Whatever the reason for Nkabane’s sacking, a signal of change it’s not

Many of us have been in a position in a company where we could see that someone was about to be fired.

- Stephen Grootes

Perhaps the person just never pulled their weight, or was someone who just couldn't hack it. Or worse, it was someone who was just terrible to everyone, who tried to order people around, didn’t do what they were supposed to do ~ things like that.

Working in London in what was probably my first really professional radio job, a person came along who seemed to mess up everything he was given to do. He was older than me (I was still in my mid-20s) and supposedly had plenty of experience.

I found it really frustrating; he just seemed completely out of kilter with everyone else. Eventually, someone older and wiser took me aside and with a wry smile on his face simply said: “Stephen, he’s a bluffer. Don’t worry about it. He won't be here long.”

I suddenly got it. This was a person who claimed to be a journalist, but he didn't know the first thing about how to confirm a fact or write a radio news report. (He's probably a hugely successful influencer now.)

And my colleague was correct — he was fired about a month later.

But sometimes a dismissal is really supposed to accomplish something else. It’s not just about the sacking, but also about sending a signal that an organisation or group or whatever must now change direction.