LeRoy Munetsi has a blend of business and leadership experience gained through exposure to a variety of industries, though his career arc is now biased in favour of financial services.
Currently chief operating officer for Consulting at Alexforbes, Munetsi has had responsibility for and worked with businesses across sub-Saharan Africa.
TechCentral asked Munetsi a few questions for its IT Leadership Series.
Name: LeRoy Munetsi
Company: Alexforbes
Job: Chief operating officer, Consulting
Education: BBA (accounting), MBA (strategic management) and GDE (industrial engineering)
What does your company do?
Alexforbes offers integrated retirement, investment, life and insurance solutions across both the institutional and individual segments.
What do you see as the IT leader’s top priorities in 2023?
The themes remain largely aligned to what we have seen coming out of the post-pandemic era:
- The war for talent: Attracting, developing and retaining suitably skilled resources continues to be a key focus.
- Enabling performance: Ensuring stable and reliable operations while delivering on optimisation and improvement opportunities.
- The digital wave: Keeping up with the range and pace of technological change to ensure organisations remain relevant and competitive. Technology fundamentally changes how we live and work … and propels human development. A notable opportunity is for leaders to use technology to solve for and scale solutions that ultimately drive economic growth.
- Cyber-related risks: Anticipating and mitigating the ever-present and evolving threats and challenges.
Who do you most admire in business and why?
I love the quote from John C Maxwell, “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” It reminds me of the fact that things will always shift and evolve, and with that comes the opportunity to learn from different situations and different people – and grow!
I have always admired Strive Masiyiwa, who founded Econet Global. His is an inspiring case study of tenacity and grit, especially when considering the pursuit of his entrepreneurial vision.
As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, I appreciate how businesswoman Wendy Luhabe has consistently been a champion for the economic empowerment of women.
Lastly, Adrian Gore and the team at Discovery are writing an exciting story of innovation and impact. I am intrigued by their ability to fuse business imperatives with societal implications as part of their shared value model.
How do you attract and retain talent?
The key is to be deliberate and consistent about the employee value proposition. The world of work has shifted and the recipe for attraction, engagement and retention is no longer what it was. I believe that the alignment of an organisation’s vision, values and culture is critical to harmonise how your people experience the organisation – and ultimately how your clients and other stakeholders do, too.
Lastly, there is a range of complimentary tactics which leaders should deploy to create and sustain a constructive working environment – respect, accountability, fairness, empowerment and recognition are just a handful of these.
If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!” This is a quote from Wayne Gretzky, a famous Canadian ice hockey player. One of my most notable “growing up” reflections is to create and pursue more opportunities.
What’s your favourite productivity hack?
Making my bed in the morning. Progress is an accumulation of small actions, so every completed task counts. This is aligned to what James Clear suggests in his book Atomic Habits.
What occupation (other than your own) would you like to try?
For a long time, my dream has been to be Jeremy Clarkson of BBC Top Gear fame, so let’s say I would try my luck at being a motoring journalist.
Where do you see the technology industry heading in the next three to five years?
Artificial intelligence and machine learning will become even more pervasive over the next few years – and there will be many exciting (and scary) developments to deal with. It will be interesting to see and contribute to how organisations maintain a sustainable balance between humanity and technology and their roles across society.
What is one book you’d recommend to our audience and why?
Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind, by Nancy Kline. A friend gave me this book as a gift a few years ago and my experience of it has been nothing short of remarkable. The book provides a profound and practical outline which leaders and teams can use to unlock deeper listening, richer thinking and greater cohesion. — (c) 2023 NewsCentral Media
