CHRISTINE BAYINGANA, CEO URWEGO BANK RWANDA;

A formidable and phenomenal Servant Leader.

 

I interviewed this phenomenal leader by the names Christine Bayingana. Christine works with Hope international and serves at the Chief Executive Officer of Urwego Bank Rwanda that is a subsidiary of Hope international. She holds a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; a bachelor’s of business administration from Newport University, U.K.; and a diploma as an associate of business executives from Cavendish College, London. Christine’s professional background includes over 20 years of experience in financial services, corporate management, and development work.

This were Christine’s responses to my interview.

Three greatest challenges she has faced in leadership are:
1. Finding appropriate mentors – it could be special
For this part of the world only, finding a mentor or coach, someone that has walked the C-level journey, has been successful, raised children, is not obvious. I find it a challenge as there are seasons in leadership that a fellow woman who has been there can understand, they are simply either not there or did not have to combine raising a family and lead a corporation at the same time
2. Forging alliances with decision makers. I find that as a woman, any effort to building alliances can easily be misunderstood or can be used against you to create unhealthy relationships
3. Dealing with the need to be tough! Being soft spoken can be interpreted as being soft, consequently, one finds that you need to reiterate what your stand is a few more times, and the alternative is raising one’s voice, which is not necessarily expected from a man!

Below is what Christine does to help her deal with these challenges.

1. Have turned to God’s word for counsel
2. Have reached out to  CEOs in the United States and now she belongs to 4Word, a Christian organization that creates mentoring relationship. In August she had a C-Level conference in DC for Christian CEOs and it’s changing her life even if it’s done remotely.
3. She is hoping to start a mentoring program for the younger leaders which will be a huge learning opportunity for me as well.

Christine’s encouragement for women in leadership is.

1. let’s find each other and forge a bond!
2. let’s not be forced to be different just so we can lead! That is to be different from who we are in order to lead.

Links;

https://www.hopeinternational.org/about-us/leadership

https://web.facebook.com/christine.baingana?ref=br_rs