Chat GPT has hit the market and we can see that artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced beyond doing simple menial tasks. Certainly, all our businesses and jobs will be affected by these advancements. Currently, we are experimenting with AI to further and comprehensively understand its application to our processes.

 

As it becomes more sophisticated, the best team going into the future will be made up of thinkers and strategists rather than production, task-oriented people. In addition, we believe that people will always yearn for human interaction. So, we know that in this dawning age of AI, personal relationships will remain an important part of doing business.

 

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Looking at the latest business and economic developments, we can hardly escape the conclusion that everything is in flux. Where technological disruption meets banking, we have the advent of digital currency. Traditional financial institutions face competition from new players into the field, entrants that have never been in the business of credit and loan. Think China's Tencent. Evolution is also taking place in other industries. Henry Ford, if he was to be alive today, would marvel at the ambition of the pioneers of self-driving vehicles. We no longer look to NASA to further our adventures in outer space. Put Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Mark Zuckerberg in the same room and we might just speed up the quest for the colonization of space.

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Looking at all these transformations (some say disruptions), we might easily come away with understanding that ordinary people with ordinary ideas (business and otherwise) will never capitalize and profit in such an environment. The phenomenal achievements of the chief executive and co-founder of Facebook is something that mere mortals can only fantasize about. In this case, do we all throw our hands up in the air and abandon all efforts to generate greater success?

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The digital age has brought with it many conveniences. Online shopping, on demand ride-sharing, virtual payment systems, Internet banking, cloud computing… The list goes on. Such conveniences come at a price, though. Brick and mortar shops risk irrelevance with consumers going for online options, for instance. Even the disrupter itself can be disrupted, like how ride-sharing firms have been nudging each other out of markets and territories in the race to increase revenue and reduce costs in an ever-increasingly competitive and crowded marketplace. 
 

In this inaugural issue, captains of various industries will share their perspectives on the latest developments and coping mechanisms in this age of digital disruption. 

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Leadership is like the proverbial story of a few blind men touching an elephant. Touching its trunk, one of them would think that an elephant is long and thin. Another, touching its belly, would say that an elephant is big and round. Yet another, feeling one of its legs, would claim that an elephant is firm and stout.

All of us have some opinion about leadership. Some of us say leaders must lead the charge like Alexander the Great on the battlefield. Others may think that leaders should view the proceedings behind the frontline, like Winston Churchill, so that they can see the bigger picture. Who’s right? Is any one wrong?

We are better informed than the proverbial blind men since we have all experienced leadership in one way or another. Some of us could even be leaders.

The reality is that there are many styles of leadership and many different types of leaders. In this third edition of the newsletter, we explore the multi-faceted nature of leadership through the perspective of those who have been walking the tightrope that Alexander and Churchill once did.

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It goes without saying that Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on all fronts. In business alone, many organizations are still struggling to stay afloat. Yesterday’s normal is outdated in the blink of an eye. As the new normal becomes a part of us, no one can tell for sure how much longer the impact of this crisis will last.

Many companies have transited to working from home. This is challenging for employers and employees alike. To maintain morale and engagement, leaders had to create boundaries to balance work and personal lives. If handled badly, switching to remote working could cause burnout because the line between working and personal
time becomes blurred.

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In today's globalized world of business and society, organizations are made up of increasingly diverse teams of people. Diversity can refer to differences in ethnicity, age, culture, education, religion, personality as well as experience. When different people of varied backgrounds come together, teams can become more creative, innovative and progressive. However, it is also inevitable that with differences come friction and conflicts, especially if communication is lacking.

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Inclusion is about understanding, accepting, supporting, valuing and ultimately respecting our differences. When organizations are inclusive, people are empowered to speak up and make a difference. Yet, while more companies adopt diversity and inclusion strategies and institute new programs to achieve these outcomes, leaders consistently do not listen to their employees. This was highlighted by a Dale Carnegie White Paper that pointed out that one of the biggest leadership blind spots is the failure on the part of leaders to truly listen, respect and value employees' opinions.

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Like it or not, the millennials are amongst us.
At work, in various social settings, at home, in public... They are everywhere.

Instead of avoiding Generation M, or worst still, typecasting them, why not get to know them better?

Are they more similar or different from the rest of us who are from other generational groups? How will their behaviour and working style affect the way we work? Should we treat them differently just because they are millennials?

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In a world characterized by disruptions, change hap-pens more frequently with more unsettling consequences. The business reality of banking in Thailand today is that more than 200 branches are closed while existing branches are refurbished to sport modern interior and futuristic architecture. For some of the top banks, accepting the disruptive transformation of the market means preparing the workforce to cope with future business challenges through increased investments while lowering the headcount and resource allocation in other departments. The demands of excellent business performance and lower operations costs are made in a competitively integrated market with fluctuating values. Only the strongest will survive in the current world of business that is trying to cope with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). To do so, many organizations choose to focus on their people and strengths in order to survive and thrive.

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