Angela Oosthuizen, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA) has decided to participate in the 702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™ on 18 June. Oosthuizen says her decision is based on her view that courageous leaders have to act despite their discomfort.

“The IoDSA has long recognised that our business community and our country needs leaders who are courageous—“courageous leadership” was the theme of our annual conference in 2013, after all,” she explains. “We all fear not having a place to rest our heads so, like many other CEOs, I decided that in order to face that fear. In so doing, of course, I hope to contribute towards raising awareness of the challenges facing thousands of my fellow South Africans. At a personal level, facing what others have no choice but to face, I hope to gain some of the insight I need to lead with courage.”

Oosthuizen says that leaders are only able to be courageous if they are supported by courageous teams. When she stakes her claim to a few paving stones outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on what is expected to be one of the coldest nights of the year, her resolve will be strengthened not only by her fellow CEOs in the same position but also by her courageous team.

“We took the decision as a team that I should participate in the 702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™, and that team will spend the night in our offices in solidarity with me and the homeless that night,” she says. “They are courageous individuals, and thus leaders in their own right.”

The choice of the Stock Exchange is symbolic. It lies squarely in the richest square mile in Africa, and so the initiative also seeks to draw attention to the yawning—and growing—gap between those with an excess of goods and the luxury of choice, and those who lack both.  

The 702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™ is so successful, she believes, because it offers leaders a chance to demonstrate their commitment to authenticity. In the words of Bernard Fehon, who developed the concept in Australia a decade ago, it seems wrong to hold feasts in order to raise money for the underprivileged.

The 702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™ also offers an opportunity for CEOs to take stock of their roles in the broader context of society. The social context of her leadership role resonates particularly for Oosthuizen given that the IoDSA is the custodian of the King Codes of Corporate Governance. The King Codes are founded on the belief that business does not exist in isolation, solely to make profit, but exists within the context of society and, to an extent, is responsible to that society as well its immediate shareholders.

Leaders need courage, says Oosthuizen, to ask difficult questions, and raise alternate or unpopular viewpoints. They need courage to stand firmly by their own values or hold others to their organisational value; to ask for help; and, critically, to drive change.

“In business, given the pressure for short-term profit, it takes courage to argue that the deep ecological and social crises facing us must be considered if the business is to remain profitable over the long term,” Oosthuizen adds.

This year’s 702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™ supports Girls & Boys Town, a government recognised non-profit organisation. Girls & Boys Town helps more than 20 000 orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children by providing residential care and assisting pupils by partnering with schools.

To participate in the 702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™, Oosthuizen must raise R100 000 for Girls & Boys Town. Please help her to meet that target by pledging at http://www.theceosleepoutza.co.za/donate-ceo.php?id=79fd796a7fef5b23c9d04bbd8a557f4a. 

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Cathlen Fourie, 012 664 2833, cathlen@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za 

For more information on the IoDSA please visit:
Website:  www.iodsa.co.za
Twitter:  @The_IoDSA
LinkedIn: The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa group   

As the FIFA scandal swirls into the firepool at Nkandla, and the Auditor-General reports another year of astronomical “fruitless and wasteful expenditure” by the country’s municipalities, the value of strong and ethical leadership becomes yet clearer. In business, too, it’s well established that the quality of an organisation’s leadership will affect its performance dramatically.

In other words, Alex Granger’s topic of Incredible Leadership was well-chosen for the lunch that followed the IoDSA’s recent AGM.  

Granger opened his presentation by observing that incredible leadership had to be credible. Leaders cannot just mouth fine words and sentiments—they have to embody them. Employees (and people generally) want to trust their leaders, but that trust has to be earned.

Granger outlined some of the warning signs that an organisation’s leadership might be falling short of incredible. Among them he listed fear of facing up the challenges involved in fulfilling the organisation’s mandate, a lack of attention to detail, tension in the organisation, and a tendency to be reactive rather than proactive.

Superman not needed
He went on to identify some of the characteristics of the incredible leader. The first is that he or she should be “flawsome”; that is, both “awesome” and “flawed”. “Leaders need to be less ‘super’ and more ‘human’,” Granger said, noting that imperfect leaders attract loyalty.

However, they do need to be consistent: what they say and what they do have to align. And while they need to recognise that they can’t (and shouldn’t) tell everybody everything, what they communicate should be truthful.

Another important leadership quality is the ability (and willingness) to build personal relationships. This is the only way to build trustworthiness, and we can see all around us the lack of care and empathy shown by leaders, from the ward councillor living in a gated community to the union leader insulated from his constituents by a phalanx of guards.

“If people are looked after well, they will look after the organisation,” Granger said. “Never forget the human element, and don’t treat your employees as assets to be maximised. They are people!”

The benefits of incredible leadership are many. They include improved employee engagement, morale and retention—and thus better productivity. Organisations with incredible leaders find it easy to attract top talent, and they show high levels of innovation and creativity. Not surprisingly, they deliver higher levels of service to the most important people of all—the customers.

“Ask yourself what kind of legacy you want to leave, and start being that kind of leader now,” Granger concluded.

5 qualities of an incredible leader

·      Be mindful. Pay particular attention to what’s going on without trying to come to conclusions or think            of other things.

·      Serve others. Rather than becoming bosses, leaders should concentrate on empowering those whom            they lead with the right tools they need to achieve greatness.

·       Cultivate courage. Leaders have to take the hard decisions and have the hard conversations. This                   mean exposing themselves to a certain degree of risk. It’s often not recognised that to be courageous           you have to accept a certain vulnerability as well.

·      Be humble. The greatest leaders, those who inspire loyalty, are humble. They instinctively respect                  others, something they show by the way they talk to, and about, them. However, being humble does            not mean being a doormat: leaders are humble and assertive at the same time.

·      Practise generosity. Being generous means more than financial rewards—although those are always            nice. Leaders should be generous in all sorts of ways: ready to praise achievement, and to spend time          listening to their followers, without imposing a solution

ENDS
​
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathlen Fourie, 012 664 2833, cathlen@thatpoint.co.za 

For more information on the IoDSA please visit:
Website:  www.iodsa.co.za
Twitter:  @The_IoDSA
LinkedIn: The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa group