SMU Executive Development - SMU ExD

Stepping into leadership for the first time can be exciting but also challenging.

Because managing people requires a very different skill set from managing tasks. Communication, influence, decision-making, and team dynamics suddenly matter a lot more.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 by SMU-ExD Executive Development Development is designed to help new and aspiring managers build the confidence and practical leadership capabilities needed to lead effectively in today’s workplace.

📅 7–9 July 2026
⏳ Last few seats remaining

Find out more and register here: http://smu.sg/tlp

As we support leaders and organisations in navigating change and transformation, we also believe it is important to invest time in our own people and culture so we can continue serving our clients and partners with greater energy, collaboration, and care.

On 25 May, our department will be away for a department team building and development as we take time to learn, reconnect, and grow together.

We appreciate your patience for the slight delays in our responses, and we look forward to serving our clients and partners with renewed energy and fresh perspectives.

Successfully delivered the 18th cohort of our flagship EXCEL Leadership Programme with 27 leaders from 14 countries across Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Maldives, and Saudi Arabia.

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭: Dr Faisal Aman set the stage through interactive icebreakers before leading participants through psychometric assessment debriefs focused on deepening self-awareness. Participants then engaged in a dynamic session by Glenn van Zutphen, who coached them on mastering impactful communication and elevating their executive influence.

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮: Prof Aidan Wong introduced the concept of The Sustainable Conscious Leader, encouraging participants to adopt interdisciplinary perspectives in approaching sustainability and leadership, followed by Prof Shantanu Bhattacharya’s session on strategy models and frameworks, strengthening participants’ strategic thinking capabilities.

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟯: Prof Roy Chua delivered a thought-provoking session on leading with power without formal authority. In the afternoon, Kay Pang explored the leadership competencies required in the AI era and guided participants through an engaging C-suite AI crisis simulation.

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟰: We had an interactive session by Hwee Hoon Tan on building trust within teams and across organisations to foster stronger collaboration. Dr Les Buckley facilitated a highly engaging Agile Leadership session with an intense and immersive activity designed to sharpen agility and strategic decision-making in a VUCA environment.

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟱: We opened with a mindfulness session by Erin Lee, equipping participants with techniques to strengthen personal and team wellness. Prof Augustine Pang delivered a powerful session on Crisis Leadership, culminating in a simulated press conference alongside tier-one journalist Elakeyaa Selvaraji, challenging participants to lead under pressure in high-stakes situations.

The programme concluded with an inspiring fireside chat with Oscar Wezenbeek and Nitin Chhatwani, who shared reflections on their leadership journeys through periods of volatility and change.

📅 Sign up for our next run of the EXCEL Leadership Programme from 2–6 November 2026. http://smu.sg/excel

Delighted to welcome 30 over senior leaders on campus for the Module 1 (Run 3) of the SMU-SID Directorship Programme last week.

This 3-day session covers on the theme - “𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴’ 𝘋𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 & 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘖𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴”. Professor Stephen Bull, Associate Professor of Law, Yong Pung How School of Law, SMU, focused mainly on the Structure and Operations of the Board, as well as the Duties of Directors.

The second part of the module was led by Mr Adrian Chan, Head of Corporate Department & Senior Partner, Lee & Lee; Governing Council First Vice-Chair at Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), who covered on topics such as 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘷𝘪𝘴-à-𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴’ 𝘋𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴.

François Bogacz served as the Programme Director for this module, and was well supported by the team consisting of Desmond Ng and Rachel Lee throughout the 3 days.

More information here https://smu.sg/sid

𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, #𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿. 𝗜𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀.

The AI Governance programme is designed to equip directors and senior-level executives to:
🎯Question AI outputs with confidence
🧭Navigate governance, risk, and ethical complexity
🚀Lead AI discussions at board level

Delivered by SMU Executive Development, Singapore Institute of Directors and Singapore Computer Society.

Learn to govern AI confidently with our next intake on 8 and 9 October 2026 (2 days). Limited seats available. https://smu.sg/AIGov

For years, many believed the Monsoon Wind Project initiated by Impact Electrons Siam's Peck Khamkanist would never happen.

Too remote. Too risky. Too politically complex.

Yet since August 2025, the 600MW wind farm started delivering across borders from the mountains of southern Laos into Vietnam, marking it as one of Southeast Asia’s most ambitious projects to date.

The project reveals the hard realities behind delivering large-scale, cross-border sustainable renewable infrastructure development in emerging markets, from political risk and transmission constraints to blended finance, stakeholder alignment, and long-term ex*****on under uncertainty.

These are the strategic tensions and trade-offs infrastructure leaders are increasingly facing today.

In our latest article, we unpack 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚 as Asia accelerates its energy transition.

Read the article https://bit.ly/4f4yq1Z

The case study is featured in two executive programmes by SMU-ExD Executive Development—
🏗️𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: Focused on infrastructure leadership, PPPs, and project ex*****on across Asia http://smu.sg/gic
🌱𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Exploring how sustainable finance is translated into real-world investment decisions https://smu.sg/SFIA

What do you think is the biggest barrier preventing renewable infrastructure projects from scaling faster in Southeast Asia today?

Is it financing? Governance? Grid infrastructure? Political alignment? Let us know in the comments.

(Image source: Monsoon Wind Power Project)

As cities grow, many are investing heavily in “smart city” technologies.

But what makes a city truly "smart"? Is it the sophisticated urban innovations? What happens when cities collect huge amounts of data… but lack the governance, talent and systems to use it well?

These are the real questions and challenges that define smart city transformation.

In our latest article, Prof Orlando Woods, Director at the SMU Urban Institute distilled five Smart City Development Imperatives after exploring how smart city policies and digitalisation initiatives are developed, transferred, and adapted to different urban contexts across Southeast Asia in a three-year research project.

↔️ 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲: Start with clearly defined, solvable problems before pursuing city-wide transformation.

👨‍👨‍👦‍👦 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: Technology only works when it changes real human behaviour and addresses validated needs.

📊 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁: Without integrated data ecosystems, “smart” solutions become disconnected tools rather than coordinated systems.

📈 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆: The goal is not to deploy more technology. The goal is to improve how cities actually function.

🎯 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: There is no universal smart city model. What works in one city may fail completely in another.

📖Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3R6l4rN

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲, the Urban Data Management Programme explores how urban data can support smarter, more resilient and more liveable cities. http://smu.sg/udmp

Which of these five imperatives do you think cities struggle with most today? Tell us in the comment section.