Firm shares tips on leadership roles

Sycamore Consult Limited has underscored the need for institutions’ board members to be aware of their roles and avoid playing back seat roles if they are to move in line and achieve organisations’ goals.

The firm’s managing director Audrey Mwala said this in an interview after an international training workshop which the company recently  conducted in the United Arab Emirates.

She observed that often times board members are led by management which she says compromises provision of checks and balances thereby, affecting their leadership roles.

Said Mwala: “The real role of Board members is leadership to get an organization to the strategic destination of their desire.
“Board members are supposed to add value through crafting the vision and activity following up on implementation so that the organization is not caught up in discussing activities that are important but not in line the strategic destination  of the company.”

Mwala, who has an extensive practical hands-on experience in corporate governance, further pointed that failure to understand the leadership role that board members have by leaving leadership to management,  they take a back seat and wait to hear from management of what’s next and what has been done,” she said.

One of the participants described the training as  relevant especially coming at a time when the business environment is volatile and full of uncertainties.

“The problem that we are facing these days are very complex and it is not easy to stir organizations in the right direction.

“Actually a lot of the shotfalls we are making and the lack of success in organizations in Malawi is due to the fact that we have not capacitated those in leadership positions with new skills to sail through volatile times,” he said.

Sycamore consult is a consulting firm registered in Malawi to provide expert business and project solutions to government, private sector as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs).