SEAC, a leader in personal and organisational development that ignites a passion for lifelong learning, organised the Open House: Breakfast Briefing to give a preview of the “Leading in a Disruptive World 5” (LDW) program. Created through the collaboration between SEAC and The Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD), Stanford University, the world-class executive education program features the latest content updates in response to the changing business world after the COVID-19 pandemic, opening new horizon for business owners and senior executives with workshops, coaching and exclusive business networking session at Stanford University campus, United States, in March 2023 for a period of 5 days with 5 essential courses.
Arinya Talerngsri (center), Managing Director of SEAC gave opening remarks on the uniqueness of this intensive five-day executive education program which is packed with content that would normally take two weeks to study: “The LDW program differs from other executive education programs offered by the world's leading universities in that it does not simply offer off-the-shelf courses which may not be relevant to current real-world situation, but rather the courses that SEAC has co-designed with SCPD based on the most recent insights in the business world which has dramatically changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program addresses the priorities for Thai and Southeast Asian businesses and organisations, providing projection for business leaders on transformation, trends in new technology, innovation, leadership and workforce frontiers and helping them find answers on to which direction to lead the organisation in the future by what tools and techniques and how, on the days when the world is changing in a way that no one can determine, and not just by the impact of the technological revolution but due to the COVID-19 that accelerates the digital future where companies needed to act 20 times faster than expected in a different way.”
Preview of the 5 programs
Day 1 – The Transformed World & Leadership for a Truly Digital Future – Under the rapidly changing conditions that all businesses are experiencing, organisations must change their perspectives on how they work. What are mindsets and skill sets required for workers on the day that the use of Command & Control may not produce good results, organisations need to harness collective intelligence among different working groups. At the same time, companies need to reframe their organisational transformation which has already evolved over the last 5-6 years since businesses have started to implement digital transformation. Businesses have to focus on creating excellent customer experience, which becomes the most important competitive advantage. Leaders must realise that developing a digital culture is more important than developing infrastructures.
Day 2 – The Transformational Impacts of Tech, Digital & Data – “Transformation of the world has changed due to the COVID pandemic which has accelerated the digital future in a different way from before with transformational impacts of Tech, Digital and Data.” Learn and discover the potential of emerging critical digital technologies and the opportunities they provide the potential of emerging technologies, whether it is the role of Cloud technology that affects the transformation of businesses of all types in different levels. The job of leveraging data is not limited to data analytics, which is performed by data scientists only, but all employees in the organisation must be aware of the potential of data and to the extent they can be utilised in their respective job field. Stanford University pointed out that organisations which rely solely on the opinions, feelings and experiences of their employees are likely to lag behind the competition. Rather, establish companywide data mindset where workers understand how to leverage data and AI to design a superior customer experience and enhance work efficiency will determine the level of competitiveness for businesses.
Day 3 – Innovating to Compete in a Disrupted World – “Innovation changes. All new innovations must be redefined and reinterpreted and can change to a new form in an extremely fast pace, from day to day.” The organisation's innovation strategy can take shape by nurturing an employee’s venture mindset, also known as entrepreneurial mindset, and workers must discover how to formulate strategies and business models for newly emerged markets quickly and create an advantage by observing the behaviours and reactions of the market before zooming in on a single way for value creation. At the same time, building sustainability into core business strategies is essential to create positive impact to the world by exploring different business models that incorporate circular economy approaches for long-term growth.
Day 4 The Leader as a Futurist, & the Future as a Leader – “Organisation leader must be a Futurist or Future Leader. New management design embraces the concept of Leader as a Futurist, which has already been implemented in tens of thousands of organisations across the United States and Europe.” When identifying leadership successors and recruiting new employees, organisations must focus on people who are forward-looking, able to foresee a clear future of the organisation, and can reframe problems and challenges to unlock innovation. A good leader must be able to persuade and influence people effectively. Be among the first to discover the concept of Improv Leadership – new leadership style in the modern world with an ‘improv mindset’ for creativity, flexibility, empathy, and essential soft skills in order to become a more authentic, agile, and dynamic leader.
Day 5 – The New Workforce: Talent as a Multiplier – “Perspectives towards “talented” employees in the organisation have changed. In post-COVID world, not many talents are needed, but only the right ones, with a shifting mindset in realising that speed is everything in business.” In order to attract and retain the right talents, companies need to create a community and platform that empower them, to optimise them with learning and self-improvement while fostering a life-long learning culture. Most in-demand working people in the future are no longer those with I-shaped skills or expertise in a particular field, but organisations are looking for talents with comb-shaped skills, broad base with multiple expertise areas as well as some breadth and depth in those fields.
Faculties joining the LDW 5 program are all ‘Rockstar Professors’ at Stanford University, with high calibre and extensive experience in both teaching and applied research with world-class organisations. Potential professors who will join the program for lectures, workshops, coaching and networking activities are Professor Pamela j. Hinds – Professor & Co-Director of Center for Work, Technology & Operation, Professor Julian Novy – Professor of Practice and Faculty Co-Director of Stanford’s Change Leadership for Sustainability Program and Professor Charles O’Reilly: Professor of Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and others.
The LDW 5 program also encompasses a special program, ULTRA EXPERIENCE: Silicon Valley Immersion, an exclusive visit to the centre of new business innovation and the world's leading tech companies like Amazon, Airbnb and Salesforce, as well as hands-on experience of the latest cutting-edge innovations, including self-driving vehicle from Tesla and the virtual world Metaverse at the Meta Store, etc.
SEAC also helps prepare program participants with information to provide basic knowledge prior to learning the tools and techniques to be used with expert professors at Stanford University who will join to support before, during and after the Campus program to unpack, make sense of, and apply the learning in your organisation.
Kamolwan Wipulakorn Managing Director of Bound & Beyond Public Company Limited, shared her experiences as an alumnus who participated in three previous LDW program batches: “Joining the LDW program is an eye-opening experience that truly allowed me to learn new things from every batch. Joining the sneak preview of the LDW 5 provided me with new insights. This program is unique in that it was created specifically for corporate leaders and senior management in the context of Thai businesses, and it encompasses a comprehensive learning experience packed with carefully selected courses. This ensures that the program equips business leaders with the tools they need to steer the company in the right direction. Furthermore, immersing yourself in the centre of innovation with opportunities to learn from leading companies in Silicon Valley who share their valuable experiences enabling you to better visualise and solve problems encountered. SEAC is also a good companion from the start of the journey, during the course, as well as after the completion of the program, as well as providing support for sharing, using the right tools, working method and ideas for creating innovation to assist participants in applying knowledge to their organisations and enhance their business performance in a practical way.”
Executives interested in equipping themselves with insights essential for future business opportunities with the LDW 5 program, please contact Prapairat at Prapairat_p@seasiacenter.com or 086 403 9238.
