Leadership

Tomorrow’s leadership in Healthcare & Life Sciences [Webinar]

Daniel Whitehead — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 09:54:52 +0000

Tomorrow’s leadership in Healthcare & Life Sciences [Webinar] Daniel Whitehead

Driving innovation through AI and Technology....

Join Page Executive in collaboration with EY-Parthenon for this global session exploring the transformative role of artificial intelligence in the Healthcare & Life Sciences industry.

(Original date: 15th April 2024)

Our expert panel delves into the present and future of AI adoption in HLS, looking at:

- How to leverage AI to drive efficiencies while enhancing customer experience
- The imperative renewal of skill sets and the upskilling of teams to integrate the latest technologies, specifically C-suite executives seeking to align their commercial strategies with AI advancements
- Identifying the pivotal roles of the C-suite and strategies for organisations to harness human capital effectively
- Exploring the governance and ethical frameworks surrounding the increased use and deployment of AI

MODERATOR

Angela Yang, Partner, Page Executive

SPEAKERS

Amkidit Afable, Partner, EY Parthenon
Chiradeep Mukherjee, Director, EY Parthenon
Alex Bates, Managing Director, Group Data, Insights & Activation, PageGroup

Watch now:

Looking to hire your next leader?

Get in touch with one of our consultants now to discuss your leadership talent requirements.

Find a consultant

Looking for your next leadership challenge?

Explore our open opportunities right now.

Search jobs

Looking to build a Sustainability function in your organisation? Download our free eBook now.

Are you looking to hire? Request a call back from our team of experts now.

Thank you for submitting the form

Desktop skeleton

How to Write an Executive CV in 2026

Daniel Whitehead — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 14:27:22 +0000

How to Write an Executive CV in 2026 Daniel Whitehead

Writing an executive CV can be a daunting task, especially if it’s your first time. Here is my guide to writing a winning executive resume in 2026 and beyond..

By Cristina Ródenas, Senior Partner Page Executive

Capturing all your career highlights and presenting them succinctly is a time-consuming task, and it’s not as easy as updating your previous CV with a few new achievements. Applying for senior and C-level roles usually involves a major overhaul of your layout and content so it’s common to wonder if you’ve got it “right”.

Having placed over 2,000 candidates in senior management and leadership positions worldwide each year, the team at Page Executive knows what it takes to write a winning executive CV. Over the years I have held several workshops on executive CV writing at some of the world's leading business schools. In this article I am going to share top tips from our internal expertise and research as well as the current skills and experiences that recruiters value as we move into 2026.

What executive skills are companies looking for in 2026?

When writing an executive CV, it’s essential to demonstrate the evergreen skills of leadership, strategy and change management to separate you from candidates with less quality and experience. Back up your claims with evidence of both hard and soft skills for maximum impact.

As we move into 2026, the value of AI fluency and digital transformation leadership continues to rise. Executives are now expected to understand how emerging technologies such as AI, automation, data analytics and cybersecurity impact business models and organisational strategy. Leaders who can bridge the gap between senior management and technical teams are becoming indispensable.

Similarly, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) issues remain front and centre. Organisations continue to seek executives who can champion sustainability, lead with integrity and foster inclusive cultures while delivering results.

Another demand that has increased over 2025 and 2026 is experience navigating geopolitical uncertainty, supply-chain disruption and the evolution of hybrid and distributed workforces. Executives who can build resilient structures and cross-border teams are in high demand.

Yet the supply of these combined skills remains low. Boards are actively searching for leaders with a blend of proven delivery and future-focused thinking, even going as far as sharing in-demand executives such as Chief Sustainability Officers or interim Chief AI Officers.

If you have tangible achievements in these areas or are a member of any relevant professional associations, make sure employers can clearly see this in your CV.

How to highlight skills to become a first-time executive

Nobody was born an executive. They all had to take a step up at some point in their careers. It can be intimidating to write an executive CV if you’ve never held a senior role so focusing on your leadership-ready skills is a must.

Highlight achievements that demonstrate executive responsibilities such as leading cross-functional initiatives, driving transformation projects or managing major stakeholders. This shows you are already operating at an executive level.

All executive CVs should show a deep understanding of the skills needed for the specific role you’re targeting. Rather than sending a one-size-fits-all CV, study the job description, research the organisation’s goals and show how your profile is a direct solution to the business challenges they are trying to solve in 2026.

What to include in a winning executive CV for 2026

Now we’ve got a good idea of the context, we’re going to get into the granular detail of what to include (and what to leave out!) in an executive CV in 2026.

