WISTA hosts Karen Leong for keynote on transformative leadership on 13 Aug.

Karen Leong

In a rapidly evolving world marked by technological advancements, geopolitical uncertainties, shifting customer expectations, and significant workplace transformations, the need for transformative leadership has never been more critical. 

The Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Sri Lanka, celebrating its 10th anniversary, is set to address these pressing challenges with a significant event titled “Charting the Course of Success in a Disruptive World”. Scheduled for 13 August 2024, at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Colombo, this event features the esteemed Karen Leong, a globally recognised thought leader in sustainable transformation.

Karen Leong, known for her profound insights and practical strategies, is the Managing Director of Influence Solutions, an award-winning organisational development company based in Singapore. Her extensive experience in guiding companies through complex changes has earned her the title of “The Most Influential Leader in Training and Development in APAC”. In her keynote, Karen is set to deliver actionable strategies and skills to help individuals and organisations thrive amidst uncertainty, fostering innovation and building resilience.

The event, organised by WISTA Sri Lanka, aims to equip leaders across all sectors with the necessary tools to navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape. The key highlights of Karen’s presentation will include leadership strategies in a transformative era, fostering innovation, building strategic resilience, and securing long-term success. These topics are designed to help leaders adapt swiftly to market shifts and disruptions while maintaining clarity and balance, cultivate a dynamic culture of creativity, and transform failures into growth opportunities.

As Karen Leong aptly describes, “In Sri Lanka, leaders exhibit a remarkable blend of resilience and adaptability, skillfully balancing traditional values with modern business practices. In a rapidly evolving economic landscape influenced by global trends, leaders can harness opportunities to ensure a trajectory of innovation and growth. This keynote will provide tailored strategies to navigate these complexities and lead your organisation to new heights.”

Sri Lankan leaders, like their counterparts globally, face unprecedented challenges, with organisations striving to adapt amidst shrinking resources. The emphasis on transformational leadership across all levels is crucial for enhancing organisational value and effectively managing these shifts. Karen’s insights, derived from her extensive global career, highlight that despite the diversity in locations and industries, leadership challenges such as managing change and fostering innovation are universal. Her straightforward yet powerful solutions have proven to make a significant difference, demonstrating that simple strategies can lead to clear, impactful success.

This event is particularly relevant as Sri Lanka, like the rest of the world, is experiencing disruptions and changes across various dimensions. Organisations are striving to manage these changes with existing resources, making transformational leadership vital at all levels. Empowering employees through effective leadership can significantly enhance their value creation for the organisation. In times of change, apart from competencies, soft skills are crucial, and Karen emphasises on sharpening these abilities, helping individuals and organisations prosper in an era of disruption.

From WISTA’s perspective, the inclusion of Karen Leong as the keynote speaker is not just timely but essential for the current corporate and business landscape in Sri Lanka. As noted by WISTA Sri Lanka President and Shermans Logistics Director/CEO Diruni Chanmugam, “From a Sri Lankan corporate perspective, we do not get many opportunities to be exposed to internationally renowned speakers. Since WISTA is celebrating 10 years of presence in Sri Lanka, we realised that it’s time to give back something of value to the corporates and employees across all industries, not limited to a particular gender, even though WISTA is a women-led organisation in the shipping and logistics sectors. We represent the supply chain and logistics industries, where the corporate sector depends on us as a vital pillar in the value chain. It was all the more important to bring in such a calibre of keynote speaker.”