Think bigger; lead courageously – Dr Moswate

STAFF WRITER

editor@thepatriot.co.bw

The Botswana Institute of Banking & Finance [BIBF] has been praised for developing and launching the country’s first Management Development Programme.

“I congratulate BIBF on developing Botswana’s first indigenous Management Development Programme, accredited by HRDC and internationally recognised by the Chartered Management Institute. That is an achievement worth celebrating. It demonstrates something important: Botswana can develop solutions grounded in our own realities and still meet international standards of excellence,” said Dr Wabo Moswate when officiating at the launch of the programme on Wednesday.

He said Botswana can not afford to keep on consuming global excellence but also partake in creating such excellence.

“And that brings me to my central message this morning. Botswana’s next competitive advantage will not come only from capital, technology or strategy. It will come from the quality of leaders we develop. We have produced exceptional technical professionals across banking and financial services. But technical excellence alone does not build great institutions. As we rise in our careers, the question changes. It moves from “How well can I perform?” We should therefore see BIBF not simply as a training provider, but as a strategic capability partner to Botswana’s financial services industry,” he said.

He further challenged leaders in the industry to do more by mentoring and coaching their juniors.

He called on the programme’s participants not to count more the certificate they will receive but rather “measure it by the leaders they will become.

“Ask yourself: What will I do differently? What will my team experience differently? What problem will I solve? What will I build? And who will become better because I led them?” he declared.

He acknowledged that as Botswana has spent decades building physical infrastructure, financial infrastructure, and human capital, it now has to focus on building the leadership infrastructure.

“A deep pipeline of ethical, commercially capable, technologically confident, and globally competitive leaders who can turn Botswana’s potential into performance, should be developed,” said Dr Moswate.

He challenged the leaders who will emerge from this programme to: Think bigger; Lead courageously; Develop others;  Execute relentlessly; and wherever you are given the privilege to lead, leave the institution stronger than you found it.