“Apart from Dave Murathe, there are other influential mentors like Dr. Cheick Diarra (former chairman of Microsoft Africa), Louis Otieno, Ali Hoballah (both from Microsoft) and a number of other people who are not necessary in the industry like Ngugi Kiuna,” adds Waititu.
The father of seven year old twin daughters advises young people to actively seek out mentors.
“One thing young people may not understand is that mentees own the relationship. They decide what the mentorship is going to be about, what they are going to discuss and where they think they need help. Most genuine leaders are more than happy to mentor. Don’t be afraid to approach.”
Waititu has extended his passion of mentorship to SAP’s CSR activities where under the Youth Banner program, SAP staff provide mentorship to young entrepreneurs.
“The reason I selected it (Youth Banner) is because I realize how important mentorship is in helping people realize what they want to do. Sometimes, what people just need is a sounding board.”
Waititu alludes to career trends associated to generation Y of changing jobs every one to two years.
“As employers, this is something we look out for. In truth, I don’t want to employ someone who will be available only for six months or a year and then move on to something else. If I see such a trend in your CV, I will not be interested.”
“As frustrating as it may be, young professionals must be patient. It takes some time before you are competent and a few more years before you are really good at what you do,” says Waititu.
It is this kind of patience and persistence that has seen Waititu grow SAP’s East Africa office – covering eight countries – from 6 members of staff in 2010 when he joined SAP, to 31 in 2013 with the number expected to double by end of 2014. The expansion has been fueled by business growth in SAP’s Enterprise Resource solutions widely used by a growing number of Kenyan and regional companies across all sectors; aviation, manufacturing, service industry, oil & gas, and financials.
