SWOT aims to become the hub of influential women leadership in Sarawak

KUCHING, 7 Oct: Sarawak Women of Tomorrow (SWOT) aims to develop as a hub for women's leadership capable of making a long-term and sustainable impact on Sarawak.

SWOT Chairman, Datuk Zunaidah Idris, said the aspiration was in line with the program's goal to produce women leaders who are confident, bold and able to make decisions based on values of integrity, ethics and accountability.

"SWOT will not only be a platform to build courses or women's leadership, but it will become a hub that will have long-term and sustainable impacts for Sarawak", she said when met after the Sarawak Women of Tomorrow 5.0 program, here today.

He said the impact of the programme can be seen through increased confidence, communication skills and participants' courage to act as leaders.

SWOT 5.0 participant Yvonne Tan said the program helped her build confidence to communicate views in professional situations.

"At first I was nervous, but after joining the program, I could talk without a script, look at the audience and speak with more confidence.

"It really made a big impact on me, especially in my work life", she says.

Another participant, Nadia Farzana Sharkawi, said the programme changed its perspective on leadership concepts that were previously more focused on achieving key performance indicators (KPIs).

"When we want to be leaders, we can't look at KPIs alone. We need to lead with more empathy, courage and know why we lead people", he said.

Meanwhile, Zunaidah said SWOT aims to involve more civil servants and entrepreneurs in the program next year.

He said this year's edition brought together 37 participants from 18 organisations including Sarawak Water, PETROS, Shell, PETRONAS and Bintulu Port.

"We hope that next year more people from the public service sector and entrepreneurs will be able to participate in this programme.

"With broader engagement, we want SWOT to have a greater and continuous impact on Sarawak", he said.