Mpume Ncube-Daka was awarded the Woman in Mentor and Coach Category Winner for the Woman of Stature Awards South Africa 2024 at the awards evening held at Indaba Hotel on Saturday 13th April.
Now in its 11th year, the esteemed Woman of Stature Awards is a prestigious platform celebrating the achievements and empowerment of female entrepreneurs and professionals in various fields across the country.
Ncube-DaKA has nearly 30 years of work experience having worked for multinational and JSE-listed organisations like Unilever, Nestle, MTN, Ericsson and the Multichoice Group, where she occupied the role of a business strategist for several years before branching out on her own to focus on sharpening her executive business leadership and entrepreneurial skills.
In the past four years, after working as a leadership coach for close to a decade, Ncube-Daka founded her own coaching and personal development practice, About Change Conversations, which focuses on coaching, personal development, business strategy and leadership consulting.
Her stellar track record within the corporate space, characterised by her ability to solve complex client problems with empathy and expertise, has played a critical role in the organisation’s success. It’s no wonder her sought-after services extend beyond the confines of South Africa with clients in the UAE and US.
The internationally acclaimed practice focuses on one-on-one and group coaching, as well as facilitation, strategic advisory and creation of bespoke programmes and speaking to inspire employees.
“Being named the category ‘Mentor and Coach Winner’ of the Woman of Stature Awards South Africa 2024 still hasn’t quite sunk. The coaching profession is an incredibly diverse and competitive industry and this award is not just about the acknowledgement of the work I do, but also elevating the importance of coaching and mentoring,: said Ncube-Daka.
“My vision and wish in life is that a whole lot of us can be able to engage a coach, and equally important is to be in a place where as a sector, engaging a life coach doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise.
“My hope for my fellow South Africans is to also understand that having a mentor or a coach in their life is highly important because those are the people with the acquired skill to help them navigate their lives and what they want to achieve.
Highlighting the importance of life coaching, Ncube-Daka added that coaching challenges your mindset.
“It gives you the space where you can reflect on where you are and want to go. As people and professionals, we don’t actually do that; reflect on where do we really want to see ourselves, and even asking ourselves the important question of ‘why was I really brought into this world?’
“We barely take time to do that, we are caught up in just the day-to-day grinding and putting food on the table.”
The KwaZulu-Natal born entrepreneur, who previously worked as the supervisor for GIBS’ Entrepreneurship MBA programme, says accepting the prestigious ‘Mentor and Coach Winner of the Woman of Stature 2024’ award alongside South Africa’s ambitious and highly driven professionals has been a special honour, which accords both the participants and stakeholders to learn from hearing each other’s stories and unique business journeys.
“When I founded About Change Conversations my vision was simple – to help individuals to get to appreciate the potential they’ve got inside them, and embrace the talents and gifts that God has given them,” Ncube-Daka said.
“The principle of coaching says ‘we all have answers within ourselves’ but sadly as people, we find ourselves really just cruising in life sometimes, and we’re not bringing our whole self into our own lives because we don’t know to do it, something which I can very much relate to. Because I myself benefitted greatly from enrolling in an executive coaching program with GIBS while working as product executive for Multichoice – a decision which brought me to ultimately leading a fulfilling life as an entrepreneur and global leadership coach after switching several careers in the past – that’s what I want to do for others.
“For me it’s about how I can impact my clients’ lives to a point where they can really live a fulfilled and successful life according to their individual definition – not according to someone’s else,’’said Mpume, who authored ‘My Dream Career Journal’ to guide job and career seekers in their professional development journey.
And when all is said and done, Ncube-Daka’s hope for About Change Conversations is to see it make a huge impact within the African continent in terms of providing coaches that can really make an impact in facilitating conversations in the workplace that can make a difference and bring about real change, as well as launching a series of interactive education (career) roadshows in rural schools and previously disadvantaged communities.
“Sometimes we get our people to attend these training programmes, but we never take a step back to say ‘okay, someone has gone through this and that training, but what is the impact back into the business and their respective communities’. They still come back and be expected to operate the same way. So for me it’s ideally about allowing those people that go through these trainings with me to go back and elevate.”
