LEADERSHIP IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD

On the 18th February 2021, BA ISAGO University through its Centre for Professional Development and Consultancy held a webinar under the topic “Leadership in a rapidly changing world”. The objective of the webinar was to provide an opportunity to share information on how organisations can preserve in a rapidly changing world. The webinar pulled participants from the Botswana Defense Force, Selibe Phikwe Town Council, Members of Parliament, Stanbic Bank of Botswana, National Strategy Office just to name a few. 

The Managing Director of BA ISAGO University, Mr. Odirile Gabasiane presented on the topic; Leadership and National Development, The Role of BA ISAGO University. In his presentation, he pointed out the importance of such a webinar in these uncertain times. “We require the input of organisational leaders, community leaders, family leaders, national leaders, church leaders and any form of leader to adapt to the reality around us” says Mr. Gabasiane. He urged the communities, societies, academic researchers including the global community to work with the understanding that we are all gearing ourselves for a rapidly changing world. It maybe COVID-19 now but who knows what is next. Mr. Gabasiane to describe the role that BA ISAGO University plays in Leadership and National Development by explaining that BA ISAGO knows that the environment is becoming more dynamic and complex therefore there is a need to transform and build new capabilities by embarking on drive to become more agile and digital to support investments and business development growth in the public and private sector.

Mr. Samuel Minta, the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank Botswana Limited was one of the guest speakers. His topic was on “Leading in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. In his speech he eluded the six dimensions of the fourth industrial revolution and emphasized how they in the banking industry are leading in this revolution. “Our motivation and vision at Stanbic Bank Limited is to improve the quality of lives of Batswana and find new ways of making dreams possible” says Mr. Minta. Stanbic Bank Botswana is led by the notion that leadership is all about the human experience. 

Ms. Goaba Mosienyane, the Deputy Director General of National Strategy Office was too one of the guest speakers. Her topic was on “Ensuring Sustainable Partnerships-Public and Private Sectors”. She started her speech by quoting words from the President of the Republic of Botswana, Dr. M. E. Masisi, “The partnership between government and the private sector must be strengthen, consolidated and intensified to propel this country to greater heights in terms of economic stimulation and job creating and sustainable economic growth” says Ms. Mosienyane. She continued by highlighting that it is the mandate of the private sector to step forward and take the lead in catalyzing economic activity and sustainable job creation. Ms. Mosienyane then eluded that in the budget speech, the intention for the year 2021/2022 is to create opportunities for the private sector to deliver major investment projects. 

Dr. Isaya Banda, BA ISAGO University’s consultant drew the attention of the participants on the tools that leaders can adopt in their organisations. He mentioned and explained Emotional Intelligence as a leadership tool. “When a leader has emotional intelligence, they are aware and sensitivity towards their feelings and those of others’’ explains Dr. Banda. An emotionally intelligent leader is able to influence people through understanding their feelings and motivations. Dr. Banda also spoke about Business Process Management as a leadership tool. “Business Process Management is the key to enterprising, the tool discovers and controls organisational processes and aligns them with the business goals” he said. He explains that a good leader is able to map out processes that feed into the organisational strategy and align resources to achieve optimization.

BA ISAGO University hosted this webinar to create awareness on the upcoming management webinars that it intends to host. The University stands strong on the notion that trainings and workshops are imperative during crisis as they are the core of information and idea sharing to ensure that enterprises stay afloat.