by Dr. Eve Gadzikwa
Dr. Eve Gadzikwa is the current ARSO President and SAZ Director General. She is the 13th ARSO President and the First ARSO Lady President.
Current positions of leadership include:
1. ARSO President (June 2016-June 2019)
2. Zimbabwe National SQAM Chairperson
3. SADCA Country Representative (SADC)
4. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Committee Chair – Standards & Business Ethics
5. ISO DEVCO Chairman’s Advisory Committee Member
6. Board of Trustees Women’s University in Africa
Past leadership positions:
1. Immediate Past Chair Institute of Directors Zimbabwe (2010-2015)
2. Immediate Past Chair Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (2010-2015)
Career Choices
When one is confronted with the choice of which career to choose, one is not always aware of the challenges ahead. For instance one may study “strategy” yet is not trained on “execution” of that strategy thus creating tension between work and life. Women normally must balance between multiple roles (work, studies, home, church etc) leaving very little time for personal development and recreation. The above normally leads to stress, under-performance, burnout and frustration. At the end of the day you cannot separate work and life because both are inextricably linked. Technology is an enabler and an enemy of work – life balance (discipline is needed to manage the role technology plays). According to the American Time Use Survey data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics USA:-
1. Women are still pulling more weight around the house than men.
2. On an average day, 83% of women spent some time doing household activities such as housework, cooking, shopping.
3. On an average day, women spent 1 hour providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 26 minutes providing physical care.
4. Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any given day – 21% of men compared with 16% of women.
5. 80% of women are more likely do undertake unpaid work than men.
6. Women wake up earlier and sleep later due to additional house hold chores.
7. Most Boards in Zimbabwe only have 1 – 4 women serving as executives.
6 Tips to restore Work /Life balance
- Plan (short/long term goals): Dream Big, Start Small and Start Now. Thus make tiny goals that lead to your ultimate price that helps in managing time along short goals.
- Execution: make sure you attend to all concerns of the day at work so that you don’t have a backlog.
- Create wildly important goals.
- Act on lead measures immediately.
- Keep a compelling score card.
- Create accountability for results.
- Maintain a diary (Tracking): a diary is an assignment tracker and reminder. You need to plan for work and life events such that you know what to say Yes and No to.
- Drop low value activities (Delegate): when you delegate you are not being lazy but you indirectly developing other leaders and taking the load away from you.
- Create down time in your day (Relaxation): you need time to yourself to meditate and relax. It has proven that relaxation time increases creativity and pumps up energy levels.
- Turbo charge yourself (recharge your batteries): engage in positive activities that you love it can be sports, music or some volunteer initiatives that ignites you.
“A laughing face does not mean there is absence of sorrow, but that you have the ability to deal with it” – Shakespeare
