Nhlanhla Hadebe
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Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Thank you so much for your time and your availability.
To start things off, if you could give a brief introduction of yourself in your former role, and then your current role now.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
No problem, no problem at all.
I was with Bridgestone from the 9th of April 2018 until the end of April 2024.
So, basically, my portfolio at Bridgestone was regional sales manager for Gauteng North. I looked after the TBR/Agri side of the business. In that space, I looked after everything that you could see. Wherever the sun touched, I looked after.
I had oversight from Centurion all the way up to Messina at the bottom going towards Mafikeng and then into Mpumalanga and Swaziland.
So the cut off for me was basically the line. The straight line from Centurion through Witbank, Piet Retief, and into Swaziland.
So everything above that line, I looked after. I had four key account managers that I was looking after as well as sight of the Swaziland, Nelspruit, Polokwane, and Pretoria West branches. Eventually, those branches moved to the retail side of the business and I was left with the key account managers as well as the sales coordinator. My job there was to lead that sales team to achieve target and grow the business on a year-by-year basis.
The first year was a learning year. It wasn't rough or anything like that. It was a good learning year. The year that presented more of a challenge would have been the second year (2019) - there were many changes with the branches. The business moving away from being volume-based to being value-based basically meant we had to change our whole way of thinking – with the team, with ourselves, with our customers – adopting a whole new approach. That was intense in that it was a change but it was a manageable kind of intensity. So when we got into 2020 and COVID hit, to a large extent it actually helped. I think COVID was a blessing for my side of the business in that it consolidated everything that you wanted to do in terms of the move away from volume to value.
Suddenly we're not moving a whole lot of volume, but we were having to realise value for the customers. At that time, our customers actually began to realise their own need for value instead of volume.
So we moved with each other through that whole transition. The customer will always be the customer – they will always want the best pricing, whatever it is – but, by and large, they began to understand exactly what it is that we were driving towards.
By the end of the lockdowns in 2021, and moving into 2022, 2023, and 2024, my team and I were making our targets every year and we had no issues. We were growing month on month – I am particularly proud of F23 into F24, where we grew by 27%. It’s one of those things where, you know, I can only attribute it to the people I was leading at the time - a great bunch of people – who made me look good and made me shine. They made me look good, but they did the bulk of the work, yeah.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
That is awesome. Thank you so much for that. If I could comment briefly on some interesting things that I see. One thing you've mentioned now is the volume to value and really understanding how, from a Bridgestone perspective, that shift was necessary. The next thing I see would be the team that you were surrounded by. Having those people – having good talent around and the difference it makes.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
No, it does. It was a great team. I don't mind telling you that I wouldn't mind having them here in this place right now. But anyway, it is what it is.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Tell me a bit about your current role?
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
So my current role right now is the national channel and operations manager. I am basically looking at the sales through our channels, as well as looking after the operations side of the business. Basically, I'm doing sales operations here; acting as a bridge between the company, the sales team and our customers. It's quite a challenging role. It's a national role. I am having to put processes in place in terms of how we engage with the all the other departments. I need to compile those processes and then take them, as a sales team, to our different channels. Additionally, I would need to assess how we then engage with the different customers and the different channels and, ultimately, how we then engage with our consumers as well.
It can get a bit daunting in that a lot of what I am doing is new to the business – there wasn't anything in the company addressing this specific aspect of the business. I'm having to start from scratch – in some cases, having to start writing our processes from scratch.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Wow. Would you say some of the change that you experienced in Bridgestone in terms of what we mentioned – the volume-to-value discussion, needing to hit those targets, getting the year on year growth – would you say that has informed how you're approaching the current challenge that you have in terms of the national aspect or the national role? Could you speak to that as well as how the starting of the processes may have been influenced by your work at Bridgestone?
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
Yes, definitely. Well, yeah, I think other companies have informed a lot of my current approach, but, in particular, so has Bridgestone. Honestly, all the companies that I have worked for, I think the experience I have accumulated and how I approach my career has helped me to be where I am now in terms of everything.
I'll give you an example. With SAB, it was sales excellence.
At some point I used to work for DSV or UTi, as it was know at that time, where I gained skills around the operations, warehousing, and distribution side of things.
Some of the subsequent roles I had, with KWV and Heineken, combined both of those aspects at the regional level.
