Leadership and Communication:
Focusing on Recovery and Reinvention to
Win Tomorrow’s Marketplace
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No doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted each and every one of us in one way or another. We are faced with a new reality, including a changed economic and business landscape. The road ahead, in the coming weeks and months, will be very bumpy as we embrace the unprecedented challenges in our professional and even personal lives.
Whilst it is easy to remain in “fire-fighting” mode, the focus of our leadership should be firmly on how we can RECOVER our business and pave the way for us to REINVENT ourselves. This is a critical moment for us. We have to seize the opportunities right now or we will be swept away by the changes that have been accelerated by this crisis.
In this regard, we at Perspective Strategies have not rested on our laurels during this difficult period. While we continue to engage our team and clients, we are also stepping up our game. We have two new big initiatives – one in consulting and another in training and coaching. We hope, we will be given the opportunity to engage with you on these areas in the coming weeks.
In the area of our consulting work, we are establishing a special practice focused on Recovery and Reinvention. This multi-discipline practice will marry our strength in communication with specific technical expertise in areas we strongly believe are essential in future-proofing our organisation and thus helping us in the recovery and reinvention of our business.
We are pleased to highlight that Associate Professor Dr. Chang Li-Yen from the Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya will join our Recovery and Reinvention Practice as Consultant and Expert Advisor on Health and Safety. She will be providing expert input and consultancy to organisations seeking to prepare their organisations for biosafety and biosecurity issues, which have now impacted almost every single sector or business, including identifying and addressing gaps to strengthen health and safety strategies.
Li-Yen has extensive knowledge and experience working with highly virulent pathogen in high biocontainment facilities. Over the years, Li-Yen has won numerous awards and recognition for her scientific work including the prestigious Merdeka Award. She was in the Nipah Virus Encephalitis Investigation Team, which won the inaugural Merdeka Award back in 2008.
In the area of Training and Coaching, we are pleased to unveil to you our newest venture, the Communications Leadership Academy. I am pleased to introduce to you, Cheah Kar Fei, who will be heading this Academy as its Managing Partner. Kar Fei is the Founder and Performance Coach of Life Redesigned, a coaching team that aims to develop young people in the global workforce. With his vast experience in coaching and public speaking, Kar Fei is also an official member of the Forbes Coaches Council and a TEDx speaker. He has coached clients and spoken at conferences in more than 15 countries around the world.
Kar Fei and our new team at the Communications Leadership Academy will focus on efforts to train and coach corporate executives including communication professionals to embrace the new reality – a new marketplace that demands a more agile workforce, a work culture that promotes empowerment as well as teams that are familiar to work remotely and deploy the various digital tools in the market. We will be building a team of coaches and facilitators, who are experts in areas such as biosecurity, organisational development, digital transformation, finance and human psychology.
For both consulting and training and coaching practices, our focus to help businesses recover and reinvent will cover four core areas:
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In the coming weeks, we will be launching a thought leadership series (including articles, infographics, workshops and webinars) to help businesses RECOVER and REINVENT themselves. Our topics will showcase the diversity of subjects which we think will be key to put us on the right path to rebuild, reimagine and reform our business structure and processes as well as the people within our organisations.
Indeed, crisis moments like this is the true test of our organisation’s resilience or our brand’s leadership. In fact, this is the time for us to build trust and engage in meaningful relationships with our stakeholders. This calls for us to showcase our leadership and to step up our communication to stakeholders, including employees, customers, investors, regulators and business partners. After all, communication by the leadership is even more important in times of crisis in order to engage stakeholders meaningfully.
However, no matter how bad the situation is, like all storms it will pass. Yes, this storm is like no other storm we’ve ever faced before. It may feel like a tsunami right now. However, the sun will shine again and that will be our Moment of Truth. There is no better time than right now, for us to start our business recovery and reinvention initiatives.
My team and I will be updating you about these initiatives from time to time but do feel free write to me personally at andy.see@perspective.com.my if you are interested to know more about our big, new ideas.
Thank you.
Carpe Diem!
Andy See Teong Leng
Principal Partner and Managing Director
Perspective Strategies
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Brand Communications in Times of Crisis
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As the world continues to adapt to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our approach to brand communications too needs to be re-strategised. It is important that we ensure brands communicate effectively utilising the right channels, and more importantly, communicate with the right messages for the situation at hand.
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Our client Nippon Paint had previously rolled out its Indoor Wellness Programme, aimed at educating homeowners on the importance of maintaining healthy indoor air quality. In collaboration with the Malaysian Society of Allergy and Immunology, an Indoor Wellness Guideline was developed to provide practical steps and expert advice on ways we can minimise or eliminate indoor pollutants.
As Malaysians are required to stay at home under the Movement Control Order, overall indoor air wellness has become even more important. Leveraging on this opportunity, we engaged Dr Rajbans Singh, President of the Malaysian Wellness Society, to provide expert advice and tips via press releases and feature articles, urging Malaysians to improve their overall indoor wellness amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This has further augmented Nippon Paint’s positioning within the wellness space, aligned with its coatings innovation that are able to improve indoor air quality as well as mitigate the growth of viruses and bacteria.
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Meanwhile, our client LeapEd Services, who focuses on transformative changes within the education sector, has shifted its conversation into the digital space specifically via content creation and seeding through LinkedIn to reaching out to its B2B stakeholders. Innovating a series of webinars for teachers, school leaders as well as parents, LeapEd Services is leading the way in empowering the education community towards e-learning, while cross-sharing its expertise in effective learning experiences.
Aside from the digital-focused strategy, a series of thought leadership content were also seeded to various media platforms through bylined articles, Letter to Editors and viewpoint commentaries – covering topics on e-learning, managing anxiety and inclusive participation in a child’s learning journey.
Within the education space as well, Kumon Malaysia required an urgent shift in communications as its enrichment centres are closed during the Movement Control Order duration. We supported them on various communication needs and messaging, reaching out to its key stakeholders such as franchise owners as well as parents and students. Communication approaches were re-imagined, leveraging on existing digital assets such as WhatsApp and Facebook to maintain interface and engagements with its audience, while Kumon continues to pivot into new ways to provide learning guidance throughout the #StayAtHome period.
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PRGN Resources on Covid-19
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Positive Reputation and Crisis: Not Mutually Exclusive
By Blake D. Lewis III - Three Box Strategic Communications
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#TeamPerspective is With You Throughout This Journey
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Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. The Perspective team has been staying connected throughout the Movement Control Order, making sure that we stay physically active with Zumba, and mentally active with a brain teaser session.
We believe that team spirit is all the more important during these times. Let's stay connected, stay strong, and stay safe!
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This is the fifth issue of Perspectives, a newsletter highlighting our insights on current issues and topics on public affairs, corporate reputation and brand communications.
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