Keith Vilani: leader with purpose

SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean entrepreneur and author Keith Vilani is not only a youth leader, he has his sights on becoming one of the country’s most influential persons by the age of 25.

Driven by his passion for change and exposing extraordinary capabilities, Vilani, 23, continues striving for better things in life.

He is the founder and CEO of Leadxtra Group. Vilani has always been inspired by people who carry themselves to a point where they feel they have made it. The communities around him have played a pivotal role in inspiring him because it is from their “daily life routine” that he has learnt, observed, analysed and created a world he has imagined.

He started writing in 2012, when he had a diary of poems. In five years he published three books – Spirit Filling & How Your Spirit is Filled, first and second editions; Living a Life of Purpose; and the poetry offering, The Deep Feeling.

“In all these books, we will find one important thing in the messages, and that is the pledge for humanity to realise and practise the fact that they come into this world full, and the one who has lived to the fullest, departs an empty man. Compose that song, teach those lessons, start that business, and do something with all that God has given you,” he says.

There are two more books coming soon: Dear Black Child and The Radiator of God’s Own Glory.

Vilani believes passion does not come out of the blue, one has to search within, cultivate it and grow with it.

“I have always loved how people cheered my words and if people can love my words, how can l make a change with these words? I therefore continue to improve my writing and go back to my community to observe and tell a story,” he says.

“When my first book was published, I was struck by fear because as you venture into an industry, you question yourself on the authenticity of your presence/availability.

“I asked myself, who am l to write books that people will read? And to make matters worse, my peers would question me: What do you know about so much, Keith, that you can compile a read? Those kinds of things sparked controversy in me and I would ride on fear the whole time,” he says.

Deep within himself, he wanted to give up because he felt he had done enough and people would never forget him and he was proud of himself.

“The journey continues today, and it’s very interesting. I am more than happy to serve that voice of God which I have listened to,” Vilani says.

Outside of writing, he is an entrepreneur. Leadxtra Group is a holding company which serves markets in the cleaning, consulting and courier industries. He is also one of the brains behind Idea Stereo, an online radio platform, and many brands have been started under his name, such as I Choose Christ.

Vilani has encountered challenges on his journey: “I would at some point want to talk of peer pressure, but I’m grateful for the fact that l have always maintained that in life, only what I want is what l will do.”

In five years, Vilani sees himself far ahead as an entrepreneur and hopes to have built Leadxtra to become one of the corporate giants in the African domain. The target is to “super exceed expectations” and lead with an extra sense of beyond and above in various industries.

His favourite quote of all time is “Listen to yourself”, by Maya Angelou.

“It summarises life, and if you listen to yourself, you will do what comes deeper within yourself, what you feel, what you envision, what you dream of, what you anticipate of yourself and what you want a definition of serving your life purpose.

“Look at your country, and ask yourself if your life will just be like an air, which passes by without significant changes? Therefore, do something to get you, your family, your communities, your province and country to a certain point and level, and be a human of impact,” says Vilani.