While leadership plays an important role in the organization's growth, morale becomes the measure of an employee's willingness to cooperate with their tasks, gain their confidence, and gain trust. A leader may increase morale and enable employees to work to the best of their ability toward attaining their objectives by securing complete cooperation. A productive workplace promotes sound and steady growth. Consequently, a leader should keep human interactions in mind. Delving deep into these aspects forces organizations to bring the right leaders with the right vision into the organization. Let's look at some of the most interesting leadership changes that occurred in 2023 across Asia.
Lenovo Promotes Matt Codrington
Lenovo has promoted Matt Codrington to Managing Director for Greater Asia Pacific. He has spent 16 years working for the organization. Codrington is a well-known executive with more than 18 years of expertise in consumer markets in Asia for technology and services products for a major international company. Working in high-growth and turnaround contexts motivates him greatly. He is best known for quickly developing and implementing workable ideas for a rising top line and a profitable bottom line because he has a strong analytical mind and the ability to detect strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities in business models.
Codrington is a goal-oriented individual with experience in project management, strategic and tactical planning, operational effectiveness, and team building. He has a motivating management style with a track record of creating and keeping highly efficient sales and marketing teams, distributor networks, and functional support teams.
Citibank's Shamsa Al-Falasi
The new CEO of Citibank's UAE onshore operations is Shamsa Al Falasi. Shamsa will also assume the duties of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) UAE for all Citi firms operating both onshore and offshore in the country, according to a statement from the bank.
Al Falasi is an accomplished banker with almost two decades of experience at Citi. He serves as Senior Business and Relationship Manager for the MENA and Turkey region from his base in the UAE. Al Falasi joined the bank in 2004 after graduating, and since then, he has worked in cities like Dublin, London, and Sao Paulo.
2018 saw the expansion of her position to encompass regional responsibilities as Head of GSG in Iraq and the GCC, headquartered out of the UAE. The year saw her appointment as the UAE and Iraq's Global Subsidiaries Group (GSG) Head. Since the beginning of 2023, Al-Falasi has served as the temporary Citi Country Officer (CCO) and interim CEO of Citibank, North Africa UAE Onshore Branch. She will continue to serve as the interim CCO until a permanent replacement is found.
Fernando Plaza Lopez for Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
Fernando Plaza Lopez has been appointed as the new Chief Digital Officer of the prominent financial organization Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). Fernando will be in charge of carrying out omnichannel, Agile, and innovation operations as part of the bank's overall digital strategy. Fernando is a seasoned industry specialist with over 20 years of expertise in the digital and payment industries. He has a history of accelerating growth in organizations with high expansion rates. Fernando has negotiated with startups and major corporations on all digital and payment industry levels throughout his career.
He has held senior management positions at notable organizations like Lloyds Banking Group, Vodafone Group, Emirates Group, Al Rajhi Bank, and Arab National Bank. When Fernando served as the Chief Digital Officer at Arab National Bank, he established a new business unit to encourage development in the fields of digital, fintech, payments, and remittances.
His achievements include leading online banking revenue growth, creating a fintech partnership program, creating a payments group for point-of-sale, eCommerce acquisitions, and international remittances, among others. He also led the digital transformation of the bank's remittance business.
Kellogg India's Vinay Subramanyam
For the South Asian markets of Kellogg India, which also include Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, Vinay Subramanyam has been named head of marketing. According to the corporation, he will be in charge of scaling category development, steering key projects, and overseeing the firm's branding and marketing operations. At Kellogg, Subramanyam had responsibilities in category marketing and sales development between 2011 and 2015. His new position would be in Mumbai, and he would have begun in April. He was the Chief Marketing Officer of Pidilite Industries before returning to Kellogg India. He supervised marketing before joining Britannia Industries Ltd. He has also held several sales and marketing positions during his career and has led substantial, effective teams. He started working with VIP Industries as an Area Sales Manager in 2002.
Sephora's Jenny Cheah Appointment
The biggest omnichannel prestige cosmetics retail company in the world, Sephora, has appointed Jenny Cheah as managing director for Southeast Asia, Oceania, and South Korea. She will report directly to Alia Gogi, president of Sephora Asia. Jenny began her 25-year career with LVMH as a management trainee at DFS, where she gained the managerial skills and business acumen required to oversee a variety of business activities, from merchandising and retail operations to business development and management. Jenny relocated to Bulgari, where she worked for seven years building the company's reputation, overseeing South Asia's growth, and ultimately holding the position of President of Greater China. As the only global beauty omni-retailer, Sephora has nearly 3,000 retail locations across 36 regions. Innovation, a carefully curated product portfolio, industry-leading digital capabilities, and unique customer experiences are the foundation of the company's success. When the business established its first "Store of the Future" in Singapore last year, it included special services, free workshops, and technological innovations to create a seamless experience for the omni-beauty consumer.