A decade after winning the Women in Media’s Rising Star award, Anele Mdoda has exceeded even her own expectations – and offers 10 salient pointers to charting your own course for success.
Ten years ago, I won Rising Star in the Women in The Media awards. This was a vote of confidence in my potential, and I was both humbled and honoured to receive this award. Previous recipients included some all-time media greats, such as Sbu Mpungose, Redi Tlhabi and Siki Mgabadeli.
When I received this award, I was asked, “Anele, what does the future hold?” My response was crystal clear: I said that I would like to make my radio show the best drive show in the country and ‘zero down’ on getting a breakfast slot within the next five years. I spoke too, of my dream of a television talk show.
Fast forward to 2022. Now, 10 years later, I have achieved more than I could ever have imagined back in 2012. I have been blessed tenfold – and there is not a single achievement in my life that I take for granted today. Not even for a short minute.
My journey has not always been easy – in the rise and fall of opportunities and crises, there have been steep learning curves, deep detours of distraction and illuminating shards of wisdom. There have been hands that have reached out to hoist me up when I felt as I was falling or had lost my footing. There have been occasions when others tripped me up, and there have been many times when I myself have taken terrible missteps and lost my way.
There have been times when it felt as if my compass was swaying me off course, directing me into pastures I would ordinarily have bypassed. But, as I reflect on my journey over the past ten years, I am in the very place, the exact spot I want to be.
I have risen on the heel of a determination that pumps me up every single day, filling me with an ever-ready charge and joy for life. I have risen on the crest of a supreme confidence and belief in myself, even when some doubted my prospects of reaching great heights. In a sentence, I have done it my way.
Most of all, and above all, the last 10 years have been as much a time of learning, as it has been of growth and development. I have reflected on 10 things that I have learnt over this important epoch of my life and I hope this will inspire young women to reach for and live their dreams too.
1 Consistency
You are only as good as your last show; consistency is the only currency that matters.Never lower your standards, or your performance – even when you believe you have reached your peak. It can take a lifetime to get to the top, and just a moment to lose it all. A summit can, in a single moment, turn into a fall, if sure-footedness is lost, even for a single second. Steadiness and consistency are essential in any successful climb to the top. Keep steady and focused.
2 Self-belief
You are never as good as they say you are, nor are you ever as bad.
It is a glorious fix and rather seductive to float on the fanciful praise of fans, but the true wing of sustainable success is self-belief and self-confidence – especially when this vests on powerful foresight and vision. Remain pinned on self-belief as you rise – and also when you feel like you are plummeting. Self-belief is the queen of elevation. Rid yourself of self-doubt, for it is the surest way to fall. Define yourself to and for yourself, and the opinions of others will matter less.
3 Reach
If the building does not see or hear you, neither will anyone one else; the people you work with are your first point of PR.
Enchant and excite those around you for they are the most important gauge of your attitude and your authenticity. It is easy to create a swarm of admirers on a celebrity-lit red carpet, but harder to create a sanctuary of support. Be real, be true and work hard to garner the support of those with whom you work closely.
4 Passion
Always know why you are a media player: are you doing it to be good or to be famous? Because if you are doing it to be famous… you won’t have fun.
Loving what you do, with the unmatched devotion of a mother’s embrace, is the most powerful way of enjoying your everyday. To push and propel yourself on a firm love for your craft, rather than on the fleeting allure of stardom, is the best way to a fun-filled, fulfilling, and formidable career. For those with little true love for broadcasting, the airwaves will offer a short-lived affair with fame. For those with a true passion for the airwaves, working in broadcasting will be an everyday tonic of pure happiness.
5 Respect
You don’t have to be the one who talks the most to be the most impactful; character bibles will keep the show going when the passion occasionally runs out.
A perfect orchestra is one that is tune with itself and its audience. So too is a radio show. This requires an appreciation of everyone’s role, of team strengths and weaknesses. Of the high notes, the low notes, and the silences in between. Respect everyone you work with in your team, for everyone offers something unique and precious.
6 Connection
If you want to have a million listeners, you have to go out and meet a million people.
Numbers count but people count more. Real time connectivity is the most valued and prized platform. Talkshow hosts that count are those whose real studio time is in the hours spent side by side with listeners, in churches, at malls, at festivals, at funerals, at weddings, etc. One has to love your listeners for them to love you.
7 Adaptability
Don’t take phrases like: ‘This is how things have always been done,’ to heart – but learn how things have always been done so you can have the know-how of changing it to suit how you want things to be done.
Power is being the change you want to see. Don’t get sidetracked or off course – know what you want and steer everything towards that, even when current conditions appear contrary to your vision. In the words of Barack Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
8 Leadership
Be patient… with yourself, your team but never your bosses.
There is no greater power than to build one’s self, and those around you. To help others bloom and develop is the mark of a good leader. Be kind and patience with yourself and those around you as you kindle talent, and fuel dreams. Never allow bosses to slow-track your career or snuff out or diminish your dreams.
9 Listen
Know what the people around you hold close to their hearts. If you know what your team values, you know how to keep them happy and loyal and good at what they do.
Listen deeply to the aspirations, fears, challenges, and wonders of those around you. Learn what makes them smile with unbridled delight, know what worries keeps them awake at night, know what hopes they carry in their hearts. Know yourself. Know those around you.
10 Rest!
Rest! Rest! Rest! Don’t ever feel guilty about taking time off to rest, rejuvenate and reflect. A journey without pause points is a less conscious passage.
As I reflect on my journey, I know it is far from over. I am excited about what the next ten holds. As the great poet Maya Angelou wrote in Still I Rise:
Just like moons and like suns
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
To rise, and to keep rising is no easy feat. It requires effort, focus and consistency. In his profound book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R Covey spells it out beautifully: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
