BOUTIQUE

RESEARCH-ORIENTED

STRATEGIC ADVISORY

&

CONSULTING FIRM

Woman-Owned and Managed

2009 2010 2011 2012

CEOs/MDs 3,6%

4,5% 4,4% 3,6%

Chairpersons 5,8% 6,0% 5,3% 5,5%

Directorships 14,6% 16,6% 15,8% 17.1%

Executive Management 18,6% 19,% 21,6% 21,4%

WHY NETWORKING?

Source: BWASA Percentages of Women in JSE Listed & State-Owned Companies as a percentage of all leadership positions.

In South Africa, the focus on women in leadership has largely been on benchmarking studies

tracking progress from year to year, but there is a shortage of effort going beyond the numbers.

There is a dire need for qualitative research to explain the numbers.

Inspiration was to build on from our MBA Theses and SA dialogue in August during Women’s Month.

WHY NETWORKING

There is a view that representation of women in leadership would multiply

exponentially if women were readily able and willing to collaborate and actively

support each other using networking as one of the main tools.

Looking at benchmarking studies, not just in SA, but US, UK, Canada and Australia,

though progress has been made, relative stagnation has set in across the world in

the advancement of women into corporate leadership, except in countries that

have adopted the quota system.

Despite the growing numbers of educated women entering the workforce, their

increasing buying power and influence, women continue to hold only a small

proportion of leadership positions in business, particularly.

This background informed the rationale for focusing on networking.

RESEARCH ON NETWORKING

48%

52%

No. of Interviewees

Females

Males 100% 100%

Do you Network with Opposite Sex

Females

Males

87%

38%

Men are Better @ Networking

Females

Males

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE

OF

NETWORKING

PART ONE: FINDINGS ON NETWORKING

F A K E

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

MANIPULATING

Exceptions become the Perceptions

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Talking about the same thing?

Networking is building relationships before you need them! Then when you need them, you know whom to call and he or

she will want to help you. - Diane Darling, The Networking Survival Guide

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING Top 5 Networking Wisdom:

1. Networking is performed consciously and unconsciously, every day from when we are

born. Can be inherited. It is meaningful relationship building, overtime, that is reciprocal

(give & take), fosters trust, makes netbank deposits (social capital) and results in genuine

depth of knowledge of the other person. Networking is not about investing A with the

expectation of immediately receiving B. (Short-termism results in the negative

connotations and corruptive practices).

2. Social capital is the strength of the relationship you have with another person. There is a

spectrum of what you can reasonably ask another person to do for you dependent in

part on the social capital you have with that person. What is more important than the

number of your contacts is the amount of social capital you have within your network.

People that “actively push your agenda themselves.” (Fine balance in pushing the agenda

within good governance practices).

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Top 5 Networking Wisdom:

3. Men seem to be better at networking. It is more about the style. Women tend to embark

on a ‘spray and pray approach’. Men invest the time to ‘genuinely get to know the other

person’ which makes a difference. ‘Out of sight. Out of Mind’. Keep themselves top of

mind. Men have the time to invest. “They have a wife. They do not have the guilt of

spending 5 hours on a golf course or going to the bush for the weekend building

meaningful relationships. I need a wife who looks after me, except me”.

4. The strength of networking, as in every relationship, is honesty. It helps to overcome

misunderstandings and negative connotations of manipulation and fakeness. Whether

it is corrupt honesty or not. Disclosure upfront of what you need and giving the other

person the respect. “It is insulting to lie and say you would love to have lunch with

me. Respect my Intelligence. Tell me what you want and ask if we can discuss it over

lunch”.

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

5. Sexual tensions and differences between women & men do complicate

networking and hinder the progress of women into leadership positions.

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Top 5 Networking Wisdom:

Few women in leadership have relatively low levels of power in comparison to men

thus their impact is less. On balance, women do become co-opted rather than

transform the status quo. Both sexes are complicit in perpetuating the unequal

playing field.

There is also the impact of the glass network. The ‘Glass Network’ is an invisible or

transparent network linking most directors. Recruiting directors by ‘shoulder

tapping’ or preferring to select of similar backgrounds (as a risk minimising

strategy), gives rise to the familiar ‘old boy’ network which always includes a few

women with multiple seats.

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Top 5 Networking Wisdom:

Men are still largely blind or intolerant to the disadvantages that women

experience at home and work and the benefits men still continue to enjoy.

“I don’t believe that it is true that women are restricted in their ability to

network. Why can’t they come to the bush? Reasons are not insurmountable.

Women need to compromise. They must organise their lives.”

In the next breathe, the same interviewee says, “It is important that women

maintain their femininity and their role in the family environment.

The structure of the home is under threat.”

