Dr. Anna Mokgokong

We also had the pleasure to have Dr. Anna Mokgokong speaking at the launch of ALOW last month.

Voted one of the leading women entrepreneurs in the world in 1998 by the Star Group in the US, Dr. Anna is one of the most confident women entrepreneurs today - she speaks candidly and laughs easily, but you know she means business.

On what makes her successful in a still male-dominated business world, Dr. Anna says that she has always been ambitious and always expected to be a high achiever. Her aspirations as a child were not to become a doctor, but a film star. "I have always believed I would become something in my life, and that has driven me. Only big dreams have the power to move your mind and spirit. You must believe in yourself, never look backwards and stay focused."

Being asked what advice she would give to women in Management, Dr. Anna states that mostly women's biggest enemy is themselves. According to her, the key factors for success are:

- There are no shortcuts to success - only hard work
- Be aggressive and get your butt off the ground
- Act consistently to your most inner beliefs
- Integrity is key to success
- Women do have dual roles - accept it
- Do not be afraid to teach, train and encurage other women
- Earn respect from your male peers and superiors
- Be tenacious and resilitent - don't let go of your dream

How can one person have so much energy? "I don't believe that it is about energy. It is about passion. You must have a lot of passion for what you want to achieve and then direct all your energies to achieve that passion. That is the difference between women and men. It is not only that women can multi-task, but women tend to be more passionate about what they believe in than men. So we have an advantage!"

Your can read more about Dr. Anna here.

Woman's Forum Official Launch

On 02.02.2010, Siemens Southern Africa officially launched the African Leadership Organisation of Women (ALOW). Mrs. Jill Lee, the Chief Diversity Officer for Siemens AG visited us for the launch and presented the Global Diversity Initiative.

Jill Lee has been working at Siemens since 1986 in various Asian countries. She has been Senior Executive VP and CFO of Siemens China since July 2004. In April 2008 she took over as CFO for the entire Northeast Asia region, which in addition to China also includes Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In November 2008 Jill’s appointment as the new Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) of Siemens AG was announced. In her position as CDO she is responsible for promoting Diversity across all ranks of Siemens Management.

Especially for Siemens in Africa, diversity is a very important topic:

Africa is an extremely diverse continent. Consisting of 53 countries, it’s the most multilingual continent in the world with approximately 2.000 languages and dialects being spoken. Siemens celebrates this diversity as a prerequisite to sustainable success – African diversity matches our own commitment to becoming a company as diverse as the world in which we operate in order to tap the power of this diversity for maximum advantage.

The combined talents of the Siemens employees on the African continent represent an infinite range of possibilities. Women and men from a wide range of backgrounds working throughout the company developing solutions to meet our customer’s needs and answering the most pressing issues facing Africa today. Research demonstrates that diverse workplaces are happier and more interesting. Diverse companies find it easier to attract people, job satisfaction is enhanced, and diverse teams are more productive and creative. For a company like Siemens that depends on innovation, it must do all it can to nurture this innovation power. This was the thinking behind Siemens’ Managing Board’s decision to launch the Siemens Diversity Initiative.

More Information on Diversity at Siemens can be found here - this time for Siemens employees only.

Welcome!

To say it with Beyonce, this is for "all the honeys who makin' money" - independent business women in (and outside of) Siemens who want to connect, promote, learn, and grow.

Having launched the African Leadership Organisation of Women (ALOW) only weeks ago in February 2010, we are in the process of creating a mentoring program for women in Siemens to identify and grow female talent. We also want to offer a platform for networking, a business book club, Power Hours of training outside the purely work related topics ... and much more.

We want to be the best resource for forward-thinking women who want to grow their careers. We want to share ideas, contacts, resources, helpful tips and inspiration. Above all, we want to provide the support of other women and encourage you to become as successful as possible.