At That Point
  • home
  • our story
  • our services
  • your resources
  • SA Industry News

IoDSA CEO elects to walk the talk

24/6/2015

 

What an amazing team at @The_IoDSA Thank you all for your support!!#CEOSleepOutZA pic.twitter.com/FUUzyZZnjp

— Angela Oosthuizen (@angelao28) June 18, 2015
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, [email protected], 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   
    Welcome to the IoDSA Newsroom.
    IN THE MEDIA

    2023
    ​

    2 March
    Financial Mail: 5572bb70-29ab-48f8-b5df-79c7bb7f27dc.pdfIN 


    Archives

    May 2025
    February 2025
    November 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™
    ABSA
    Accountability
    ACGN
    Advocate Fay Mukaddam
    Africa
    African Governance Showcase
    AGM
    Alex Granger
    Angela Cherrington
    Angela Oosthuizen
    Ansie Ramahlo
    Ansie Ramalho
    Audit Committees
    Auditor General
    Board
    Board Meeting
    Boards
    Budget
    Business
    CD(SA)
    Central Energy Fund
    CEO
    CEO Tenure
    Certified Director
    Chairman
    Chartered Director
    CIPC
    City Of Johannesburg
    Clover
    Companies Act
    COO
    Corporate Governance
    Corruption
    Cricket SA
    Delinquent Directors
    Director
    Directors
    Directors' Sentiment Index Report
    Disclosure
    Discrimination
    Dudu Myeni
    Economic Growth
    Eskom
    Eskom Board
    Ethics
    Executive Pay
    EY
    Fair Pay
    FEDSAS
    Fraud And Corruption
    Governance
    Governing Bodies
    Gupta
    Huge Group
    Institute Of Directors In South Africa
    Integrated Reporting
    IoDSA
    Johannesburg Property Company
    Karin Ireton
    King Code Of Corporate Governance
    King IV
    KingIV
    King IV Launch Conference
    Leadership
    Local Elections
    Management
    Mervyn King
    Mid-term Budget 2021
    Mini-budget 2021
    Municipalities
    Non-Executive Directors’ Fees Guide
    North West Cricket
    Parmi Natesan
    Politics
    Professionalising Directorship
    Property
    Public Sector Boards
    Ray Harraway
    Remuneration
    Remuneration Committee Forum
    Richard Foster
    SAA
    SABC
    SA Express
    SAPO
    School Governing Bodies (SGB)
    Service Delivery
    Shareholders
    Sikkie Kajee
    SME Growth
    Social Inequality
    SOEs
    South African Airlines
    South African Airways
    South African Forestry Company
    Stakeholders
    State Capture
    State-owned Enterprises
    State-owned Entities
    Succession Planning
    Sustainability
    Sustainable Development Forum
    The Ethics Institute
    The Institute Of Directors South Africa
    Transnet
    Trends
    Tsakani Maluleke
    UCT
    Vikeshni Vandayar
    Women
    Women's Day
    Zondo Commission

    RSS Feed

CONTACT US

office [at] atthatpoint [dot] co [dot] za
© COPYRIGHT 2024
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
  • home
  • our story
  • our services
  • your resources
  • SA Industry News