Nigerian organisations confront existential threats in difficult times – TEXEM

Nigerian public and private sector organisations face severe existential challenges in these turbulent times, which require unique solutions, a director at TEXEM UK, Caroline Lucas has warned.

During an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Lucas, the Director of Special Projects at TEXEM (www.texem.co.uk), contended that leaders need to hone their strategic leadership skills to survive and thrive in these volatile periods.

She stated that in view of this, TEXEM is organising a four-week programme, Strategic Leadership For Enduring Impact During Volatile Periods, comprising live, virtual and engaging sessions from April 15 to May 6.

“As a leader, you hope each year ushers in huge fortunes for your organisation.

“However, there is a lot that we do not know about tomorrow. So, as you wish for the best, you also need to prepare for an uncertain future.

“The Strategic Leadership for Enduring Impact During Volatile Periods programme, a four-week master class, aims to equip leaders and their organisations with the requisite actionable skills and core competence for dealing with the uncertainty that tomorrow brings,” Lucas explained.

She stated that organisations worldwide constantly face challenges, especially post-COVID-19 pandemic and in this era of heightened geopolitical and socio-economic risks due to the Russia-Ukraine crises.

Lucas listed some challenges such as, the exodus of talent, depressed demand, high inflation, policy inconsistency and low individual and organisational performance.

She emphasised that executives should attend the programme as it would greatly benefit the leaders, organisations and society.

“As a leader, attending this TEXEM, UK programme will make you more versatile, resilient and agile in volatile periods.

“This is so that you will be better equipped to optimise your decisions, inspire your team to build an innovative culture and help your organisation to win consistently.

“Among the benefits derivable are challenging assumptions, enabling you to position your organisation better to harness scarce opportunities in volatile times and build competitive advantage when others are baulking during volatile times,” Lucas said.

She mentioned other benefits of attending the TEXEM, UK programme as, empowering participants to become better strategic leaders during difficult situations, enabling them to carry along employees easily due to their confidence in leaders’ decisions.

Lucas said it would also, furnish participants with the qualities of effective stakeholder engagement credentials and the foresight to win.

She articulated that the programme would inspire participants with actionable insights on developing winning strategies despite temporary setbacks, just like Lionel Scanoni, the Argentine football coach.

Lucas said that the programme would share insights into what makes strategic leaders like Scanoni effective.

Lionel Scanoni is the Argentine coach whose team was beaten by the Saudi Arabian football team in the World Cup group stage but turned his temporary setback into a setup for a comeback.

The TEXEM Director said just like Scanoni, whose team won the World Cup after the initial defeat, strategic leaders are focused on the bigger picture.

She added that the programme would be actionable, memorable and impactful, and would entail learning from examples of companies that could identify and harness opportunities in volatile times.

“For example, Fortune magazine was founded three months just after the market crash of 1929, and FedEx came into existence during the 1973 oil crisis.

“Others are Procter and Gamble, which started during the financial crisis in the USA in 1837 and Microsoft, which began operating in 1973 during the economic stagnation in most developed countries that lasted two years.

“What all these illustrious organisations have in common is Strategic Leadership,” Lucas said.

She explained that the TEXEM programme would showcase how leaders and their organisations could develop a sustainable competitive advantage in volatile times.

Among the faculty delivering the upcoming programme, Prof. Roger Delves is a Professor of Practice in Leadership and Associate Dean of Ashridge Executive Education at Hult International Business School.

Another faculty delivering the programme is Prof. Paul Griffith, a London Business School alumnus and the world’s first Management Professor to lead a team that launched a rocket to space.

Also, Prof. Rodria Laline, the developer of the intellectual property used in the chip on every ATM card globally, a former adviser to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and the founder of the Harvard University Maximise Your Board programme, will deliver the live sessions.

Also expected to facilitate learning during this programme is Ambassador Charles Crawford, strategic adviser to world leaders and winner of the equivalent of two Oscars.

Crawford is a qualified barrister and mediator; who draws on 28 years of experience in the UK diplomatic service, part of which he served as UK Ambassador in some countries experiencing volatility.