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EGN expands global peer network to Indonesia
Following its success in doubling its Singapore membership over the past two years, the Executives’ Global Network (EGN), the second largest peer-based network of business leaders and executives in the world, has now expanded to Indonesia
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Members of the Executives’ Global Network (EGN) meet for in-person activities to foster collaboration through sharing knowledge, experiences and more.
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ollowing its success in doubling its Singapore membership over the past two years, the Executives’ Global Network (EGN), the second largest peer-based network of business leaders and executives in the world, has now expanded to Indonesia. EGN is the first association of its kind to arrive in the country.
“We are delighted to announce that we opened our Indonesian office last year and will kick off our first peer group session for executive leadership on May 24, and [for] business owners and SMEs [small and medium enterprises] on May 25 at Fairmont Hotel, Senayan,” said Dona Amelia, cofounder and managing director of EGN Indonesia.
“These first sessions are by invitation only for existing members, plus, we are now welcoming new member applications,” she said.
Each year, EGN members can attend six half-day, in-person peer group meetings, 12 in-person cross-functional events, 24 virtual cross-functional meetings and four networking events to meet their peers and exchange their ideas and experiences. Each peer group is assembled by EGN’s experienced networking consultants to ensure that it matches the professional level and discipline of all participants.
While most executives compared notes for competing in the past, the network now aims to change their mindset to foster collaboration so they can share and grow together in learning from each other. The spirit of collaboration is needed more than ever today, because of the new challenges executives are facing from their companies adjusting to increased digitalization towards a post-pandemic future.
EGN members are also provided with access to the Member’s Universe, an online community of more than 14,000 members around the world featuring a global query function, in-app messaging, virtual EGN groups, regional events, global webinars and more.
The EGN also caters to senior executives who take the lead on finding creative, individuated ways so their employees can transition to their companies’ “new normal”.
“Leaders are effective if they are able to navigate through a global crisis in parallel with maintaining day-to-day operations,” Yohanes Jeffry Johary, CEO of ATALIAN Global Services Indonesia, said during a virtual EGN panel discussion.
“Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have been faced with unprecedented changes and challenges, and one of these is the urgency to meet digital transformation goals that has forced countless organizations to accelerate adaptation.”
According to a recent forecast by the International Data Corporation (IDC), global spending on digitally transforming business practices, products and organizations can reach up to US$2.8 trillion in 2025. The IDC also forecasts an annual growth rate of 16.4 percent as organizations pursue a holistic digital strategy for people, processes, technology, data and governance. These changes are also taking place at companies in Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia.
Other than the rapid changes that must be made, senior executives may also deal with the same problems they had prior to the pandemic, such as isolation and a lack of partnership at the top. According to an EGN survey, 30 percent of Singaporean executives in 2019 felt isolated, with the number doubling by December 2021 as a result of the prolonged pandemic.
“Senior executives are suffering and falling off the radar. However, due to expectations and the stigma associated with mental health, they do not have [a] platform to talk about it,” said Nick Jonsson, cofounder and managing director of EGN Singapore.
“These situations may occur, as business leaders are continuously demanded to be on top of things by their company and always able to make the right decisions,” he noted.
The EGN survey also showed that 80 percent of respondents were reluctant to talk about their mental health at work. Meanwhile, Harvard Business Review revealed that 61 percent of CEOs reported that this feeling prevented them from doing their best at work.
Through EGN’s peer-based network, top-level executives are given a platform to share their struggles, victories and other experiences with their peers in similar positions. It’s lonely at the top, as the saying goes, but EGN was founded on the belief that it does not have to be.
Since its establishment in 1992, EGN has provided a space for leaders to gain fresh perspectives and learn new skills, as well as promote critical thinking and true collaboration, in line with its motto, “making each other better”.
Today, the association has grown to represent more than 8,000 companies and 70 professions among 14,000 members in 14 countries. Its group sessions, networking events and app offer senior executives an opportunity to connect with their peers at similar levels to exchange stories and ideas to create a better working environment and strengthen their leadership through collaboration and accountability.
EGN was recognized as Singapore’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year at the Entrepreneur 100 Award 2021 of the Singapore Association of Trade and Commerce.
