Leadership Magazine: Governance in IT

Here's my latest Leadership Magazine article, it's all about the importance of IT Governance, thanks to Carolynn Chalmers for all her insights. You'll find it on page 78 and 79 of the November 2019 issue.

“Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without talking about the other,” Bill Gates. 

Mention Information Technology (IT) governance, and you probably think that it is some or other computer security protocol or compliance issue best left to techies.

Far from it! As Carolynn Chalmers, executive director of Candor Governance, explained it to me, IT governance has evolved from referring to the organisation’s mainframe and what makes it work, to including all communications aspects. It includes networking, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and machine learning.

“IT governance is best left in the hands of competent legacy builders, experienced governing body members, and considered innovators. It is a mindful and purposeful task which requires foresight and deep insight,” she said. IT governance should therefore fall within the ambit of the very top levels of management as a strategic function.

Carolynn has been interested in what computers can do since she first put her fingers on a keyboard in 1979. She was never really attracted to the gaming side of things, but rather how well and creatively computers could solve problems and present results.  Around 2003 when working as a Group CIO, the company’s Chairman took Carolynn under his wing and provided her with her first insight into “impact investing” and “social responsibility”. It was a light bulb moment for her where she realised that leadership and oversight is not only about what one “must do” but, more importantly, it is all about what one “should do”.

Carolynn is certified in IT governance and has conducted certification training across the world. Her insights and knowledge on the topic are invaluable, especially as non-compliance carries massive reputational risks for organisations. I had a great conversation with Carolynn to get to grips with IT governance. Here are more of her insights, in her own words:

“IT governance is more than just compliance. It is about doing its best and adding the most value to the organisation. IT governance is not management: it is about guiding the organization in the right things to do, not telling the IT department the right way of doing things.

I am a passionate advocate of the King IV definition of corporate governance and apply this to IT governance, so, to paraphrase…

IT governance is the ethical and effective leadership of information, technology and transition by the governing body for the achievement of governance outcomes.

IT governance is not about red tape. Poor IT governance looks and feels like compliance and red tape.  It is stifling and can be very detrimental for the organisation. Effective or “good” IT governance brings certainty to the environment, confidence to investors, and opportunities for the organisation.

Effective IT governance brings role and responsibility clarity and clearly articulates delegated authorities, helping to speed up decision making. It encompasses performance management as well as consequence management and entrenches principles of learning organisations, thereby ensuring that the environment is continually improving. It provides parameters within which the organization’s personnel and leadership team can operate, guiding them on the right things to do so that they can focus on doing these things in the right way. These aspects collectively support organisational entrepreneurship and innovation, two extremely important characteristics in today’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

IT governance promotes ethical behaviour in the use of technology and information and in the treatment of threats technology is posing to human rights. This will become increasingly critical as we move deeper into the 4IR. Cybersecurity, information security, and privacy impacts are just a taste of what we will face in future. We need to be ready; ethical and effective IT governance equips organizations for this.

Three non-negotiables for IT governance:

1. Ethical and effective leadership, by
2. Legacy builders and appropriate risk-takers, who are
3. Passionate about, and invested in, guiding their organizations to do the right things, minimize value leakage, and steward the world’s limited resources responsibly.

 IT governance carries enormous reputation risk, and opportunity. Technology provides organisations with the ability to access vast arrays of data, but its ability to rapidly and widely distribute data also has the potential to destroy organisations. While we have seen several newsworthy reputational disasters relating to the unintentional exposure, or nefarious use, of data, some South African companies have successfully leveraged the benefits of data effectively responding to the threats. They are using data optimally to reduce costs and outrun competitors.

It’s not only about the technology or the information; it’s mostly about the people. Today my efforts are directed to Business Relationship Management and minimizing value leakage that occur as a consequence of poor human behaviour and dysfunctional organisational relationships.

Active listening, negotiation, convincing and motivation are hard knocks for traditional IT people like me who are most comfortable sitting behind a device. In tomorrow’s world I believe these skills are going to be core differentiators as technology increasingly automates the repetitive tasks. It is a problem we must tackle head-on as these relationship skills are precisely those we are losing touch with as we increasingly interact and communicate through our devices.”

In today’s world, IT has infiltrated every aspect of business. It is not just ‘the computer guy’s’ responsibility anymore. Organisations that struggle with IT governance may see real business impact in the form of missed market opportunities and lost competitive advantage, and even extinction. The good news is that, for those with sound IT governance, ready to take Industry 4.0 by the horns and evolve with the digital age, a whole new world awaits.

