Stella Kivila is a qualified pharmacist, seasoned trainer, facilitator, speaker and consultant who helps businesses accelerate revenue generation, employee engagement and customer loyalty by building high-performance teams. She is also a Mentor, Team Leader and a Board member with the Girls 4 Girls (G4G) Global Mentoring Program.
Before starting Performance Point International (PPI), Stella held various leadership positions at Vine Pharmaceuticals Limited (a retail pharmacy chain) where she led a team of over 100 people across numerous branches. She designed a Community Pharmacy Program to equip the team to deliver knowledge-based care with every patient interaction. This was aimed at improving health outcomes and reducing preventable medication-related errors, and ultimately contributing to business growth through customer loyalty. Stella derives tremendous satisfaction in guiding multidisciplinary teams to get out of their “technical” shell and embrace vital concepts that accelerate personal, professional and business growth.
Stella’s contributions to health care, as well as leadership and women empowerment, has seen her recognised by New Vision’s Top 40 Under 40, Top Women in Science, Rotary International and the Business Development Center (accredited by the Regent University). In 2019, she was selected by The Boardroom Africa to participate with 24 other exceptional women across the continent in the Open Doors Board Program facilitated by the Institute of Directors (London).
An active member of The Africa List, The Boardroom Africa, The Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL), Stella is an agent of change who believes that a candle loses nothing by lighting up another candle.
Mentoring with the G4G initiative has given Stella a sense of significance seeing women, including herself, overcoming self-imposed and societal barriers that discourage them from leading. In less than two years, Stella has witnessed the power of sharing personal stories of trials and triumph in the mentor-mentee engagements. She believes that every woman carries enormous potential which when harnessed will certainly transform the world.
In this interview with Pride Magazine Nigeria (PNG), she shares her career journey and why mentoring young women is of utmost importance.
PNG: Could you tell us a bit about Stella Kivila? What motivates you – in life and in your career?
SK: I would describe myself as a strong believer of God and a dynamic student of life who is passionate about using every fibre of my potential to leave people and things better than I found them. I am known for my resilience, work ethic, commitment and the ability to energise teams. I carry my own sunshine in every space I go to; a decision I made ever since I embarked on a personal development journey a few years ago. I totally enjoy participating in the magical transition of people moving from one level to another through training, coaching and mentoring. I am a lover of life and all things beautiful including great places, great people and great food.
Born and raised by amazing Kenyan parents in a household of three siblings, I moved to Uganda to pursue my childhood dream of becoming a doctor. You see, when I was growing up, I was a sickly child who was in and out of hospitals due to one illness or another. So when it came to deciding on a career path, anything medical would top the charts because I wanted to understand the human body and be able to treat diseases. Additionally, there were five top professions everyone was seeking to become “successful” in life: doctor, engineer, pilot, lawyer and accountant. For me, medicine was it. Funny how times have changed and this is a non-factor in today’s economy.
When I was selected to do a bachelor’s degree in science at Nairobi University, my parents and I explored various options for me to pursue my dream including going abroad, enrolling for private medical programmes or even repeating high school! Eventually, after evaluating the costs, we decided that I come to Uganda and do my A-Levels to get another shot at medicine at Makerere University. And that’s how this Kenyan girl found herself in a foreign land where she had no family! It was tough being away from home but my super supportive family cheered me on. By the grace of God, I got admitted to pursue a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy at Makerere University.
My motivation has morphed over time. I watched my parents (who were both firstborns) take care of their larger extended families with barely enough income. I vowed that I will work hard so that I am less of a burden. I think this has subconsciously been the heart of it; the goal to become independent so that I am not a burden to anyone. With all the problems in the world, I think I have aimed to be less of a problem. In fact, it drove me to work while in university to raise my pocket money so that I don’t disturb my parents who were already stretched with my school fees.
