Organised by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the 2015 edition of the annual Future Leaders Summit held today at the NTUC Centre brought together 15 inspiring leaders and top management from a range of diverse industries to share their insights and perspectives with some 700 Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs).
In addition to keynote addresses from luminaries such as Mr Piyush Gupta, Group CEO of DBS Bank Limited and Ms Chua Sock Koong, Group CEO of Singapore Telecommunications Limited, the summit also featured exclusive networking sessions and three distinctive tracks for attendees to tailor their learning experiences to meet their career growth needs.
The three tracks each addressed a critical quality that PMEs need to possess in order to be future-ready. The Industry Leaders track addressed the issue of personal branding, and how that can help our PMEs better pinpoint their value contribution to their organisations. The Inspiration track put resilience in the spotlight as speakers shared their personal journeys and discussed the importance of the ability to adapt to a changing world and bounce back during adversarial times. Last but not least, the Technology track brought the ‘challenger mindset’ to centre stage, where speakers drew inspiration from the technology sector and shared how PMEs can chart their path to future-ready leadership.
Speaking at the Future Leaders Summit this morning, NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing encouraged local PMEs, especially younger PMEs, to explore opportunities beyond Singapore and gain overseas exposure as one of the ways to remain competitive and to be able to advance their careers. He cited feedback from Chief Executive Officers, who have based their businesses in Singapore, that they were looking for people with regional and international experiences. He added that as Singapore continues to grow its global hub status, many local and international companies will value people with an international perspective when looking to fill leadership roles.
The Future Leaders Summit is an integral part of NTUC’s Future Leaders Programme, which is a three-tier learning initiative developed to grow the capabilities of our PMEs. Together with the Future Leaders Series – smaller-scale in-depth dialogue sessions which are industry specific – and the Future Leaders Mentorship sessions, where industry leaders conduct interactive sessions in a small group setting behind closed doors to facilitate more open and honest sharing, the Future Leaders Programme serves to address the soft skills gap among Singaporean PMEs to ensure that they are ready to take on global leadership roles, and offers a holistic exploration into the push for future-readiness.
The Future Leaders Programme also complements NTUC’s U Associate Programme, which partners industry associations to support PMEs in their professional growth through the upgrading of expertise and the technical skills required in their respective fields. Together, they form a comprehensive framework to ensure Singapore’s PME workforce remains relevant and prepared for future challenges in the workplace.
Commenting on the overwhelming response of attendees, Mr Vivek Kumar, Director of NTUC U Associate and Future Leaders Programme said: “We are delighted the Future Leaders Summit is adding value to a wider mix of PMEs. Even as the summit continues to attract a large number of young PMEs, senior management leaders formed one third of the delegates this year. We started out aiming to provide a platform to equip PMEs with an arsenal of leadership and workplace winning skills from a diverse range of experienced leaders, and through the years, Future Leaders Programme has reached more than 16,000 PMEs in Singapore."
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