✔ An engaging and logical structure:

As the skeleton of your CV, the layout should guide executive search professionals effortlessly through your career. Use clear headings and include relevant keywords that mirror the role you are applying for. ATS systems have become more sophisticated in 2026 so keywords matter more than ever.

✔ Personal details: Dos and don’ts

Personal details can be a minefield on an executive CV. Here’s what to include and what to leave out.

What you should include:

- Your full name. Employers need to know who they’re talking to.
- An email address. The more professional, the better.
- A phone number. Only if you want to be contacted by phone.
- A link to your LinkedIn profile. Think of it as “further reading”. A CV is a snapshot; your LinkedIn goes into greater detail.

What you should leave out:

- A photo. A photo shows nothing about your ability to do a job, occupies valuable space and can awaken unconscious biases in the recruiter.
- Your date of birth. Similar to a photo, your date of birth pinpoints your age and can influence your employer’s decision.
- Your nationality. As long as you can legally work in the country, your nationality is irrelevant.
- Your location. Of course it is up to you should you wish to include your current location depending on your personal situation. But, if you want recruiters to consider you for positions further afield, I advise to leave it out.

✔ Integrated personal branding

In a competitive executive landscape, what makes you stand out? Beyond your achievements, companies in 2026 increasingly evaluate leadership style, values and cultural compatibility. Identify the common themes behind your career successes such as transformation, turnaround, innovation or people leadership and weave these into your CV.

✔ Notable achievements

Include up to five key achievements that help you stand out. These might include:

growth figures
turnaround results
major digital or AI-led transformations
awards or board-level recognition
successful sustainability or culture-change initiatives

Quantify your results wherever possible.

✔ A career overview

Before listing your professional experience, include a concise summary that captures your value as a senior leader. Focus on what makes you a strong candidate for the specific role you are targeting and keep it aligned with 2026 expectations.

✔ An exploration of your professional experience

Be concise but impactful. Instead of listing responsibilities, highlight the outcomes of your work. For each role, include two or three bullet points that demonstrate measurable impact or leadership accomplishments.

Include awards or formal recognition where relevant as these remain strong differentiators at the executive level.

✔ Your education and qualifications

Executive CVs typically include higher education, especially when relevant to the role such as MBAs, finance degrees or digital transformation certificates. Include any industry qualifications, professional affiliations, clearances or voluntary leadership roles. And of course, list any languages you speak.

Here's an example of what your executive CV could look like:

Final checklist for your new executive CV...

When you’re revising your executive CV, use the following checklist to stop key information from falling through the gaps.

✔ Contact information: Ensure updated and accurate contact details.

✔ Career overview: Tailored to the role you're targeting.

✔ Professional experience: Highlight achievements, not just responsibilities.

✔ Keywords: Include industry and role-specific keywords.

✔ Skills: Showcase a balance of soft and hard skills.

✔ Education: Detail academic qualifications and relevant certifications.

✔ Professional affiliations: Include memberships in industry associations.

✔ Customisation: Tailor your CV for each specific role.

✔ Format: Ensure a clean, professional and ATS-friendly layout.

✔ Proofreading: Check for errors in grammar, spelling and consistency.

Need a second opinion?

If you need help, or if you simply want a second opinion, trusted family and friends can offer a fresh pair of eyes. For expert insight, reach out to one of your local Page Executive consultants who can help you fine-tune your executive CV for your specific market and function.

Looking to hire your next leader?

Get in touch with one of our consultants now to discuss your leadership talent requirements.

Find a consultant

Looking for your next leadership challenge?

Explore our open opportunities right now.

Search jobs

Looking to build a Sustainability function in your organisation? Download our free eBook now.

Are you looking to hire? Request a call back from our team of experts now.

Thank you for submitting the form

Desktop skeleton

Leading Women: Prioritise and compartmentalise effectively for career success

Simone Wu — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 02:51:31 +0000

Leading Women: Prioritise and compartmentalise effectively for career success Simone Wu

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of women we work with here in Asia.

In this feature, Julia Chen, Head of Supply Chain at Avon Taiwan, shares how having clarity on your career goals and life priorities will guide you professionally, navigate the risks and opportunities in your career, and make you feel fulfilled in life.

Q: Could you share some key experiences from your career journey? 

When I think about my past experiences, I would like to talk about them in three stages. 

The first stage is when we have just started working. What is the most important thing now from my view? The first is discipline. We talk about discipline and self-discipline. You must do your best, know your work division, and deliver it on time with quality. These are the pillars of discipline.

Second, cultivate your professional skills. When you begin your career, no matter the work function, try your best to learn as much as possible and do it well. I went through this and found that the most critical and challenging aspect is having a sense of self-awareness. Understand yourself, and know your advantages and shortcomings. Deep dive into your capabilities. 

