At the baseline of Sustainability lies the Instinct to Survive; this was the lead conversation at the recently organized CEO’s roundtable discuss on Sustainability. Adversity triggers innovation and this was also a position taken by all the CEOs present. It was also gathered at the event that the greatest threat of all is Poverty of the mind. ”Nigeria alongside her businesses are desperately in need of Transformational Leadership because of the present situation we are in economically” this was the central focus of the keynote presented by Tonye Cole, Co-Founder Sahara Group.

He went on to illustrate that businesses that would succeed in this era are businesses that are have developed winning survival strategies and with a penchant for dynamism and Innovation.

These forward-looking businesses have certain characteristic traits in common and they are:

• Ability to foresee the future by reading the signs we see today
• Being consistently and deliberately relevant in your line of business
• Advocacy, adding value and Engaging with relevant stakeholders
• Knowing when to change strategy/tactics
• Opening up new frontiers and Markets
• Build Lasting Relationships – One key pillar to sustainability is lasting relationships, Relationships outlive Governments
• Grow your business while others are afraid
• Collaborate

During the plenary session on Investing in Talents for Sustainable and Competitive Advantage, Udo Okonjo, CEO Fine & Country WA gave an insight into how leaders of 21st-century businesses can leverage on a healthy, happy and properly engaged employee. She also said that CEO’s need to constantly think about going back into the Nigerian society and help build the fallen structures.

Speaking from her experience as a 21st-century business leader, she maintained that the companies that have a strong sense of purpose will retain people with a strong sense of purpose and the people with strong personal vision, tend to last longer in the company.

Mrs. Okonjo rounded off her session by touching point on the importance of creativity and its impact on the collective growth for both the employee and the employer. She said that ”Creativity is very important when you give employees an opportunity to contribute to the vision of the company so as to grow it; and the kind of people who will thrive in that environment are people who are Dynamic, Innovative and Creative”.