2022 international webinar facing vuca, how academics navigate the new normal part 3

VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. In essence, the VUCA world means the world we live in today, where change is very fast, unpredictable, influenced by many factors that are difficult to control, and truth and reality become very subjective. If we want to survive in today's world, we cannot avoid progress. We can only adapt. As Albert Einstein said, "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."


Awareness of VUCA theory today encourages many people to adapt more quickly and effectively. If someone resists change, then it is likely that that person will experience various lags that are quite far. Moreover, with the rapid development of information and communication technology as it is now, any changes in one place will be very easily and quickly transmitted to other areas.


STEKOM University as a professional educational institution with a global outlook is also trying to build an academic community that is responsive to the VUCA phenomenon. This reason is one of the reasons that prompted STEKOM University to hold an international webinar involving speakers from within the country and abroad who specifically discuss various fields related to the VUCA phenomenon. The webinar uses the title “Facing the changing business world in the VUCA Era”.

The seminar was held on October 20, 2022 with 2 speakers from Malaysia and one speaker from Indonesia. The first speaker at the event was an associate professor. His full identity is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umm Naiemah Saraih. Dr. Ummi serves as a leader at the Center of Excellence for Social Innovation & Sustainability (CoESIS), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), MALAYSIA. The title of his presentation was “Living in a VUCA World: How Academic Leaders can Navigate the New Normal”.


At the beginning of his presentation, Dr. Ummi explained about the table of contents of her presentation. There are approximately 4 main points that will be conveyed by Dr. Ummi, namely introduction, leader navigating VUCA, role of follower, and conclusion. This news article is a continuation of the material with the same title in part 1 and part 2 which has discussed the relevance of VUCA today and how to navigate VUCA.


This article discusses Dr. Ummi about the role of followers in the world of VUCA. In short, the role of the follower in this case is as a challenger for mistakes, as a supporter of the leadership's vision and efforts, instilling open and honest feedback, as an effective leadership appreciator, and instilling cooperation.


The role of the follower as a challenger for errors. Great followers are not afraid to challenge the leader when they think the leader made a mistake or went down the wrong path. With such a situation, the mistakes of the leader's decisions will be easier to avoid.


The role of the follower as a supporter of the vision and efforts of the leader. Great followers support the vision and efforts of their leaders. Great followers execute the leader's intended strategy as planned. This synergy will greatly support the success of a good leader's work program and will ultimately improve the overall performance of the organization.


The role of the follower in cultivating open and honest feedback. Great followers encourage leaders to give honest feedback about their performance. This increases mutual trust between leaders and followers. By welcoming open and honest feedback, followers build a mentor-mentee relationship with the leader.


The role of the follower as an appreciator of effective leadership. Every leader wants to know that their efforts are making an impact and that they are being rewarded. The act of showing appreciation and praise by followers helps reinforce effective leadership practices desired by leaders.


The role of the follower in instilling the spirit of cooperation. Great followers go out of their way to make the work environment conducive. They instill cooperation and build trust between one another. Great followers recognize that teamwork and cooperation are the foundation of organizational performance.