Six years ago, Motorcare appointed Florence Sempebwa-Makada as their Managing Director, the first Ugandan and first woman to hold the position. She’s still the only woman today in the country. She ascribes her success to meticulous preparation and thorough knowledge of what she is speaking about.
“I succeeded,” she says, “not because I was technical, but because I know processes and I know what to ask and how to guide the technical experts.”
“I was the only woman in a boardroom full of men, but when I spoke people respected me because they knew I was on the ground. Every time I contributed; my ideas made sense because they were based on experience.”
When she became managing director, she made sure she led by example.
“My leadership style is instead of saying ‘do this’ and then doing the opposite, I walk the talk. When you do that you gain their respect.”
The same comes for setting standards: “I’m always the first to get to the office and most of the time the last to leave. You can’t have a disciplined workforce if you aren’t disciplined yourself.”
On Sunday 31 July, 2022, the continent celebrated African Women’s Day on Sunday 31 July. For Sempebwa-Makaba, the message to young women is simple: “Be knowledgeable, be prepared to help and to learn.”
She sees a future where women will take their rightful place in the boardroom, but they have to work at it.
“Truth be told we can do anything that men can do. The days of women not being in the boardroom are fading away. Women are very dependable and very focussed – they have to be able to do their jobs and balance their careers with being mothers and carers.”
She speaks from experience – and not just of her own career. “I’m results orientated and I’ve got super results from women in Motorcare.”
When she started as MD, women comprised 10% of the company, now their numbers are 40%.
“We’ve put the structures in place to help them excel but in the end it’s up to them.”
But she has a word of warning too.
“We have families and we have careers. We have to learn to balance them otherwise one or both will fail. But if we do learn to balance, we will have more and more women at the top.”