Empowering women is Dudu’s ambition in life

PRESSURE to accelerate gender equality and promote women to leadership positions is empowering women across various sectors.

In the vanguard in this respect is Dudu Msomi, 45, of Glenwood, who has an MBA and is the chief executive of Busara Leadership Partners, which offers advisory and consulting services to companies.

Busara is derived from Swahili and means “wisdom, prudence and intelligence”. The business is black women-owned and managed.

Msomi lived in various parts of Kwazulu-natal before finally settling in Durban.

With her mother, a retired nurse, the only remaining member of her nuclear family, Msomi was taught the principles of hard work and tenacity from a young age.

Academic excellence was built in, and her desire to be a businesswoman made her put in many years of hard work and cultivated her penchant for strategic thinking and problemsolving.

“I developed my knowledge, diagnostic and thinking early in life to bring a fresh view of the world. I just didn’t know what form sharing my expertise would take until I entered the corporate environment. I fell in love with business, organisations, strategy and leadership.

“In the workplace I have accumulated skills to help me to develop the strategic advisory and consulting expertise that inspired the formation of Busara Leadership Partners.”

Busara was established in 2009 and operates primarily from Durban and Joburg.

Msomi facilitates the development and effectiveness of leaders to achieve their desired goals with leadership, life coaching, strategy facilitation, business advice, board training and evaluations, among the services offered.

Busara brings practical, not off-the-shelf solutions, which respond and add value to clients in this ever-changing environment in order to maintain sustainable businesses.

Msomi’s greatest lessons in business are related to the kindness of strangers, operating with integrity and being visionary.

“You will come to truly appreciate the kindness of strangers. I advise everyone to live by the philosophy ‘be careful whose toes you step on today because they might be connected to the feet you kiss tomorrow’. Treat everyone you meet with respect.

“It is critical that, as an entrepreneur, you have integrity in what you say and do. You must live the values you espouse, even when it is not to your benefit.

“Finally, for me personally, it is inspirational and energising to be vision-directed, and that inspires my life, so that I am continually enthusiastic to power through difficulties because I believe my journey is worthwhile,” she said.

Msomi aims to have a positive impact on leaders because they influence economies and the world.

An advocate for advancement of women in business, she wants to break gender and cultural stereotypes and empower women to thrive in leadership positions so that they transform their organisations, while contributing at strategic and operational levels.

With dreams of becoming the most sought-after strategic advisory firm and aide in assisting entrepreneurs to grow beyond the survivalist stage, Msomi’s vision for Busara is to dynamically create a footprint that extends internationally and disrupts conventional leadership and strategic thinking practices.

As she views any setback as an opportunity to grow, life is an adventure for Msomi.