THE IMPACT OF PERSONALITY ON LEADERSHIP
The impact of personality on corporate leadership is much under-estimated. Many recent company failures and CEO departures have been ascribed to differences of opinion between the board and the CEO or poor decision-making by the CEO and lack of leadership skill. Boards of directors are increasingly being blamed for dereliction of duty, and held to account for corporate failures. It is our opinion that reasons mentioned to explain these events are often not the real reasons.
When new CEOs are appointed and when new non-executive board members are selected there is an emphasis on qualifications and experience; factual information that can easily be verified. The opinions of a candidate’s values are examined and some investigation is undertaken to establish culture fit and social acceptability. However personality, character and temperament are usually only deduced from past experience and the stated opinions about a candidate’s values. There is no more than limited investigation of personality or character, and yet these are most significant contributors to the success or failure of the CEO’s leadership and of the company’s board.
Notable examples include departures from Sasol, Anglo American, Arcelor Mittal, Tiger Brands, PPC, Liberty and most natably Steinhoff. Markus Jooste's comment about “irregular auditing” points not at the cause of the disaster, but at a symptom of his avaricious and reckless personality.
The chairman of a listed company board whose own personality has a major impact, would be well advised to create and institute meaningful processes for the initial evaluation of a CEO’s personality and character as well as on-going methods of assessing the impact of board member’s personality on the health of the business.
FOUNDING MEMBERS
JOHANN REDELINGHUYS
Founder
Johann Redelinghuys is the director of the Chairman’s Institute. He was previously the founding partner and chairman of Heidrick & Struggles in South Africa where he was the head of the company’s board practice and served earlier as managing partner at the company’s London business. During an earlier stage in his career he was a member of the international board of Amrop International.
VUSI KHANYILE
Chairman
Thebe
Santam
Vusi Khanyile is the chairman of Santam Ltd and is also the chairman of Thebe Investment Corporation Pty Ltd having been its founding Managing director. He further serves as executive chairman of TBC Fidelity Bank. He has had extensive involvement in community development programs and has had a long history as a non-executive director in several listed and unlisted organizations
SANTIE BOTHA
Chairman
Famous Brands
Curro
Santie Botha is chairperson of the board of Curro Holdings Limited. She is also the independent chairman Famous Brands Limited. In her career she has had several non-executive appointments including on the boards of Tiger Brands Ltd, Liberty Holdings Limited and Telkom. Prior to these board appointments her distinguished executive career included positions at ABSA and MTN. She is Chancellor of Nelson Mandela Metropole University
PROF. NICK BINEDELL
Founding director Gordon Institute of Business Science
Prof Nick Binedell is the Founding Director and Sasol chair of Strategic Management of the Gordon Institute of Business Science. After an initial career in industry and mining as well as in the manufacturing sectors in the Barlow Rand Group he has focused on his extensive career in business education.
DR. KHOTSO MOKHELE
Chairman
Tiger Brands
AECI
Dr Khotso Mokhele is the chairman of Tiger Brands Ltd, and chairman of AE&CI Ltd. He is also president of the Hans Merensky Foundation. In his previous career he was the non-executive chairman of Impala Platinum Holdings Limited, Non-executive chairman of Adcock Ingram, chairman and chief executive of Arcelor Mittal South Africa. In his career before these board appointments he was president and chief executive officer of the National Research Foundation and president of the Academy of Science of South Africa
DR. VALLI MOOSA
Chairman
Sun International
Anglo Platinum
Dr Valli Moosa is the chairman of Anglo American Platinum and the chairman of Sun International. He was previously the chairman of Eskom. Prior to these non-executive board appointment, he was a highly regarded politician serving in the cabinet as minister of Environment and Tourism. He was during this time elected as president of the ICKN the World Conservation Union.
BRAND PRETORIUS
Chairman
Metair Investment
Brand Pretorius is the chairman of Metair Investment Limited, and serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Tongaat Hulett, Reunert, Italtile, Agrinet and is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Motor Industry. In his earlier career he worked as the managing director of Toyota Marketing and finally ended his executive career as the CEO of the McCarthy Group. He is an honorary professor in Business Management at the university of the Orange free State. He is also a Fellow at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.