This was also a time of self-transformation. If you are where you want to be in your career now, it would be because you know what you bring to the table as a professional, the pitfalls to avoid, and the best way for you to manage others.

The third stage is when you reach the senior manager level, where the next step is to work towards the global leadership team. You have accumulated 20 years (or more) of work experience professionally, and you know how to navigate the risks and opportunities in your career.  

Another one is being willing to share your learnings and experience because we would have considerable abilities by this career stage, and we should help guide new hires and young people in their careers. The happiness that comes from helping others is pure joy, and that makes you feel fulfilled in life.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Julia Chen. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leadership skills to navigate the new working world

kristinacrosshackett — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 08:17:49 +0000

Leadership skills to navigate the new working world kristinacrosshackett

The working world has changed dramatically in recent times, with the pandemic driving a shift to remote and hybrid working. Many teams are now spread out across disparate locations and employees may rarely meet colleagues and managers in person.

This trend toward more virtual workforces, with fewer in-person touchpoints, has put leadership skills in the spotlight. Gone are the days when managers could simply call over a desk to check on the status of a project, or glance across the room to note the mood and energy of team members.

So, what does the modern work landscape look like, and what skills do leaders need to be effective in it? In our recent webinar, ‘Leadership skills to navigate the new working world’, we investigated these questions with:

Graham Lucas, Managing Director at Michael Page
Liz Reynolds, People Director at twentysix
Steph Evans-Hill, Head of HR at Nestlé

For the whole session, check out the on-demand version today. Here, we provide some highlights from the discussion.

The labour market in 2022

Although many economies are predicted to struggle as 2022 progresses, the labour market has thus far remained buoyant, with a post-pandemic boom in hiring. Graham noted that the unemployment rate remains at historic lows, and an extremely candidate-short hiring market has emerged.

The reasons for this are various. One is Brexit, which has shrunk the pool of candidates from abroad. Another key factor is the ongoing impact of the pandemic – Graham pointed that over one million workers are estimated to have left the UK payroll since its onset.

With so much choice available to them, many workers have re-evaluated their careers, culminating in the phenomenon referred to as the ‘Great Resignation’. Professionals across almost all sectors are increasingly looking for employers who offer flexible working and strong people propositions, especially around equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I).

To help viewers understand how to meet these expectations, the panel discussed the key pillars of effective leadership in hybrid workplaces:

Empathetic leadership is essential

During the webinar, Liz highlighted the need for modern workplace leaders to exhibit and practice empathy, compassion, and care for their people.

But what does this mean in practice? Well, if you are a leader or an aspiring leader, it means connecting with employees in a human way, while being relatable. But remember that you can’t make people feel motivated and engaged. All you can do is create an environment which generates engagement naturally.

This begs the question: what makes a working environment truly engaging? Here are four key enablers:

Leaders who can articulate an organisations journey and purpose.
Managers who can stretch and coach their staff with interesting work and by treating them as individuals – remember, it’s managers who connect people to the organisation.
Giving employees a voice and allowing them to be a part of the solution.
Organisational integrity: an employer’s willingness to revisit its own values and ensure that they are aligned with those of the modern workforce.

Sarah Bradley, Partner at Page Executive commented:
“Business leaders are facing a multitude of complex and ever-changing strategic priorities post-pandemic. In today’s era of hybrid working, ensuring employees remain connected and engaged is an art that leaders must continue to master. Maintaining a balance of authenticity, connection, and inspirational leadership has never been more important than it is in this time of economic and political uncertainty.”

How employers can promote flexibility and equality

With both flexible working and ED&I so prominent on today’s business agenda, it might seem hard to know where to start, and which to focus on. But in truth, the two are closely intertwined: a truly inclusive environment is inherently flexible, and a flexible environment will find it that much easier to attract and retain diverse talent.

Liz noted that after the pandemic caused such a massive dislocation of our ways of working, many workers have struggled to re-engage with the world of work. This is especially the case for workers from underrepresented groups, such as ethnic minorities, women, the neurodiverse, older workers, and younger workers.

We do know, however, that these groups have a strong preference for flexible and hybrid working. This presents an opportunity for employers to access new and underutilised talent pools by promoting themselves as flexible and inclusive employers.

Don’t neglect learning and development and professional networking

One of the most significant but underdiscussed challenges that the pandemic has created for workers is the break it forced in learning and development journeys. Many now feel that their professional growth has been on hold for the past two years.

