WILD Mentorship School Kickstarts

Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) Mentorship School begun this Wednesday, 24 February 2021, with two sessions being held on the first day of classes. The WILD Mentorship School is the second of its kind under the She Leads Project, which preceded the Women Empowered for Public Leadership Project that ran between 2017 and 2020.

Since inception of the project the WILD Mentorship school has recruited 12 Mentors and 45 Mentees who conduct lessons virtually on several topics that are fundamental in building capacities of aspiring leaders emerging from sectors such as politics, business and civil society.

During a session on Self Confidence that was facilitated by Sikhululekile Moyo, the Ward 17 Councillor for the City of Bulawayo asserted that “Self Confidence can mean a different thing to different people, yet in reality it simply means having faith in oneself.”

The WILD Mentorship School program seeks to mentor and capacitate women to be effective, ethical and excellent leaders.

Councilor Moyo encouraged mentees to put deliberate effort to building their self confidence in order to present the best version of themselves in their various leadership spectrums.

“Self-confidence is about your stance and abilities when engaging in different tasks in your life,” added Councilor Moyo.

One mentee asked how important dress code is in building one’s confidence and Councilor Moyo emphasized that if you do not have confidence in what you are wearing, you will have minimal confidence in how you present yourself in crowds.

In order to boost one’s self esteem, one should be well versed with the topics they are about to present and a written presentation is always preferable for references for the leader not to go astray from their given topics. It was highlighted that a good leader should be a good listener.

Participants in the school noted that sometimes, our backgrounds have a huge impact on our confidence. It was highlighted that the prevalence in Gender Based Violence cases could have  an adverse effect on how one presents themselves as a leader and it is essential to communicate and seek help where need be.