by Caryl Teh
LEAD 2020 has finally come to a close, and it’s been a wild ride! “Ok, that’s it. Now I’m curious. What is this LEAD that I keep hearing about? Just tell me already!”. I’m glad you asked! Over the coming months, we’re going to bring you behind the curtains of this by-invitation-only event and shed some light on why you should be so excited about it too.
We’re saving the meatiest content for our upcoming stories. As for today, let’s get the uninitiated up to speed with an overview of what LEAD is all about, and what this year’s agenda featured.
LEAD, all caps?
Yes. LEAD is YTL’s annual internal leadership conference that revolves around these four pillars: Lead, Educate, Aspire, and Discover. Every year, it features a series of specially-curated keynotes and seminars. Due to Covid-19, this year’s conference was held entirely online, and over four days.
Why have LEAD?
The YTL Group knows that leadership sets the tone for the company. That’s why growing the company’s leaders is crucial. Just so we’re clear, if you didn’t receive an invitation to this event, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t seen as a leader. The YTL Group believes that leadership (1) starts with you – first and foremost, you have to learn to lead yourself well before you can lead others; (2) is a journey – leaders aren’t born overnight. Rather, it is a continuous journey of learning, unlearning and relearning; and (3) is better together – that’s why LEAD strives to bring together the best from inside & outside the Group.
LEAD aims to birth a dynamic community of leaders – from leaders who have years of experience behind them, to the young, up & coming hopefuls, ready to learn from each other. The aim is to learn how we can communicate better to forge brighter solutions by melding the best of the old with the most innovative & cutting-edge of the new.
Leadership skills aside, LEAD is also one of the best opportunities to meet & interact with colleagues from different companies whom you wouldn’t get to in your ordinary work week.
What was the agenda for LEAD this year?
Day 1 was live-streamed. LEAD always starts with re-aligning everyone towards a shared vision. Tan Sri Francis Yeoh looked at resilient companies like Amazon & Netflix, forging a path for how YTL should be agile to adapt to the rapidly-changing community culture. A Focus Group session after his speech gave listeners time to think about the practical ways they could channel that vision into their work goals.
Keynote Speakers: Luca De Nard shared insights on how COVID-19 has and will impact consumer spending & consumption in 2021, while Jeevan Sahadevan equipped participants with 8 keys to develop mental toughness for incredible success at work in the coming year.
Probably the most spirited event of the evening was the Directors’ Panel, moderated by Wing Lee & Noormah Mohd Noor, CEOs of YTL Communications and ERL respectively. Leaders got the chance to ask their burning questions to the Directors, and have them answered in real-time.
Before Dato’ Yeoh Seok Kian delivered his closing address, it was time for the 2020 BTRT Award Winners to shine! If you haven’t yet, head on over to the Wall of Fame and see if you recognise any of them.
Over the following three days, a whopping 20 seminars covering an array of topics were carried out over Zoom or Microsoft Teams. These consisted of the highly-demanded Directors’ Seminars, and seminars conducted by invited industry experts including the architect masterminds behind Menara YTL! Capacity was limited for most seminars, but spots were filled so rapidly during registration that we had to increase those limits & arrange for extra seminars!
Although seminars were virtual, we are proud to say that the level of interaction & engagement did not wane one bit. Participants actively asked questions during Q&A sessions and had lively discussions in their breakout rooms.
That’s all for now
This year presented many new technical challenges for both the organisers and participants. But we’re thrilled that our hard work was incredibly well-received. Thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly to piece together such an exciting LEAD week, and to all the participants who showed nothing short of burning enthusiasm to keep learning & growing. It’s been a blast!
