Exceptional Features: David Mwanza – Hardwork, Humility, Desire to learn and Faith have catapulted me

Exceptional
/ɪkˈsɛpʃ(ə)n(ə)l,ɛkˈsɛpʃ(ə)n(ə)l/

adjective
adjective: exceptional

“unusually good; outstanding” and/or “unusual; not typical”

At Young and Exceptional, we believe success is relative and significantly based on the level one has achieved on their journey in life. This belief is rooted in an inherent understanding of the basic needs of humanity and admiration that is drawn from those who seek to also achieve one’s progress in life. We also believe in celebrating everyday victories, hence the vision of the Blog.

David, you are a graduate of accounting, a senior associate at PwC Zambia and were the team leader of Team Athena from the Copperbelt University – the first ever global champions in The CFO Case Study Competition 2016, beating over 400 teams from all over the world. This can truly only be from an exceptional mind! Thanks for speaking to us.

Q: How old are you?
A: I’m 23 years old, turning 24 on the 18th of December this year.

Q: What’s the ultimate vision of your life?
A: As a child, I think this question would be answered in a few seconds, but it requires more thought as I get older. The ultimate goal is to change lives and make other people believe that they can achieve anything. I’ll take you back to August 19, 2012 when the UN launched a campaign to support humanitarian work and I’ll leverage off their theme song, “I was here.” I want to influence decisions that make my country a better place, to leave a footprint that inspires current and future generations, to leave a footprint that changes lives, to leave a footprint that puts my country on the map.

Q: How does the choice to study accounting get you to achieve your vision?
A: When I first decided on accounting, it was mostly an inspiration from my older brother who also studied accounting. When the time came to select a program of study, I began to research more. I was introduced to a whole new world of what accounting contributes to any establishment. The dynamism of the world today demands versatility in one’s skills, the accountant of today is doing more in all aspects of business and operations equipping them to steer the ship at all times.

Q: Have there been any challenges you have faced on your accounting journey? If so, how did you overcome them?
A: I have faced a number of challenges, but one that comes to mind is the bureaucratic nature of most companies and operations. A system that generally restricts certain tasks or responsibilities to a level of management or to someone with a number of years in experience. As a young person or graduate, I am expected to perform the more routine tasks for a number of years diminishing creativity. In changing the status quo, I have strived to prove that I can do more and make this noticeable to those around me.

Q: How did you get the leadership role of Team Athena in The CFO Case Study Competition 2016?
A: To properly answer this question I need to give a detailed context of my team, Athena. Athena is a group of 4 brilliant accounting professionals. You have Chanshi Mwandama who is the more outspoken of the group, brilliant analyst and buzzing with confidence. You have Chileleko Hanjawa who’s also smart, assertive, brave and a general all-round people person. Then you have the lady of the group Elinah, she’s as intelligent as they come, meticulous and always level headed. You have a team that brings different skills, all equally as important. In the decision to have me lead, the team rationalized that I had the ability to impose my overall leadership without impeding the strong positive attributes of other team members.

Q: What other leadership roles have you held?
A: As a child, I was always the youngest in my class so I would always hide in the crowd but as I grew older, I began to make myself more noticeable and with that came leadership. Most notable coming to mind is the role of treasurer of our accounting association at the Copperbelt University. But the ultimate leadership role I am currently experiencing is my current senior associate role at PwC Zambia. Generally, audit is a high pressure environment that team leaders like myself need to be versatile not only in technical skills but people management, project management and so much more.

Q: What are some of the challenges you faced as a leader and how did you overcome them?
A: Conflict management has definitely been a challenge for me. My personality is aligned towards avoiding conflict because it makes me uncomfortable to deal with, but the reality of today is that a leader needs to know how to manage this. Self awareness has been the key ingredient in how I overcome this. When you are self aware of your own weaknesses, it makes a solid foundation to act on those weaknesses.

Q: What are the top 3 qualities you believe have made you who you are today?
A: Hardwork – Nothing replaces hardwork. Hardwork beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Humility and Desire to learn from others – Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Gotten from the 12th century theologian and author, John of Salisbury “We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.”

Faith – I am a believer of the seventh day Adventist church. All my dreams, aspirations and wishes I put in the hands of my creator.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d advise aspiring young people to do in order to achieve what you have at such a young age?
A: One thing is too restricting. My advice for aspiring young people would start with be patient – We live In an information age that exposes us to so much, we live in societies that have high expectations of us and what we can do. Rome was not built in a day, find something you believe in and work your socks off to be the best at it.

Don’t rest on your laurels -The greatest excitement about your goals or dreams should be when it’s not achieved. Make sure you have an insatiable appetite to always try and achieve more. The only constant in this world is change meaning you constantly have to adapt!

Q: Where will you be in the next 10 years?
A: I want to work towards being in a position to influence national policy at the highest level. Create an enabling environment for my community and future generations to build on. We have so much innate potential to moving my country from a third world country on the road to a first world country.

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