This is how I conquered the harsh, political nature of the corporate world
What you need to know:
- Now in her late 30s, Ms Wahogo says she’s not only keen on performance but on the holistic growth of both the organisation, its investors, and staff.
- “My leadership style is centred on coaching. This involves recognising my team members’ strengths, weaknesses and motivations to help each of them improve in their different areas and I can confidently say this approach has helped in motivating my employees and led to achieving our goals as a company.
- "I am also keen on actively supporting skill development and independent problem solving,” she says.
“If more women believed in their capabilities and took up all the challenging roles they encounter, the world would be a better place.” These are the words Sarah Wahogo says as we settled down for this interview, and I think they will stick with me for a very long time.
Sarah is the CEO of Safaricom Investment Co-operative Society, a company that pursues joint investments for its members through real estate investments, marketable securities, and private equity.
Born to small-scale farmers and growing up in Haraka, Nyandarua county, Sarah learnt of the importance of hard work and discipline early in life.
“I had my own small garden by the time I was in Class Three and I was responsible for tilling and caring for it. My parents were strict disciplinarians so I had to take my responsibilities seriously,” she says with evident nostalgia.
She started her finance and accounting career as a tutor at Vision Institute of Professional Studies in Nairobi, where she taught for five years.
“I transitioned to full time accountancy and later joined Username Investment Limited as a finance manager. I left Username in September 2020 and moved to Safaricom Investment Co-operative (SIC) as a finance manager. Nine months into the position, I was appointed the acting Chief Executive Officer before being confirmed in March 2022,” beams the mother of three.
“Since joining SIC in 2020, I have provided leadership to the organisation across multiple areas including stakeholder management, historical issues resolution, financial performance management, and staff productivity management. I would say my efforts have contributed significantly to the renaissance witnessed within the company. Under my leadership, the society registered immense growth in our year 2022 performance, and we are working hard towards double-digit returns for our investors this year,” she says hopefully.
Now in her late 30s, Ms Wahogo says she’s not only keen on performance but on the holistic growth of both the organisation, its investors, and staff.
“My leadership style is centred on coaching. This involves recognising my team members’ strengths, weaknesses and motivations to help each of them improve in their different areas and I can confidently say this approach has helped in motivating my employees and led to achieving our goals as a company. I am also keen on actively supporting skill development and independent problem solving,” she says.
She is however quick to point out that it has not been a smooth ride.
“Some of the challenges I have had to surmount include dealing with complex historical issues. For example, the biggest challenge in real estate business is due diligence. When I took up the CEO mantle, the society was dealing with a project that did not push through so we had to reach out to our investors to refund their money and resolve the issue. It was a bad place to be, but I picked the lessons and moved on. Further, balancing a demanding career and a young family is quite tasking and what has helped me sail through is having a strong support system,” she offers.
On what keeps her awake at night, Sarah looks away in deep thought before confessing: “The business performance and ways to offer our investors quality services and returns. Being in the field of investment, a lot of people trust us with their hard-earned money. In return, I have to ensure that we offer them superior returns.”
Her advice to the young generation is that hard work pays. “The corporate world can at times be very harsh and full of office politics, and our youth may sometimes get tempted to look for shortcuts. The truth is, if you uphold integrity, set clear goals, and focus on them, you are destined for greatness.”
For fun, Sarah loves cooking and gardening. “I have plants, flowers, and fruit trees around my home that I take time to nurture. I am very intentional about leading a healthy lifestyle so I like going for long walks as a way of exercising.”
Sarah says she would like to venture deeper into the business world as she has a keen interest in education, health and beauty, fashion, and design. In her parting shot, she encourages any professional, especially young women, to believe in themselves and not shy away from challenging opportunities.
“There are immense opportunities out here, we just need to believe in our capabilities.”
