Board Directorship in Namibia: An Experiential Reflection – Part 2

• MATTHIAS NGWANGWAMA

PART ONE OF this article proposed two ideas as critical in transforming board directorship and corporate governance into a seamless experience.

Firstly, the article proposed preparation for the role of director, and secondly, ‘staying in your lane’, which was clarified to be about good relationship management between directors and shareholders, directors with each other, and directors with management.

In view of recent events in corporate Namibia, particularly within the public enterprises sector, the question is this: If good stakeholder relationship management is paramount in board relational management, why is it difficult to practise and witness it on a daily basis?

This is a difficult question. It is akin to asking why there is good and evil in the world. Perhaps the notion of five corporate sins can assist in answering this question.

CORPORATE SINS

Considering human imperfection, the notion of five corporate sins is often used to clarify stakeholder relationship management in organisations, specifically as it relates to toxic and dysfunctional corporate culture and relationships.

The five corporate sins involve five vices – greed, fear, sloth, pride and arrogance.

These are said to pollute people relationships in organisations.

For the purpose of this article fear, pride, arrogance and greed will be discussed as the foremost contaminators of people relationships in organisations.

FEAR (SELF-CONCERN)

One certain killer of human relationships in organisations is fear. Fear in this context refers to being exceedingly concerned about oneself.

This often manifests in persistent thoughts, such as “what will people say about me?” or “what will people think of me?”.

If these types of thoughts persist, especially among leaders, they can cause harm and havoc in the organisation.

In an instant, leaders, some of whom may have been self-confident before, start feeling uncomfortable, outnumbered and exposed.

They become constantly worried that they do not know how to handle people relationships, and they fear looking stupid or out of control.

The net effect is that organisational environments start to deteriorate. Practices of dividing and conquering, and factions sprout.

What are the antidotes to these vices? Building relationships requires continuous partnerships, cooperation and collaboration.

In other words: Individuals, groups, and teams should work through the challenges that confront them together.

The richness and diversity in team interaction are what often produce the best decisions and progress.

It is critical to highlight that most, if not all, successful projects and personalities are the outcome of what originally looked like shame and disaster.

The key is to have faith and keep pushing, even if it is not clear what the pushing is all about. One has to follow through on one’s personal thoughts, because one does not know how things would ultimately turn out.

Turmoil and failure are the spark plugs of ideas and successes. For instance, 70% of St Paul’s letters in the New Testament were written in Ephesus while he was in turmoil.

He received news that some of his brothers were preaching a gospel contrary to what he preached there, and people were rejecting the original gospel. St Paul’s writings ultimately became great in comparison to none.

This supports the idea that crises and misfortunes are catalytic, thus it is vital to not miss inspiration and lessons hidden in them.

Paying attention means a willingness to learn and grow, in the end fostering good human relationship management in organisations.

PRIDE AND ARROGANCE

In the context of organisational management and leadership, pride is about thinking highly of oneself and seeing others as inferior.

In the process, a person can become unable to see new possibilities, and thus be unable to satisfactorily progress in terms of positive human relationships.

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