Think You’re Ready? Equipping the Next Generation to Lead Through Tomorrow’s Uncertainty
To register for this event please log in to your BCI website profile. If you do not have a website profile, please register here.
This fireside chat is designed to bridge the gap between foundational resilience practices and the high-level strategic leadership required for the "polycrisis" era. By leveraging Sev Cokayne’s deep expertise in international standards and global leadership alongside Isaac Wheatley’s perspective as an award-winning "Future Leader", the conversation will provide a roadmap for the next generation.
1. Defining the Future: From Technical Expert to Strategic Advisor
Anchor Point: Shifting the mindset from being a "plan writer" to a strategic advisor who understands what leadership truly cares about.
- The "So What?" Factor: How do you identify what "keeps the board up at night" and pivot your technical resilience data into a language the Risk Committee values?
- The Advisor Role: You are the technical expert meant to guide, not decide. How do you maintain influence without being the final decision-maker?
- Impact vs. Visibility: In a field where "success" often means nothing happened, how do you ensure your value is visible to the hierarchy before a crisis occurs?
2. The Skills for Uncertainty: Beyond Plans and Procedures
Anchor Point: Exploring the "Kelly Slide" competencies and the human elements that tech cannot replace.
- The Transferable Toolkit: We’ve moved beyond just Cyber Sec and BC. How do skills like Sense-Making, Ethics, and Critical Challenge become your primary tools in a polycrisis?
- Upward Leadership: How can junior or mid-level professionals practice "upwards leadership" and provide a "critical challenge" to senior executives during high-pressure events?
- Lateral Thinking: When a crisis goes "beyond the manual," what role does abstract and lateral thinking play in navigating the unknown?
3. Navigating Sectors and Career Pivots
Anchor Point: Strategies for moving between NGOs, public sectors, and the multi-billion-dollar corporate world.
- The NGO-to-Corporate Leap: For those coming from an NGO background, how do you translate "field resilience" into "corporate operational resilience"?
- Sector Agnostic Positioning: How can you position yourself so your skills are relevant regardless of the industry—be it smart cities, finance, or energy?
- The Advantage of Crisis: How can you strategically leverage "hands-on" emergency response experience to build a competitive advantage in a corporate career?
4. Resilience Enablers and Future Risks
Anchor Point: Preparing for a landscape dominated by AI, Geopolitics, and Climate Change.
- The AI Factor: Is AI a threat to the resilience professional, or the ultimate "enabler" for better decision-making?
- Risk Agnostic Readiness: With IT resilience and Geopolitics shifting daily, how do you train yourself to be "risk agnostic" rather than constantly playing catch-up with the news?
- Upskilling for 2030: If you were to pick one "non-traditional" resilience skill to master today, what would it be?
5. Building Your Personal "Resilience Network"
Anchor Point: The importance of professional bodies (BCI, Airmic) and community in career longevity.
- The Power of Shadow Boards: Isaac, how has serving on the Airmic Shadow Board changed your perspective on leadership compared to a standard corporate role?
- Standards as a Foundation: Sev, as a contributor to ISO and BSI standards, how can the next generation use these frameworks not just for compliance, but as a ladder for career growth?
- Defining Success: For those who don’t necessarily want to ascend the traditional "career ladder," how can they find longevity and fulfillment in this space?
The Format: No PowerPoint, Just Perspective
We respect your time and your intelligence. This is a no-slide zone. Expect mugs of coffee, honest dialogue, and actionable strategies. Whether you are an emerging professional looking to step up or a seasoned leader wondering why your plans feel "stuck," this conversation provides the bridge between ISO-standard rigour and next-gen agility.
Join the conversation and decide for yourself: Are you actually ready, or is it time to think again?
Speakers:
-
Isaac Wheatley MBCI
Future Leaders Programme, BCI
Isaac Wheatley is a Senior Business Continuity Analyst, working for CMS. He is based in London; and retains expertise in risk management and resilience planning. Isaac ensures critical business operations remain uninterrupted during disruptions. By applying his collaborative approach he focuses teams on developing robust continuity strategies, conducting impact assessments, and driving compliance with the ISO certifications.
Isaac additionally sits on the BCI’s board as there “Future Leader” supporting the organisation in setting its strategy and youth engagement programs; as well as supports Airmic through the Shadow Board program (ESG and L&D).
Isaac is a keen and active member of various London resilience networks having held multiple speaking engagements and supported several articles and white papers on the topic.
-
Jasmiina Rousu AMBCI
Next Generation Champion, BCI
Jasmiina is a business continuity and crisis management professional from Finland, who has an extensive background in the field from working in a big4 consulting company, helping the largest corporations and public sector organizations in Finland and wider Nordics with their business continuity, disaster recovery and preparedness related challenges, and has recently stepped into a new position within the largest bank in the Nordics to ensure the business continuity and crisis management processes of the bank are sustainable for the growing resilience demands and regulations within the sector. She served as the first Future Leader on the BCI’s Global Board of Directors with a passion to ensure the future of the BCI is future-proofed for the younger generations for years to come, and hence, continued her journey on the board from 2025 onwards as the Next Generation Champion, with a mission to launch the NGN to the world.
-
Sev Cokayne
Director, Risk Consulting
More on
