If “only developed people develop nations”, then I want to be counted as a person who stood in the gap to make it happen for as many as God would bring in my sphere of influence. God knows that what I am and growing to be is by His grace and standing on the shoulders of so many men and women who continue to model what I aspire for in relationships, walk with Christ, business, service and even fitness and health. I choose to ‘pay it forward’ by lifting others as I climb.
Mbarikiwe.
Modesta Lilian Mahiga
Group Managing Director
Professional Approach Group
mmahiga@pa.co.tz
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