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Top Five Networking Wisdom:

Women suffer from massive guilt from taking out more time from family to build

meaningful relationships. During the same years that careers demand maximum time

investment, the women’s biology demands that they have children. “We need to show

the world that we are able to be more excellent. We have failed to shine. We stop shining

in the business environment when we fall pregnant. I wanted to change the world. I had

the babies then everything went out the window because for so many years I had to

raise the children. So the energy I had left was to raise my babies”.

The partners do not share the housework and child rearing equally. “In the last 30 years,

women have made more progress in the workforce than in the home. A better world is

one where half the institutions are run by women and half our homes are run by men”. -

Sheryl Sandberg, in her book ‘Lean In’

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Top 5 Networking Wisdom:

Women can be very good at networking, but the circumstances are such that they cannot

network like men because a lot of the networking happens informally. They are restricted

because of the impact on other members such as family – husbands, partners and/or

children.

Black male volunteered the view that: “Women open up easily compared to men. Women

have a social rapport. Because it is easier to talk to them, men sometimes misinterpret this

as a sign of weakness. Men can take advantage of a woman by saying ‘she is falling for

me.’ Men take it as flirtation. To them, openness equates to ‘I’m interested’ beyond the

business situation.”

A white male shared that, “Women sometimes end up not going to social networking

functions. My female colleagues come back to the office in tears saying that men are

making unwanted advances. They are making it difficult for women to network.”

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Upside:

There is a saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” The reality is that,

though it is important to work hard at your endeavour of choice (‘what you

know’). It is not enough to maximise one’s potential. The reality is that the

leader’s value in the business environment depends on what they can do for

people.

All the interviewees attributed their achievements to the quality and reciprocity

of their networks.

Networks deliver unique advantages:

- Competitive ‘private’ information that gives you the edge

- Access to diverse skill sets

- Power (the ability to influence)

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Brand / Reputation

Finance/ Income

Laws/ Principles/

Values

Networks/ Relationship-

building

Development/

Knowledge

UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE OF NETWORKING

Downside:

A white male CEO said:

“ If you have done a good job at networking, that means that you have got a lot of

friends, contacts and associates. If you are in business because of the strength of

your network, you can bring opportunities to your business or company. You can be

conflicted because a social element is part of networking.

So do you walk away from opportunities? Because life is not simple and there are

cases and situations where one will get support from a family member or a

‘connection’ which may be perceived negatively. But if it is disclosed up front and

there are no secrets, then it should not be an issue, in my opinion.”

NETWORKING GOVERNANCE

Competence

Character

Judgement

Why are we here?

Ethics Legislation

Common Sense

THANK YOU

TO THE

NETWORKING RESEARCH

INTERVIEWEES

Portia Molefe, Director, UBU Investment Holdings

Nhlanhla Nene, Deputy Minister, National Treasury

Prof Nick Binedell, Dean, Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)

Paolo Cavelieri, Chairman, Etana Insurance

Michael Judin, Partner, Goldman Judin Maisels Inc.

Prof Adrian Saville, Chief Investment Officer, Cannon Asset Management

Mpho Makwana, Chairman, Arcelor Mittal

Dube Tshidi, Executive Officer, Financial Services Board (FSB)

Elias Masilela, Chief Executive, Public Investments Corporation (PIC)

NETWORKING RESEARCH INTERVIEWEES

Lebo Biko, Senior Manager: Strategy, Nedbank

Mike Spicer, Chairman, BDFM

Monica Singer, Chief Executive, STRATE

Nicola Kleyn, Executive Director of Academics, Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)

Roy Andersen, Chairman, Murray & Roberts

Tiffany-Ann Boesch, Chief Financial Officer, PPS

Wendy Lucas-Bull, Chairperson, ABSA

Nqaba Nqandela, Chief of Staff, Ministry of Higher Education & Training

Bonang Mohale, Country Chairman, Shell South Africa Marketing (Pty) Ltd

Tina Thomson, Global Director, UnitedSucces

Dudu Nyamane, Human Capital Consultant & Board Member

NETWORKING RESEARCH INTERVIEWEES

Shingi Munyeza, Chief Executive, African Sun Hotels

Charmaine Soobramoney, General Manager, Association Of Collective Investments (ACSIS)

Hamish McBain, Board Member

Anati Canca, Executive Director: Technology Transfer, Agricultural Research Council (ARC)

Lindiwe Gadd, Board Member

Donnie Walker, Chief Executive,

Andrew Adbo, Partner, Atcor

Shameela Ebrahim, Senior Strategist, The Johannesburg Stock Exchange ( JSE Limited)

Di Turpin, Board Member

General Fakir, Chief Director, Transformation Management, Denel

Yvonne Finch, Director, UnitedSucces

NETWORKING RESEARCH INTERVIEWEES