‘CEO’s apparent affair exposes shrewdness in corporate’

Feminist and human rights activist, Lebogang Ramafoko, says the alleged affair between former Astronomer CEO, Andy Byron, and his HR manager, Kristin Cabot, reveals the shrewd culture within corporate settings.

The relationship between the two was recently exposed by a “kiss-cam” which captured them at a Coldplay concert last week being too comfortable in each other’s company.

Cabot has since been placed on leave, while Byron chose to resign following heavy backlash on digital platforms.

Ramafoko says the incident exposes questionable leadership tendencies in corporations.

“It’s very interesting that it was also revealed through articles online that this HR woman had recently been promoted in the company. This tells you – between the CEO and the HR manager – the culture that is permissive in some of these businesses; that both at the very top and also at HR level – where the person is dealing with people, and they probably would need to sometimes need to deal with sexual harassment cases, and sometimes with relationships that happened at work – that they themselves have very questionable values,” says Ramafoko.

Ramafoko believes such behaviour among seniors managers breeds an unconducive culture, where rules are seldom followed and lines between right and wrong become foggy to employees.

Ramafoko fears that the incident might just paint a picture of what comes packaged with “the corporate world”.

“It is a dog-eats-dog world, if one may say so. It is also an environment which is very shrewd and shows that men, in general, are judged in the workplace by their delivery and some of these cut-throat tendencies actually get applauded, whereas, women would in contrast be judged on much more, including their behaviour. Men’s behaviour is hardly questioned,” adds the human rights activist.

Ramafoko hopes that the Coldplay saga will make people think twice before giving into the temptation to cheat.

“The sad thing about this Coldplay saga is the fact that men with power have always felt that their behaviour can go unchecked and that their actions do not have consequences,” remarks Ramafoko.

She adds that it’s vital that people realise how their actions not only affect them, but that of their loved ones too.

“At some point we need to ask ourselves: what does it mean to be a person of power and how is that power exercised?,” probes Ramafoko.

She adds that it is also extremely crucial for people to learn that as much as the digital space grants society the freedom to express itself and to consequently connect with others across time zones and geography settings, society also must be responsible with how it utilises that opportunity.

“We ought to be a lot more restricted in what we do, and where we do what we do, and how we do it because of where our presence and image can ultimately find itself,” she advises.

“As a society, we need to contend with what this very public consumption of people’s personal lives means for all of us,” adds Ramafoko.

Ramafoko says while she is against cheating, she does not believe the CEO and HR manager’s apparent affair is what might cause the end of their current marriages to their spouses.

“For many women it becomes a very difficult thing, particularly when they have been staying at home looking after children while the man has been the bread winner,” says Ramafoko.

She says in such instances, the humiliation caused by the affair will not out-weigh the cost of separation may have on a person’s livelihood, and so that is why some people choose to stay with cheating partners.

She, however, deems such relationships dangerous, because while one cheating partner’s behaviour may be left to continue, the other partner may also decide to give a taste of the bitter medicine to the instigator.

“Cheating alters relationships drastically as it introduces doubt and the other partner may also decide to cheat. It may just create a situation where anger and betrayal will breed retaliation, which will introduce toxicity,” says Ramafoko.

She also warns that continued cheating on a partner may cause low self-esteem on the individual being cheated on to the point that they become suicidal.

“Marriages are legal contracts and by the time people decide to dissolve them, they think about a whole lot of things. In some instances, there are issues of cultural and social pressure. They use religion and culture and social standing into convincing themselves that calling it quits is not an option,” adds Ramafoko. Written by Odirile Rabolao