NEWS
FKE
Female Future, leading during a pandemic
- Details
- Published: 29 May 2020
- Last Updated: 29 May 2020
In Female Future Kenya’s first virtual engagement on 19th May 2020, it emerged that leaders have a big role to play in guiding employees during this pandemic. Agility, calmness, confidence, humility, commitment, compassion were some of the characteristics deemed necessary for leaders in this time. Nonetheless, leaders still need to focus on profitability hence the delicate balancing act of managing the social aspect and driving business strategy and goals.
The Executive Director Mrs. Jacqueline Mugo was joined by Mr. Philip Thor a management consultant in Norway. Mr. Thor who spoke about the never changing facets while leading in times of a pandemic emphasised on the need for leading through transparent communication. “You have to communicate quickly and clearly to be ahead of potential risks rather than to counter misinformation, “said Mr. Thor.
Before Covid-19 businesses were concerned about making strategies to improve business and how to lead in times of pandemic or chaos. However, it is evident that most strategies lack guidelines on how to deal with a pandemic. At this point therefore, reinforcing organizational culture and a sense of community i.e. translating office culture to the virtual workspace using collaborative tools becomes a necessity.
Ms. Tori the, Director of the Secretariat for Private Sector Development at NHO who supported this webinar announced plans to establish an International Alumni network for Female Future participants. The network will be a platform for enhancing personal growth, motivation, career support, peer to peer learning and increasing the number of women in multinational and national business. Eventually, it will be a strong voice in influencing gender policies globally.
In her recap, Mrs. Mugo concluded that in times of crisis a lot depends on leadership that inspires and gives hope to employees. Yet at the same time leaders have to keep their eye on the ball, to raise revenue, keep employees in jobs while keeping the business afloat.
The webinar was moderated by the Kenya Program Coordinator, Ms. Mary Nyaga and participants were drawn from other Female Future Countries i.e. Norway, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana.
Look out for the Launch of the International Female Future Alumni (IFFA) in our upcoming webinars in June.
About Female Future Kenya;
The Female Future Kenya is a leadership program targeting women in leadership. The sole purpose is to develop women in the Country to move to higher level and take up higher leadership roles in every sphere of their life. It is in line with the affirmative action on the two thirds gender rule captured in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. So far, 298 women in Kenya have gone through the programme and the Federation tracks progress to see the change in the lives of the participants. Through the program, many have taken up senior level roles, got promotions, board membership and some have become Chief Executive Officers in leading organizations. Furthermore, other women have started their own enterprises and at a personal level have developed confidence in how they lead their various teams.
