Claiming My Professional Identity
I thought I was being humble. I was actually making myself smaller.
When I joined the Impact Leaders Mentorship Programme, I was navigating a professional transition from South Africa to Europe. After building a regional risk intelligence system at the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR (formerly Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in the South African region, I am now preparing to enter the German market. Like many people in a similar position, I assumed my biggest challenge would be translating my experience into language that employers would understand.
That was not the case.
The mentorship programme exceeded my expectations because it exposed a mindset I had not realised was shaping every professional decision I was making. During our sessions, I developed a comprehensive risk analytics portfolio built around the regional risk intelligence system I had created at UNHCR. Alongside that, I refined my positioning statement, updated my CV and rebuilt my LinkedIn profile.
The final outputs looked different from what I had imagined at the start of the mentorship programme. Initially, I wanted to showcase everything I had done across multiple projects.
As the mentorship work progressed, I realised that credibility is often built through depth rather than breadth. Instead of trying to prove I could do many things, I focused on demonstrating one substantial piece of work well. That shift produced a much stronger portfolio, and one far better suited to the market I will be entering.
The most significant transformation, however, had nothing to do with documents. It happened during Ms. Akullo’s analysis of my Ikigai exercise. I had described being willing to take on any task as I moved into a new market. I had always interpreted those choices as evidence of a strong work ethic. However, Ms. Akullo observed that I was lowering my own professional standing by making those choices, even before anyone else had the chance to question it.
That observation gave me pause to think.
I had entered the programme with all the ingredients for a strong professional identity but no clear way of holding them together. More critically, I had been underselling my experience, not because the evidence demanded it, but because uncertainty about the future had quietly shaped how I talked about the past.
That single insight reframed the entire programme for me. I stopped explaining myself and started demonstrating what I had already built. I now approach my own professional record the same way I once approached data at UNHCR. I ask what the evidence actually supports. That shift, from explaining myself to demonstrating myself, has altered how I think about every application, every conversation and every opportunity.
The Ikigai framework gave language to a disconnect I had sensed but never articulated: the gap between the professional I had become and how I was presenting myself to others. That clarity changed the foundation everything else was built on.
The structured self-review process reinforced the same lesson. Rather than treating my CV as a marketing document, I learned to read it as a sceptical hiring manager would. Where was the evidence? Which claims lacked proof? What questions would someone ask before believing my experience? Those questions made every revision sharper and more credible.
Ms. Akullo’s approach made those conversations productive. She was willing to name uncomfortable truths directly while remaining genuinely supportive throughout the process. That balance matters. Honest feedback only lands when it is grounded in trust, and that trust was present from the beginning.
I leave this mentorship programme with something more valuable than a finished portfolio. I leave with clarity. I now understand that confidence is about presenting the evidence clearly and allowing it to speak for itself. For me, that has been the most valuable lesson of all.
The work is not complete. My portfolio will continue to evolve, my applications still need to be tested and my next chapter is only beginning.
About the author
Mr. Siya Mazibuko is a Risk and Data Analyst specialising in enterprise risk management, data analytics, and organisational strategy. With over 11 years of international experience, he helps organisations transform complex data into actionable insights that strengthen decision-making. He is certified in Python, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, and Advanced Operational Risk Management (PRMIA).