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The week that was 20191123

PROUDEST | MOST GRATEFUL MOMENT

I am grateful for being back in the saddle. I've entered the Cape Town Cycle Tour 2020; I really do find that having a goal to work towards helps my exercising routine. At this stage I'm not riding too far, my immediate focus is to get my cycling fitness back on track.  

I just love living in Cape Town. I had to stop and take a photo of Lion's Head on my way into Town the other morning. There are the most beautiful pink / mauve flowers on the side of the Mountain; unfortunately the photo does not do it any justice. It's a reminder that we need to stop, take stock and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.

BIGGEST LESSON THIS WEEK / REMINDER

This is fascinating! I honestly never even thought that a music typewriter existed, how incredibly inventive.   

This is a great reminder via Robin Banks' Facebook page. Don't forget to be awesome! Remind yourself daily: 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This is a great quote: "No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else," P.T Barnum.

THIS WEEK I FINISHED READING...

I know that I have waxed lyrically about Verne Harnish before; I really do like the business principles that he shares. This is a book I am encouraging my team to read as well. 

WHAT MADE ME GIGGLE

Awesome AfriCAN Businesswomen: Margaret Hirsch

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be profiling dynamic business people who inspire me.

First up is Margaret Hirsch, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of  Hirsch's. Not only is she a successful, dynamic and inspiring businesswomen and mentor, she is also an incredibly special friend. We've traveled together to Côte d'Ivoire, a place I would never have dreamt of visiting if it had not been for Margaret nudging me and pushing me out of my comfort zone! 

From a consistency point of view, I've asked everyone the same questions. 

Here's Margaret's wisdom...

1. Describe in eight words what it is that you do

Motivate others to be the best they can be.

Margaret inspiring her teams across the country

Entrepreneurs across the country can attest to the phenomenal advice that Margaret shares

2. What is the biggest myth that you would like to bust about your industry

People think that because my shops are big and well stocked that we are expensive. 

Our prices are cheaper than they can get anywhere else and our service is exceptional too!

3. If you could go back in time, what is your biggest business lesson that you would share with yourself on day one of starting your business?

Help others along the way; in the beginning you are so focused on yourself, you forget to help others.

As soon as you start helping others, the blessing are heaped on you.

4. What excites you most about Africa?

I absolutely LOVE Africa, the people, the beat, the pulse, the wealth, the abundance; its like nowhere else on earth!

5. What is the biggest lesson about money that you want to share with business owners?

This is actually not a question that I had specifically asked Margaret. But as I was writing this, I realised that one of the most important pieces of advice that I've received about money and payments as an entrepreneur came from Margaret. And, as business owners money management is fundamental to the success of a business. 

Her advice: Make sure that you get paid before delivering the product or service; you aren't going to go to your local grocery shop and only pay for the food after you've eaten it. Why bill for your offering any differently?

That has definitely stuck with me!

6. What is your favourite quote

You can live anywhere but you can  only be truly happy in Africa!

The Results are In!

We've once again measured our own reputation...

“The goal is to transform data into information, and information into insight.” - Carly Fiorina Thank you to everyone who had participated in our annual reputation survey. We are firm believers in practicing what we preach, and once again measured our own reputation amongst our key stakeholder groups using our propriety research model, the Repudometer®. There were a number of stakeholders who completed the survey, including employees, clients, past clients, strategic partners, service providers, and the media. Participants were mainly from South Africa, but also included responses from other countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, and Zambia. We are ecstatic to announce that Reputation Matters has once again received a very healthy rating; this year's score is 86%. We are pleased to know that our governance structures are in place and that our team is considered as knowledgeable in the reputation management space. There is always room for improvement, and we'll be focusing a lot more on our external communication, so watch this space! The majority of participants indicated that our core service offering is reputation research; we are thrilled about this as we’ve been working hard to position ourselves in this space. We also asked a few general research questions; 67% of stakeholders said that they have conducted research in the past. It's interesting to see that there is a big need amongst corporates to know more about stakeholders' attitudes, perceptions, and expectations, something that we are very passionate about. The biggest frustration is the costs; we urge you to contact us for a customised research solution. Your research could even be free! We’ll gift you 10% off your next project when you refer a company to us that signs up for their own research study. Refer ten people, and your research will be free! If you invest in a research project before 2020, you won't have to pay the annual 10% increase. We are just as proud to announce that our passion project, Awesome AfriCAN, is still in full swing. If you'd like to get more involved in building our nation one community at a time, please reach out.

