Global conglomerate Vedanta chairperson Cynthia Carroll discussed some of her career highlights and how she overcame challenges in the mining industry working environment at this year’s Women in Mining conference, which took place last month in Johannesburg.
The former Anglo American CEO focused her keynote address on the importance of people standing up for their beliefs, even when it meant “standing against the crowd”.
Carroll noted that “it is important to be reminded of our roles and responsibilities to our organisations and to ourselves” in a mining industry that was “rife with uncertainty and the pressure to perform”.
She advised that, when faced with a challenging situation requiring a decision, it was important to first listen and “get as much input as you can from people with different perspectives”, at various levels of an organisation.
“When I was trying to work out what to do in a particular situation, I talked to people – from executives, shift supervisors, technical experts and operators to board members and outside experts,” Carroll said.
She pointed out that complicated problems rarely had clear or absolutely correct answers and advised that decision-makers “use the input of others, [as well as] your experience and good judgment to decide for yourself what direction you should go”.
When decision-makers have the luxury of time, Carroll asserted, they should make use of it, adding that “it never hurts to sleep on a problem”.
She stressed the importance of never compromising on personal values and recounted how she had been in several business situations where it would have been “far easier” to maintain the status quo of the local business practices.
Instead Carroll said that decisions-makers had to “be clear about what your values are and never let someone persuade you to look the other way or go along with something you know is ethically, morally or legally wrong”.
She noted that, once a decision had been made, it was important to follow through on it. However, she added that decision-makers “must have the courage to step back and reassess” when new information substantially changed the perspective of a decision.
“Don’t be too focused on being definitive about a decision and not admitting a mistake,” Carrol said, adding that decision-makers must “have the guts to make bold, difficult decisions”.
Carroll highlighted the importance of confidence and flexible thinking, but said that any decision taken must be supported by facts and reasonable judgment.
“Do your homework and understand that you might have to take a lot of heat,” she concluded.