Mumbi Kahindo, CPO at Absa Bank Kenya, believes success is about knowing what deserves your attention in each season, asking for what you need and using every position you hold to make space for others.
Mumbi Kahindo, CPO at Absa Bank Kenya is thoughtful about the language often used to describe modern womanhood and leadership. She has a specific objection to the word ‘balance’ when it is used to describe what working mothers are supposed to achieve because she believes the word can create unrealistic expectations.
Back in the day, she learnt to negotiate with her bosses, trying to ensure that she would be present for important family moments, be home by early evening so she could read to her young son, hear about his day, and say a prayer before bed.
She would then continue working once her son went to sleep, picking up calls at 9.30pm to finish projects when she had to. However, Mumbi does not call what she achieved “balance”.
“You do not necessarily achieve balance. Balance insinuates that I can do 20 percent here and 20 percent there, but you can achieve integration and find which parts of your life you rev up at different times,” she explains.
She speaks about integration, which she describes as the wisdom to recognise which part of life requires fuller attention in a given season, and the courage to honestly ask for what you need as a mother.
She is especially clear that supporting women in the workplace is good leadership, not a favour. She believes organisations must create the conditions that allow mothers to succeed with dignity, through thoughtful policies, flexibility and a culture that recognises care responsibilities as part of real life, not an inconvenience to productivity. For example, she focuses on supportive maternity and return-to-work policies, breastfeeding mothers’ rooms, and flexible hours.
“Pregnancy and motherhood are not illnesses, nor should they be treated as signs of diminished performance. Some of the most dedicated and hardworking team members I have worked with have been pregnant mothers. In fact, there are times I have had to urge them to go home and rest, even when they are still focused on delivering their work,” she adds.
She recently lost her mother, whom she refers to as a true heroine; a woman who has inspired her over the years. She often returns to the idea that leadership is about the role one plays in other people’s journeys. To her, success is not simply an upward progression, but the opportunity to open doors, shape institutions and leave people better than she found them.
Mumbi’s journey is a story of grit and purpose. Rooted in Christian values, she has become many things to many people; a big sister, a corporate leader, a mentor, a mother, a woman of faith and a builder of people. Yet perhaps what defines her most is not simply what she has achieved, but the spirit with which she moves through the world: with intellect, compassion, conviction and a deep commitment to leave every space, and every person, better than she found them.
“I wonder if my father were able to see me now, would he believe who I’ve become? I don’t think, in his wildest dreams, he ever imagined that his daughter would be sitting on the Exco of a Tier One financial institution. His dream was big, yes, but perhaps he never imagined it could grow this much,” she concludes.
