ONE ON ONE with Mr Chinhara
DC: Greetings, Mr Chinhara, welcome to the November edition of Padare Magazine. May you please tell us about yourself?
AC: Aaron Chinhara is a rural boy , born and raised in Chikomba district . I also attained my education in Chikomba district. l’m a 50-year-old son of two peasant farmers, and l tilled the land with them all my youthful life for our survival. After my O-level from Kwenda high school in Chikomba district l then trained as a classroom practitioner and now a family man.
DC: Sir, you hold a top position. How has your experience been over the years?
AC: Holding a top position in an entity has given me a lot of positive as well as negative experiences over the years. One of the most enlightening experiences l have learnt is that, if you intend to be a good leader, you must be prepared to lead and be led. Leadership is about having a solid structure that you respect.
DC: Any measures you have introduced in your organization to address mental health?
AC: The first measure that we introduced in our organization to address mental health was to ensure that all our employees are appropriately remunerated. When an employee has a wage sufficient to cater to their family, they have peace of mind and can navigate other life’s challenges with greater ease and clarity. We are also working hard as an organization to implement a strong wealth base.
The wealth base takes care of the anxieties of our employees towards issues of job loss and ensures that the job tenure will be guaranteed. In addition, the working environment has been designed in such a way that it provides a safe and compassionate space where everyone works and treats each other as members of one family. Periodically, the entity also calls professionals from the mental health care structures to do workshops on the subject.
DC: Mr Chinhara, you are a leader of repute. What is your secret behind your success?
AC: Success in achieving anything in life is determined by a lot of things. Most importantly, it is determined by the calling and blessings upon one’s life, augmented by consistency, perseverance, persistence, strategic thinking, and implementation of ideas.
The secret of being successful also lies in doing what you know best, with all your soul, all your strength, and all your heart.
DC: How has COVID-19 affected your organization’s operations, and what lessons have you learnt that you wish to share with readers?
AC: COVID-19 has affected our organization both negatively and positively. Negatively, because it hit the whole industry like a volcano without anyone anticipating anything of that magnitude. It pushed our organization off the growth rail that we had achieved over the years; worse still, it took some of our loved ones.
Positively, because it also taught us new experiences and opportunities in life. It taught us to diversify into other industrial lines like health and mining that were not much affected by the pandemic.
DC: Any books you have read that you can recommend to someone who looks at you and aspires to be like you?
AC: Animal Farm by George Orwell. The book teaches us that living as equals in any given organization removes conflicts from our entities. When the entities are free of conflicts, it then follows that development is enhanced, and the aims and objectives set as benchmarks are achieved with ease too.