The week that was 20191116

PROUDEST | MOST GRATEFUL MOMENT

I am so grateful for living in Hout Bay and to be within walking distance from the beach. It's absolutely magical and fodder for the soul to to start your day like this every morning. 

BIGGEST LESSON THIS WEEK / REMINDER

An important reminder: Surround yourself with people who push you to do better. No drama or negativity. Just higher goals higher motivation, good times and positive energy. No jealousy or hate. Simply bringing out the absolute best in each other. 

Another one from Adam Grant: One of the best ways to make a good impression is to avoid wasting other people's time. Time is the scarcest resource we have. Use it well. 

...and one more:

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I really like this quote from Margaret Hirsch: 'To be the best, you must be able to handle the worst!'

one more...

'No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else,' PT Barnum

WHAT MADE ME GIGGLE

A friend from university's surname is Bischop, when he checked in to his hotel on a recent business trip, he was greeted and welcomed as Pastor John! :D

Reputation Matters turns 14 years old this month!

Here are 14 compelling reasons why you should invest in reputation research for your company 1. Bragging rights: With a high reputation score you are showing the world that you are a reputable company. People and businesses want to do business with companies that have a good reputation and that they trust; 2. A positive reputation impacts your bottom line: People are more likely to spend their hard earned cash on your product or service, and  be associated with your brand, if you have a good reputation; 3. Build closer relationships with your stakeholders: Measuring the relationship between you and your stakeholders will help you to build even better relationships with them; 4. Recommendations: ‘Data dumping’ isn’t what we do, we will provide you with practical solutions to take your reputation to the next level; 5. A seat around the board room table: With your own set of metrics, you will be able to provide strategic direction to the company and earn your seat around the boardroom table by speaking the language of the C-Suite; 6. A solid foundation: You can do as much fancy marketing and public relations, spend a boat load of money on advertising, SEO or your website and do a lot of good community work; if your basic reputation building blocks are not in place, you will be wasting a lot of time and money; 7. No more spray and pray approach to get your message across: The research results will help you to identify priority areas to manage, confirm the key messages to communicate about, as well as the channels of communication that will be the most effective; 8. Consistency is key: The way that you consistently do things impacts how you are perceived and ultimately impacts your reputation. You are either consistently good, or consistently bad, either way you are building a reputation for yourself, the research will  help you to see your blind spots; 9. Get your employees to be raving fans of your business: Employees are key brand ambassadors of your brand, understand how they feel about the business and you’ll understand what their family and friends also think of the business; 10. Your true value offering: If you were to describe your business in eight words, would you find it easy or tricky? What eight words to your different team members use to describe the business? We’ll help you to find ways to get everyone onto the same hymn sheet; 11. Investing in Awesome AfriCAN: This is our corporate social investment initiative. When you invest in one of our projects, you are also investing in job creation and poverty alleviation. Through this initiative we are training up members from our communities with computer skills and teaching them how to capture data and build websites for entrepreneurs; for the community, by the community; 12. Saves you money: Research can save you money in the long run by focusing your strategy and plan on the right areas of the business; 13. It won’t break the bank: Commit to investing in reputation research for three years and your fee won’t increase annually by 10%; 14. Your research could be free! We’ll gift you 10% off your next project for every company that you refer to us that signs up for their own research study. Refer 10 people, and your research will be free! As an added gift, buy the Reputation Matters book via Publisher.co.za and get 15% off! [Use voucher number: PUB1501102019 valid until 28 February 2020]

Let our team take your reputation to the next level in 2020

Reputation Matters has a specialised team. The majority of our team members have either a BCom Communication Management Honours, Cum Laude degree, or have been recognised as the top achiever of their class in their respective courses; everyone on the team has extensive experience in the field of reputation management and business communication. Get in touch with us. Email research@reputationmatters.co.za and one of our team members will gladly discuss our research options with you.

Media release: To research or not to research: that is the question

Photo via Alacritycanada.com

With the current economic climate, organisations are often left to wonder where they can save money and how they can cut costs. But can research really help organisations to save money? Albert Szent-Györgi, a Nobel Prize winner, famously said: “Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.” Research enables an organisation to accumulate facts, critical information and insights as well as reach new conclusions. As we all know, you cannot fix something if you don’t know it is broken. The same goes for saving money. You can’t save money within an organisation if you do not know how to save it.

“At Reputation Matters we believe that if you treasure it, you’ll measure it,” says Chanell Kemp, reputation specialist at Reputation Matters, specialists in reputation measurement and management. The Repudometer® is their proprietary reputation model which allows them to quantify an organisation’s reputation by gauging stakeholder perceptions.

