Sylvia approaches mentorship as a two-way exchange. She guides emerging leaders through high-pressure decisions, helping them develop judgment and confidence while learning from their fresh perspectives.
Sylvia Mulomi, head of people and culture at Stanbic Bank Uganda sees mentorship as a deliberate, two-way process, one that strengthens leadership judgment, supports decision-making under pressure and allows experienced leaders to remain open to learning from emerging talent.
Each year, Sylvia dedicates time to mentoring a small number of emerging human resource leaders, often those stepping into leadership roles for the first time.
“These are professionals who are being asked to rise quickly,” she says. “They are managing change, engaging senior stakeholders, presenting to boards and often doing so without the benefit of prior experience.”
In such moments, she notes, mentorship is not about instruction.
“What they need is not someone to tell them exactly what to do,” Sylvia explains. “They need someone who understands the pressure, who has walked that path and who can help them think through the implications of their decisions before they act.”
Her approach is intentional and disciplined. Rather than creating dependency, Sylvia focuses on helping mentees strengthen judgment, encouraging them to reach their own conclusions while benefiting from context, perspective and experience.
No cloned leadership
Sylvia does not believe in producing replicas of herself or any single leadership model. Instead, she encourages leaders to develop styles grounded in their own personalities, values and lived experience.
“My role is to share perspective and lessons learned, then allow people to make decisions for themselves. When leaders learn to trust their own judgment, that is when they begin to grow into the role,” she says.
Over time, this philosophy has had a visible impact across the human resource profession.
“I am humbled to have contributed, in some small way, to the growth journeys of several HR leaders in Uganda,” she reflects. “Leadership is not about holding space. It is about creating room for others to step forward and take responsibility.”
For Sylvia, mentorship is inseparable from responsibility.
“The experience I have been privileged to gain must be shared,” she says. “Mentorship is not an optional extra; it is part of giving back to the system that shaped you.”
Her commitment extends beyond corporate environments. She also supports students and early-career professionals as they navigate foundational career decisions, often at moments of uncertainty.
Building confidence and readiness
“Often, people are capable long before they believe they are,” Sylvia observes. “Sometimes what they need is affirmation, and the courage to take the next step even when the outcome is not guaranteed.”
She is particularly thoughtful about leadership readiness, noting that opportunity alone is not enough.
“Representation matters, but preparation matters more. Doors may open, but individuals must be ready to perform once they step into those spaces,” she says.
Sylvia is also attuned to generational shifts within organisations. As younger professionals bring new skills, perspectives and expectations into leadership pipelines, she believes mentorship must move in more than one direction.
“You cannot lead today’s workforce using yesterday’s assumptions. There is a great deal that younger colleagues understand instinctively, and leaders must be willing to learn from that,” she notes.
She points to digital fluency as one clear example. Younger professionals often approach challenges through technology first, demonstrating speed, adaptability and comfort with ambiguity.
“Senior leaders, in turn, bring depth, perspective and judgment. Institutional memory matters, understanding what informed past decisions, what worked and the unintended consequences that only experience reveals,” ,” Sylvia adds.
When leaders allow learning to flow both ways, she says, mentorship becomes transformational.
“Trust grows, relationships deepen, and mentorship moves beyond formality,” Sylvia reflects. “It becomes meaningful, not transactional.”
