CEO’s STYLE INTERVIEW FOR TIMES OF ESWATINI

Upbringing

Lungile Dlamini, born and raised in Mbabane is the first-born daughter to Enock Shongwe and Beatrice Hlophe. I am a first born of a family of 5 children, 2 girls and 3 boys. My early memories of childhood were the joy that we all were together in a close-knitted family. My father taught us from a very early age to always know that we are beautifully and wonderfully made, as dark-skinned girls he intentionally taught us that dark is beautiful. He instilled the importance of travel and exploring the world, sport, art and culture into our lives. My father always wanted a big life for us so he pumped in the importance of putting God first in everything we do and putting Eswatini as our priority because he said that the only inheritance that they would leave for us was education. My mother was the softer voice who taught us how to stand and think for yourself. How to spin presence when you walk into a room and how to never change who you are because of pressure. Put God first in everything you do, nothing will ever go wrong.

Education and Career Journey

My education journey started at St. Marks Primary and High School, before attending the National University of Lesotho for my Bachelors in Urban and Regional Planning, after which I returned to Eswatini to work as a Physical Planning Officer and proceeded to the UK to study MSC in Planning studies and I further went on to pursue an MBA and I am currently pursuing my PhD studies.

I have worked as a Chief Executive Officer for Ezulwini Municipality, a City Planner for the Municipality of Mbabane. I currently serve as a Chief Executive Officer for the Municipal Council of Manzini.

How best would you describe yourself?

I am a child of God who navigates according to the Lord’s direction. I believe in making the world of people I know, and do not know have a better quality of life. I strongly advocate for self-love and ultimately being oneself unapologetically in a world where labels are often forced on people. I am a strong strategy and operations professional, a leader who leads from the back, middle, and front depending on the circumstance. A problem solver with an integrated thinking mindset. I am stakeholder driven with strong communications skills. I consider myself a disrupter in creating my own roles in any space that I am in; be it family, career, fashion, and friendships.

I am inspired by travel, close family, and friends, being a dreamer and a visionary. I am not afraid to speak out and up on issues. I believe that I promote a style of leadership that is based on actions.

I am a woman who pushes the African fashion agenda in modern and contemporary way. I love beautiful things, when I am feeling comfortable, feminine, and powerful as a woman comfortable in her space is what inspires my style. My fashion style is inspired by very intentional designers who understand the lives and bodies of African women. For everyday wear, I have several local tailors that put together my designs, namely, Asante, Dorcas, and Kaymag Fashion. My go-to designer is Palesa Mokubung of the Mantsho Brand. Palesa is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. I also have a number of MaXhosa designs. My local favourite is my childhood friend Phiwase Nxumalo, founder of Diva.

I’ve always loved travel, and as a child our parents exposed us to annual travel across Southern Africa. To date, I love to travel both locally and internationally to see nature, and Mkhaya Nature Reserve is one place I love to visit in Eswatini.

Role as a Chief Executive Officer

As a Municipal Chief Executive Officer, I serve as an executive who leads and ensures all priorities get done. I bridge the gap between politics and administration. Manzini’s steady growth and diversification continues to present challenges for the Municipality. The challenges are balancing economic interests for the city and the social interests for the city whilst being a mother, sister, wife, and a friend. I therefore must be effective in leadership and rallying the forces in my various teams because I cannot do it all. Effective leadership is built on strengthening the other participants in the governing process, rather than controlling or supplanting them. I lead through effective empowered teams who are in the forefront of what is currently prevailing in Manzini.

Women Empowerment:

Throughout my career in the Government space, I have worked with a number of inspirational women leaders such as the late Bishop Wamukoya whom I strived to emulate. I have observed how they have handled diversity and navigated ambiguity. Despite working in an overwhelming male industry, I have never seen gender as an obstacle.

I am a mother to daughters – Owethu, Anele, Yamani, Unathi and Zonke – and I try and ensure that my own life serves as an inspiration to them.

I should state though that the gender imbalances in the country are real. I therefore decided to take it as an obligation to support up and coming female professionals interested in the space in their career development. Today as a CEO, I am actively and intentionally bringing female leadership into our leadership space. I encourage women to prepare and participate. To feel confident to take a position and invest in building a rapport with everyone in the space. The reality is that there is a lot of stigma surrounding the potentially detrimental impact of women’s work/life balance. My response to this is that executives do work long hours and promotions will come at the expense of family time. But there is a solution to everything in life.

Advice for Youth:

Never sacrifice your joyfulness, always being driven by a subconscious need to validate and enjoy your existence. Know your end goal and what success will mean to you. Try to articulate where you are going, never settle for less than you deserve and let the process take its time.

While the process takes its course, keep busy on your dream. Start your own business or pick up a hobby. Remember that failure happens, and it’s okay to make mistakes. Know what matters. For example, in my life, family matters, my friends matter, and I matter. My spiritual life matters. I’ve grown to prioritize personal development on all the aspects of my life. I learnt to work hard on myself, as much as I do on my job. If you work harder on your job, you work to earn a living, if you work harder on yourself you work to earn a fortune.