What CEOs appreciate most about Christmas and gifting

Rebecca Wanjiku has a warm personality and thoughtful approach to leadership. A firm believer in continuous learning, she describes herself as an “eternal student” who values knowledge-sharing and personal growth.

“Even as a CEO, I have tried to foster a culture of people who are eternal students, where learning never stops. You can always learn something from someone regardless. To improve yourself, you can use online resources and the people around you. That is what I have done to get to where I am—continuing to learn and improving myself.”

How is your typical Christmas holiday like?

Like any other Kenyan, my typical Christmas involves time with family and relaxing. Sometimes in the village, here in the city, and sometimes I travel out of town. It depends on the year, but most of the time it will be in the village. It’s the one time I completely relax, so much so that I don't know what day it is.

What was it like as a child?

I remember it was time to eat chapos (chapatis). It was the one time chapos were in plenty. We had to dress in our Sunday best clothes. And it was the only a time I remember my parents downing their tools, not going to the farm.

It was like the first break, especially when people just worked either in school or on the farm. For about a week, everybody was on leave from normal duties until they resumed in the new year.

I also remember a lot of feasting, and cousins coming to the village. It was a time when we got to see family members we usually did not see.

Was becoming a CEO your childhood dream?

(Laughs) My childhood journey has metamorphosised over the years. I have taken opportunities that have come to me, so it was not exactly my childhood dream.

My childhood dream was to go to school, get a degree, and get a job. I was a happy child. I thought if I could maintain the joy and happiness that would be enough for me.

Home was also easy, happy, and loving. It did not matter whether you went to school and what you achieved, you just needed to do your best and be the best you could at that point. So I would not say I had any pressure to be this person.

Christmas season often comes with gifting. What does gifting mean to you?

Gifting is offering somebody something that means a lot to them. What may mean a lot to me may not necessarily mean a lot to the other person.

So usually, gifting involves a lot of research to find out what would be the ideal way of showing love and appreciation to that person. Gifting, for me, is showing love and appreciation.

Have you received any holiday gifts this year?

Yes, I have. I received my first Christmas gift last week, and it is probably the best one this year. I love giving back to communities and the people I love. One of the things I love giving is mentorship and coaching.

Last week, a friend, an investment banker, organised a session for children around me. It brought together children from five years old to young adults aged 21 years old.

We had a great session where the children learned about banking, finance, and investment banking. It was a gift not just for me but one that was shared. Seeing their excitement brought me joy.

What is the most interesting gift you have ever received?

Oh, that is funny! About 20 years ago, I received a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne. I did not know it was very expensive or one of the most premium champagnes in the world.

Later, when I learned what it was, I went back to the person who gave it to me and asked them about it. They explained that it was their way of showing gratitude for a favour I had done for them. That gift taught me the true meaning of gifting, you don’t just give a gift. It has to have meaning.

What would you like to receive for Christmas this year?

Other than what I have already received? I am venturing into artwork, I would love to be gifted decorative art. Both local and international is what I want. For both my office and the house.

Do you subscribe to the view that givers should not be receivers?

No! To be appreciated is a basic human appetite that we all need fulfilled. So even when people say givers should be givers and not receivers, I think that is also to protect themselves with the fact that you are giving, but the people around you don’t think you deserve something.

You talk about you giving, do you extend that to your family?

Actually, that is where I begin. I gift them on the eve of Christmas or two days before.

What inspired your thirst for success?

I knew I wanted to do something meaningful with my life. And I can say I did. In my life, I have always tried to be the best I could at any position I held at a particular time. I have done many jobs, and in those jobs, I have been an eternal student.

I am the person who will sit and learn from anyone willing to teach me, whether it’s the lowest or highest person in the organisation.

If they have something to teach me, I will listen. Every day, I wake up and tell myself I can be a better version of myself. As long as I keep improving by maybe even just one percent a day, I will be better and feel better.

What is your insecurity?

One of the biggest things I fear is having to fail the people who depend on me. Those are either my family around me or the employees.

I have to make sure that whatever I do is also being fair to them and doing right by them. So if I need to run an organisation that is based on integrity and transparency and making sure that everybody for their honest work, they are well rewarded and illuminated.

Asman Mugambi

CEO Jubilee Life Insurance

Despite being a Muslim, he embraces inclusivity and values family and the community even during the festivities he does not traditionally have to observe.

As the CEO of Jubilee Life Insurance, he is a man who leads with a strategy that brings a sprinkle of the human touch into the corporate world.

Many assume CEOs are expected to gift others, not to be gifted. How do you feel about that?

Yes, that is true. People expect a lot from us as CEOs, especially employees but they rarely think about what they can gift us. It is important to shift the narrative. CEOs, like everyone else, appreciate thoughtful gifts.

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

I have received many gifts in the past. But the best one is a book by Robin Sharma, The Wealth Money Can’t Buy. It is a fantastic book. I like spending time just reading. It helps me decompress. As CEOs, we would always want something that is meaningful, something that you can use or utilise for the future.

I find good books useful. But, you know, sometimes we get plaques, scarves, bags…We don’t mind. However, it has to be  something that is useful that, something you can keep for posterity and remember the person that gave you that gift.

Why do books fascinate you as gifts?

If it is a book that is covering an interest that you have and somebody has thought through that and gone and picked that for you, that becomes extra special because it shows that this person has taken time and thought about what you would appreciate and gone out of their way to give that to you. Most of us like reading, it’s something that most people use to learn and also build on their knowledge of how they can be better leaders.

