Name: Michelle Seeparsad

Title: Learning and Change Specialist

Organisation: Nedbank Wealth HR

I am 56 years old, married for 32 years, a mother of 2, my son is 30 years old, and my daughter is 27 years old. I am a mother-in-law. My son is married, and I have 2 grandchildren of 2 and 4 years old. I am a Learning and Change Specialist in the Human Resources Learning and Development division. Have been in the corporate financial industry since 1998 to date.

Personally, I am an Accredited Life, Mindfulness and Neuroscience Coach (Not practicing as I am still employed in corporate). I am part of the Nedbank All Stars Toastmasters Club (2021-2022 Executive Vice President of Education; 2023-2024 Executive President). I am a member of The Reservoir Hills Rotary Club and serve to empower on The Youth Portfolio, interacting with 14-18 year olds. I have a full life and love every aspect of my life, personal, professional, and community service

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

We’ve gone through the interviews and asked the best of the best to come back and answer 7 MORE Questions on Leadership.

I hope Michelle's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. As a leader, how do you build trust with employees, customers and other stakeholders?

You first have to work on building sustainable relationships and identifying each relationship's needs. Being visible, available, and approachable helps build trust. Having open conversations that lead to dialogue helps improve understanding and being able to communicate with clarity. Trust requires different levels of interaction, and each relationship dynamic is unique.

2. What do 'VISION' and 'MISSION' mean to you? And what does it actually look like to use them in real-world business?

A Vision is our North Star. To me, a Vision Statement is crucial to an organisation achieving its end goal. A compelling Vision Statement provides a roadmap to a future state. It helps everyone work towards a common goal. The Mission Statement details what needs to be done to achieve our end goal. It is important that each employee understands what role they play in the Mission Statement and how to work collaboratively towards each milestone.

When employees are able to articulate a vision into a personal commitment, success is guaranteed. There is ownership and accountability from each individual and team when they can relate to the Vision and Mission of the organisation. It also creates a culture of belonging, which is essential for productivity and success for both the organisation and the individual.

3. How can a leader empower the people they're leading?

A true leader first has to understand the team they lead. They believe in building team empowerment by allowing each member to contribute according to their strength. The leader does not focus on managing, but rather on guiding and encouraging a culture of psychological safety and free to share views and suggestions, and more importantly, feeling empowered to make a difference and the autonomy of having their voices heard.

4. Who are some of the coaches or mentors in your life who have had a positive influence on your leadership? Can you please tell a meaningful story about one of them?

Yes, my current line manager, who is also our HR Divisional Head, is Theodore Du Plessis. His leadership style has empowered me to become the best version of myself. In the short while he has been my leader, he has demonstrated the traits of a true leader, with no hierarchical behavior. In our team meetings, he does not manipulate conversations and allows each team member a voice for feedback with no judgment. This made our team stronger.

Theo encourages innovative ideas and allows each person the autonomy to manage themselves, without the need to micromanage or control. This kind of leadership style encourages future leaders to practice and learn in a psychologically safe space. The value gained from having a leader like Theo is invaluable and has led to a team growth mindset, with a focus on both internal and external customer centricity. Theo has embodied the theories and concepts of the "A Leader With No Title" book by Robin Sharma and inspires others to do the same.

I am also inspired by Robin Sharma's book "The 5 am Club," which teaches the principles of mastering oneself and becoming better personal and professional leaders. You first have to master yourself before you can be an aspirational leader.

5. Leadership is often more about what you DON'T do. How do you maintain focus in your role?

A leadership role requires professional restraint and strategically leads others and gives them autonomy to manage themselves and step in when needed. It is about not micromanaging and trying to control people or an outcome. It is about not ridiculing, insulting, and belittling those who fall behind. It is about leading with empathy and being assertive in a human-centred way. There is an analogy of a leadership story that so eloquently illustrates "The Butterfly Story".

Leadership means to focus on progress and not be tempted to step in, without being asked, and to try and "fix" anything. In doing so, it has the potential to rob your team of their power to excel because you prematurely, or mistakenly, thought that you would do it for them, rather than watch them struggle. I maintain my focus by using the Prosci Methodology for change management to gauge when it is appropriate to step forward and when it is not. Having a people-first leadership style, I strongly place my focus on allowing others the autonomy to lead themselves and to learn and grow from challenging events.

6. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Everyone plans differently. How do you plan for the week, month and years ahead in your role?

Planning starts with understanding. In a Learning and Change Specialist Role, you first have to understand the stakeholders and come to an agreement on what the goals and missions everyone is working towards. The first thing is to know what actionable and measurable steps to craft on our goal commitment contract for the year. Everything thereafter will depend on planning how to achieve those goals, and to constantly meet and discuss progress and where the blockages are, and to agree on a strategy to unblock with each feedback session. It is important to know what the long-term outcomes are and work backwards on a timeline. Without this kind of planning, there is a danger of working towards misaligned goals.

7. What advice would you give to a young leader who is struggling to delegate effectively?

My advice would be to reach out to a mentor or coach whom they feel comfortable with and ask for guidance. A mentor already has best practices in place and can provide the wisdom of experience on how to lead a team. This insight is invaluable. A coach, on the other hand, is there to help identify why you are struggling and put steps in place for you to overcome these challenges. Being able to delegate requires people skills in communicating, understanding strengths and weaknesses in a team, and using that knowledge to delegate with insight effectively. Your confidence as a young leader grows with each meaningful interaction with individuals in a team on a one-on-one basis.

Know thyself first before you attempt to learn about others. Know what your triggers, your red buttons, and your insecurities are, then be prepared to correct those areas of self-improvement. Learn to grow by being curious. Use your LMS to find short courses on leadership, make time to watch videos, and do practical exercises within these short courses that will help build your capabilities as a leader. Learn from experts in the field on how they achieved success and let these motivate you to make the changes within yourself that will push your boundaries and boost your confidence as a leader.

Lastly, remember that being a leader does not require you to do everything yourself. Know that a team is there a support you and to excel in their responsibilities in order for a win-win strategy to be part of your organisational leverage to be the very best. When delegating, emphasise the why to your strategy, then emphasise the "what's in it for me" message to encourage others. When people know why they are being asked to do a task and the importance of the role they play, they will be more likely to be willing to do what is asked of them.

Delegating does not mean shifting the responsibility; it means that, because you recognize the potential for greatness, they have a sense of belonging and accountability. Being able to delegate with ease is a skill that gets sharpened with each situation. Be mindful of each lesson learned as you get better and better at delegating with purpose and conviction. Good luck and keep going!