by Atiya Sheikh | Aug 12, 2025 | All Employees, Board Members, Board Trustees, CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, Emerging Leaders, Heads of Divisions, Human Resources (HR), Leadership Development
The Future-Ready Leader: AI, Market Trends, and Continuous Learning
(If you are waiting for a “perfect moment” to learn about AI, you are already behind)
Here is a leadership myth that needs to die:
“I will learn about that once things settle down.”
Spoiler: things will not settle down. The market will keep shifting. AI will keep accelerating. And your competitors will keep experimenting while you are “waiting for the right time.”
What the world’s movers are doing
Goldman Sachs is in its 20th year of the Vice President Leadership Acceleration Initiative (VPLAI) — a programme deliberately designed to grow leaders who can adapt to market shifts in real time. Continuous learning is not a side project. It is the operating system. (Goldman Sachs source)
The Economist highlights that trust and transparency are now as important in tech adoption as the tech itself — because you cannot lead people into a digital future if they do not trust your map.
McKinsey’s research shows that leaders who actively engage with new technologies and market trends are far more likely to translate change into growth rather than disruption. And Gallup’s leadership data is clear: leaders who role-model learning behaviours increase team engagement and innovation capacity by double digits.
If you want to be future-ready, stop “keeping up” and start “getting ahead.” Try this:
- Block “market hours” in your diary – Not for meetings, but for structured scanning of AI tools, competitor moves, and industry reports. Treat it as non-negotiable.
- Run live experiments – Pick one emerging tool or trend each quarter and pilot it in your team. The point is not perfection — it is building muscle for change.
- Make learning visible – Share what you are learning (and struggling with) in your leadership meetings. When leaders are learners, it normalises curiosity.
- Teach forward, not backward – Instead of endlessly reporting on last quarter’s performance, dedicate time each month to explore scenarios for the next two years.
The uncomfortable truth
If your leadership skills are not evolving as fast as the market, you are not leading — you are managing yesterday. The organisations that will win the next decade will be led by people who treat learning as a daily discipline, not an annual retreat topic.
So ask yourself: When my team looks at me, do they see someone preparing them for the future, or someone perfectly equipped for a world that no longer exists?
The Right Conversation Can Change Everything. Let’s Talk.
by Atiya Sheikh | Aug 12, 2025 | All Employees, Board Members, CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, General Managers
Building Trust Through Transparent Systems
(Why leaders who “show their workings” win more than just respect)
Here is a question for you: if your organisation’s performance review process was leaked to the press tomorrow, would you be proud—or scrambling to rewrite it?
That is not a hypothetical to make you sweat. It is a reality check. Because the truth is, trust is not built on charisma or charm. Trust is built in the small print—those unglamorous systems that dictate how people are evaluated, rewarded, and promoted.
Transparency is not about telling people everything.
It is about ensuring the “how” is as visible as the “what.” McKinsey’s data is uncomfortably clear: organisations that put people—not paperwork—at the centre of performance management are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers, 30% more likely to grow revenue, and see 5% lower attrition. (McKinsey link)
Gallup piles on another uncomfortable truth: employees who receive daily feedback are 2.1 times more likely to trust leadership, and if they believe their leaders genuinely listen, that trust more than doubles. (Gallup link)
Here is the twist:
Transparency is not a “feel-good” exercise. It is a strategic weapon. When you make your systems visible—warts and all—you remove the shadows where suspicion thrives. And when suspicion dies, collaboration flourishes.
If you are serious about this, try these experiments:
- Show the algorithm – Publish the exact performance review criteria. Let your team see how the sausage is made.
- Reverse-engineer decisions – For your next big call, publish the rationale. Every assumption. Every discarded option.
- Test the blindfold – Imagine handing your salary banding guidelines to someone in another department who has never met the individuals in question. If the process is truly clear and objective—based solely on role requirements, market benchmarks, and documented criteria—they should be able to determine the exact same pay range you would. If they cannot, it means your system is open to personal bias and inconsistent application.
- Make “why” a habit – Not just “what we decided,” but “why we decided it.” Every time.
The easy excuse is, “But people will not understand the complexity.” I would argue: if your people cannot understand your systems, that is your system’s fault—not theirs.
Transparency does not make you predictable. It makes you dependable. And in a world where the average worker trusts their employer more than government, media, or NGOs (Edelman Trust Barometer), dependability is the currency of leadership longevity.
So, one final challenge: what would your team say if they saw the inner workings today? If the answer is “they would leave,” you already have your real problem.
The Right Conversation Can Change Everything. Let’s Talk.
by Atiya Sheikh | May 25, 2025 | Board Members, Board Trustees, CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, General Managers, Heads of Divisions, Leadership Development
Resilience Starts at the Top: How Leaders Can Equip Their Businesses for Disruption
In an age of constant flux, where global shocks and rapid change have become the norm, the role of a CEO has evolved. Today’s leaders must move beyond traditional responsibilities and embrace a more dynamic title: Chief Resilience Officer.
