Musa Kalenga is currently the Group Head: Digital Marketing at Nedbank. He is also the Head of Brand at IAB South Africa (formerly DMMA). In 2012, Musa Kalenga was voted one of the Top 200 young South Africans by the Mail & Guardian and is a sought after speaker, lauded strategist and digital marketing thinker. Prior to his appointment with Nedbank, Musa was Managing Director at IHOP WORLD – a content, social media and influencer and experiential marketing company. His endeavour with Ihop was a result of a Merger between the agency he founded; Monatefellaz and A division of the Brand Leadership Group.
My Definition Of Success | Success to me is two things, firstly the ability to have a tangible impact in my community and my profession and secondly, the degree to which I am able to share what I have learnt, honed, or discovered with others so that they can achieve the same.
The Difference Between Good And Great | The difference is simply the intensity of effort that goes into their work. Many people have talent, skill and natural ability – this is a gift and allows for the first level of success and this is sufficient to be good. I believe that being great requires a decided and deliberate commitment to your respective craft such that you hone it and own it.
Critical Skills I Develop | I believe that I am very aware of self, and have become particularly good at contextualizing the value I add in all aspects of my life – professional or social. I think that the idea of “value” has become a notion that I obsess about. I find the concept of value to be useful in literal and figurative applications of al
most all aspects of life. I have always believed that our young people struggle to fully understand the concept of value and as such they often either under or over value themselves. Once they grasp the understanding value and how this leads to the generation of wealth and success it changes how they approach their lives and their careers.
The Characteristics of Success |
Clarity – Always knowing with an 80% confidence level what it is that I wanted to achieve next.
Flexibility – Adjusting my path or steps in order to achieve what I have set out to get done.
Consultation – I have a number of people that I trust that I often bounce ideas off, or just get insight from them relating some of my plans and ideas. Consultation initially felt like a tedious unnecessary task, but I can honestly say that it has saved me years of blood sweat and tears.
Reflection – I spend as much time as possible thinking about some of my greatest failures, ways of improving my everyday challenges and shortcomings. Reflection also allows for corrective actions.
Principles I Live By | Integrity – I believe that good people want to do business with other good people and therefore as long as your integrity is intact, there is an opportunity to make a connection with someone and create something.
Reputation – An asset is defined as something that continues to do work and gain in value regardless of your presence. I believe my reputation is a huge asset and has stood me in good stead in times where I was not there to stand for myself.
Delivery – I believe that great work speaks for itself and all my projects have always come to fruition – regardless of how successful they may be, it is important that they get landed no matter what
Lessons I Have Learnt | The simplest, but most profound lesson is that failure is critical part of true success
Performing At My Peak | I try and set my goals unrealistically in order to stretch myself from the onset. So I manage a level that is above excellent such that even my underperformance is still excellent by all accounts. I also benchmark myself against other people that are doing similar things to those that I aspire to do. They are an important reference point although I don’t ever compete with them.
Resources I Use To Stay Inspired | I take references for literature material all the times, so whenever someone mentions something worth reading, I generally get a copy. I don’t have a particular kind of literature, but I am pragmatic in what I like to read. Books that enhance my technical and emotional understanding of the world and my life are great reads.
The Best Advice I’ve Received | From my mom “There is no sweet without sweat”.
From my mentor “You are only as good as your last project”
From anonymous “keep your eyes on the prize – nothing ventured, nothing gained”
On Inspiring Others | I like to be aware of my industry and environment. A heightened awareness will lead to a natural curiosity about the best or most promising people in your space. I am very deliberate about reaching out to people that I want to work with. I then reach out and define a project to undertake with them. I am very practical about keeping motivate and try to have people and experiences that motivate me regularly.
Useful links |
