Keep Your Response Sharp and Ready to Navigate in Testy Global Scenario: Speakers at TMA’s Management Meet

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The relevance of strategic leadership in every domain has assumed added significance in the prevailing global scenario marked by geopolitical complexities and technological disruptions, said the panellists at a session at TRIMA 2025, the annual management conclave of Trivandrum Management Association (TMA) here on Thursday.

“Leadership for an emerging world: Navigating technology, entrepreneurship & social wellbeing” is the central theme of the two-day conclave, which opened on Wednesday.

Leaders helming any enterprise today need to be sensitive to the realities of a fast-transforming world to be able to craft their responses to challenges, said Air Marshal I P Vipin (Retd), setting context for deliberations on“The Agile leader—Embracing challenge & Innovation.”

Noting that today’s is a world where tradition, legacy and tenure are no longer respected, Sashikumar Sreedharan, MD Google Cloud (APAC), said that “the disruption we are seeing now is just a tip of the iceberg.”

Since the challenges a leader confronts at a particular moment could be very different from what others face, the responses too need to be different. “There is nothing like a silver bullet solution” which every one can leverage to ward off challenges on the way, Sashikumar Sreedharan said.

Courage to face situations, commitment to execute, ability to communicate lucidly and readiness for continuous learning are some of the critical components that help leaders navigate through challenges, he added.

Amid shifts and disruptions, opportunities too are waiting to be spotted and realised, Aju Jacob, MD, Synthite Industries Pvt Ltd. said.

“As businesses transform, we also come across lots of opportunities. At the same time, amid all these shifts some values remain constant such as quality of products and ethical practices in production processes, as the consumers are now more agile about them,” Aju Jacob added.

In a scenario where growth is no longer decided by plans drawn up in board rooms, leaders need to be sensitive to the minutest disruptions, Arjun Mahadevan, CEO, Travancore Cocotuft Pvt Ltd, said.

It is important to foster a mindset tuned to adapt to the minutest changes by taking on board the last person at the lowest strata in any enterprise, he added.

At another session on “Social Well-being—Current Crisis”, the panellists, a healthy mix of doctors and police top brass, called for collective efforts to address some societal and health challenges faced by Kerala before they push the state to intractable crises.

Chairing the session, Jacob Punnoose, former DGP Kerala, said the ultimate purpose of technological advancements and economic development is social wellbeing.

“Peace and social wellbeing are preconditions for prosperity. Are we in right track?” It is time we asked this question ourselves,” Punnoose added.

Dr M I Sahadulla, CMD KIMSHealth, said Kerala’s slow-burning social crisis is exposing a leadership vacuum, when society as a whole has a lot of reasons to worry, which call for urgent attention and a cogent response.

Erosion of traditional support systems, employment related worries, low dignity of labour, elderly isolation, rising digital and mobile dependency, low stress threshold and community and political polarisation are some of the issues that need to be addressed urgently and effectively, Dr Sahadulla said.

Dr Arun B Nair, Prof. of Psychiatry, Govt Medical College, Trivandrum, said lack of sufficient human connect is at the core of many of the social and mental health challenges faced by the state, such as high suicide rate, depression and child abuse. The younger generation is the worst affected by these maladies, often leading to behavioural and substance addiction, he added.

S Sreejith, ADGP Police Headquarters, Trivandrum, said social wellbeing as an inclusive goal to be achieved very much depends on how well one is socially connected.

Kerala has become a society that determines success and happiness in terms of one’s own security, which has cast its social cost, glossing over the reality that “success has nothing to do with happiness beyond a point”, Sreejith added.

As a platform for interdisciplinary exchange cutting across science, management, technology, and societal development, the discussions and presentations at TRIMA 2025 spotlighted on leadership models tailored to the volatile and complex global landscape.

Established in 1985 and affiliated with the All-India Management Association (AIMA), TMA is one of India’s premier management forums.