EMBA Talk: Power, Personalities, and Politics: Mastering Difficult Dynamics in the Boardroom

Every board has its undercurrents, the unspoken politics, the clash of personalities, the tension between competing priorities. Sometimes these dynamics fuel innovation; other times, they derail governance and strain relationships.

When: Thursday, 04 September 2025 18:00 - 20:00 (GMT+2)
Where:GSB LT7
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Event information

In this 75-minute, no-nonsense panel discussion, three seasoned board leaders will share candid stories and practical strategies for:

Diffusing tension without diminishing robust debate

Addressing disruptive or toxic behaviours constructively

Managing power plays while protecting the integrity of decisions

Building trust and alignment in a high-stakes environment

If you’ve ever had to navigate a difficult director, a fractured board, or a politically charged agenda, this conversation is for you.

Speakers

Joy-Marie  Lawrence

Joy-Marie Lawrence is a Chartered Director, and the Founder of Boardvisory, with extensive experience as a lawyer and business woman, her purpose as a Board Coach is to cultivate courageous conversations that enable effective boardroom decision-making. 

Joy-Marie also designs and delivers boardroom courses relevant to Board Director Development.

Her qualifications include an Executive MBA (cum laude) (UCT Graduate School of Business), a Masters of Law (LLM) in Outer Space, Broadcasting, Telecommunications (WITS), a Professional Certified Coach accredited by International Coaching Federation, an Advanced Programme for Private Equity (GIBS), Diploma in Integral Practitioner Coaching,
a Bachelors of Law (LLB) (UCT) and BA (UCT). Joy-Marie is also an accredited integrative Enneagram practitioner and Five Lens Practitioner Joy-Marie has been a fellow of the Institute of Directors of South Africa since 2009 and is an accredited Chartered Director since 2017.

With more than 24 years’ experience, she completed her legal articles at Webber Wentzel in Johannesburg. Her corporate work experience includes the Telecommunications sector, Media & Broadcasting and the IT sector. Joy-Marie also currently serves as a mentor, facilitator and keynote speaker.
Joy-Marie’s experience as a Non-Executive Director and Chairperson of boards spans the investment, science and technology, legal, education and health sectors. Her current directorships include:
• non-executive director of WDB Investment Holdings;
• non-executive director of Old Mutual (South Africa) Nominees (RF) (Pty) Ltd;
• non-executive director of TEKANO;
• Non-Executive Director of Assore South Africa (Pty) Ltd
Joy-Marie has also previously served on the UCT GSB Advisory Board and as a nonexecutive director of Diageo South Africa (Pty) Ltd. She was previously a founding Board
member and subsequently the Chair of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA)
a (section 3A) statutory entity reporting to the South African Department of Science and
Technology.

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Gregg MacIntyre

Gregg has 29 years of executive-level experience in Financial Services managing large and diverse divisions. Gregg has held the role of CEO of Old Mutual Life Company in Namibia and COO of Personal Finance at Old Mutual South Africa, with experience in both support functions and customer-facing business. Gregg has also held various executive and Non-Executive Directorships, across a wide spectrum of businesses.

Fay Mukaddam

Fay brings extensive strategic leadership experience to the various executive and non-executive roles and positions she has occupied over the years. Fay was recognised as being the most influential businesswoman in the financial services sector, in South Africa in both 2016 and 2017, and has also been recognized through various awards both nationally and internationally. As a commercial lawyer, Fay has focused primarily on cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions and Transaction Advisory services, and consequently specialised in risk, governance and strategy advisory engagements. Fay has also been at the forefront of advice to numerous local and international entities on several transactions including some of the most prestigious published empowerment transactions in South Africa and has acted as lead transaction advisor on numerous multi-national transactions. Through her relationship with the IoDSA (as technical advisor and subject-matter expert), she has advised and assessed boards (in the private (listed and unlisted) and public sectors) on key business and governance areas through their respective different business phases, and also acts as mentor to individual directors. Fay is a guest lecturer at major universities and business schools (and on various other platforms) in South Africa and she has delivered papers at national and international conferences on governance, leadership in Africa and development economics. She is a skilled public speaker, panellist and sought after opinionista on matters pertaining to leadership, governance and the role of directors in a time of disruption. Fay currently acts as special advisor to several entities and as an independent board/board committee member and independent trustee, of entities in both the public and private sectors.