On Thursday the 6th of November, The Institute of People Management (IPM) hosted a leadership awards gala dinner at Windhoek’s Palm Hotel. The evening was sponsored by MTC and the Bank of Namibia – and produced a reputable evening filled with some glitz and because it’s November, some fun.
The goal of the IPM Conference and Gala Dinner is to develop and celebrate excellence in the field of People Management and Leadership. The IPM CEO of the Year recognizes CEOs that actively contribute to people’s leadership in Namibia. According to the President of the IPM and HR Executive at MTC Namibia, Mr. Tim Ekandjo; “Human Relations (HR) and people leadership foremostly require executives and senior management buy-in. By recognizing ‘People Champions’, we encourage leaders to have a people-centric approach in their leadership style, in order to excel in business. The award is therefore bestowed to the CEO that was recognized for being an ambassador in promoting strategic people management in the executive community”.
Mr. Ekandjo, representing the IPM announced that “we are proud to give this prestigious award to Natasja Beyleveld, by recognizing her outstanding role in enhancing executive People leadership. From the many nominations that were received, the Executive Committee was unanimous in Natasja’s outstanding contribution and her leadership role at NaMedia. She is fully deserving of this award and we want to encourage her to continue being an excellent ambassador in the field of People leadership”.
Beyleveld is well known in the media industry, and also received the Namibia Economist Young Business Woman of the Year award in 2013, and the Sam Nuyoma Woman Innovator of the Year 2014 award, amongst others. Receiving the award, a surprised and energetic Beyleveld said that “the award is a testimony of the relationships and people in leadership that I am supported and challenged by, and the award celebrates their successes and at times seemingly impossible situations that I have learned from. Leadership is not about motivating people to win, most people already have that desire.
The aim is to inspire and to prove that you will be the person that will help them get there. Our NaMedia clients are the leaders that we admire; they show up, they support local businesses, and they nurture true engagements and the ‘true moments’ of ongoing success stories. It’s seeing each other truthfully, and climbing these mountains at times with injuries, and always with the scars to prove that we’ve made it. And at the end, we show off our scars to each other, and just maybe we have the guts to laugh about it”.
Beyleveld encouraged other women in leadership to “find what is authentically you and work with it, not against it. We’re not partaking in a people-pleasing competition, but we will be held accountable for being good or bad listeners. Leadership is about being purposefully committed to finding the bigger, better picture for all parties involved, it’s about putting personal ambitions and judgments aside and being present when serving with well researched and innovated input. Our partners in Media are invaluable reputation assets in this journey, they have and are continuously transforming the way we communicate, and ultimately the way we ‘solve problems’ or ‘guide perceptions’ on issues of national interest.
Namibia has flourishing platforms for public communications, and our leaders should listen, and speak to guide this vision and purpose of developing our youth and growing our country.
We can fight, we can disagree, but we are members of the same team – we can not afford to be divided, or to encourage ego-platforms and teams shouting at each other but not towards the truth. Let’s find what works together, and then throw some ropes to each other in the process”.