Thanusha Govender

ByWBSComms

Thanusha Govender

Current title
Group Head of Corporate Strategic Planning & Strategy, Absa Group Limited

Course at Wits Business School
International Executive Leadership Programme, 2014 Master of Management in Entrepreneurship & New Venture Creation, 2016

A defining moment in my career
During the summer of 2003, a lifelong dream materialised that resulted in an inspired trip to Paris, which put into motion a plan that would forever shape my career path.

I was a young process engineer, six months post-graduation and working for a leading global paper manufacturing company. Soaking up the Parisian culture and while walking down the Champs Elysees, I caught myself being mesmerised by a massive sign of Accenture, signage that was bigger than some of the French’s most historic luxury brands.

I made a decision in that moment to leave my technical engineering career in my rear-view mirror and become a global management consultant working for Accenture.

Stemming from that serendipitous moment in Paris was the continuous spirit to challenge myself and an insatiable need to learn and grow. This has resulted in me gaining a rich, diverse career exposure and has enabled me to craft my unique value proposition of being a cross-functional and cross-industry specialist, providing me with the platform to re-invent myself several times over in my career tenure.

This springboard has benefited the organisations I have helped lead, to the extent that I have been instrumental in influencing transformational change and strategic renewal in global organisations.

Similar Posts

  • Craig Yeatman

    ByWBSComms

    I believed that I could work hard enough to earn a fabulous early retirement. I started a retail company in 1989 and my optimistic best mate helped me raise ‘capital’ by polishing up and selling my Hi-Fi system.

  • Lauren Liebenberg

    ByWBSComms

    I used to try candy-coat things, but no longer: giving birth is less painful, less bloody and infinitely quicker than getting your first novel published. If you haven’t been smothered under the avalanche of “Dear Author, Thank you for your submission, but …” slips by the time you find a publisher, you and your manuscript will still have to face the pitiless glint of your editor’s scythe.

  • Christin Mueller

    ByWBSComms

    After coming back from South Africa to Germany I started my career at Mercedes. I had the great opportunity to work for a well-known company and brand. I made a corporate career by going through different projects, functions and divisions. But after some years I had doubts that the corporate career path was the right one for me.

  • Ebrahim Kharsany

    ByWBSComms

    As an activist and a businessman, I experienced several defining moments in my career. I completed my MBA at Wits Business School in 1971. I could not find any meaningful employment as the predominantly white corporate business sector would not employ people of colour in senior management positions.

  • Madelein Roos

    ByWBSComms

    Having always had a deep interest in science, I first qualified as a chemist, and thereafter at a later stage as an engineer. In order to broaden my capabilities, I started to lecture evening classes at the Vaal Triangle Technikon, now the Vaal Institute of Technology.