Bridgestone helped me in that they allowed me to further sharpen those aspects of my skillset. Everything that I went through at Bridgestone since I arrived there in 2019 regarding the change of mindset in the operations – in how we do things, in how we put processes together – is exactly the same thing that I'm doing here. The difference is that I'm applying it on a national level. Bridgestone helped me by being the beginning of that whole process. At Bridgestone, I was looking at one side of the business having to interactive with other regions. Here, I'm looking at it from a Bird’s Eye point of view. Though my understanding of the challenges I had had at the regional level previously informs how I view things now, as well. Therefore, I ask questions like, “how am I going to approach it for the different guys in the different regions that I'm leading so that they're able to get the whole issue, to get everything needed, and then to put everything together?” It definitely helped me in that regard. I'm now able to really separate the operational part of the things with the strategic part of everything that I'm doing as well. It was a great help because it was a training ground for me, so to speak. It has been a very easy process moving from there to where I currently am in terms of what I need to do. Although, there are other things that I need to do now over and above what I was doing – sitting in Exco meetings and things of that nature would not have been easy for me to dissect had I not had my experience and training from Bridgestone.
The sales part never changes. It's just the approach. How you approach it, how they approach it, from a strategic and operational perspective. What Bridgestone allowed me to do was to further develop that part of my skillset. It helped me to actually have a look at it. I have always had the skillset, but I've never really had to assess it and rely on it much before I got to Bridgestone. I had to do things for myself: start processes, evaluate processes, look backwards and see what was not working, change things, and then do that change management with the team with a view to getting things moving in a different direction, moving forward and achieving results. That's the part of it that I'm looking at here.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Wow, I think that's very exciting. When I hear you speak about this, it sounds like a very exciting portfolio.
I'd like to touch on two more points. So I'll mention them and then we can go through them both. The first one is your connection with the alumni network and the second one is any personal insights or advice that you might give to anyone that sees this article.
Looking at the various aspects of what we're trying to accomplish with the alumni program, namely: networking as a key pillar, the keynote presentations and the learning that can be gained from there, understanding industry insights, the mentorship circles, and then a big one as well would be the talent referral policy rollout, that we are wanting to connect with good talent and wanting to recognize good talent as well.
Looking at those elements I've mentioned, what excites you the most about engaging with the alumni program and the possibilities that exist for you?
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
What excites me is a bit of everything that you touched on, but the biggest thing for me is the networking exchanges. This excites me for a few reasons, one example would be, with what I'm doing now, networking with people means getting new ideas and looking at different ways in which people are doing certain things in different industries. I mean, I've moved from the tyre manufacturing industry to an appliance industry.
You might think of those things are different, but they're actually not that different. We deal with different products, sure, but the structure of how we do that is more or less the same, even with the various different ways of doing things in the two industries. I've taken a couple of things from my experience in Bridgestone and my other experiences, at legal wise for example, and I've implemented it here and I see it works. The networking part of it is very key and crucially important for me.
The second part is the talent referral and looking at the talent that's there. Speaking to people, as well, because as you speak to people and network, you tell them what issues you are facing and what type of people that you are needing. From those conversations, they will be able to refer talent to you. They might say, “I’ve got someone in mind.” I would say that those two things are important in my role because I've recognized that some of the people here, very good talent, but the way they approach things is probably a little too industry-based. It is too historically based. In one or two positions, you might need to get new people who will then infuse new ideas into the space because not everything is broken. I mean, if everything was broken, the industry wouldn't exist. There are just some things that, when you look at it from a three to five year point of view, you think to yourself that these things need to change. If they don't change, then this industry or this business will not grow as fast as it can or be as robust as it can be.
I believe that Bridgestone itself, with the changes that it's gone through, with the talent that has gone through Bridgestone and the tire industry, but in particular Bridgestone, has allowed it to survive. I know that some of their competitors are teetering, but Bridgestone has survived with this approach that we took.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
So it's gonna be a good, good place for me to get some, you know, good networking and also, you know, hunt beyond the scout and hunt for for talent that I can use to further and hence the business where I am right now, yeah.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
And then in terms of personal insights and advice that you might have – personal growth tips or professional advice you may have for someone that would be engaging with this article.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
The only advice I can give to anyone: It doesn't matter what level you are on – be teachable as a person. If you remain teachable as a person, you can do whatever it is that you want to do you. If you are not teachable, you will reach a ceiling. If you teachable then you have no ceiling. There's no ceiling for you, that’s the only thing I can say. It doesn't matter which position you hold or where you are, if you remain teachable, anything is possible and everything is possible.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Well, thank you once again, Nhlanhla, for your time and for your commitment to yourself and to bettering yourself. I think it comes across. For us, as the Bridgestone alumni program, having you as part of it is definitely having a great asset onboard. So we are very, very grateful and I'm very grateful for your time and for your insight today.
I think it was very valuable and a lot of people will gain a lot from this, so thank you for that and.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (Q)
No, thank you guys.
For me, I have this belief that everything happens for a reason and there is a reason why I ended up at Bridgestone when I did. I definitely would not be anywhere near where I am right now if it wasn't for some of the lessons that I learned at Bridgestone. So, Bridgestone will always be always be in my heart.