Do you think people shy away from gifting you because of your position?

I guess sometimes people can overthink and wonder, “What do I gift this guy?” But I am a simple guy and I’m sure other CEOs are. We are not as complex as people think.

All of us appreciate the simple things in life. It is not that it has to be a very complex gift or even a very expensive gift. Simplicity is appreciated as long as the gift has meaning and it is a gift that is thought through.

What kind of gift would genuinely surprise or delight you?

When I was leaving my previous position, they did a nice plaque with some nice words and it is something that I really did not expect they would do. I have put at a prominent place in my house so that I will always see it and remember.

How do you spend the December holiday, especially as a Muslim?

Being a Muslim, I will be in the office when the rest of the team is off on Christmas. It is a slow time for me and the business which is not as busy as it is in the year. But I also take advantage of that to do other things. But for my family, we usually go on holiday before that.

Do you have any family traditions during the holidays?

Yes! My daughter’s birthday is towards the end of December and we have other family members whose birth dates also fall in December. So we come together and celebrate, it doesn’t matter that Christmas is not part of our calendar, but we take advantage of it.

How do you approach gifting employees or clients during the festive season?

We have a policy with a spending limit for gifts, which applies to everyone, including me. We also organise a Secret Santa where the focus is on thoughtful gifting rather than the cost. This also ensures there’s no pressure to overspend.

What are your personal and professional goals for the upcoming year?

We have an ambition to grow the life business. So we are going to be focused on implementing the strategies that we have put in place to grow the business, grow our market share, reach more customers, touch more lives, and ensure that our solutions and products are given to many more customers than we currently have.

Any personal goal……

I still need to create time to do other things. I started playing golf a while back but I did not progress on it. I need to create time to do that. Maybe read a bit more, and spend more time with my family.

If you could receive a gift to help achieve these goals, what would it be?

A nice set of golf clubs would be good to motivate me to start. The ones I have are quite old. Next year, even if I don’t get that gift I will gift myself. Also something like a nice watch. That is something I would appreciate. I am a simple guy, I don’t have many complexities.

Gabriel Dinda

CEO Writers Guild Kenya

Growing up in the village, Gabriel Dinda, the last-born son, spent most of his early years herding cattle while his older siblings were in school. By the time he was in Class Seven, this routine of grazing evolved into something else.

Armed with the books left behind by his elder siblings, he developed a love for reading that turned his idle hours in the fields into learning ventures.

How has the journey been?

For the past 10 years, I have been serving as the CEO of Writers Guild Kenya. Besides that, I love writing and reading and founded Writers Guild Kenya to encourage more people to also love writing and reading.

I have been trying to grow writers, grow training, mentorship and support, and also publish authors who would love to tell their stories. I also call myself a philosopher and I teach philosophy and ethics at Strathmore University.

Was becoming a CEO part of your childhood dream?

No! Growing up, I did not even know what that meant, but what I knew and what I understood from the beginning was that I needed to do more.

I wanted to be in a position where I could serve people, do more. But I did not know  what that more entailed. But I reckoned that if even if I was, for instance, a  teacher, I wanted to be a teacher with a difference.

What was a typical Christmas for you?

(Laughs) Fanta orange, new clothes, going to the local market in our place. My last memory of Christmas as a child and what I see nowadays have  very little in common.

Growing up, my dad used to work in Nairobi, he would come home, and my elder brother would also come. They would come with some new clothes, biscuits, come with certain things that were very little, but very enjoyable.

What has change?

A lot has changed. One thing is the fact that now I no longer live at home, so we don’t look forward to the people coming. Now it is us going.

Things that we really valued, I think because of lack become very common. The smell of chapo is no longer prestigious and Fanta orange is accessible without necessarily waiting for Christmas day.

In a way, it has lost its original meaning, at least from where I sit. But also growing up, during Christmas, I grew up in a Protestant home, so we would go to church.

But as time has gone by, I converted to a Catholic, I understood more what Christmas means. It has made me look at Christmas very religiously, as a period of self-reflection, and a period to pray, and in a way, remember the birth of our Lord.

In that spirit, do gifts mean anything to you?

Yes. But meaningful gifts. I would not just want anything.

I have heard of this quote that it is not generosity if you give a dog bones. It is generosity if you sacrifice your meat and give it to a dog.

Of course, you are not talking about dogs in this case. Christmas is that period when we should be sharing what we value and that is my principle.

What would you like to receive this Christmas?

Time. For me, the best gift is time, and I plan to allocate it wisely. This includes spending time with my immediate family, parents, and other loved ones. It could be a holiday but may it be a holiday where I can just sit, reflect, and read a book of my choice.

What is the most expensive gift you have ever received?

I would not call it extravagant but I would say pricey. It was a gift from my wife when I turned 30. She organised for very close friends to come and then we cooked, we had a good time together. Also, I had always wanted to learn how to play the guitar and she bought me a guitar during that time.

When was the last time you got a gift?

I got a gift, two hours ago. A Christmas voucher.

Do you find it difficult to spend time with your family in the season?

That used to happen a lot. But I think with time I have managed it a bit and it starts with something that I learned first. I am a CEO, yes, but not of a busy company or not of a blue chip firm, which is very busy. But even if that were the case, I have I have learned some tricks here and there from a friend who is a former CEO.

→ [email protected]