[2.54.. ZIMBABWE] On Being One of a Kind with Farai Madzima

54Lights

What to expect when you press PLAY

Farai Madzima is a man of and for the people. He is a leader, teacher and speaker who's passionate about managing people humanely and authentically, regardless of who they are. He celebrates diversity in all areas of life, including in business. He speaks about how we (as managers, leaders and people) must focus on individuals instead of purely on results. Farai's roots are firmly planted in Zimbabwe but he has been living in Canada since 2017. This experience uniquely places him in a place to talk about cross-cultural competence.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• As Farai has called many places home, including Canada, Zimbabwe and the UK, it gives him unique insight into the places, he can see them differently from the people who have only ever lived in one place.
• As early as school, Farai felt separate from others. Although living in his home country, he altered his name and accent to fit in with the white children he went to school with.
• When moving in different circles Farai still makes an assessment of which version of himself to portray. His differences can be an advantage and present opportunities or it can make him feel in peril.
• The many differing traits Farai has collected from his travels create an ‘otherness’ when he goes to Zimbabwe.
• One of the topics Farai is passionate about and presents on, is the benefits companies and businesses could achieve from hiring a more diverse workforce.
• Farai also coaches and advocates for managers to drive and manage their teams in a humane and much more thoughtful way rather than solely focusing on output.
• Different cultures work differently! From how to give feedback and deal with conflict to how to motivate, inspire and get the most out of your workforce. Farai calls dealing with these complexities cross-cultural competence.
• Many of us can be one of a kind in a room, this can often be visible by race or gender or can be more hidden. The importance is that managers know how to manage and deal with this.

BEST MOMENTS

5:02 “Wherever we go we are learning to pick up our lives, plant them in new places and let them flourish”

08:09 “Fitting in better there meant I could succeed in that world but it also meant I was separating myself”

13:19 “You could be managing people across the globe from multiple different cultures and those cultures teach us different things”

14:19 “When we have good conflict we can make an idea better”

15:27 “What is it like to be one of a kind in a room, what do managers need to know about that”

16:29 “To not look at people as resources but take the responsibility for the people that report to them”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

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ABOUT THE HOST

Kondwani Mwase | Host & Creator

‘The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.’ – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

For most of my life, I have been obsessed with relationships. I have worked, watched and wondered about the complex nature of human interaction. Originally, my interest laid in the narrative…more specifically, I was driven to understand what was happening. Increasingly, my curiosity has been inspired by the underlying motivations behind events…why it happens. It is this curiosity that motivates me.

My professional journey led me to the field of marketing and the exercise of selling in the service of brands. Over the years, I’ve learned that the true currency is working in the service of people. Finding ways to understand how to cultivate meaningful relationships with them….and making them “happy”. I leveraged my skills as a mass marketer to reach a different audience with a different message. As such, The Warehouse Magazine became my passion. I founded the publication to try and build a community for the conscientious. It was my first business, my first foray into media and, in some ways, my first love. And its eventual retirement left me wanting. Leaving me with a feeling of unfinished business.

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