Alumni

Applying Knowledge and Experience from
IATSS Forum & Paying Forward to Community

Participant's Voices

Kun

  • Country : Indonesia
  • Forum : 57th batch (2017 Spring Forum)
I was grown up in East Nusa Tenggara, a region in eastern of Indonesia that is still underdeveloped. Although the region has many potential resources, but its people still struggle with poverty and unemployment. There is inequality of development in Indonesia where development in eastern Indonesia like Papua and East Nusa Tenggara still left behind compare to development in Java and Bali. About 65% of money circulation also occurred in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia. For more than 3 years, Vertiton launch 9 business entities in some areas including underdeveloped region in Indonesia so that we can build the regions by our business and job creation. To develop my venture, it requires good leadership and management skills, know-hows, support from stakeholders/network, and the application of advanced technologies. That is the reason why I need to apply IATSS Forum since the program will give me a chance to develop as an excellent young leader with mentoring, networking and abundant important resources that crucial in my business development. The program also offering multi topic, seminar, and group discussion which can enhance my interpersonal and communication skills. Moreover, I am so eager visiting several cities in Japan, Honda factory, local company, museum and so on. For sure, I will meet and make friendship with some people from various countries and background. Can't wait to come in Japan!
I was very intrigued by the fact that this program offered such an extensive curriculum from politics, sustainable development up to disaster and ecotourism which rarely I learn before. As an entrepreneur, the program teaches me how to lead, focus and synergy with others, which are crucial in my business world. We traveled to several lovely cities around Japan and did many site visits like Honda facilities, Suzuka Circuit, City Hall, Moku-Moku Farm, Kamishima island, Ama divers, Regulus, and Museums. I ended up learning many concepts quite nicely as well as making solid networking. So, this program helped me bring out those attributes to my project, that I can talk to people in my company, not just in terms of feelings, and how I "feel" something should be, but back it up with credible information. The lecturers was able to give us a lot of practical, relevant examples—ways and means by which we could use solidified frameworks to apply to everyday situations. It was very practical, and not abstract at all. One of the main things I learned from this course was to know what your sphere of influence is and work within that sphere of influence, and secondly, build small successes very quickly and use that as leverage once you've got the credibility of having delivered output successfully—use that to create more successes and expand your footprint. The program was a very well planned program, which meant that I had 2 months to put a detailed business continuity plan in place, and that is what gave my company confidence to let me go on the program. When you put 19 people together, and you force these 19 people to live together in a manner of speaking, see each other every day for many hours—not just in the classroom, but outside of the class, I think that's a very good thing in this program because it forces you to really mix with people, even people for whom you might say, "well, I wouldn't want to normally spend a lot of time with this person," or "I don't think I get along with this person." But surprisingly you do get along with them. I feel as if 55 days have passed too quickly. It's very challenging and totally worth it. Totally worth your effort and time. And that's not just from the knowledge point of view. I also make friends from around Asia, which was valuable for me—making human connections. You can study—that's hard—but it's even harder to make friends. So this course provided me the opportunity to make new friends, and I cherish that. My classmates were a mix in every sense. They came from organizations doing radically different things than what my company does. And I think that adds to the enrichment of the program, because everybody's perspectives about how you apply things that you learn in the classroom are very different. It was very refreshing to have people who do things that you don't do. You had to find a way to communicate, make yourself understood, and still work as a group, not as an individual, and still present successfully. Thank you IATSS Forum for this opportunity. It gives me a great impact. Now that the program has come to an end, it is my turn to drive innovation in my organization and community I belong to. Based on these experiences I will start doing what I can to create a better future. Big hugs, Kuncoro Sejati Founder Vertiton Group

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