However, I got another boost to my motivation in university when I started reading self- help books from a network marketing training course. Instead of just aiming to be less of a problem, books opened up my mind to maximise my potential. A hunger to become successful while creating impact was born even though I did not know how. Today, my drive comes from dying empty; using what I know and helping others discover and unleash their potential so that we all can positively impact our spheres of influence. I believe that for one to be successful, you have to do what other people are not willing to do so that tomorrow you have what others don’t have. Sacrifice is imminent and I am super conscious of that in everything I pursue. What could be, should be and I don’t want to stop until it is! A life of no regrets!
PNG: Could you give us some insights into your educational background and how it has helped you in your career?
SK: Dad and Mum raised us with super-strong values; excellence was instilled and expected even in the simple things. That coupled with going to Nairobi River Primary School, where I was grounded in hard work and discipline in my formative years. I don’t know about today, but we had to do well in school. I often joked that the teachers made us read as if they were benefiting from our success. Good grades were not the only thing they cared about – our hair, uniform and handwriting had to pass the Guinness World Book of Neatness. These teachers were a parent’s best friend. I left that school disciplined and I am forever grateful.
Limuru Girls School where I pursued my O-Levels was the inception of my leadership skills. I was a House Captain, Head of Music Club, Vice-Chair of Drama Club and Head of the Choir. Before being selected for these roles, I joined these clubs as part of the school’s extracurricular activities. As part of the club membership rules, they required commitment otherwise you would be ejected. When I was selected to steer the club activities, it was crystal clear that leadership is not positional but personal because I was not the most talented but I was the most committed. It’s the same in the spaces I have had the privilege to lead, I have never been the smartest or most talented but the art of dedication and hard work have singled me out.
When I moved to Uganda to Kabojja International School to pursue my A-Levels, I was hit by a big culture shock. I come from a middle-class family and here I was with kids from very affluent backgrounds. Words cannot describe seeing students who had more money than their school fees. Peer pressure was real and I had to have a private conversation with myself to remember where I come from and what brought me all the way to a foreign land. I needed to have a strong frame of mind to stay focused. In hindsight, this was the best environment to learn about real life. That everyone is different and they are pursuing different goals. If a lion is chasing you and for another, a chicken is chasing him/her, how both of you run is different. I couldn’t stand to fail after all the sacrifices my parents made to ensure that I got a decent education. I learned to stay in my lane by owning my truth. I am cognizant of this fact every day and in my case, a lion is always chasing me.
Then came Makerere University where I pursued my bachelor’s degree in pharmacy. At the time I joined, the university had just introduced problem-based learning (PBL) and abolished the lecture system. This was aimed at building up students who could be able to decipher medical challenges and solve them using the knowledge they have acquired vis-à-vis spoon-feeding them. We had short overview lectures then given case studies to solve in teams with a tutor. It was rusty at the beginning but by the third month, we had become experts. On the other hand, because there were seemingly fewer hours attached to lectures and more on personal reading, one had to embrace self-leadership to emerge successfully. PBL is the approach I use today in meetings and in leading teams. It taught me that you cannot solve a problem you have not adequately broken down. Additionally, at first glance, a challenge may look similar to the previous one but have differing factors. This is where critical thinking is tested. The aspect of self-leadership has been beneficial because today I don’t need people to validate me. If something has got to be done, you don’t have to push me to do it.
Everyone I have encountered in my life, every experience I have gone through has contributed in one way or another to who I have become. I have learned that life is not linear; sometimes it looks like a doodle but every point has a lesson to offer.
PNG: Before you set up your own organisation, you worked in the pharmaceutical industry. What would you say was the high point and the low point of your career in that industry?
SK: I worked with the largest retail pharmacy chain at the time, Vine Pharmaceuticals Limited, which had 32 outlets in Kampala with a team of 112. My primary responsibility as the Head of Sales and Operations and later on Head of People Development was to accelerate team performance.
My high point has been transforming the way medicines are dispensed in the pharmacy setting from a product-centred system to a patient-centred approach. We eliminated what I call the “Shopkeeper Syndrome” – this is selling drugs that customers have asked for without proper history taking. In Uganda, as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the first point of contact with a health worker usually happens at the community pharmacy because a significant population is uninsured thus health care is an out-of-pocket expense. It’s a harrowing realisation that retail pharmacies have become “money conveyor belts”, health workers – “shopkeepers”, patients – “statistics”, and the drugs – “commodities”!