Nhlanhla Hadebe
Nhlanhla Hadebe
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Thank you so much for your time and your availability.
To start things off, if you could give a brief introduction of yourself in your former role, and then your current role now.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
No problem, no problem at all.
I was with Bridgestone from the 9th of April 2018 until the end of April 2024.
So, basically, my portfolio at Bridgestone was regional sales manager for Gauteng North. I looked after the TBR/Agri side of the business. In that space, I looked after everything that you could see. Wherever the sun touched, I looked after.
I had oversight from Centurion all the way up to Messina at the bottom going towards Mafikeng and then into Mpumalanga and Swaziland.
So the cut off for me was basically the line. The straight line from Centurion through Witbank, Piet Retief, and into Swaziland.
So everything above that line, I looked after. I had four key account managers that I was looking after as well as sight of the Swaziland, Nelspruit, Polokwane, and Pretoria West branches. Eventually, those branches moved to the retail side of the business and I was left with the key account managers as well as the sales coordinator. My job there was to lead that sales team to achieve target and grow the business on a year-by-year basis.
The first year was a learning year. It wasn't rough or anything like that. It was a good learning year. The year that presented more of a challenge would have been the second year (2019) - there were many changes with the branches. The business moving away from being volume-based to being value-based basically meant we had to change our whole way of thinking – with the team, with ourselves, with our customers – adopting a whole new approach. That was intense in that it was a change but it was a manageable kind of intensity. So when we got into 2020 and COVID hit, to a large extent it actually helped. I think COVID was a blessing for my side of the business in that it consolidated everything that you wanted to do in terms of the move away from volume to value.
Suddenly we're not moving a whole lot of volume, but we were having to realise value for the customers. At that time, our customers actually began to realise their own need for value instead of volume.
So we moved with each other through that whole transition. The customer will always be the customer – they will always want the best pricing, whatever it is – but, by and large, they began to understand exactly what it is that we were driving towards.
By the end of the lockdowns in 2021, and moving into 2022, 2023, and 2024, my team and I were making our targets every year and we had no issues. We were growing month on month – I am particularly proud of F23 into F24, where we grew by 27%. It’s one of those things where, you know, I can only attribute it to the people I was leading at the time - a great bunch of people – who made me look good and made me shine. They made me look good, but they did the bulk of the work, yeah.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
That is awesome. Thank you so much for that. If I could comment briefly on some interesting things that I see. One thing you've mentioned now is the volume to value and really understanding how, from a Bridgestone perspective, that shift was necessary. The next thing I see would be the team that you were surrounded by. Having those people – having good talent around and the difference it makes.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
No, it does. It was a great team. I don't mind telling you that I wouldn't mind having them here in this place right now. But anyway, it is what it is.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Tell me a bit about your current role?
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
So my current role right now is the national channel and operations manager. I am basically looking at the sales through our channels, as well as looking after the operations side of the business. Basically, I'm doing sales operations here; acting as a bridge between the company, the sales team and our customers. It's quite a challenging role. It's a national role. I am having to put processes in place in terms of how we engage with the all the other departments. I need to compile those processes and then take them, as a sales team, to our different channels. Additionally, I would need to assess how we then engage with the different customers and the different channels and, ultimately, how we then engage with our consumers as well.
It can get a bit daunting in that a lot of what I am doing is new to the business – there wasn't anything in the company addressing this specific aspect of the business. I'm having to start from scratch – in some cases, having to start writing our processes from scratch.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Wow. Would you say some of the change that you experienced in Bridgestone in terms of what we mentioned – the volume-to-value discussion, needing to hit those targets, getting the year on year growth – would you say that has informed how you're approaching the current challenge that you have in terms of the national aspect or the national role? Could you speak to that as well as how the starting of the processes may have been influenced by your work at Bridgestone?
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
Yes, definitely. Well, yeah, I think other companies have informed a lot of my current approach, but, in particular, so has Bridgestone. Honestly, all the companies that I have worked for, I think the experience I have accumulated and how I approach my career has helped me to be where I am now in terms of everything.
I'll give you an example. With SAB, it was sales excellence.
At some point I used to work for DSV or UTi, as it was know at that time, where I gained skills around the operations, warehousing, and distribution side of things.
Some of the subsequent roles I had, with KWV and Heineken, combined both of those aspects at the regional level.
