NANYANG EXECUTIVE MBA

THE EMBA COUPLE EQUIPPING THEMSELVES TO LEAD IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Ivana Arlianto and Susanto Yeo are doing what few couples have managed to do.

They have embarked on an all-in-one by enrolling in the Nanyang Executive MBA (EMBA) programme together: this way, they can merge their passion for work with their love for learning, all while spending quality time together.

Both Susanto and Ivana, who are Indonesians based in Jakarta, are Partners in one of the Big 4 accounting firms.

Ivana had always wanted to pursue an MBA, as it could become a stepping-stone towards her goal of teaching in a university.

So, she started preparing her bosses and teams for her plan about five years ago. Then, when the couple’s son turned 13 this year and had proven his independence, Ivana and Susanto felt that the time was right for them to embark on the EMBA programme.

Ivana was also eager to acquire frameworks to solve issues at work. “I wanted to deeply understand certain principles, so that I can explain to my teams how and why things happen the way they do,” she says.

Susanto was more than ready to join his wife because of a prior mini-MBA experience. “That programme was just three weeks, and I wished it was longer,” he recalls. He yearned for similar stimulating discussions and broader perspectives, and knew that a diverse set of faculty and course mates were what he sought.

Ivana explains: “Some things, you can’t learn from a textbook. The discussions we’re having with the faculty and course mates are very enlightening. Many ideas from our course mates of different nationalities and industries are brought into the classroom, which works as a safe platform for rich debates.”

Understanding leadership in the age of disruption; a wake-up call

The pivotal moment of the programme occurred for Susanto when he was in the Leadership in the Age of Disruption module. “We learnt so much about digital disruption that it has become a wake-up call for us to never be complacent,” he says.

Some of the significant lessons that Susanto mentions include “hearing the best explanation of blockchain that I’ve ever come across,” knowing how to better evaluate digital activities, understanding the differences between digitisation and digitalisation, and acquiring various digital analytic tools.

“As a leader, I think it’s important to always go back to the essential question, which is: ‘What is the right way to solve a particular challenge?’” he shares. “The key is enabling us to identify between adaptive and technical challenges.”

Adaptive challenges call for an open mind, experimentation and entirely new mindsets to problem-solving. “These skills are especially crucial in the digital era,” Susanto says. “Now more than ever, a leader’s ability to develop such skills in his team and manage adaptive challenges has become very necessary.”

Ivana, whose position at work requires her to tap people’s potential to the fullest, achieved insight and renewed confidence when she got acquainted with the Leadership 4.0 framework.

With a clear roadmap presented in stages, the framework encourages leaders to embrace new technologies and implement meaningful digital transformation.

She says: “Frameworks like this have a direct influence on what we do back in Indonesia. This is because in time to come, we will only lead younger and younger teams—tech-savvy generations who are digital natives.”

The possibilities of technology

How does the couple cope with everything that is happening in their lives—work, school and kid—while being away from home?

Susanto shares: “We’ve made the boundaries between work and life porous, so that we can integrate them better. Technology has made this possible: we’re accessible to anyone—whether family, friends or colleagues—whenever they need us.”

The couple’s firm is supportive of remote working. Susanto and Ivana have been able to lead their teams in Indonesia smoothly from Singapore. Ivana reveals that they also share what they have learnt with their colleagues: “Just through chat groups, we can easily transfer the knowledge to our teams.”

Every day, Ivana and Susanto communicate with their son through video calls. They had prepared their family—including their parents, who care for the boy in their absence. “When we eventually arrived in Singapore for our studies, everyone knew what to do,” Ivana says.

The couple is quick to acknowledge that technology doesn’t offer perfect solutions; nonetheless, there must be some compromises in life.

“One can’t ask for perfection in everything, in both work and life,” Ivana concludes. “My life journey, including my current experience, has taught me to let go, choose my priorities well and do my best in the decisions that I’ve made.”

The Nanyang Executive MBA is a part-time 13-months programme that is designed for senior leaders aspiring to innovate and transform the way they lead. The programme aims to embrace the connection between business, technology, and innovation to deliver a relevant curriculum to business leaders to excel in global environments and adapt to each new wave of digital change.

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Click here to learn more about the Nanyang Executive MBA programme or contact us at execmba@ntu.edu.sg.