Congratulations to Professor Flavia Senkubuge, Deputy Dean Stakeholders at the Faculty of Health Sciences, on being featured in the esteemed Standard Bank Top Women Leaders publication. This recognition comes after the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) was awarded for the outstanding work accomplished during her presidency. We invite you to read her interview in the 18th Edition of the Standard Bank Top Women Leaders Publication for a deeper understanding of her remarkable journey.

THE COLLEGES OF MEDICINE OF SOUTH AFRICA

INTERVIEW WITH CMSA IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT, PROF FLAVIA SENKUBUGE

Professor Flavia Senkubuge is a specialist in Public Health Medicine with a PhD in Public Health and an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School in UK. She is the Deputy Dean Stakeholders at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She is also the immediate Past President of the Colleges of Medicine South Africa (CMSA).

HOW HAVE YOU IMPLEMENTED GENDER DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEW WORKPLACE?

There are many things that we did as a team but I will highlight just one. The first thing I did was to ensure structural change because it is no longer good enough as leaders to bring women into spaces where they must suffer in order to survive. It is no longer just about a seat at the table where one is constantly being minimized and invisibilised. It is about having, owning that seat at the table and thriving. In my organisation, I was the first black woman president, and I was not willing to spend my entire tenure being minimized, invisibilised, enduring and surviving. So as a leader my first point of call was to create an architecture conducive for transformation for everyone. It did take some hard decisions but once the architecture was created, we then got down to crafting policies that were gender driven and transformative. This ensured sustainability of our new order. Only then did we invite women to sit at the table where their full humility and potential was seen and celebrated. It was about creating safe spaces for gender driven development. I continue to mentor and support those women leaders because you cannot just appoint women into positions and let them be, you need to fully support them and walk the entire journey with them.

1. Our core values have dramatically changed to kindness and compassion. In the past these values were not even remotely possible but because of women being part of the leadership team, these values are now a cornerstone.
2. Because of the structural changes that have leveled the playing field, we now have more women leaders in the organisation and even many more willing to put their hand up to lead.

HOW ARE WE INTERGRATING THE DRIVE FOR SUSTAINABILITY INTO YOUR ORGANISATION?

Firstly, by ensuring that all our gains are enshrined into our policies, strategies and practice. Secondly, by having a strong oversight mechanism through our structures such as the board and senate.

1. Innovative agility - future leaders will need to be constantly reinventing and changing course. There will be no place for rigidity, and one has to be at the cutting edge of development.
2. Compassionate acumen - leading with heart and love. My belief is that in order to be a great leader you have to create peaceful and loving environments where people can fully live out their dreams.
3. Reflective quotient, - I coined this one to mean that a leader has to recognise their full humanity while being cognisant of the past and that which is required of them in future.

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