Recent research from McKinsey & Company raises a pressing concern—84% of business leaders say they feel ill-equipped to handle future disruptions, and 60% of board members believe their organisations lack the preparation to face the next major crisis. Yet, amid this uncertainty, leaders can adopt clear, actionable strategies to build resilience and position their organisations for sustainable growth.
Understanding the Five Dimensions of Resilience
To lead effectively through disruption, CEOs must recognise that resilience spans multiple dimensions. McKinsey outlines four key areas:
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Financial Resilience – The flexibility, liquidity, and access to capital organisations need to weather setbacks and seize opportunities.
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Operational Resilience – The agility to pivot business practices swiftly and at scale.
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Organisational Resilience – The cultural and structural strength that enables teams to adapt and recover from setbacks.
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External Resilience – The strength of stakeholder relationships—including clients, regulators, and investors—that stabilise and support the business.
At inemmo, we believe organisations must also prioritise a fifth dimension:
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Digital Resilience – The ability to adapt, protect, and thrive in an increasingly digital world. This includes countering cyber threats, embracing emerging technologies, sustaining operations through digital platforms, and enhancing digital capabilities across all levels of staff.
In our global leadership work, we regularly observe how digital fragility can undermine even the most robust strategies. Digital resilience is no longer just part of operational readiness—it has become a strategic imperative.
Embedding Resilience into Organisational Vision
High-performing companies often outperform their peers because their leadership teams align under a shared, resilient vision. CEOs must set this ‘North Star’—a guiding purpose that remains steady in turbulent times.
However, many organisations fail to communicate their vision consistently during uncertainty. CEOs must take the lead in recalibrating their messaging, ensuring it connects long-term ambition with short-term responsiveness. A resilient vision inspires confidence and unifies teams navigating ambiguity.
Linking Resilience Directly to Growth
Resilient businesses don’t wait for disruption to expose weaknesses—they plan ahead. McKinsey reports that 72% of high-performing CEOs set growth targets that exceed the market average. These leaders recognise that resilience acts not only as a shield but as a catalyst for progress and innovation.
Practical actions include scenario planning, stress testing, and using periods of calm to build future capabilities. When leaders treat resilience as a growth engine, they position their organisations to seize opportunities amid uncertainty.
Investing in People and ‘Full-Body’ Resilience
Organisational strength relies on more than systems—it depends on people. CEOs must build what McKinsey describes as “full-body resilience” by addressing all five dimensions in an integrated way. Strength in one area should support others when pressure builds.
This requires investment in the adaptability and well-being of individuals across the business. Leaders should prioritise hiring and developing people who remain agile, responsive, and solution-focused—even under pressure.
Strengthening Stakeholder Relationships
In a complex, interconnected world, CEOs must show up as visible, vocal, and values-led leaders. While many executives believe in corporate responsibility, few feel that organisations take meaningful action.
Effective leaders build external resilience by cultivating strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders—suppliers, clients, policymakers, investors, and media. These relationships grow through authenticity, consistent communication, and the courage to lead conversations on critical issues.
Final Thought
At inemmo, we believe resilient leadership goes beyond managing risk—it requires a mindset shift. In moments of upheaval, CEOs who embrace this expanded role, align their people, adapt their strategies, and build external trust will guide their organisations toward long-term value and impact.
Is your leadership team ready to become resilience architects?
The Right Conversation Can Change Everything. Let’s Talk.
by Atiya Sheikh | May 25, 2025 | Board Members, Board Trustees, CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, General Managers, Heads of Divisions
Succession Planning: The Strategic Discipline That Shapes the Future
Leadership succession is not an event—it is a discipline. Done well, it secures continuity, strengthens organisational confidence, and positions businesses to adapt and grow. But handled poorly, it exposes gaps, disrupts momentum, and undermines long-term performance.
At inemmo, we work with boards and executive teams to treat succession planning as a vital thread of strategy. It is not about filling a vacancy; it is about building a pipeline of leaders prepared to guide the business through whatever comes next.
Embed Succession from the Start, Not the Exit
Succession planning should begin the moment a new CEO or senior leader steps into their role—not when they start thinking about stepping down. Organisations that excel in this space treat succession as an ongoing leadership responsibility, not a reactive process.
Embedding succession planning into the rhythm of executive oversight enables early identification of potential successors and helps ensure long-term readiness.. It allows leadership teams to make informed decisions, avoid last-minute scrambles, and ensure the future is always being shaped—not simply awaited.
The Next Leader Should Be Built for What’s Ahead
One of the most common missteps in succession is choosing someone who mirrors the current leader. While continuity has its place, it should not come at the expense of future readiness.
Boards and leadership teams must look beyond what works now because tomorrow’s challenges will be different. What capabilities will be essential as the business evolves? What leadership style will help the organisation respond to new market forces, emerging technologies, or global uncertainties?
Succession planning must be future-facing. It requires a clear, dynamic leadership profile—one that evolves alongside strategy, culture, and external shifts. Psychometric tools, behavioural assessments and executive development insights provide the evidence needed to identify not just high performers, but high-potential leaders prepared for tomorrow’s demands.