There are three clear advantages to measuring your reputation:

1. Quantification: The percentage rating proves the extent to which people want to do business with your business and how much they trust your offering. “If your organisation has an excellent reputation score, it shows that you have a good relationship with your stakeholders and that people want to be associated with you and do business with you,” explains Kemp.

1. Identification: “We help businesses to measure the strength of the relationship with their stakeholders and help them to identify what is building or hindering current relationships. Through this research process we find ways for the business to build even closer connections with their stakeholders. Our research has proved that there is a clear relationship between a positive reputation score and a healthy bottom line,” adds Kemp.

1. Recommendation: “‘Data dumping’ isn’t what we do. We will provide you with practical solutions to take your reputation to the next level,” shares Kemp.

Before saying ‘No’ to research, consider the following analogy: would you say ‘No’ to servicing your car? Taking your car in for its annual service is key to identifying possible problem areas before they occur in order to have a safe journey, save you money and to prevent you from incurring unwanted costs. The same goes for your organisation: don’t wait until your reputation is broken beyond repair before trying to fix it. “Conducting research not only assists organisations with identifying possible problem areas, but helps build on the strengths that already exists within the organisation,” concludes Kemp. Conducting research on an annual basis can drive your reputation forward.

For more information on Reputation Matters and to measure your reputation, contact research@reputationmatters.co.za or visit www.reputationmatters.co.za. Follow Reputation Matters on Facebook (@yourreputationmatters) or Twitter (@ReputationIsKey).

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Media Contact:

Chanell Kemp

chanell@reputationmatters.co.za

+27 81 331 0353

Terveisiä Suomesta (Greetings from Finland!) 29 October to 01 November 2019

What a whirlwind visit! What an adventure! I set off on the Monday afternoon, flew via Doha and arrived in Helsinki at 07:00 on Tuesday morning, had Tuesday to settle in. Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to the TVET for Impact Roundtable and Expert Forum in Espoo, Finland. Then, flew back on Friday afternoon and arrived back in Cape Town on Saturday. 

English, Afrikaans and very basic French, has always helped me to get by in most countries, not so much in Finland. Finnish is something tooootally different.

What.An.Incredible.Week! Here are some of my favourite moments:

The very first photo I took was inside the Central Train Station, such a beautiful old building. 

The building directly opposite the Central Train Station. Taking that first step out of the warm building, I immediately regretted not having my gloves close at hand, and realised I had forgotten to pack a hat!

When I book my accommodation, I always like to be within walking distance of the venue. Day one was at Omnia TVET College in Espoo which is about a 30 minutes drive from the city center. There were not too many places in and around the area to stay, so I zoomed in and around the venue for day two, House of Estates, and found a place slap bang in the middle of Helsinki. Hotel Arthur was the perfect fit, less than 500 metres from the train station and seven minutes walk from House Estates, and breakfast was included, perfect! The photo above was en route to the Hotel from the train station. Shucks it was cold! -1˚C!

After settling in at the hotel I went exploring the streets of Helsinki.

The Christmas decorations in the windows are absolutely delightful, just love the detail!

Random scenic picture :)

It was cold! All the puddles of water were frozen, so you have to walk very carefully to make sure that you don't slip!

Another random beautiful scenery pic!

Helsinki Cathedral is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka.

I stumbled across this 'Noah's Ark', it is the Kamppi Chapel. It is also known as the 'Chapel of Silence'. I thought that it was an art installation, so didn't realise that I could go inside.

Had a super later lunch / super early supper (lupper?). After getting directions of a local 

spot from the front desk, I headed our to find my first Finnish meal. There are the most beautiful animal sculptures all over. Spotted this one of a mare and her foal en route to the restaurant.

It was a toss up between the Herring and the traditional meatballs. Opted for the meatballs because I was h u n g r y and it is a dish that this restaurant is known for. The dish is served with mash with a massive chunk of butter, gherkins and pickled beetroot. I polished it! This I washed down with a local beer. 

On my way back to the hotel around 17:00 and already quite dark, a clear sign that winter is in the air!