Liz commented that being an effective leader in a post-pandemic world means addressing this and going above and beyond to help your people make up for lost time. It also means understanding flexible learning and the different forms it can take. For instance, flexible learning might include:

Knowledge sharing with colleagues.
Hard and soft skills development, ideally in person and on the job.
Agile learning, encompassing ‘try it’ approaches and feedback

Alongside a renewed focus on learning and development, both employers and candidates will benefit from the creation of professional networks. With the support of leaders, these networks can provide mutual learning opportunities for professionals from different backgrounds, while also reinforcing connections within teams and between teams.

Using hybrid communication

Communication has always been key to success for all organisations - but it became clear during the webinar that our understanding of what constitutes effective communication has changed massively since the onset of the pandemic. With hybrid working now the norm and employee engagement becoming a key priority, leaders need to be thinking hard about their approach to communication.

While remote working has created distance between teams, the technology involved has also made it easier than ever for remote teams to talk to communicate and collaborate. Colleagues don’t have to share the same office or even the same time zone to work together successfully.

The next step is for leaders to take charge of streamlining this process and taking advantage of these new opportunities. For instance, in organisations with hybrid working, office spaces could be redesigned to better facilitate collaboration and reflect preferred ways of working. Successful teams communicate, and the better they are able to communicate the more successful they will be.

Get in touch

How to build a future-proof culture

Workplace culture is one of the most important factors in talent retention. And while it is hard to measure and manage, getting it right will have a massive impact on your overall success. Culture is what brings people together, making it all-important at a time when so many are reconsidering their roles and moving on.

So, what does an effective culture look like? Each one is different, but Steph identified a few key traits:

Purpose: A strong culture will be built around a sense of shared purpose, with strong reasons why employees should work for you
Recognition: Feeling that their efforts are going unrecognised can demotivate any employee. That’s why it’s so important to recognise and celebrate the behaviours you want to encourage.
Stories: Storytelling can be a powerful tool for workplace leaders. It communicates the journey of the organisation and the place of the workforce within that journey.
Connection: Wherever possible, encourage your teams to connect with each other, especially in a hybrid working environment.

Enabling your people to learn consistently

Steph noted that another critical element of a strong workplace culture is the capacity for colleagues to learn from one another. How can leaders ensure that this isn’t damaged when workers aren’t in the same physical spaces?

Here are four strategies that help many hybrid working employers encourage learning:

Gamification: Make learning fun and interactive to bring learning to life
Introduce breaks into training courses: Regular breaks from learning and development sessions will help keep people’s attention
Recognise different learning styles: Different people work differently, and they also learn differently. Ask your people what their preferred style is and weave it into training courses. Encourage feedback and follow ups.
Encourage reflection: To help your teams manage their own progression and development, encourage them to keep a learning log. This will help them to see where the gaps are and where improvements have been made.

Q&A highlights

At the end of the session, the audience had the opportunity to ask the speakers a series of questions. Here are some of the highlights:

How does flexible working impact ED&I progress? What are the risks and opportunities?

Liz: Don’t just do the instinctive thing and talk to the person next to you rather than the person who’s working remotely. Think through your interactions and make sure you’re doing what you can to level the playing field between those who are in office and those who aren’t.

Steph: I saw a quote recently which describes the situation well: “If you don’t intentionally include, you will unintentionally exclude”. Remember that those who are in the office less often will likely be carers, parents, those with disabilities or neurodivergent, and those who live far away. Think of all the talent you could potentially be excluding if you are biasing those in the office.

Talent and development teams are coming under a lot of pressure - are new focus areas emerging as the necessary leadership skills change?

Liz: It depends on an organisation’s journey and how they are trying to develop their employees. There’s a big lack of candidates on the job market right now, so learning and development, and training early in people’s career, is key. Companies also need to invest in leadership and management. We are focusing more than ever on problem-solving and collaboration skills.

Need top talent to join your team?

In such a fast-moving market, it’s critical to stay up to date with the latest leadership trends. At Page Executive, our consultants can give you all the insights you need to build a high functioning team, or to move your career forward.

Get in touch

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Advice from female leaders on owning your seat at the management table

bilkismosoddik — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 13:57:56 +0000

Advice from female leaders on owning your seat at the management table bilkismosoddik

It’s increasingly accepted that gender diversity at the leadership level is essential, not only from an ethical standpoint but also as a strategy to enhance business performance. Research from McKinsey has shown comprehensively that more diverse and inclusive organisations are more innovative and achieve better commercial returns than their less diverse counterparts.

Yet women in leadership positions and those on the path to leadership continue to experience a range of barriers which men do not, while their accomplishments and contributions routinely receive less attention. What can organisations do to deconstruct these barriers, and how can women position themselves to overcome them?

