Suresh is the Chairman of Murray & Roberts Limited and the lead independent director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. He served as Chairman of Imperial Holdings Limited until its unbundling in 2019.
He is the Chairman of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, Deputy Chair of the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa and serves as a trustee of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation which oversees the setting of global accounting standards. He was the CEO and senior partner of PwC Southern Africa and PwC Africa and a member of the PwC Global Board, until his retirement in 2015.
Suresh serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize winners, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
Gail Cameron had the opportunity to meet with this phenomenal leader and we are excited to share the top insights from this interview with you.
Top Leadership Lessons Learnt from Dr. Suresh Kana:
- People are everything. We achieve everything we achieve through other people. Therefore taking a ‘people first’ approach to leadership is a strong philosophy one can follow.
- Remain adaptable, remain ambitions and deal with challenges as they arise.
- Remember that the scenery will keep changing but as a leader you need to remain stable, grounded and constant.
- Be willing to learn through making mistakes. One learns from being faced with uncomfortable situations.
- A clear vision and a passion for what you do will assist a leader to stay motivated and determined.
- Keep an open mind – You will never know all the answers, and nobody has all of the knowledge.
- Many minds come up with great solutions – listening to different views from diverse backgrounds can give rich solutions. Collaboration is a powerful tool.
- Coaching and Mentorship is a very powerful tool. Different perspectives will challenge and stretch you.
Advice for next generation leaders:
- The world is filled with opportunity – do not get discouraged by current challenges. Remember that challenges will, and have, always existed.
- Rise to opportunity – That is real leadership.
- Have a strong ethics base.
- A Sustainable work-life integration is important. There must be a balance between work and play.
- Be careful of consumerism. Live on less and think about our future.
Enjoy the full interview here:
