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Victoria Ruzvidzo Business Focus
Yesterday marked Women’s Day, a day globally set to pay homage to the female species. The theme: “Be Bold for Change” was quite apt.

Numerous organisations had programmes lined up to celebrate women locally and international. I, for one was invited to more than four functions reflecting the importance accorded to this special day.

Over the last few years women have stood up and stood out to play an increasing role in development despite impediments in one form or another. Such tenacity is worth celebrating.

I am an advocate of women’s liberties, rights, elevation, recognition and judicious treatment. Regular readers of this column would be aware of this refrain and many too, relating to the economy, business, politics and development.

It is clear that women have been marginalised since time immemorial but admittedly strides have been made in various spheres: professionally, socially, economically and politically.

The report card also says there is a lot that still needs to be done to achieve parity. Change beckons in multiple fields and it will not occur through wishful thinking, arbitrary endeavours or lethargic actions. Hence we need to be bold for change as the theme suggests.

In my estimation, nothing substantial has ever been attained without being bold.

What is it that you believe in? What is it that you desire? What do you want to transform? What glaring inequalities are you putting up with? What injustices are you submitting yourself to? What changes do you want to see and in which areas?

Change does not happen spontaneously. It is driven. It does not come about through empty rhetoric or grandiose planning. Bold positions have to be taken , followed through with bold action.

The change we desire is not simply a correction of imbalances and injustices but a deliberate, methodical and systematic assertion and expression of ourselves, a manifestation of our goals, visions and objectives authoring and charting our destinies. This demands that we be proactive, it takes action, decisiveness, innovation, and being industrious, remembering that in all this we have to be bold.

This year’s theme resonates with me as I trust it does with you in whatever capacity or station you find yourself in. Let’s boldly deliver and this includes men too.

Our country requires that we all stand up and be counted.

Women in Leadership Awards

On Monday, women from various fields that include media, health, agriculture, education and the arts were celebrated and given accolades in recognition of their contribution in the various fields.

It was a wonderful morning that brought together women and a few men from various persuasions. Yours truly also received an award for media excellence. I am humbled and truly honoured to be rated among the top women in this country.

My sincere thanks to the Zimbabwe Business Awards Council, the Women’s Heritage Society World Organisation and the Institute of Maverick Leadership. Dr Enrico Sibanda and his team did a sterling job, particularly in recognising women and their contribution to the national discourse.

My everyday experiences bring to fore the incontrovertible truth that any achievement is done with others, for others and by others. My sincere thanks go to our chief executive Pikirayi Deketeke, our group editorial executive William Chikoto, The Herald Editor Caesar Zvayi and many more within and without Zimpapers who have moulded me over the years.

Special thanks to my husband Wallace and my family.

Most of all I thank God for His grace, without which I amount to nothing. My spiritual parents and mentors — Prophets Emmanuel and Ruth Makandiwa have also been very instrumental in my life.

The concept of awards is to recognise salient efforts, pursuits and achievements. More than that, they should spur one to even greater heights.

My brother is a sincere believer in his high school motto at Prince Edward “tot facienda parum factum” which means “so much to do, yet so little done”. Thus no matter how high or lofty the standards we might have achieved, there is always more to be done.

Anything and everything is work in progress, subject to continuous improvement hence we never really arrive. The day we think we have, is the day we begin to deteriorate, standards plummet and we take our eyes off the ball.

Tidbits

*NUGGETS FOR NOBLES*

1. Take risks in your life. If you win, you can lead; if you lose, you can guide.

2. People are not what they say but what they do; so judge them not from their words but from their actions.

3. When someone hurts you, don’t feel bad because it’s a law of nature that the tree that bears the sweetest fruits gets maximum number of stones.

4. Take whatever you can from your life because when life starts taking from you, it takes even your last breath.

5. In this world, people will always throw stones on the path of your success. It depends on what you make from them — a wall or a bridge.

6. Challenges make life interesting; overcoming them make life meaningful.

7. There is no joy in victory without running the risk of defeat.

8. A path without obstacles leads nowhere.

9. Past is a nice place to visit but certainly not a good place to stay.

10. You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.

11. If what you did yesterday still looks big to you, then you haven’t done much today.

12. If you don’t build your dreams, someone else will hire you to build theirs.

13. If you don’t climb the mountain; you can’t view the plain.

14. Don’t leave it idle — use your brain.

15. You are not paid for having brain, you are only rewarded for using it intelligently.

16. It is not what you don’t have that limits you; it is what you have but don’t know how to use.

17. What you fail to learn might teach you a lesson.

18. The difference between a corrupt person and an honest person is: The corrupt person has a price while the honest person has a value.

19. If you succeed in cheating someone, don’t think that the person is a fool . . . Realise that the person trusted you much more than you deserved.

20. Honesty is an expensive gift; don’t expect it from cheap people. — Got these from the late Professor Primrose Kurasha, former Zimbabwe Open University Vice Chancellor.

• In God I Trust!
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