Bernice Samuels
Current title
Executive: Group Marketing, MTN
Course at Wits Business School
Postgraduate Diploma in Management, 1992
Master of Business Administration, 1993
A defining moment in my career
This is would have been early in my career at M-Net as Business Development Manager. One morning, I was presenting to CEO Koos Bekker for the first time, and absolutely shaking in my stilettos. He was somewhere else in the world and joined the meeting over the phone.
I was in the hot seat in the M-Net boardroom packed with suits. At the end of the presentation, he asked me two simple questions – if we did this, what would be different the day after, and what is our right to win?
I have never forgotten the wisdom of these questions and have applied them throughout my life, both personally and professionally. They have helped me understand my motivations, shape my thinking and guide decision making. Importantly, by ensuring that the actions I take are deliberate and on-track to what was intended, they have kept me true to my intentions.
