That question anchored the latest 𝗦𝗠𝗨 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗨𝗣 session: "𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙐𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙮". Mr Edmund Lin (Board of Trustees, SMU; Chairman of Southeast Asia, Bain & Company) delivered a keynote on navigating a post-globalised world, followed by a candid fireside conversation with Ms Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas 何勋谊 (BBM 2004).
A few things that stayed with the room:
🔹 The world is no longer "flat." Strategy today means working across fault lines.
🔹 In uncertainty, the strongest leaders don't hedge everything. They make fewer, bigger bets with conviction.
🔹 On AI: What separates leaders is the willingness to rethink how work gets done. Most organisations are already exposed to GenAI through automation or augmentation. The technology is not the hard part. Mindset and culture are.
🔹 Some things are enduring and don't shift with the macro. Trust and leadership responsibility remain constants, regardless of how the systems around them change.
The discussion also touched on sovereign capabilities and what responsibility looks like for leaders in a more fragmented world.
This session was hosted by Terence Quek (MCM 2013), Chairperson of the 𝗦𝗠𝗨 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝗶 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 (𝗦𝗠𝗨 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗔𝗚), a growing platform for senior SMU alumni to connect and exchange insights at the highest level.
If you lead at the board, C-suite, or director level; or you're on that path, this is the room to be in.
