Now that COVID-19 has spread across the world, businesses are struggling to survive, and many people are feeling lost. It is a good time for us to take a step back and think about what kind of leadership is essential and effective against crisis.
This time focusing on the Asian perspective, in early of June 2020, Asian Identity organized a series of workshop under the name of “Asian Leadership Wisdom”. The workshop series was composed of 3 separate session. It was conducted via Zoom video conference in an interactive manner where participants discussed and share opinions with one another.
We were honored by the presence of 3 expert speakers who shared with us their perspectives on what they believe Asian Leadership means and what lesson can be learned from it amidst this time of crisis.
Below is the summary of the 3 sessions:
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Session 1: Engaging in Global Community after COVID 19: From Perspectives of National Culture
This session was led by Ms. Chika Miyamori, the founder of Hofstede Insights of Japan. The discussion revolves around how Asian national culture plays a role in the country’s responses to crisis, especially how different countries handled COVID situation, also how this affects people’s trust in their leaders.
Session 2: The Indian Ethos in Challenging Times
This session was led by Mr. Rajneesh Singh, the Managing Partner of Simply HR. On this intriguing topic, Mr. Raj introduced us to several prominent Indian business leaders whom he admired. He shared with us the stories of actions those leaders have taken during crisis, how they led and took care of their people. These stories reveal the virtues of Indian leaders.
Session 3: How to Overcome Crisis – Lessons from the Century-old Companies
The final session was led by Dr. Kritinee Pongtanalert, a lecturer in marketing and innovation at Chulalongkorn Business School. Through case studies about centuries-old companies in Japan that have survived through many disasters, Dr. Kritinee told us about how Rinen or Philosophy becomes crucial when one wants to successfully lead an organization through hardships. She also gave examples of Thai companies that took necessary actions based on their companies’ philosophy, allowing them to survive COVID-19.
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Although many interesting perspectives emerged throughout the 3 sessions, one common thing about Asian Leadership that everyone agreed on is that we care for our people personally like they are our family. We support and show kindness to everyone inclusively and this is what maintain the bonds between people and what pull countries, organizations, and its members through in times of hardship.
We thank you everyone, our guest speakers, and participants, for joining us, and we hope you have received inspiration about the type of leader you want to become.
