Lerato Machaba-Mensah
Group Finance and Reporting Manager - Lionel Samson Sadleir Group
behind closed doors Perth Executive Member

What do you enjoy most about your current role:

What I enjoy the most is not really linked to my current role as it is something I do irrespective of my role. I love developing people. At the different levels of the Finance team I have to continuously upskill my team, whether it be technical competencies or enabling competencies.  Sharing my knowledge and my experience, encouraging them to take on specific training, providing feedback and watching team members grow brings me joy. And every now and then I still get calls from ex-colleagues who call me to let me know what a difference I made in their knowledge and skills set and how it has helped them in their careers.

I also love working with complex problems/issues or changes, but more importantly finding solutions that are practical and realistic. They can be technical such as implementing changes to Accounting standards whilst minimising adverse impacts and change management, or implementation of a new financial system or strategy.

Can you tell us about a career challenge you have faced and how you overcame this:

My biggest career challenge is honestly motherhood. The ability to balance my work and giving the best to my children is a constant battle.

I have overcome it by being clear about what is important, and constantly reminding myself to live out my priorities and not just have a theoretical view of what they should be. Not taking on too much and learning to say “NO”. Accepting that I cannot have it all AND at the same time, I will have it all over my life time. Asking for help when it’s required and focusing on self-care so I replenish my energy to be able to keep on giving to all areas of my life. 

My behind closed doors group have been quite helpful in sharing their experiences and practical tips about how to achieve this balance. I am not always perfect, but overall I have found a balance I am comfortable with.

What’s the best thing you’ve got out of behind closed doors:

The contacts and networking. I am a moderate introvert, which means I have managed to make valuable contacts on my own, but I am not the life of the party. But behind closed doors has provided ‘contacts on steroids.’ With behind closed doors I can leverage other peoples contacts. I have people (members) I can call on for advice and the necessary referrals to succeed.

-Lerato Machaba-Mensah, February 2021