You Have a Cheerleader in Me!. “My teammates have my back; I have…
By: Evelyn Mbithe Musembi
Tags: Teamwork, Team Building, Team Collaboration, Impact Africa Network

“My teammates have my back; I have theirs” ~Lamar Jackson

Given a chance to be in a high school with an active cheerleading squad, I would definitely have auditioned to be part of the squad. Granted, my coordination and flexibility would be wanting, but I’d still try. That was not the case but I’m glad I get to be a cheerleader in my team at work. I have always enjoyed showing up for people and I still do. I’d like to think of myself as quite dependable.

In the past three months, working at Impact Africa Network has really kept this going for me. In the current times, showing up in person is almost impossible but working from home and having a lot of our activities virtually has really aided in making sure that I can still show up for my team. At this point, I’d like to thank my internet service provider for being quite reliable. When it comes to power, I tend to find myself powerless and helpless but that’s a topic for another day.

I have learned that showing up means being there for your team even when it comes to the smallest things. It means showing up on time to meetings. It means communicating that you were not able to finish a certain task on time and giving reasons why. It means being honest. You show up by asking for help when you need to. It means appreciating your team members. You show up by playing your part when called upon. And above all, it means showing up and being reliable.

One of the ways in which I have found to stand behind my people, is by being a face in the audience every time they organize an event. Aside from learning from the sessions, a great passion of mine is to cheer them on, letting them know that what they do matters.

As a leader in catalyzing our innovation ecosystem and a force behind women empowerment, IAN has been hosting weekly livecast series championed by the women of IAN, dubbed ‘Power To Our Women’ (PTOW). The show hosts global female leaders and changemakers from across the globe with the intent of inspiring a new generation of female leaders. These sessions happen mostly on Friday evenings and let me tell you Maina, they have revolutionized my Friday evenings. In the pre-covid world, Friday evenings for me were meant for happy hour; but I’m glad to report that PTOW has made that hour even happier, I would highly recommend.

In the last week of November, I also attended a talk by one of my colleagues, Albert Kahira. He was hosted by his Alma Mater, Light Academy to discuss Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence for the developing world. Attending this webinar gave me a new perspective into Albert’s life before he was a Ph. D. candidate and an instructor at Jenga School. It made me realize that in as much as we are advised to separate our work and personal life, it doesn’t mean that we are not people: Get to know the person behind the camera.

Quick disclaimer, I have not been waking up early for a while but that changed when I heard that five ladies from Impact Africa Network would be hosted on a webinar by Dr. Catriona Wallace(CEO of Ethical AI Advisory) on African Women Entrepreneurs, a session meant to unpack what it’s like to be a female entrepreneur in Africa.

Due to the time difference and set up for the webinar, it was scheduled to go live at 5:30 am EAT, but I was equally driven to catch it , ended up surprising myself and was up thirty minutes before my alarm went off. I must say it was a great decision because the early bird (me) indeed caught the worm or warm in this case: Getting to hear the inspirational journeys of these ladies not only warmed my heart on a cold rainy morning, but inspired me to write this piece and to keep showing up even more.

I am far from being perfect and still a work in progress, but I hope to keep showing up, showing out and supporting my team always.

Today, I challenge you to do the same.