Big Interview: Tamala Chirwa, life coach

Tamala Chirwa took the responsibility of coaching women to better competing with the men folk in various fields. She realised the need to empower women beyond their qualifications in positioning them for various responsibilities. I spoke with her.

Tell me about yourself.
I am a wife to Marcel Chirwa and devoted mother to 12-year-old Claudia. I also have four step children Felisters, Marion, Mtisunge and Pacharo. I am a Tonga, originally from Nkhata Bay and now from Lodjwa in Kasungu in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kaluluma. I am a certified leadership, talent management and career coach who is passionate about women and the current chief executive officer and founder of Women’s Leadership Footprint (WLF).

What sort of upbringing did you have?
I come from a huge extended family with so many siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. This kind of environment helped me learn the basic principles of sharing, supporting and accepting differences in others.
My upbringing was privileged because of my late father who first served as a Principal Secretary (PS) in government before he went into the private sector. Basically, I was exposed to high standards of living until my father died in a plane clash. I was 17 and life took a sad turn. Thus, I matured quickly to take charge and responsibility of my life. I developed a sense of leadership and found employment to take care of my younger siblings.

Tell me about your education and professional background
For my basic education, I went to Ludzi Girls Secondary School and then to Stella Maris Secondary School in Blantyre. Then, I went to the Polytechnic where I did my secretariat studies and emerged the best student for the 1990 cohort. In 1996, I studied public relations at Damelin Business College in South Africa. Then I did a post graduate certification at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business in 2000. In 2006, I pursued ACCA Diploma in Financial Management at the Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA), Lilongwe campus. Later, I did a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Management College of South Africa. I graduated in 2012. At that time I had already started coaching, training in leadership and career management.

What has been your work experience?
I started with National Association of Business Women (NABW) in 1990. Later I joined Inde Bank in Blantyre. In 1994, I left for Johannesburg, South Africa where I worked with Anglo-American Corporation, Sappi Limited and Choler Flexible Packaging. In all those corporations, I was serving as Personal Assistance to the directors or the heads of the companies. Then, I returned to Malawi to work with Loita Bank now Eco Bank as an administrative officer. I was one of the few local employers who helped to establish the bank in the country. Later I joined Digital Systems Limited, an ICT company. I also worked at GIZ (German Corporation) for six years as Head of Finance and Administration at the company’s Governance Programme.
Then, I put my career on hold after my husband took a post in Ethiopia. From there, we relocated to Nairobi where I was completing my coaching training. I started practising as a coach and became an associate coach at Coach Development Institute of Africa. I have been a coach since 2012 and returned from Kenya in December last year to run the WLF coaching practice.

Why the focus on women and how do you help them?
There is a critical need for women to be supported in their quest to make an impact in their lives and the nation. One cannot succeed on their own. You always need solid support. However, that support is usually not there because most women work in isolation when they are supposed to mentor each other. I also realised that although there is a need to increase the number of women in leadership, there is also critical need to make sure they deliver excellent results. They need to become effective.
That is why I am passionate about growing fellow women and supporting them in their quest to succeed. It is the main reason I founded WLF whose mission is to develop women through the coaching and enhance their leadership capabilities. Basically, my work involves one to one coaching engagements with women who have various career challenges. I facilitate the process of crafting strategies for them to advance in their careers. I also run workshops, targeting groups of women who want to find their professional worth.

How did you manage to establish WLF?
Having been away from home was a big eye opener for me. I used that exposure to put some systems in place to start a company and realise my dream. In Kenya last year, I went through a legal process of the establishment of the company. Yes, there were challenges since coaching is a process. You cannot just wake up and decide to coach or call yourself a coach. I had to go through an internal coach federation programme in the UK.

Tell me about coaching and what it involves?
In coaching, we partner with clients through a creative and provocative process to unlock potential in them and maximise their performance. It is different from counselling, training and consultation, although those approaches complement each other and are all people development approaches.
Here, an individual is able to generate solutions to their challenges from within themselves and having someone trustworthy to ask right questions and help them reflect and design actions. I like to regard myself as a pioneer in coaching. I only know one coach, Mary Mkandawire and I interact with her. I am yet, to discover other coaches, if there are out there, please let us meet; perhaps we can collaborate and exchange notes.

What kind of feedback do you get?
I have just started my practice, but the feedback is fair. I am very optimistic that things will work out wonderfully and a lot of women will benefit from this. I organise workshops through a personal and professional rebranding programme focusing on women with an entrepreneurial streak, professional edge and winning drive seeking to revitalise their business, career and leadership role. We are holding this kind of workshop in Blantyre on May 25 after a successful one in Lilongwe in February. A similar meeting was held on March 8 during the celebrations of International Women’s Day. I also offer half-day workshops and talks for companies looking for a trainer or speaker in career development.

How do you balance your life?
My family comes first before work. I believe that if your home is not fine, then you cannot be effective elsewhere. I make sure that the relationship at home, with my husband, children and relatives is solid. When I have priorities in order, I give it my best shot. However, above everything, God will always come first to me. He is the one in charge of everything.

What role has your family played in your life?
My husband has been extremely supportive. He has seen my ‘highs and lows’. He has been with me throughout everything, cheer-leading me all the way. I do get insights from him on how men view women in the workplace. And my children are my best friends! They keep me grounded and give me a sense of purpose. The fact that they look out for me means that I have to be their role model and be able to pass on important values.

What have been your memorable moments?
I received an award from Professional Secretary Association of South Africa. I was a finalist representing Johannesburg in 1996 while I was working with Anglo-American corporation. I am involved with the Sheri Blair Foundation for women Mentors. I am also a Vital Voices Leadership Fellow, a network of global women leaders.

How do you spend your free time?
I am a bookworm. I love reading personal development books. I also like watching reality shows and TV series, especially Scandal which is about a professional woman frequently called ‘the fixer’ because of her ability to help people realise their potential and solve their problems. I also find cooking therapeutic.

What is your favourite quote?
There are a few, including Woodrow Wilson’s “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”