Iam always intrigued when I see women take the lead hereby serving as inspiration to other women, especially now that we do not have enough women in leadership positions.
My ‘date’ for this week is one of such great women doing Nigeria proud globally. She is an Engineer with over 14 years professional working experience applying her extensive business and leadership skills and expertise in the utilities, energy and consulting markets. She graduated with a 2nd class degree upper in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 1999 and completed her Masters degree in Electrical Engineering in the University of Cambridge UK. From 2001 to 2005, she worked in various functions with Siemens UK, Siemens Germany and Siemens USA mainly in the power transmission & distribution, sales and marketing divisions. She thereafter returned to Nigeria and started her career as a management consultant with Accenture from 2006 till 2009. She participated in the FGNs Vision 2020 project during this period leading the manufacturing and SME technical working groups on their visioning and planning. Tifase Onyeche graces this column this week and she is the Managing Director/ CEO of Siemens Ltd. Nigeria with effect from November 1 2014. By her appointment, she becomes the first Nigerian CEO of the German multinational company that has had a long impressive history in Nigeria. She is married with 3 lovely children; she is passionate about Nigeria and values hard work, integrity, innovation and team spirit.
For over 160 years now, Siemens is recognized in Germany and all over the world for its innovation and excellence. Well established in more than 190 countries, they offer an ever-growing spectrum of products and systems in the areas of industry, energy and healthcare. Since 1970, Siemens Limited Nigeria has been an integral part of the Nigerian community providing its products and services to the country and its people.
Tifase Onyeche
Tifase had an idyllic childhood and grew up close to nature in the scenic countryside of Ogun State. “My mother, a respected Chemistry teacher at the time, encouraged us to read and be adventurous explorers. My father was then a general manager in one of the country’s most successful cement companies. He often took us on excursions to see how the factory was run and I would be awed by the scale of operations.” She tells me and continues “The freedom and nurture I experienced as a child taught me to be an independent thinker and opened up my mind to the endless possibilities that Nigeria could achieve as a nation. I decided very early that I wanted to be a part of the development of Nigeria and this resolve has steered my current career path.” She quips.
From her biography, it’s easy to tell that Tifase’s love for the sciences is intriguing, so much that she has achieved an enviable feat in her choice of profession-Engineering. Now, that is not a profession where you find a lot of women but somehow, Tifase has waxed even stronger. She lets me into her choice of profession and more. “I must say, my love for the sciences was borne as a result of my upbringing. My passions never changed and till today, I love understanding how things work and solving problems. My father also influenced me greatly; I went to Nottingham University to study and became an engineer, exactly as he did. He made me believe in myself and encouraged me to believe I should excel in whatever I applied myself to. I had an inquisitive mind growing up. I always had aspirations to study Architecture and ended up studying and excelling in sciences – Mathematics and Physics were two of my favourite subjects.” She tells me with a
smile on her face “I am sure you think I’m weird Kemi, I see the look in your eyes” she teased to which I responded “ Unique and rare are the words that comes to mind listening and seeing you share about your love for engineering, mathematics and physics as a woman.” I said.
Being the first Nigerian MD/CEO of Siemens is something Tifase isn’t taking for granted. I say this because she tells me “I feel empowered and determined to ensure this new era for Siemens is focused on the customer, where we excel in our performance, goals and provide outstanding products, services and solutions. It goes without saying that there are great expectations being the ‘First Nigerian MD’ and a woman, but I am ready to take on the challenge.” She confidently informs me.
In its over 165 years of its existence, Siemens has leveraged on its passion for engineering by making real what matters, working with their customers to help improve the lives of people today and in the generation to come. However, for Tifase, there is a bigger picture and she shares it “Siemens is setting the benchmark in the way we electrify, automate and digitalize the world around us. Ingenuity in providing products, services and solutions is our driving force. The Siemens brand is established in other African countries such as South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Angola, Algeria, Ghana and so on and impacts any economy for the better where it is found.” “Siemens is committed to investing in Nigeria and has confirmed this through the Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Nigeria with a focus on local content development through establishment of a workshop to provide after sales services and conducting trainings aimed at sustaining the economy of Nigeria in key sectors – energy, manufacturing, healthcare to mention a few.” Tifase educates.
Given the nature of their business, Siemens is always evolving thus novelty is part of their culture. As at October 2014, they took steps to streamline the company structure making their management even more effective. This new structure is geared towards customer focus and a performance driven team.
As MD/CEO, Tifase says “my role, in brief, is to have a general oversight on the operations of the company. It entails being the proverbial ‘work ant’ – creating a strategic plan for Siemens Nigeria, implementing the plan alongside my leadership team and monitoring the plan to ensure it is sustainable. As CEO, I aim to drive new long term growth initiatives, develop earning opportunities and advance the Nigerian subsidiary of the Siemens brand.”
“Our approach to the Nigerian market is focused on providing Nigerians with what really matters. The seemingly basic things where the opposite has become the norm such as driving on road with street lights, having access to healthcare in Nigeria without the need to spend fortunes abroad, flicking a switch and certain that there is a power supply regardless of the time of the day, doing your laundry when you want to as against when power is available. We believe a sustainable power sector is Nigeria’s prerogative, where it increases from its current level of less than 3000MW to the minimum power generation required for our populace of about 200,000MW.” Tifase narrates.
Coming from a background of strategy consulting and operational management, Tifase has come to accept that challenges are as real and present as the earth we walk on. “There are a plethora of challenges I am faced with on a personal and professional basis such as competition for the market, work/life balance, ineffective marketing, customer satisfaction and poor sales, but amidst these daily challenges I consciously lean on my strengths – strategy formulation, innovation, and effective leadership, to surmount them.” She says.
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Asked for her view on reasons why we have fewer women on the board and her response said it all. “Leadership is imperative to any living human being – man or woman. I believe the world is guided by the signals you emit and where these signals do not point in the direction a corporation wants to head, then the corporation is compelled to explore another route to help it attain its goals – and this route could be either a man or a woman. Undoubtedly, there is a worldwide significant ratio gap on company boards which favour men; nonetheless, there remain testimonials of women who successfully ‘man’ and have literally salvage companies playing the CEO roles, fortune 500 companies included.”
“It is no small feat for a woman in corporate executive leadership as there is a presumption of non-capability despite the experience and educational background of that woman. Most times, this opposition comes surprisingly from the women folk. With over a decade experience as an engineering professional (an alleged ‘men’s only’ club) where the women are clearly outnumbered by the men, I am of the view that the responsible factor against women in leadership is you and I – We are conformed, and where we yield, confined by our respective mindsets. We can only move forward when we realize that a CEO role, just like a teacher, doctor, lawyer, driver, nurse and so on can be performed by either a man or a woman – there should be no stereotype assigned to job roles.” Tifase says and concludes on this note saying “We as parents must transfer the right mindset to our children; the girl child should be informed that she can juggle the roles of a wife, mother and her chosen career and succeed in all three and much more.”
KEMI AJUMOBI