A Strong Handover Builds Confidence and Momentum
A leadership transition is not just about who comes next—it’s about how they are supported. Outgoing leaders play a vital role in enabling a smooth handover. When handled with transparency and structure, this transition builds confidence among investors, employees, and stakeholders.
It is essential that the incoming leader is given both backing and breathing space. A well-executed handover includes mentorship without interference, knowledge transfer without micromanagement, and public endorsement without overreach.
The real measure of a leadership legacy is not only in what was achieved—but in how the next chapter is made possible.
Succession Planning as a Leadership Culture
Truly resilient organisations treat succession planning as a core element of their leadership culture. It becomes part of how talent is developed, how strategy is sustained, and how growth is enabled over time.
At inemmo, we help organisations make succession planning part of the leadership dialogue, not a last-minute discussion. We support boards, senior teams and HR leaders to prepare the next generation of executives—not just to take over, but to take the organisation forward.
Succession is not about replacement. It’s about renewal.
The Right Conversation Can Change Everything. Let’s Talk.
by Atiya Sheikh | Mar 30, 2025 | CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, News & Articles
What a 19th-century war game reveals about strategic thinking, adaptability, and decision-making for today’s senior business leaders.
In 1824, a young Prince Wilhelm of Prussia witnessed a military simulation that would go on to change the fortunes of his army—and perhaps the shape of Europe. Kriegsspiel, a war game designed with maps, wooden battalions, and probability tables, was more than a pastime. It became an engine of innovation. Under Wilhelm’s reign, this simulation helped shape military tactics that brought unexpected success in the Franco-Prussian War. Its continued evolution laid the groundwork for predictive logistics, strategic modelling, and ultimately the birth of modern game theory.
For today’s senior leaders, the lesson is clear: when complexity reigns, the ability to model reality—rather than simply react to it—becomes a defining advantage.
Simulating Complexity
The genius of Kriegsspiel was its ability to condense an overwhelming battlefield into a controlled, analytical environment. Its relevance today lies in its approach to complexity. Senior leaders navigating volatile markets, geopolitical shocks, and AI disruption face similarly intricate challenges. The temptation is to act decisively and instinctively—but modelling, simulation, and structured experimentation are far more effective tools.
The most forward-thinking organisations are already building internal “war rooms” that operate in much the same way. They use scenario planning not simply to forecast risk, but to rehearse resilience. Supply chain breakdowns, cyber threats, and consumer shifts are gamed out with cross-functional teams, enabling adaptive strategies long before crisis strikes.
The Leadership Mindset Shift
But the power of simulation lies not in the models alone—it lies in the mindset it cultivates. Prince Wilhelm didn’t simply mandate the use of Kriegsspiel for entertainment. He institutionalised it as a learning tool, embedding it into the professional development of every officer. In doing so, he transformed a military culture from rigid tradition to experimental agility.
Modern business leadership demands a similar shift. Organisations that treat uncertainty as a problem to eliminate will remain brittle. Those that treat it as a landscape to explore—one where tactics can be tested, recalibrated, and refined—will be better placed to navigate transformation with confidence.
This requires humility as much as ambition. Leaders must be willing to ask: What don’t we know? Where might we be wrong? Which assumptions should we challenge? These questions are uncomfortable, but they’re also the entry point to deeper strategic insight.
Models Are Not the Territory
Still, simulation has its limits. Just as Kriegsspiel compressed the battlefield into a tidy map, modern tools—from spreadsheets to digital twins—are simplifications of reality. Kelly Clancy, in her wide-ranging study of how games shape perception, warns that the map can begin to distort the territory. Overreliance on models can lead leaders to prioritise what is measurable over what is meaningful.
The same caution applies to the way game theory and behavioural economics have entered boardroom thinking. When human behaviour is treated as a matter of incentives alone—as though employees, customers or partners are pure rational actors—organisational strategy risks becoming divorced from lived experience.
The best leaders recognise the utility of these models without being seduced by their elegance. They combine data with judgement, logic with empathy. They understand that metrics are tools, not truths.
Designing for Adaptability
In today’s digital environment, game-like mechanisms are everywhere. Reputation systems, social scoring, and algorithmic feedback loops all shape how value is perceived and decisions are made. Businesses too often absorb these mechanisms passively—optimising for clicks, engagement, or customer “loyalty”—without stepping back to ask whether the game they are playing is the one they ought to win.
Leadership today must be more deliberate in shaping the rules of engagement. This means designing organisations not just for efficiency, but for adaptability. It means rewarding learning, not just output. And it means recognising that agility is not the same as chaos—just as improvisation in jazz is rooted in deep discipline.
What a 19th-century war game can teach us about 21st-century leadership
What can a 19th-century war game teach us about 21st-century leadership? More than we might expect. In an age where strategy must be as fluid as the challenges it seeks to overcome, simulation becomes more than a technique—it becomes a habit of mind.
To lead effectively today is to engage with complexity on its own terms. Not to flatten it, ignore it, or hope it goes away. But to step inside it, play it out, and emerge with clearer thinking and sharper intent.
The Right Conversation Can Change Everything. Let’s Talk.
