A humble warrior tailoring her dreams of success

Zyda Rylands could conquer the world. And the world would happily submit. She would do it with the widest, most sincere smile and plenty of loud, friendly laughter — but only after having confirmed with us that it was what we wanted. And it probably would be.

Unfortunately, Rylands — who became the first woman to be appointed an executive director of Woolworths in 2005 — has no plans to conquer the world. She's too busy in her role as chief operating officer: support services at the company, a responsibility recently added to her portfolio as director of people and transformation.

And that's not all that keeps her busy. Rylands' other directorships include FirstRand Bank Holdings, African Capital Property Portfolio, the National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency, and the Open Society Foundation of SA.

"How am I feeling about the new appointment?" she laughs, unabashedly leading the interview before my recorder has even begun rolling. "Nervous excitement (more laughter) — I am very excited by the opportunity but nervous because I am not an expert in all the areas for which I am now responsible."

But this is not a new situation for Rylands. A chartered accountant (CA), she joined Woolworths in 1996, working initially in the financial department and later in store operations. When — as a 40-year-old — she was appointed a director in 2005, her portfolio was people and transformation.

Building the right team

"But more than this, I learnt at that point to surround myself with the right people who are the experts. Because I accept that I don't have a monopoly on knowledge and that I am going to learn as much as I am going to teach, I am delighted to ask questions and be taught by colleagues and associates at all levels. And let's face it, if leadership is easy to learn, why are there so many book written about it?"

In fact, the resolve to learn has essentially shaped Rylands' life. She grew up, one of five children, in Athlone on the Cape Flats. Her father was a tailor and her mother assisted him with the hand-stitching that was necessary to finish the garments. As a diligent pupil and head prefect at high school in Hanover Park, Rylands gazed up to the University of Cape Town campus and was determined to be the first in her immediate family to earn a degree and qualify as a CA.

"I can't remember exactly when the notion of becoming a CA arose, but I do recall understanding that it would give me a good basis from which to access business, and I wanted to be in business. At the top of business, in fact. Oh yes, and I remember a career counsellor telling me it pays well," she laughs again.

Smart budgeting and some help pays off

Although her parents could not afford university fees, her father was resourceful and recognised his daughter's potential. He visited an old business associate, Lexie Bernstein, who was at the time MD of the footwear retail chain, Shoerama. He was also a qualified CA and agreed to meet the matriculant. Having grilled Rylands about her goals, Bernstein agreed to sponsor her BComm at the University of Cape Town. She was required to work at Shoerama on weekends and university holidays to pay the scholarship back.

Managing the funds available for her studies required some very smart budgeting by Rylands — particularly since her involvement in the student protests of 1984 meant that she needed an extra year to complete her degree.

"I am a very principled person," is how she puts it. "Everything in me had to participate to fight against injustice and so, along with many other students of the time, I missed numerous lectures during my second year and ended up having to redo that year. I was lucky to be able to count on the moral support of my family but the money, originally planned for three years' study, had to stretch to four."

She took on some temping to extend the stretch and successfully completed her BComm after getting her honours.

Dream becomes more real

It was during this time at Woolworths, as the personal assistant to then joint MD Brian Frost, that Rylands received the leverage that she believes set her up for her future there. "Brian exposed me to senior leadership by asking me to attend board meetings. This demystified the board and its workings for me, and while I saw then what considerable challenges exist at this level, I also recognised that it was possible for me to operate within that setting. So my dream of moving up in business seemed much more real."

Around this time, in 1997, she was named the Black Management Forum's manager of the year. She was among the top 10 candidates for the Impumelelo/BMF Business Personality of the Year award in 2001.

Her tenure alongside Frost was followed by a stint back in the company's financial department — “I stipulated that I would help turn that department around for two years and no longer” — corporate planning and retail.

Then, in a move that had her living away from Cape Town for the first time, Rylands ran Woolworths' biggest retail division “up north”, which incorporates stores on the East Rand, in Pretoria and surrounds, for 15 months.

No scripts for some situations

While she values the experience, it was not easy. "I faced some of the biggest leadership challenges of my career to date during that time. We introduced what we called 'Woolies' Way'. It was a tense time between the organisation and people who wanted different benefits. I learnt a great deal about facilitation and negotiation."

The most difficult moment during this period of Rylands' career, however, came when a Woolworths employee was shot and killed during a robbery in one of the stores within her division. She undertook to break the news to his wife.

"There are no scripts at times like that," she says, her face devoid of its usual smile now. "There's only your best judgment, and your sense of what is right, reasonable and human to fall back on. You want to be a leader and now that you fill that space, people look to you and you have a responsibility. You have to be conscious. It is moments like that that you truly appreciate the fact that your parents taught you to be humble, grounded and to treat people the way you want to be treated yourself. No university degree, other tertiary qualification or leadership course can teach you that."

Yes, Zyda Rylands could conquer the world — but she has more important things to do.

Source: Business Day

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