PhilSTAR virtual summit on leadership a success

MANILA, Philippines — Only change is constant, and it doesn’t exempt trends and developments in leadership. Defining leadership has even become more intricate, and the world more complicated, but all in a good way; just as complex technology now enables people from different countries and time zones to converge in real-time, at their own convenience.

The recent Leadership Virtual Summit, the first of PhilSTAR Virtual Summit Series in partnership with Future Proof, demonstrated the potential of uniting gurus and budding leaders and in a five-day online summit held during the least busy hour during workdays — lunchtime.

The first-of-its-kind summit in the Philippines featured eight renowned speakers, namely, STAR’s Francis Kong, leadership coach and British American Tobacco CEO James Lafferty, Dale Carnegie Philippines president Bienvenido Policarpio, Achieve Forum managing director Andrew Calvert, Unilever global head of learning Betty Lau, Amihan Global Strategies chairman Winston Damarillo, Apploud founder and Fortune 1000 Companies ecommerce strategist Cecilia Pagkalinawan and Asian Institute of Management academic program director Matthew George Escobido.

On the first day, Francis Kong welcomed the participants with a keynote speech about today’s state of leadership and what it takes to be a leader in the new economy.

Aside from participants mostly coming from the Philippines, some from the US, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Europe also joined.

On Day 2, Lafferty focused on the “desire to win.” He differentiated a winner from a champion and explained today’s need for open-source leadership. The champion masters the fundamentals, innovates to change the rules of the game, and never forgets the “Sisyphus Principle,” he shared.

On Day 3, Policarpio tackled persuasion and the power to motivate teams while Calvert talked on leading a flat organization, and youth and leadership.

On Day 4, Lau discussed customer-centricity and how design-thinking helps legacy companies innovate while Damarillo talked on embracing an entrepreneurial mindset, speed and agility.

Finally, on the last day, Pagkalinawan and Escobido closed the summit with topics on women in digital leadership, creating an innovation strategy, leading a culture of innovation and rolling out innovation programs from vision to execution.

For inquiries on PhilSTAR Virtual Summit Series, email [email protected] and visit www.philstarvirtualsummit.com.