This was the urgency I had to bring back empathy to the pharmacy business by starting a comprehensive training programme that focused on equipping the team to offer knowledge-based care to patients. If you walked into our pharmacies, you would be greeted by a pleasant individual who would make you feel at home. When you ask for a particular drug (over-the-counter medication), she would take you through a process to identify what the issue is before educating you on the disease. Based on the outcomes of the conversation, she would advise if what you came for is ideal or you need another solution or even refer you to a doctor. This partnership with patients by involving and empowering them resulted in improved customer satisfaction and averted preventable medication-related complications that originate from unguided self-medication. I am proud of this initiative that has empowered the pharmacy teams to do more than just selling behind the counter and resulted in patients reporting better health outcomes. The trickle-down effect is that the organisation achieves its business objectives. This is what we need across Africa; we can do well by doing good.
When you are working in a fast-paced retail space where you have to hit certain targets, you have to learn how to navigate challenges every single day. You sort of become a fixer hence your ability to think on your feet must be solid. Oh! It was so hard at first but just like riding a bicycle, you fall a few times and then you master the art of balancing. With all that said, certainly there have been many low points but my lowest point was when my dad passed on and 80% of high performers I had trained for months resigned!! Yes, around the same time! Talk about wrong timing. I crashed!! First, my father passing on literally took me to rock bottom. Here I was back to work and the team that I thought was highly motivated was gone! I was mourning! The time I had no iota of energy or enthusiasm to build again, the time I needed to at least sit back and have this team come through, they were gone! Have you ever felt like everything is closing in on you? I was there.
Great news. By God’s grace plus the support of my family and friends, I went through this “Doors Closing” season and got on the other side stronger. I learned that any decision about people has to be mapped out taking into consideration key stakeholders and ALL potential outcomes. This is what we had omitted in effecting some crucial changes. I call myself a builder because of this season. Charcoal and diamond are made of the same carbon. The only difference is that the latter goes through pressure and heat. I have learned that challenges prepare you for the next level. You will not see it now but hindsight is 20/20; you will know why you went through the famine to get to the feast.
PNG: What advice would you give a young person just starting out in the pharmaceutical industry?
SK: My advice would be to base your practice on the patient, which is what ultimately matters. The entire pharmaceutical value chain is aimed at creating a solution (drug) for a patient’s problem (disease). You have to identify a specific gap in that value chain then morph your expertise and passion to create advancements which will provide the patient with a better, cheaper, faster solution. Your space can be research and development, production, regulation, pharmaceutical sales or community pharmacy (like in my case).
Whatever space you decide to occupy, own it and add value. How far you go will be dependent on how hungry you are. Stay green; unlearn, learn and relearn. Read widely and not just about pharmaceuticals, incorporate diverse content so that you can lead in that space. Intellectual capital is not enough, you have to build emotional and cultural intelligence to navigate in that space. Grow where you are planted. Get a mentor who will be your guide and sounding board. Surround yourself with positive people who see opportunities in the industry instead of the challenges. Just remember, the people who are crazy enough to believe that they can change the world are the ones who do. So be your best cheerleader even if no one believes in you. Refuse to be average!
PNG: What was the reason behind setting up your organisation, Performance Point International (PPI)?
SK: Performance Point International (PPI) was borne out of my own leadership experience. I realised that no matter how well-stocked the outlets were or how great the location was, high performance boiled down to one thing –great teams make great organisations. Great teams abandon the employee mindset and embrace the entrepreneurial culture. This shift is made possible by consistent experiential training that enables enough exposure to trigger a change in mindset. Additionally, an individual is equipped with practical skills on how they can provide solutions (not products) to mitigate the client’s needs and wants.
Realising the benefits of such an approach to deliver results, I set out to help other organisations build high-performance teams that meet business objectives, build customer loyalty and create positive social impact.
PNG: What would you say differentiates your organisation from others in the same field of work?
