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ENTREPRENEUR: Lerato Mosiah | WHAT TOOK AFROX HEALTHCARE GM Lerato Mosiah to the finals of the 2010 Boss of the Year (BOTY) competition was evidence of her calmness, communication skills, drive and resourcefulness to do the best for her people. What took her further and landed her the title was her evident passion for leadership. Those words by BOTY founder and organiser Ornella Trinco at the recent awards event in Sandton aptly sum up the new title holder, concurs her personal assistant and nominator, Jenny Young.
“Lerato really cares for her staff. She’s considerate, respectful and extremely fair; a good listener who encourages and empowers her employees with, among other things, an individual development plan. Extremely humble, empathetic and never moody, she maintains an open door policy and doesn’t micro-manage.”
Moreover, Mosiah communicates the company’s vision or goal in a clear and concise manner and ensures it’s shared by all by involving the entire team. She also illustrates how the vision links up to the global vision in order to motivate and enthuse her team, Young says.
In turn, Mosiah says she’s privileged to have a great team. “It’s easy to lead them. As much as I make it my job to inspire and motivate, I also inculcate the values of hard work and discipline. In my capacity as manager and leader, discipline plays a key role.”
Precisely because she grew up in a home that placed strong values on education and discipline, Mosiah singles out former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as one of her role models. “On top of that, she’s a real lady.”
Resilient in the face of adversity, Mosiah refused to see Afrox Healthcare’s homecare division close down at the beginning of 2008 because it was seen to form a small part of the overall company and not profitable. Instead, she had vision for the future of Healthcare and firmly believed in the value of the division and how it could contribute to the healthcare business.
So she started to investigate the problem areas, appointed a team to come up with solutions, resourced the business appropriately, managed to get a service centre dedicated only to Homecare and ensured profitability. “Now business has improved significantly and is getting better every month.”
Mosiah’s attitude towards leadership is refreshing and honest. “When faced with challenges you must always have an open mind and tell yourself you’ll never know everything all the time. If things don’t turn out the way I expect, I do some introspection and learn from it. One of the traits of a leader is to always – always – make sure you learn lessons from adversity and experience.”
Mosiah’s began her career in 1995 as a medical sales representative, from where she worked herself right to the top. Besides several science qualifications, she also holds a GIBS MBA. Her training included a pharmacy internship at the Florence Nightingale Hospital.
As she cares deeply for her fellow man and the community at large, she’d dearly like to become more involved with community work again, as she did when she previously acted as an orientation leader for first year students at the University of North West.
Eunice Muleleke, chair of the MTN Foundation and major BOTY sponsor, says: “We need great business leaders with vision who can articulate that vision, passionately own it and drive it to completion. Without passion, the position of leadership is meaningless. And passionate leaders inspire others to strive for more and achieve more; they inspire confidence and success in their peers and colleagues. Good leaders make people feel they’re at the very heart of the success of the organisation; that they make an essential difference. Clearly, as an exemplary leader and manager, Lerato Mosiah embodies all of those characteristics.”
LERATO’S MEMBERSHIPs
1994 to present: The SA Pharmaceutical Council.
1992-1993: Chair of the residence committee at Wits.
2006-2007: Executive committee of the national council of pharmaceutical manufacturers.
2006-2007: Pharmaceutical Industry Association of SA (member of the SciTech Committee).
2006: Board member of Keyboards Secretarial and Business College in Gauteng.
2007 to present: Business Women’s Association.
2009 to present: Trustee of Afrox’s medical aid scheme.
VITAL STATISTICS
* Age: 44
* Born Meadowlands, Soweto; currently lives in Sunninghill, Gauteng.
* Enjoys playing golf on tranquil courses or going to a spa to relax and unwind.
* Loves to play the piano, is very music-orientated. Jazz is a firm favourite.
* Qualifications: Dip Education (Science), BSc (Hons), B Pharm, MBA (GIBS).
Joined Afrox in November 2007 as GM Healthcare, charged with strategy, innovation, market development, channel planning for operations and overall sustainable profitability.
* Experience: Worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years as a medical representative in sales, as product and marketing manager in business development in marketing and as quality and regulating manager in business development of local and multinational companies.