Day 2, Wednesday

I absolutely love super early morning runs, especially when I am in a new city. It is the best way to acclimatise, get your bearings and explore the place. I had clearly packed by suitcase when it was quite warm, and didn't even think of packing for winter running. Layered myself as well as I could, concocted a hat out of a tshirt and set off, at -3˚C I did not care how ridiculous my headgear looked :) 

As I was running in the park next to the hotel, I came across the circus. I did then think to myself...mmm, aren't all of those wonderful murder thriller books and television series' based in Scandinavian counties...don't horrors usually involve a circus and invariably something happens to the runner in a park...? I won't confirm or deny whether this made me run a bit faster... :)

My beautiful view during breakfast!

Navigating my way on the trains and busses (and language barrier), I made it to Omnia TVET College in Espoo. The conversations, insights and knowledge shared was incredible. I am so grateful to have added a reputation management voice to the conversations and encouraging the management of reputation to be considered and thought of by all the different role players and stakeholders.

During the day we had a tour of Omnia, it was really impressive! The construction students start off by learning the basics at the campus (top photo). The college then buys a piece of land where the senior students then build actual homes and buildings. These homes are then sold and the profit invested back into more land to be bought and equipment.

The restaurant where we had lunch and supper, is run by students. The students get front of house as well as managing and working in a kitchen experience. Once a year they participate in pouring coffee for the President of the country, what an experience! What an opportunity and how amazing to add to your CV that you served coffee to the President! 

They also have  wonderful technology component and interactive programs (photo on the left). There are so many lessons that all TVET colleges can learn and share from each other. 

One of the things that I found incredibly refreshing was just how healthy the people in Finland are. Instead of getting pastries and cookies during breaks, fruit was served. Check out this amazing super juice which was absolutely perfect to prevent a mid afternoon slump: honey, salt, raspberry, strawberry, lingonberry, blueberry, banana and yoghurt!

The conversations continued over supper, also at Omnia campus. I was absolutely thrilled and super Proudly South African when I saw that the wines being serviced were from Cape Town!

Day 3 Thursday

Another crispy early morning run. Absolutely magical! Not so cold this time round at 1˚C.

The second day's session took place at the beautiful and impressive House of Estates. 

All the incredible people from across the globe discussing TVET for Impact!

I am forever grateful for meeting the wonderful Jon-Hans Coetzer from UNITAR at the Brand SA Summit earlier this year (make sure that you've booked your spot for the Brand Summit 2020, the knowledge shared, conversations, networking and people you'll get to meet are amazing!). It's not often that you meet someone that you just resonate with instantly. I am incredibly grateful for UNITAR for making this trip to Finland possible. 

I am incredibly grateful for meeting Maria (this photo is from the night before at Omnia). Maria was so kind to show me a few non-touristy places after the second day's session. 

We first went to this beautiful old library. There is something incredibly soothing about being around books. It reminded me a bit of the old library in Pretoria that I used to go to with my Mom. Libraries are magical places. The smell, the silence, the wealth of knowledge and the magic of stories that surrounds you is intoxicating. It's a place that instantly puts me into a happy space and re energises me. I think this is why I so enjoy hanging out at second hand book stores. 

The colour combination of these books caught my eye.
There is a 100% literacy rate in Finland.

From one magical place to the next, the children's museum. It's a free museum. One section of the museum is remodeled to represent a typical Finnish house of the 1960's/70's. Nothing is locked away, or glued down, the visitors are encouraged to interact with the things on display. And get this, no security cameras or guards. Children are taught to respect things, museums, books, other people's stuff from a young age. Here are few more photos of the museum

1960's / 70's kitchen. I thought the drying rack in the cupboard is quite a clever way to neaten up a kitchen.

Streets are denoted with different animal symbols. 

When Finland turned 100 years old, it gifted itself a library. They build this library in near proximity of the train station. They wanted to create a space that people would use as their own lounge and space to work from. 

Space inside the library where you can sit and chill, read or work.

View over the books from the top of the area of the previous photo.

Another photo of the library.

One of the local foods I really wanted to try out was reindeer. I had spotted that Hotel Arthur had reindeer hamburgers! The perfect meal to end off the last evening. When it arrived, I did wonder to myself whether all the additional bits (cheese, bacon, gherkins) were entirely necessary; would this not hide the taste of reindeer? Nothing.will.hide.the.taste! For some or other reason, can honestly not tell you why, I thought it would be similar to ostrich meat that tastes very similar to beef. Not reindeer. It's a hit you between the eyes with it's hooves wild taste :D

Day 3, Friday

I love the Rotary community. I was very happy and grateful to meet up with President Birger of the Helsinki International Rotary and enjoy a delicious coffee with him at the central library. 

Then it was time to wrap up my trip, back and head back to the airport. 

What a fabulous, marvelous, unforgettable, magical week!