SK: The PPI differentiator is the 360-degree approach in accelerating performance. Person, Product, Process (3 Ps). All these three factors directly affect the client’s purchasing decision hence by identifying and mitigating the gaps, results are imminent. Many organisations focus on one or at most two of these Ps. You may have a lot of focus on people by elevating motivation or streamlining human resource processes. However, the product has to be sold in a manner that meets the spoken and unspoken needs of different clients. The typical sales training does not address this.
In the healthcare space, our differentiator is the fact that we understand the technical language and are able to transform complexity into simple actionable strategies that both the team and clients comprehend.
PNG: You work with businesses to create high-performance teams. What are the characteristics of a high performing team?
SK: A high-performance team is a group of intrapreneurs who diligently work together to achieve the organisation’s business goals, exceed customer’s expectations and consistently invest their discretionary effort to develop innovative solutions that solve consumer problems more efficiently.
Simply put, intrapreneurs are entrepreneurs within an organisation. Entrepreneurship is a mindset. It’s the process of identifying existing problems and designing solutions that maximise profit and customer satisfaction. Yes, you can be entrepreneurial even if you are not an entrepreneur. That is the essence of our work – to help teams embrace the vision of the company enough to contribute meaningfully to the achievement of its objectives. This often creates a win-win for the employer, employee and clientele.
PNG: In your opinion, particularly in the African context, what challenges do businesses face in getting the best out of their employees and how can they overcome them?
SK: I think the primary people challenge for many businesses is two-fold. On one side of the coin, you have apathetic individuals who are just looking to get a salary at the end of the month with zero or minimum contribution to the business. They don’t see themselves in the future of the company nor do they see how the company winning benefits them. They are dissatisfied with their current jobs and are always looking for the next big opportunity. Sadly, even when they get new jobs, the cycle continues. With the advent of the digital revolution, this is the target group that will be replaced by robots. These are the fruits of the “employee mindset” in the new future of work.
On the other hand, you have managers who are not leaders. The tone at the top makes or breaks the organisation. Again, if the Founder or CEO does not set the culture of the company through the vision, mission and core values, the trickle-down effect is a management team that fails to bring out the best in people. John C. Maxwell terms this as the Law of the Lid that essentially means how well you lead determines how effective you are. Most senior managers don’t know how to lead.
When you piece these two together you have a broader perspective on the people challenge. Unfortunately, in my experience, both these groups fail to acknowledge the glaring truth and even if they do, they are rigid to change. This results in a cycle of blame games and meanwhile the company is suffering. There is nothing worse than seeing a company with a lot of potential underperforming or even going out of business because they failed to look at themselves in the mirror. I implore organisations to continuously invest in coaching and training instead of quick fixes. This is more than a human resource problem. Many companies heavily invest in infrastructure forgetting that people are the heartbeat of the organisation.
PNG: What have been the challenges of being your own boss? Do you ever think of going back and working within an organisation?
SK: Wow. Money ranks number one and I am not talking about capital. As explained above, many organisations know that they need to invest in people to grow but they are not Willing to Pay! I came from an organisation that significantly invested in leadership development and to my peril, believed that others would. In fact, few organisations have a budget for learning and development.
The second challenge I faced is closely linked to the first one, turnaround time. This was a comical aha moment. You talk to a potential client today and you can see that they want what you are selling but a decision is made months later! This called for a lot of adjustments in my projections. It’s been a steep learning curve but thankfully, all you need is just one foot in the door. The clients who have given us the opportunity to appreciate the return on investment. This has been very encouraging. I am still learning and growing. The best is yet to come.
Regarding going back to work within an organisation, I never say never. Simon Sinek says, “Start with why.” This is my why: to empower people to turn their potential into performance. For me the vehicle doesn’t matter. Today, I am actualising this through Performance Point International and Girls 4 Girls. Tomorrow, I may add the United Nations, the Africa Union or additional board positions. The best thing about being an entrepreneur is the Return on Time. I have the opportunity to reach more people through various vehicles.
PNG: And the perks of being your own boss? What are you most proud of with regard to your business?
