When he retires from corporate life eventually, Lionel Matthews, the Managing Director of Nedbank Namibia, plans on taking up a plumbing course. This is because the vocational trade, he shares, is one area which Namibians at all levels need to take ownership of, in order to create wealth and economic opportunities.
“The mindset many young people hold today that the only career they can build is through working for the government or working in an office needs to change. Instead, we need to be looking towards embracing trades within the vocational field. If you can learn how to bake bread or a cake, how to fix a tap, or how to make a table, then you have the potential to create wealth. The question is, how do we bring vocational trades into the mainstream as dignified professions that have the potential to create economic opportunities, put food on the table for families and at the same time create wealth and enable Namibians out of poverty for generations to come?” he said.
Policy framework, he adds, is important, but government cannot be expected to eradicate poverty through policy because this is an effort that will require Namibians at all levels to take hands.
“Eradicating poverty needs small things that hopefully can make a much bigger impact in our society. We need to take ownership of creating wealth in our spheres of influence, starting in our households, and then extending that onto our communities, because hopefully the accumulative effect of that will reduce inequality and poverty. Otherwise it will remain a challenge,” he said.
Earlier years and education
Lionel was born in Somerset West, a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. He moved to Namibia in 1984 at the tender age of 19 and has been living here since.
“I was quite active as a child and engaged in all sorts of sports, particularly athletics, I played rugby, tennis, cricket and I was into drama. I was also part of a big school choir. I was very ambitious from a young age already and my dream was to become a lawyer and drive a Jaguar. While I’m neither a lawyer nor do I drive a Jaguar today, I eventually went on to become a Chartered Accountant, a banker and I drive other cars,” he shares.
Additionally, he shares that doing drama at a young age has helped him to be a confident communicator in today’s difficult business world. “I think that doing drama as a young scholar has helped me to communicate better in business today,” he shares.
Through part-time studies, Lionel obtained his B. Compt. Honours (UNISA), whilst training to become Chartered Accountant at EY NAMIBIA. Academically he also holds an Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA), from the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town. Lionel plans to pursue PHD studies in 2018/19.
Describing finance and accounting as his passion, Lionel shares that his first exposure to banking was some 30 years ago when he was a young man, part of an audit team doing an audit for a bank called Swabank at the time. Swabank eventually became the modern-day Nedbank Namibia.
“In a very interesting way, 30 years on, I’m in a bank where I actually got my first exposure as an Audit Clerk through Swabank. I’ve always wanted to be in finance, I find it quite rewarding and I don’t think I want to do anything else. In August this year, I will be making four years as the Managing Director of Nedbank Namibia and one thing that I’ve learned is that when you come into a big organization like Nedbank, especially looking at the size of Nedbank beyond Namibia, it’s important to put your aspirations and the ambitions you have for your business that you lead up on a board somewhere. What I have learned is also that sometimes you need to make peace with the fact that some of the stuff that you thought you could be doing faster won’t happen as fast and that perhaps there is a lot to learn in going slower. Making ambiguity your friend and being comfortable with uncertainty and imperfect information is critical in an ever-increasing complex environment,” he shares.
Leading Nedbank and unlocking inequalities
Nedbank employs over 700 people across Namibia and has a continental footprint across the African region, with operations in countries such as Swaziland, Malawi, Angola, Zambia, and many others. Currently, the bank is going through a brand repositioning exercise where the focus is on empowering staff to experience continuous growth, enhance customer experience, and provide competitive banking products and services to meet the needs of all Namibians.
“My vision for Nedbank is to create an organization where all employees are in positions to grow and they in return have a passion to contribute towards the overall wellbeing of Nedbank. The consequence of which we in turn serve our customers with passion. With the rebranding exercise of “see money differently”, we are transforming our mindsets and consciously deciding that we are waking up every morning to make a difference in people’s lives through what we do and offer,” he said.
Lionel adds that the brand building Nedbank has done in the last three years stands the bank in good stead to go forward into the future.
“For me as a leader, it is important that as we transform Nedbank into this huge responsible, respected and responsive bank and financial service provider in Namibia, that I take people along with me on this journey. John Quincy, the 6th President of the United States, said that if your action inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader. When my time comes to retire, the legacy that I want to leave behind as a citizen in this country and as the leader of Nedbank and probably most importantly the leader of my family, is that my actions have inspired others to dream, learn and become more, and through that I will have been a leader,” he said.
Lionel notes that while economic projections some four years ago did not forecast what the external environment will look like today, he believes that financial institutions, specifically Nedbank, have massive opportunities to leverage even in a downward and a depressed economic cycle.
“At Nedbank we always say to never waste a good crisis and based on all the work we have been putting in over the past three years, I am confident to say our bank is correctly shaped and positioned to leverage and use the opportunities that exist within our economy to the benefit of individuals, families, businesses, communities and the whole Namibian society,” he said.
He adds that cultivating relationships, building trust amongst leadership and teams is key in enabling the bank to achieve its strategic objectives. “As a leader, I need to show my team that I trust them to deliver what they need to deliver and in that process hopefully win their respect and trust in return. I go on the premise that as we transform Nedbank into the ideal state we believe it needs to be in, I need to trust first,” he said.
Furthermore, looking back 30 years ago to when Lionel was in his 20s, and comparing the challenges he faced back then as a young man to the challenges faced by young people today, he says there are major differences.
“Compared to 30 years ago, the world has become a place for young people where there are opportunities, but turning those into real benefits for young people today I think is a lot harder. The world over is dealing with economic inequalities at different levels and this is a topic that will continue to be discussed and solutions sought, for some time to come.
The start of unlocking inequalities according to Lionel lies partly in how we as a country decide to deal with and solve issues related to land, land use and its productive contribution. “I think solving some of our land issues and how we move forward, and using this beautiful country to contribute and produce more than what we need so that we can sell our produce and our output to countries that will buy it from us will help us create more opportunities for Namibians. I always believe that if your parents have given you an opportunity to make something of your life, the opportunity that you must create for your children should be bigger than the opportunity that your parents have given you. That for me is critical,” he said.
Balancing work and family life
On dealing with the pressure that comes with leading a bank and finding a balance between family and work, Lionel shares that the support of his wife and daughter has been instrumental.
“At home is where I find my peace and solace, with my very supportive wife and daughter. We all have priorities, we all put our families first, but as the Managing Director of a bank, or as an Executive and there will be times when you have to say to your family that ‘I can’t do this right now’. To maintain a balance, it is important that over a period of time, you ensure that on an average basis, your priority has always been your family, the people who are closest to you. Knowing what is important, knowing what would give you the biggest advantage is how you distil as a leader at this level what you deal with first and what you need to put aside, otherwise you are going to be an absolute nervous wreck,” he said.
The pressures of heading a company he says are enormous and the decisions one needs to take sometimes as a leader are severe.
“At this level of leadership, it is important to be focused and you need to absolutely be comfortable with ambiguity and prepared to make decisions even in the face of not having all the facts. You need to drill into the detail as far as it will allow you to do but once you’ve exhausted the facts, you must be able to make a decision and implement, even in the face of not having the full picture. Sometimes technology fails and systems go down, as a leader you need to be able to make decisions that will impact the business positively even in the face of all these uncertainties. I think that’s probably the biggest pressure I deal with. I’m on call 24-hours every day,” he said.