My primary objective of attending the GEMBA programme is to prepare myself with the necessary executive education to ensure that I stay relevant in the currently challenging global business environment. This has become more palpable with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted multiple industries. The education sector has not been spared from the disruption caused by COVID-19.

• Read more about Seeking Relevance

It was late January 2020 and I finally decided to apply to the TIEMBA programme, which also coincided with the start of the COVID pandemic. I had been researching and casually poking around the Executive MBA space for a couple of years, but now felt like it was the right time to make a commitment.   

• Read more about Exactly What I Was Looking For

A few months ago, it would have been difficult to imagine that a pandemic would come our way, causing the whole world to stop. I imagine that this outbreak wasn’t in anyone’s plans. My first thought was to abandon all my objectives for the year, due to the uncertainty about the future.

• Read more about Transforming Difficult Times into Great Opportunities

‘Embracing uncertainty: When the strategy is uncertain, the best managers acknowledge what’s unknown, but also look ahead to what is known.’ The Harvard Business Review (Special Issue) Summer 2020 Most of my work revolves around resilience.

• Read more about The Turning Point

This year will probably be remembered by the uncertainty we all faced. Back in January, we all no doubt made plans to travel abroad, start a new business, pursue an MBA, or seek many other projects that would have made the year 2020 an amazing one. However, things turned out to be completely different. 

• Read more about Why Invest In An MBA With So Much Uncertainty Around?

Starting an MBA amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is a decision that requires some courage. I still remember the feeling of my heart sinking six months ago, when I first learned the reality of how the COVID outbreak had impacted campus life all around the world.

• Read more about Living the INSEAD Life with Gratitude in the Year of COVID

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then” – Lewis Caroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland It was 2AM, and I was lying in my bed in Dubai, perfectly content with life but hungry for change. Hungry for more. Contentment is a fickle friend and can lead to complacency.

• Read more about The Start of the '21J Journey

As a senior director for a fast-growing global real estate development company, I face a much more complex environment now, than when I first started my career. I am required to tackle challenges and make strategic prescriptions to the board — decisions that have an impact on the future of the business in a context of an overall transformation of the industry. This is particularly heightened by the uncertainty the global pandemic brings to many aspects of the business, of our projects and my responsibilities. 

• Read more about Facing Current Challenges and Crafting the Future

Having gone through the 2008 financial crisis and now going through the COVID-19 crisis, I am convinced that one needs to adapt to fast-changing environments by acquiring new skills and challenging the status quo. Something that I strongly believe in, is that the Executive MBA (EMBA) programme at INSEAD will help me navigate not only this current crisis, but future ones as well. The programme will help me to develop the right mindset in order to anticipate and embrace changes in my industry and my work environment.

• Read more about Anticipating and Embracing Changes

Very few industries have gone unaffected by the drastic changes that COVID-19 has laid upon the world in the past few months. Starting from shifting workplaces to shutting down vertical markets, most sectors have seen a loss in revenues, logistics, human resources, and infrastructure costs. Industry leaders have had to discontinue product lines, shut down retail stores, or send home hundreds of employees, all at an unprecedented rate.

• Read more about How Did COVID-19 Show Us the Path to a More Futuristic World?