* Joined Sekunjalo Healthcare Limited in 2000 as co-founder of the pharmaceutical division Sekpharma and was later appointed managing director and responsible pharmacist of Sekpharma in terms of the Pharmacy Act.
“Lerato really cares for her staff. She’s considerate, respectful and extremely fair; a good listener who encourages and empowers her employees with, among other things, an individual development plan. Extremely humble, empathetic and never moody, she maintains an open door policy and doesn’t micro-manage.”
Moreover, Mosiah communicates the company’s vision or goal in a clear and concise manner and ensures it’s shared by all by involving the entire team. She also illustrates how the vision links up to the global vision in order to motivate and enthuse her team, Young says.
In turn, Mosiah says she’s privileged to have a great team. “It’s easy to lead them. As much as I make it my job to inspire and motivate, I also inculcate the values of hard work and discipline. In my capacity as manager and leader, discipline plays a key role.”
Precisely because she grew up in a home that placed strong values on education and discipline, Mosiah singles out former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as one of her role models. “On top of that, she’s a real lady.”
Resilient in the face of adversity, Mosiah refused to see Afrox Healthcare’s homecare division close down at the beginning of 2008 because it was seen to form a small part of the overall company and not profitable. Instead, she had vision for the future of Healthcare and firmly believed in the value of the division and how it could contribute to the healthcare business.
So she started to investigate the problem areas, appointed a team to come up with solutions, resourced the business appropriately, managed to get a service centre dedicated only to Homecare and ensured profitability. “Now business has improved significantly and is getting better every month.”
Mosiah’s attitude towards leadership is refreshing and honest. “When faced with challenges you must always have an open mind and tell yourself you’ll never know everything all the time. If things don’t turn out the way I expect, I do some introspection and learn from it. One of the traits of a leader is to always – always – make sure you learn lessons from adversity and experience.”
Mosiah’s began her career in 1995 as a medical sales representative, from where she worked herself right to the top. Besides several science qualifications, she also holds a GIBS MBA. Her training included a pharmacy internship at the Florence Nightingale Hospital.
As she cares deeply for her fellow man and the community at large, she’d dearly like to become more involved with community work again, as she did when she previously acted as an orientation leader for first year students at the University of North West.
Eunice Muleleke, chair of the MTN Foundation and major BOTY sponsor, says: “We need great business leaders with vision who can articulate that vision, passionately own it and drive it to completion. Without passion, the position of leadership is meaningless. And passionate leaders inspire others to strive for more and achieve more; they inspire confidence and success in their peers and colleagues. Good leaders make people feel they’re at the very heart of the success of the organisation; that they make an essential difference. Clearly, as an exemplary leader and manager, Lerato Mosiah embodies all of those characteristics.”
LERATO’S MEMBERSHIPs
1994 to present: The SA Pharmaceutical Council.
1992-1993: Chair of the residence committee at Wits.
2006-2007: Executive committee of the national council of pharmaceutical manufacturers.
2006-2007: Pharmaceutical Industry Association of SA (member of the SciTech Committee).
2006: Board member of Keyboards Secretarial and Business College in Gauteng.
2007 to present: Business Women’s Association.
2009 to present: Trustee of Afrox’s medical aid scheme.
VITAL STATISTICS
* Age: 44
* Born Meadowlands, Soweto; currently lives in Sunninghill, Gauteng.
* Enjoys playing golf on tranquil courses or going to a spa to relax and unwind.
* Loves to play the piano, is very music-orientated. Jazz is a firm favourite.
* Qualifications: Dip Education (Science), BSc (Hons), B Pharm, MBA (GIBS).
Joined Afrox in November 2007 as GM Healthcare, charged with strategy, innovation, market development, channel planning for operations and overall sustainable profitability.
* Experience: Worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years as a medical representative in sales, as product and marketing manager in business development in marketing and as quality and regulating manager in business development of local and multinational companies.
* Joined Sekunjalo Healthcare Limited in 2000 as co-founder of the pharmaceutical division Sekpharma and was later appointed managing director and responsible pharmacist of Sekpharma in terms of the Pharmacy Act.
