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Mpho Hlefana, Chief Marketing Officer, BCX

"Leadership is rarely something you’re given; it is something you demonstrate long before you take on the role,” says Mpho Hlefana, Chief Marketing Officer at BCX and Chairperson of the Brand Council Subcommittee at Telkom Group. This conviction has defined how she has approached her own career and the advice she gives every young woman who asks her how to get ahead in the technology industry.

Hlefana’s own career didn’t happen overnight. She has built her career from a marketing graduate to the CMO at BCX and is now the Chairperson of the Brand Council Subcommittee at Telkom Group. She describes her career as one that she built consistently by raising her hand for work that stretched her past what felt comfortable. She always opted into solving bigger business problems rather than simply getting better at marketing.

“There were many times when I was the youngest person in the room and sometimes the most inexperienced, and often one of very few women,” she says. “This taught me that leadership has nothing to do with knowing everything. I stopped seeing myself as the marketing person and started thinking like a business leader, understanding customers, commercial outcomes, financial performance and organisational strategy.”

This also changed the conversations Hlefana was invited to and the opportunities that followed. She is direct, however, about the trap that catches capable women. “Waiting until you feel completely ready can become a career limiter. Confidence often follows action, not the other way around.” Claiming leadership, in her view, means backing your perspective before you have every answer because expertise earns you a seat, but courage ensures your voice is heard.

This is also why Hlefana talks so often about visibility. “Capability,” she argues, “is essential, but not enough. I have worked with exceptionally talented women whose contributions were only known within their immediate teams. Meanwhile, other people gained recognition because they intentionally made their expertise visible.”

Personal branding is not self-promotion, but about ensuring that your work, ideas and impact are seen by people making strategic decisions. And her test to capture this visibility is tough. “If your organisation had to describe what you’re known for in one sentence, would they know the answer and what would it be?”

It is a personal philosophy that maps onto why BCX has put its name behind Wired4Women. For Hlefana, the value of the platform lies in what happens after the banner goes up. “Meaningful sponsorship goes far beyond branding an event. It means creating opportunities for women so they can build networks, access mentors, gain visibility and engage in conversations that help define the future of our industry,” she says. It also means holding companies to account internally through equitable leadership pathways and access to high-impact projects.

“When companies invest in women consistently rather than just symbolically, they improve diversity metrics, sure, but they also strengthen innovation and improve decision making and create spaces that better reflect the customers they serve.”

Her brand mandate now sits inside a technology evolution that she has been watching closely. AI is changing how customers discover, compare and choose, but she insists the fundamentals are still important. “It hasn’t changed the importance of trust. If anything, it has made authenticity, consistency and credibility even more important than ever before,” she adds.

Customers, she points out, do not separate one business unit from another. “They experience one brand ecosystem and so the obligation that places on leaders is clear. The brands that thrive are those that use technology to strengthen trust, not replace it.”

For the woman who is standing at the starting line, the same place Hlefana was 15 years ago, her advice is to invest as much in understanding business as in mastering a profession. The conventional wisdom is that people should wait, should hang ten until they are ready or achieve a state of readiness that is always elusive, a finishing line always in the distance. Instead, Hlefana recommends that women ignore this idea completely. “Don’t wait, because there is no point. Just keep on trying and taking bold steps forward because nobody ever feels completely ready for their next opportunity. Growth happens because you step into challenges before you have all the answers. Back yourself, ask the awkward questions, the demanding questions, apply for the roles and speak up in the meetings. Your voice is important.”

bcx.co.za