Interviewers: Jonathan Bii & Mahmoud Mansi
“When you put people first and as a leader take your time to understand their motivation and aspirations, a certain energy and spark ignites in them and most times they end up initiating ideas on their own to achieve organizational goals…”
Esther Gathambo
About the Interviewee
Esther is a young leader from Kenya who works on promoting political awareness and youth empowerment through her project: Chaguo Na Sauti Kenya, which is a non-governmental organization that aims at providing the young people of Kenya with a platform where they can voice their issues as they are enlightened on civic matters.
THE INTERVIEW
1- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Esther, as a young talented woman we are very curious to learn about your personal journey, your daily motivation and the story behind Chaguo Na Sauti?
Esther Gathambo: A few years ago, I had an idea of a talk show, one that focused on youth and leadership. Fast forward to October last year, I bumped into the script on my computer and I decided to do a short survey with my social networks. I wanted to gauge the involvement of youths in the coming elections by asking them if they were participating, their reasons for participating or not and if they were interested in civic education. Most of them said they were not interested in the coming elections and they cited that the old folk didn’t care about their concerns but they were interested in civic education. Around the same time, I was in AIESEC (an international organization that provides young people with leadership experiences through cross-cultural exchanges with the purpose of empowering young people to make a positive impact on their society.) Aiesec teaches one to be solution oriented and that’s how I decided to start an NGO with the help of a few friends. I had a few sleepless nights before it started. I could say I am motivated to see change in Kenya, I am tired of the corruption in Kenya and it is my hope that through this organization that more young people will be involved in political matters and will be inspired to start a new direction in Kenya where they question leaders and things are at per with the promises made.
2- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is the structure of Chaguo Na Sauti and how do you manage your team?
Esther Gathambo: Well, right now we are a team of ten. Currently, we only have directors as the organization is still small. However, we have a lot of people interested in volunteering with the organization but we noticed that we need a better structure for bringing in new people in the organization. Hence, we are currently working with an organization called the People’s Startup to build on a new organizational culture.
3- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: A lot of your work is in the political space, to what extent do you think politics can influence how an organization functions?
Esther Gathambo: The political scene seems hectic and very uncomfortable to most people but when you think about it, it involves a lot of networking, negotiations and being at the know in order for one to push their agenda. Politics in the office seem schemy and very unprofessional but people need to collaborate with seniors and fellow workmates in order for results to happen. Hence, politics in the office is not bad if used well.
4- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: How do you measure performance?
Esther Gathambo: We gauge performance by checking member’s attendance of meetings, progress reports, and innovation in terms of members who go out of their way to create new exciting ideas and create solutions to problems that we experience.
5- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Just curious, do you offer any training programs say for your writers? How do you help your team gain self-development?
Esther Gathambo: Right now, we haven’t had any training for our writers but we have a vetting process for articles. Editors have to go through articles before they are published. As for self-development I’d say that am the type of person who pushes people to give their best even when they are scared of doing something new. I have some team members who have grown so much from that.
6- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Have you heard any low moments while running Chaguo Na Sauti and did you gain any lessons from the experience?
Esther Gathambo: Oh yes! Haha several but I will just give my biggest lesson so far. Sometime back I removed some people who were not performing from the organization without consulting the team. It almost divided the team. I do not regret removing them from the organization but I do regret the way I did it. I apologized to them and the team as well and so far we have had so much progress than we had a few months back. There are times where I have felt like giving up but I have noticed that as a leader you have to keep going and you have to constantly push people and remind them of the organizations vision even when they least want to hear about it.
7- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: In a previous interview on the Daily Nation, a Kenyan newspaper, you mentioned about carrying out a survey, is data something central to how you make decisions at Chaguo Na Sauti?
Esther Gathambo: Yes it is. It’s very hard to penetrate the youth market especially when it comes to civic matters hence we have had to carry out surveys in order to gauge what their expectations are and what they really want as opposed to what we want from them.
8- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: A lot of people prefer employment, why did you choose self-employment over being employed?
Esther Gathambo: I like the idea of being the change I want to see in the world.
9- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You provide a lot of leadership opportunities in Chaguo Na Sauti, if you were running a much bigger organization as a CEO, perhaps, how would you provide leadership for your employees?
Esther Gathambo: Honestly, I would make it a people centered organization. When you put people first and as a leader take your time to understand their motivation and aspirations, a certain energy and spark ignites in them and most times they end up initiating ideas on their own to achieve organizational goals.
10- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What advice do you have for managers who are from Generation X in dealing with millennials like you?
Esther Gathambo: Technology is at the center of it all. The problem with us is that we are used to getting things done fast and that’s also how we operate. We expect other people to catch up. Sometimes we might come across as aggressive with our ideas but we mean well and all we ask is that you listen and trust us and also let us work out our ideas in our own unique and vibrant ways.
11- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You mentioned in the briefing that you read a lot, what is your current read and have any of the books you read influenced your work?
Esther Gathambo: Currently, I am reading Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow. 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership by John Maxwell really helped in understanding who a leader really is and what it takes to be an influential leader. The book also came at a time I needed it most (when I removed some people from the organization.)
12- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: So, what do you see as the future of Chaguo Na Sauti?
Esther Gathambo: We have a program we want to introduce after elections on the constitution, we also intend on organizing more online forums on our website (chaguonasauti.co.ke) to discuss ongoing political issues, also partner with youth based organizations and hopefully reach out to more than 100, 000 Kenyan youths by the end of the year.
13- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Finally, any pro tips you can give to those out there looking to start their own projects, organizations or simply looking to make an impact?
Esther Gathambo: It sounds so cliché but just make the first step of writing down the whole idea, get a good team, make sure you vet people and ensure that they are passionate about your idea. It might seem impossible but once you have begun the journey you will laugh at yourself later because you were scared at nothing really. Lastly, trust your gut. Don’t do something just because others are doing it. Craft your own path and trust that it will work for good. I mean what’s the worst that could happen?