Women have been proving their mettle as powerful leaders – through turbulent
times and more so, in the toughest of seasons.
The corporate world so to speak, has been one unsparing battleground for
C-suite female executives – primarily in navigating the tough challenges of a
global pandemic and the subsequent Russia-Ukraine war, that in essence, had not
only turned the world upside down; but these unfortunate events also put many
businesses to a screeching halt.And most, if not all companies, had been
confronted with catastrophe-engulfed recovery and growth.
Just more than a year into the post, yet that had been the
all-too-familiar business milieu that Shell Philippines Country Chair Lorelie
Quiambao-Osial had to wade through in steering their company through the
disruptive blitz of economic recuperation.
“I started in the role just over a year ago, and it has been a pivotal moment
taking on the role during a crisis and leading the organization out of a crisis
into recovery and transition,” she enthused.
Manifestly though, she’s not exactly new into that territory – primarily if we circle back
to the perplexing assignments in war-torn Iraq as well as in Iranthat she had
to live throughfor years – that was before she was called back home to take the
helm of Shell companies in the Philippines.
“I
stepped into the role while we were still in a pandemic. Ensuring that we had continued care for the
health and well-being (physical, mental, social) of our around 5,000 employees
and extending that to their families through Covid and typhoon Odette (in
December 2021) was very important,” the Shell top executive narrated.
The cardinal game plan she had primed the organization to pursue was “ensuring we
take a measured approach and a learner mindset to the ‘future-of-work’
providing flexible work options for employees while balancing team
collaboration and ensuring that everyone can safely perform at their best.”
Inadvertently,
what came next was an even more nightmarish war that precipitated an
exasperating global energy crisis – a painful geopolitical event that had not
only impacted the post-Covid economic recovery aspirations of countries, butthat
proved to be more agonizing in the pockets of consumers.
“The Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War has ushered uncertainty and
volatility,” Osial noted.
Yet amid these gut-wrenching conditions, her determination to guide Shell
Philippines into its recovery path never waned – not just for the benefit of
the consumers; but for the sake of advancing the country’s energy security
goals.
“We are persevering in our refreshed and refocused strategy to meet the current
needs of our customers and power progress for the Filipinos. Despite the
challenges and volatility, we have ensured security of supply of quality
products and services; and in the past year continued to strengthen our
mobility network and supply chain,” she stressed.
Moving forward, Osial shared that “we are growing our non-fuels business and providing
more solutions for the evolving needs of our customers such as electric vehicle
charging. We have ventured into
renewable energy through our power trading business and joint ventures to
pursue onshore solar and offshore wind opportunities.”
She similarly highlighted that “sustainability is another area we have focused on
as we reduce the carbon emissions in our own operations and in the products we
sell. Our Shell Business Operations here
in Manila, that supports over 50 countries around the world, has also been
growing in the past year.”
Given all the transformative business portfolios that Shell is currently pursuing in
the Philippines, Osial confidently asserted that “our portfolio is changing, we
are here to stay and we are here to grow.”
Shell’s social contract for improvement and quality lifewith its host communities is another
core platform in the business strategy that Osial has been championing.
“Beyond our business, we care for the communities. We have supported our communities through disaster relief and
rehabilitation as we were hit by several typhoons - typhoon Odette being one of
the more notable ones,” she narrated, emphasizing that “we partnered with
various government organizations to strengthen community safety standards; and
we worked closely with Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI), our social
development arm in programs on solar lights and social development and in
flagship programs for the youth, entrepreneurs and in promoting innovation,”
she conveyed.
Like a mother who protects and guides her children with tender loving care, Osial
has been applying the same formula on her leadership’s‘art of war’ within the
internal realm of the Shell organization; as well as with external partners –
primarily the consumers; host communities and the Philippine government.
The business acumen she had exhibited through the roller-coaster chapters of global cataclysms that had
been compounded by domestic concerns, had demonstrated her unwavering
determination to stay focused on the big picture and her willingness to take
bold moves to shepherd Shell into its safe haven of resilience and further
advancements.