SK: The greatest perk is Return on Time. This is about the value you can potentially create in 24 hours; it’s not limited by space or time. Nothing limits me from working with countless organisations across the continent. Additionally, my team and clients have taught me so many new things. I learn a lot from people’s stories. Every glory has a story.
I am proud of the client testimonials. I go to bed knowing that my existence is not in vain; that I have moved somebody’s mountain. Though at its startup stage, I am confident that Performance Point International (PPI) will benefit the continent and beyond.
PNG: What advice would you give a young person interested in setting up his/her own business?
SK: Let me be categorical and say, “The hardest thing you will ever have to do is work on you.” People don’t buy the company or your product, they buy you! With that in mind, heavily invest in yourself so that when you present what you are selling, people like it because they like you. Read books, attend trainings, watch educational videos, find a mentor. People buy the sum total of who you have become more than the product you carry.
This will be in the form of many aspects but focus on building mental capacity to handle the dynamics that come with running your own business. Start where you are with what you have. I have often told people that you cannot be the worst employee and expect to be a super employer. You are the same person! If you are not disciplined now, you will be worse then. Then, never burn your bridges; leave a great mark where you are today. Your current status is your seed for the next level. In my case, my first customer was my previous employer.
Work to build excellence in whatever you do; even if you are selling milk. Be the best at it. This is only possible if you plug into a network of like-minded individuals who are better than you. They sharpen you by challenging you to be better than your status quo. This has been my recent lesson; there is no inspiration in isolation. Join and be active in associations. Some people will be your clients and others will be your role models. This is what we call “Building Your Village” in Girls 4 Girls. Whatever you do, aim to make what you do better every day.
PNG: You mentor young women. What would you say are the biggest barriers women currently confront, especially African women?
SK: The biggest monster we face as women is clothed in Fear. Fear of failure, the unknown, leading, public speaking even success. I am not exempt from this. For every level I have risen to, I have suffered from self-doubt, the impostor syndrome. The feeling that you are not good enough. This same barrier has been echoed in all the mentoring sessions I have conducted. The experiences may differ but the bottom line is Fear.
What happens to us will happen but how we choose to react to what happens to us is the key differentiator between the winners and losers. The wind will blow but we can set the sail. I have learned to confront my fears by building my capacity in that area, be it speaking, training, venturing into new territories. That is what the Girls 4 Girls Mentoring Program is all about – building capacity to mitigate gaps in soft skills like leadership, communication, and negotiation.
PNG: Do you think big strides have been made in the business world in getting more women to top leadership positions?
SK: Oh yes! Not 100% but there is a lot of traction. We are not where we want to be but we are certainly not where we were. There is no better time to be Young, African and a Woman. There are so many conversations in policy enabling as many women as possible to have a seat at the table.
But I want us to add a caveat to that. I don’t want to be chosen because I am a woman, I want to be chosen because I am great at what I do and it’s better because I am a woman. It’s a two-way street. We have to work to create more opportunities at the top for women. But as women, we must intentionally build capacity to perform in those positions. Otherwise, we will reach the table and instead of having a seat, we shall be part of the menu. As a woman, I have the responsibility not to spoil it for other women coming after me. The good news is that the more we sharpen one another, the more we pull each other up. I interact with super amazing women at the Girls 4 Girls programme; they challenge me to become better every day. We can do a lot when we work in unity. Together Everyone Achieves More (T.E.A.M.)
PNG: What is the future you want for yourself and for the young women you mentor?
SK: This is the future I see for women. A future where we can collaborate and not compete. A future where we can get out of the comfort zone and thrive in the courage zone. A future where we abolish the Pull Her Down (PHD) Syndrome and Pull Up one another. A future where we do the harder better, as well as more important things so that we create the change we want to see. A future where more women have a seat at the table. A future where we use our stories to inspire the next generation of leaders to step up and stand out. To have a voice, we have to do more. To do more, we have to become more by striving to unleash our God-given potential. The Future is Now!
1 Comment
Lovely lady doing wonderful things.