Being in the business of mentoring and coaching is an important part of India Martin’s life.

The leadership expert is especially proud of this work because it allows her to help the people who look like her.

“There are so very few black women who have access in the way that I have – managing to move around in the way that I have. The thing that is the most important for me in doing that is humility and understanding that getting into a role is not about you.

“When you leave, people will forget you. If you assign your value to a role then you are in trouble. For black women, because of the burdens we carry every day that other people don’t understand or acknowledge, when you get into those spaces it is very easy to assign your worth. So it’s important to make sure that people stay centred.”

SUCCESS: India Martin, the founder of Leadership For Life, is passionate about Africa and seeing the continent thrive. Picture: Supplied

“I work here even though I’m not based here. I have clients who work here and I’m really quite committed to the continent in general. For me, it is about bringing people to see the opportunity in that environment.”

Martin, an American by birth, has held a number of global C-Suite roles, including expatriate assignments in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Her work in the various cities has given her valuable insight into the functioning of different markets.

“In the US and Europe, people don’t understand how developed the continent is. It’s a matter of investment and not stability. The aim with my delegation is to show what I see in terms of opportunity, and then the summit is to have conversations with local leaders so that people understand the challenges of South Africa.

“You learn a lot more with challenging economies than with matured ones. It’s important to be able to shift and change.”

Before Martin was leading delegations, she had initially started out studying law while she was figuring out what she was born to do. After doing a number of legal internships she decided law wasn’t for her.

“It was during the time of the Wall Street boom and I thought it would be interesting to go work in the financial services space, and that’s how it happened.

“I got my first job with Morgan Stanley and went into the specialist technology training programme, where they only took people who did not have a tech background, because their belief at the time was that it was easier to teach people who were more of the arts – so the literature, the history, the music – than it was to take technical people who thought in a more linear way, to be more creative around solutions.”

Since then she worked her way to the top to become managing director and global chief operating officer for investment banking technology and operations at JP Morgan.

Her 25 years of industry experience includes working in various global markets. A member of the Forbes Coaches Council, Martin is also a former adjunct professor of corporate education at Temple University in Japan and a well-known keynote and panel speaker. She spent about five years in Asia and another 15 in London.

When the chief executive of Khonology Global, a South African tech company, asked her to come here and help them shape their global strategy, she couldn’t say no. She now sits on the board of the company.

She calls herself a card- carrying advocate of the women club. As president emeritus of the City Women’s Network, a professional body for senior women in corporate, third sector and entrepreneurial industries, she spearheaded the Corporate Board Readiness Program. The network celebrated its 40th anniversary last month.

Martin said the network was an educational network that has seen a number of the women getting jobs through others in the group.

“It’s about pulling up women behind you, holding the ladder for more junior women to show them how to operate at that level.”

Martin is on the coaching faculty at Georgetown University for the Executive Master’s in Leadership and is also on the coaching faculty of the New York City Bar Association’s Associate Leadership Institute.

An award-winning consumer goods start-up founder, she understands the challenges of being both an entrepreneur and corporate.

She is a sought-after coach to start-up founders and also an adviser to small and mid-cap companies who are focused on globalisation.

SUCCESS: India Martin, the founder of Leadership For Life, is a big believer in taking care of yourself both professionally and personally. Picture: Supplied

“The biggest challenges businesses face when entering new markets is knowing the participants of those markets and having an appropriate cash flow. That kills businesses more quickly than anything.”

She said the one trait every entrepreneur needed was to be a risk-taker.

“You have to be prepared to run on edge because out of risks come the biggest rewards. Most entrepreneurs have to be willing to fall off a cliff.”

The advice she gives to budding business owners is to be prepared to fail.

“You have to understand that failure isn’t about you. It is not personal. People, especially in this age of technology that moves so quickly, forget just as quickly. You need to be able to move on.”

Wellness in the workplace is also something she advocates for. As the Global Wellness-For-Work ambassador for Aromatherapy Associates, Martin knows all too well the benefits of rest and relaxation in the corporate world.

“When you take on a huge job, you need to have proper patterns of sleep that will allow you to optimise your time. If you optimise your body, mind and spirit, you will be prepared for whatever role you are doing, both personally and professionally.”

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