The Leadership Lesson That Cost Him His Career | Veli Mabena

What happens when you do what you were told to do, but later realise it was the mistake that cost you? In this episode of Cheers to Failure, I sit down with Veli Mabena, SABC Head of Customer Marketing, for a conversation about leadership, fatherhood, corporate politics, career failure, culture, spirituality, vulnerability and learning to read the room before the room reads you. Veli describes failure as episodes that prepare and propel you to become better. Not just better at work, but better as a father, husband, boss, brother and human being. That framing runs through the whole episode. He reflects on growing up in Tembisa, with a mother who worked as a domestic worker and a father who worked in a factory. In his childhood, failure was often understood as not doing what you were told to do, and the consequence was punishment, not conversation. But as he grew older, that definition changed. One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is Veli speaking about fatherhood. He is deeply present in his children’s lives, but he also admits that he is struggling to transition from being the father who provides and solves, to becoming the father who listens differently as his daughters become grown women. It is honest, tender and deeply human. Then we move into the career failures. Veli has built a remarkable career across some of the biggest marketing environments, including Reckitt Benckiser, Coca-Cola, MTN, Philip Morris, Samsung and now the SABC. But he speaks openly about two painful lessons that shaped him. The first: he did not read the room. He was so focused on doing what was right that he missed the politics, the noise and the dynamics around him. His lesson is clear: as a leader, you must listen upward, sideways and downward. The second: never walk into an organisation and fire people simply because someone told you to. Veli says he made that mistake twice, and it cost him his career. Today, his view is different. He believes a leader must first work with the team, understand the system, build trust, and help people either rise or reveal themselves. This episode is about the kind of failure that does not come from lack of talent. It comes from not understanding power. It comes from trusting too easily. It comes from believing being right is enough. Veli also reflects on broken relationships, repairing family bonds, self-reflection, spirituality, decision-making, fear, vulnerability at work, and why he lives by the line: love them all, trust no one. In this episode, Veli reflects on: ◽ Failure as episodes that prepare you ◽ Growing up in Tembisa ◽ What culture taught him about identity ◽ Being a present father, but learning to listen differently ◽ Why love is not always enough in relationships ◽ His career across major marketing brands ◽ The danger of not reading the room ◽ Why firing people too quickly can cost you ◽ Listening upward, sideways and downward ◽ Career gaps and owning your narrative ◽ Repairing broken family relationships ◽ Self-reflection and masculine fragility ◽ Spirituality, intuition and surrender ◽ Why he does not fear starting again ◽ Vulnerability at work ◽ Loving people, but trusting carefully Timestamps 00:00 Cold open 01:25 Welcome 02:03 What failure means to Veli 03:13 Growing up in Tembisa 05:18 Fatherhood and being present 08:47 Struggling to adjust as children grow up 11:00 Therapy, parenting and listening differently 14:07 The kind of men he wants for his daughters 16:41 Why love is not always enough 18:02 Career failure and marketing lessons 18:55 Reckitt Benckiser, Coca-Cola and marketing foundations 20:10 The danger of not reading the room 21:04 Why firing the team cost him 23:27 What made him follow the wrong instruction 24:47 Losing jobs he loved 26:07 How to own your career narrative 28:44 Explaining short career stays 32:11 What two years at Clicks taught him 34:25 Repairing broken relationships 38:36 Self-reflection and taking responsibility 41:33 Handling what is out of your control 46:11 What scares him 48:52 Making decisions without all the data 52:12 Vulnerability at work 54:31 Love them all, trust no one 57:24 Feedback he ignored and feedback he rejected 59:45 Quick-fire questions 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations that remind us that failure is never final when we are willing to learn, heal and begin again. Follow Cheers to Failure: Instagram:   / cheerstofailure   Hosted by Nontokozo Madonsela.