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In the shipping realm, there is a leadership attribute hinting that we can have two skippers on the same ship, but we cannot afford to have two destinations for there is where failure starts.

However, in the kitchen realm, we are often reminded of the age-old adage of too many cooks spoil the broth although large restaurants do welcome more than one chef to ensure its success.

In the same light, it is no longer uncommon in today’s corporate world for some companies to pursue the co-CEO or joint chief executive model of leadership.

While having two heads can be better than having one, such co-leadership model demands professionalism and mutual understanding par excellence from both heads lest the ensuing leadership falls apart.

A rarity at best among Bursa Malaysia-listed companies, Berjaya Corporation Berhad (BJCorp) has joined the fray recently with the appointment of company veterans Vivienne Cheng Chi Fan and Syed Ali Shahul Hameed as joint group CEOs, effective 1 April 2022. This follows the departure of Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed as group CEO of the company effective 31 March 2022.

With Malaysia’s Top 100 public listed companies (PLCs) inching closer to the benchmark 30% figure for women’s boardroom representation (currently at 26.5%), the focus is gradually shifting to propelling gender diversity in the equities market.

Recently, Bursa Malaysia revealed that Malaysian women are increasingly engaged in investing activities, accounting for 36% of new Central Depository System (CDS) accounts opened year-to-date, up from 34% in 2021 and 32% in 2020.

In addition, female investors made up close to 30% of the total traded value in 2021 with a 178.4% increase in total traded value and a 194.1% increase in total traded volume between 2018 and 2021.