Bridgestone helped me in that they allowed me to further sharpen those aspects of my skillset. Everything that I went through at Bridgestone since I arrived there in 2019 regarding the change of mindset in the operations – in how we do things, in how we put processes together – is exactly the same thing that I'm doing here. The difference is that I'm applying it on a national level. Bridgestone helped me by being the beginning of that whole process. At Bridgestone, I was looking at one side of the business having to interactive with other regions. Here, I'm looking at it from a Bird’s Eye point of view. Though my understanding of the challenges I had had at the regional level previously informs how I view things now, as well. Therefore, I ask questions like, “how am I going to approach it for the different guys in the different regions that I'm leading so that they're able to get the whole issue, to get everything needed, and then to put everything together?” It definitely helped me in that regard. I'm now able to really separate the operational part of the things with the strategic part of everything that I'm doing as well. It was a great help because it was a training ground for me, so to speak. It has been a very easy process moving from there to where I currently am in terms of what I need to do. Although, there are other things that I need to do now over and above what I was doing – sitting in Exco meetings and things of that nature would not have been easy for me to dissect had I not had my experience and training from Bridgestone.
The sales part never changes. It's just the approach. How you approach it, how they approach it, from a strategic and operational perspective. What Bridgestone allowed me to do was to further develop that part of my skillset. It helped me to actually have a look at it. I have always had the skillset, but I've never really had to assess it and rely on it much before I got to Bridgestone. I had to do things for myself: start processes, evaluate processes, look backwards and see what was not working, change things, and then do that change management with the team with a view to getting things moving in a different direction, moving forward and achieving results. That's the part of it that I'm looking at here.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Wow, I think that's very exciting. When I hear you speak about this, it sounds like a very exciting portfolio.
I'd like to touch on two more points. So I'll mention them and then we can go through them both. The first one is your connection with the alumni network and the second one is any personal insights or advice that you might give to anyone that sees this article.
Looking at the various aspects of what we're trying to accomplish with the alumni program, namely: networking as a key pillar, the keynote presentations and the learning that can be gained from there, understanding industry insights, the mentorship circles, and then a big one as well would be the talent referral policy rollout, that we are wanting to connect with good talent and wanting to recognize good talent as well.
Looking at those elements I've mentioned, what excites you the most about engaging with the alumni program and the possibilities that exist for you?
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
What excites me is a bit of everything that you touched on, but the biggest thing for me is the networking exchanges. This excites me for a few reasons, one example would be, with what I'm doing now, networking with people means getting new ideas and looking at different ways in which people are doing certain things in different industries. I mean, I've moved from the tyre manufacturing industry to an appliance industry.
You might think of those things are different, but they're actually not that different. We deal with different products, sure, but the structure of how we do that is more or less the same, even with the various different ways of doing things in the two industries. I've taken a couple of things from my experience in Bridgestone and my other experiences, at legal wise for example, and I've implemented it here and I see it works. The networking part of it is very key and crucially important for me.
The second part is the talent referral and looking at the talent that's there. Speaking to people, as well, because as you speak to people and network, you tell them what issues you are facing and what type of people that you are needing. From those conversations, they will be able to refer talent to you. They might say, “I’ve got someone in mind.” I would say that those two things are important in my role because I've recognized that some of the people here, very good talent, but the way they approach things is probably a little too industry-based. It is too historically based. In one or two positions, you might need to get new people who will then infuse new ideas into the space because not everything is broken. I mean, if everything was broken, the industry wouldn't exist. There are just some things that, when you look at it from a three to five year point of view, you think to yourself that these things need to change. If they don't change, then this industry or this business will not grow as fast as it can or be as robust as it can be.
I believe that Bridgestone itself, with the changes that it's gone through, with the talent that has gone through Bridgestone and the tire industry, but in particular Bridgestone, has allowed it to survive. I know that some of their competitors are teetering, but Bridgestone has survived with this approach that we took.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
So it's gonna be a good, good place for me to get some, you know, good networking and also, you know, hunt beyond the scout and hunt for for talent that I can use to further and hence the business where I am right now, yeah.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
And then in terms of personal insights and advice that you might have – personal growth tips or professional advice you may have for someone that would be engaging with this article.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (A)
The only advice I can give to anyone: It doesn't matter what level you are on – be teachable as a person. If you remain teachable as a person, you can do whatever it is that you want to do you. If you are not teachable, you will reach a ceiling. If you teachable then you have no ceiling. There's no ceiling for you, that’s the only thing I can say. It doesn't matter which position you hold or where you are, if you remain teachable, anything is possible and everything is possible.
Cheresan Naidoo (Q)
Well, thank you once again, Nhlanhla, for your time and for your commitment to yourself and to bettering yourself. I think it comes across. For us, as the Bridgestone alumni program, having you as part of it is definitely having a great asset onboard. So we are very, very grateful and I'm very grateful for your time and for your insight today.
I think it was very valuable and a lot of people will gain a lot from this, so thank you for that and.
Nhlanhla Hadebe (Q)
No, thank you guys.
For me, I have this belief that everything happens for a reason and there is a reason why I ended up at Bridgestone when I did. I definitely would not be anywhere near where I am right now if it wasn't for some of the lessons that I learned at Bridgestone. So, Bridgestone will always be always be in my heart.