Captaining a giant through stormy waters

B7: Describe your roots in a nutshell: Your childhood years, what inspired you to study accountancy and your early career.

ET: I was born and bred in the beautiful township of Nomtsoub in Tsumeb. I was raised by my grandmother who taught me that education is the greatest equaliser and encouraged me to work hard in school.

I had a natural ability for maths and was good at it, so I started doing some research on career options when I was in grade 7. It was in this process that I came across the accounting profession and decided to do more research on it. At that time, I had no clue what the profession was all about, but the word “Chartered Accountant” just sounded interesting to me. I took accounting as from Grade 8 and immediately fell in love with the subject.

The fact that there were very few qualified CAs in Namibia at that time, especially black CAs, was definitely a motivation for me to pursue this career, because I always saw myself a barrier breaker. Though the dream of becoming a CA was cheap, the journey itself was tough and required a lot of hard work, sacrifices and determination.

Interestingly, one of my secondary school teachers told me that I will never become an accountant. I had to work hard, not only to proof the teacher wrong, but more importantly to proof to myself that I am limitless and that I can achieve anything that I put my mind to it. Today I am a qualified CA.

B7: What does the average day at the office entail?

ET: I spent most of my day planning and strategising in meetings and conference calls.

In between meetings, I get to catch up on emails but the best part of my day is when I walk the corridors and engage staff personally, lunch with colleagues in the canteen or visit our branches, because that’s when I get a chance to engage colleagues at all levels in our organisation and get a sense of the unwritten ground rules (UGRs) within our organisation.

I also enjoy meeting clients from time to time, because that gives me a sense of the needs of our clients and the extent to which we are meeting those needs.

B7: As CEO, how would you describe your management style?

ET: I am an inclusive leader who always seek to empower people, but also hold them accountable because empowerment comes with accountability. I generally seek, value and consider input from my team, but I also know when to make an executive order.

B7: To which extend is the corporate environment in Namibia changing and why?

ET: We are clearly seeing the manifestation of the fourth industrial revolution. We are also seeing the acceleration of digital transformation, because companies are looking for innovative ways to deal with the challenges brought about by Covid-19 and the general economic downturn.

Although digital transformation will initially be a threat to employment, I do think that in the medium to long-term, it will create new types of jobs and business opportunities.

B7: These are extremely challenging times characterised by huge uncertainty. How do you ensure that your employees remain positive and enthusiastic?

ET: I think in times of uncertainties, it is the responsibility of a leader to motivate and inspire people by connecting them to the purpose and the vision of the organisation.

FNB Namibia has been around for over 100 years and we have been through several economic crises over these years. The reality is that we are still here today, because we are a resilient organisation, driven by our purpose of being a “trusted partner helping to create a better world by providing innovative, contextual financial solutions platforms to our clients”.

B7: What drives you – personally and professionally?

ET: I am driven by my purpose – to inspire, mentor and develop people to be the best they can be.

B7: How do you stay focussed and balanced in your professional and personal life?

ET: Work life balance will always be difficult to achieve, and therefore I always aim at rather achieving work life integration or work life harmony without neglecting any part of my life.

The key is to focus on the things that you enjoy the most and make sure that you are present and engaged wherever you are and whatever you do.

B7: What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt in life?

ET: The most valuable lesson I have learned is that in life there is always a price to pay. You either pay the price now and enjoy life later or enjoy life now and pay the price later. I therefore always choose to pay the price today (i.e. work hard today) in order to have a better tomorrow.

B7: Many Namibians dream of climbing the corporate ladder. What is your advice to them?

ET: Your immediate goal should never be the top of the ladder, but rather mastering the step on the ladder that you are on at that point in your career. Focusing on the step that you are on the ladder, enables you to remain grounded and creates a better foundation for the next step on the ladder, until you ultimately reach the top.

Sometime people fall off the ladder by focusing too much on going to the top and in the processes lose the gravity or stability needed to keep them on the ladder.

B7: What is your message to Namibians in the time of Covid-19?

ET: Let us adhere to the lockdown regulations and all the recommended health precautionary measures, in order to minimise the spread of the virus and thereby preserve lives.

We should also use this crisis to reflect on lessons that we have learned and are still learning as well the level of inequalities in our society that the crisis so clearly exposed.

Let’s start shaping the new norm and the roadmap on how we will close the gaps of inequalities in our society.