Perseverance is a word that Marlene Coetzee-George holds dear to heart as she navigates her leadership role at Laureus Sport for Good Foundation South Africa. She has held the position of Chief Executive Officer at the organisation since July 2021 and has worked hard to help youth through sport.
She has been with the organisation since it’s inception when the South African branch was opened and she became one of the first foundation managers in 2002. Fast forward to 2020 when she was offered the position as acting CEO of Laureus Sport for Good Foundation South Africa and went on to hold the position permanently a year later.
However, she faced setbacks during her storied career, having also been retrenched twice. Coetzee-George says there is one word can describe her career over the years.
“It’s perseverance because I think no two people’s journey to leadership is the same. It’s affected a lot by your journey, my journey started in teaching, so that’s my qualification but when I left teaching, my leadership was impacted a lot by the portfolios that I held. What I learnt in each of those portfolios prepared me for where I am today.
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation SA CEO Marlene Coetzee-George
“Sometimes in those portfolios, you have to be patient within that season because it doesn’t always look like the next door will open immediately,” says Coetzee-George. “But you have to persevere through the learnings in that season, and only in retrospect do you realise while I was doing that, it prepared me for this!”
“I think mine was a journey of perseverance through many seasons that didn’t necessarily look like it would end up there. but in the end, all of the pieces of the puzzle contributed to where I find myself now.”
In 1997 she was appointed at the Sports Science Institute of SA (SSISA) to start the Community Health Intervention Programmes (CHIPs) which encouraged health and wellness as well as health education in a bid to help people be in good physical condition. She then began her employment at Laureus South Africa in five years later.
“Not in my wildest dreams!”
Marlene Coetzee-George, asked if she ever thought she would hold leadership positions.
“When I started in the not-for-profit space, I always had the goal of caring for people, almost like in a Human Resource kind of way, like an HR manager kind of thing. That is what I had in mind, because I always had a passion for people, and looking after people and people’s growth.
“The title of Chief Executive Officer never came to my mind, so I thought – when I was at the Sports Science Institute of SA, I was the general manager – I felt that was my peak. A general manager post looks after some infrastructure, but it is looking after people. So for me, it was the perfect blend of some bricks and mortar, but mostly looking after humans and their trajectory for growth in their various portfolios.”
There is no better person to ask to share their advice with those young women who are looking to one day be in the position of a leader in a top organisation. Coetzee-George says having the right people around will give you the support you need to move up the company ranks.
“I think it would be to surround yourself with the right people, depending on the season you find yourself in. So if you are right now overseeing implementation, surround yourself with people whose previous roles was overseeing implementation, so they are just one step ahead of you.”
“I don’t want to contradict myself but sometimes if you are doing implementation but you surround yourself with the CEO, there are maybe four or five steps before you get to a CEO, you then become so despondent, because you don’t get to that CEO step fast enough.
“If you were connecting to the person on the next level up that is within your view and it is growing to that next level. There were always people in life who were a stop above me. I find younger people want to go four steps up and then you haven’t even learnt. If you work your way through each of those levels, the thinking that you need to have in place at the top level would have been birthed through each of those steps that you take. I had a zigzag journey but there were always learnings.”
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation South Africa is well-known for their strides in using sport to help the youth in communities around the country in a bid to help them achieve their dreams. Coetzee-George says various initiatives over the years have yielded some wonderful results for the youth involved.
“One of the young women that is now heading up the Laureus Empowerment Through Sport came through the ranks of one of the programs so she was nominated by her program to do the Laureus Yes (Youth Empowerment through Sport program). I think she was part of the 2013 or 2014 cohort, and now, 10 years later, is heading up the Laureus YES programme.
“We have four young people heading up the Laureus Youth Desk and all have come from programs that Laureus funded, have come through Laureus, and are now shaping the identity of Laureus.”
Coetzee-George has been rather humble about the legacy she would like to leave as a leader at Laureus.
“I want the people that I lead to be happy and fulfilled in doing their jobs and I want to contribute to that happiness and sense of fulfilment in the way that I lead. If opportunities come up and they have outgrown what they are doing, that part of what they desire in a place of work is not only money but also happiness.”
“You can’t ensure that but you can work hard making sure people feel happy to come to their place where they have to live their purpose in the marketplace.”
The eighth of ten children, Coetzee-George managed to forge her way in the world and someone who has been an integral part of her success is her mother who has always been helping and guiding her through life and the big moments.
“When I got to the point where I had to go to university, my mom went with me. She took the train with me, to show me how to travel by train, because I hadn’t done it before. Walked the campus with me, as if she knew the campus, but just so that I had that comfort.”
“She supported me when I got my first job as a teacher, told me how to travel by taxi, and talked me through buying my first car. Just being part of the journey and walking me through things that she never did,” says Coetzee-George. “She asked the questions that she knew needed to be asked, and that I wouldn’t have the foresight to ask. So when your mother did those things at that time, you don’t realise how valuable that is until you are established in your career.“
Photo caption: Perseverance… is a word that Marlene Coetzee-George holds dear to hear as she navigates her leadership role at Laureus Sport South Africa. She has held the position of Chief Executive Officer at the organisation since July 2021 and has worked hard to take the sport to new heights. All Photos: Supplied
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