Page Executive’s annual Women in Leadership event is an invaluable opportunity for female leaders to come together, discuss shared challenges, network, and share advice and guidance. Here, we share some of the key insights to have come out of the most recent iteration, which included an extended panel discussion with:

Amanda Lennon, Employment Lawyer, and HR Director, Spencer West
Deborah Cadman OBE, Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council
Jo Kenrick, Non-Executive Director for Coventry Building Society, Sirius Real Estate and others

What challenges do female leaders face?

For all the resources that organisations have devoted to diversity and inclusion initiatives in recent years, women still face many barriers, with their work and contributions often unrecognised. The speakers shared their experiences of being spoken over by male colleagues, overlooked for opportunities, and seeing sexist language and behaviour go unchallenged.

At the event, Jo noted that being able to manifest confidence is critical to ensuring you are seen and heard in the workplace. Jo had several suggestions for enhancing your physical presence in these environments. She said:

Think carefully about how you come across. Look people in the eye and shake hands firmly. And when it comes to making an impact in meetings, I have found it helpful to practice being able to draw together the threads of a conversation to develop clear actions that have a real impact. As well as this, practice interrupting gracefully. People won’t always stop talking to give you room to interject, so you need to know how to do so anyway.

Advice to overcome self-doubt and imposter syndrome

It is also common for women in leadership to experience imposter syndrome and self-doubt, often as a result of being treated as a less significant team member or leader. Amanda reiterated the importance of self-confidence in the face of this:

You have to believe in yourself and that you are in that position for a reason – you have the experience, and you should let that come across when you speak. This is something that takes practice, but over time I have learned to accept it when people disagree with me and deal with people who don’t work in the ways that I’d like to work.

Effective techniques to assert yourself

Against this backdrop, it is invaluable for women to know how to assert themselves and make their voices heard. At the event, the speakers related a few techniques that they have used over the course of their careers to ‘own their seat at the table’.

Amanda commented that she was the only woman on a board of directors for ten years, and during this time she learned to avoid finger-pointing and aggressiveness, instead making strategic use of silence and timing.

By waiting for everyone to finish their arguments and discussions before making your own contribution, you can often come across as more confident and assertive.

Jo, who also has experience of acting as a leader in male-dominated environments, made another important point:

As a woman, remember that your difference is your strength. You will be able to see things from a different angle and unlock the perspective of a wider consumer audience.

How can employers and allies support female leaders?

In order for the workplace to become a truly equal environment for women, employers need to take action and men to provide the right support. When asked how to encourage and elevate women in the workplace, Deborah strongly emphasised the importance of coaching and support networks, commenting:

Mentoring is an invaluable tool to support women in the workplace by opening doors and instilling confidence. It’s very important for strong, confident successful women to present themselves as role models and be prepared to lean down and give a hand to those coming up behind them.

Deborah also noted that issues of gender inequality in the workplace intersect with those of racial inequality, noting that there is not a single woman of colour serving as the CEO of a FTSE 100 company. She said:

To attract and retain women of colour at the senior level, it’s important to be intentional, setting targets, considering unconscious bias, rethinking the way we headhunt, investing more in internal recruiting, and implementing blind recruitment as well. At the same time, more men need to be vocal in challenging sexist behaviour and language in the workplace.

Making flexible working work for women

Amanda and Jo meanwhile raised the importance of flexibility and the concept of ‘equity’ which focuses on levelling the playing field and giving different individuals the tools to access opportunity.

Amanda said:

As a woman, I don’t want to be treated differently to my male colleagues. Instead, there needs to be an inclusive environment for everyone. For instance, I am a working parent, so I need a degree of flexibility so that I can both do my job and be there for my children. It’s about understanding the needs of all individuals.

In the end, real progress comes down to taking concrete and meaningful action. When asked how organisations could make sure that the transition to hybrid working doesn’t disadvantage women with caring responsibilities, Jo noted the importance of truly listening to your people:

If you’re not listening with the intention of acting on what you hear, then you’re just waiting for the other person to stop talking.

Lessons from successful female leaders

At the event, Amanda, Deborah, and Jo were also asked what advice they would offer to aspiring female leaders:

Amanda

Learn from experience and use your experience in future situations to keep making progress. Work out what sort of leader you want to be. Think about who your audience is when you are speaking to have more impact, but also be true to yourself.

Deborah

Be authentic, brave, and willing to make hard decisions, even when you’re unsure. Don’t be afraid to be a bit troublesome. Call out things that you think are wrong - people will respect you for it. Find mentors and people who will support you and offer your skills to others too. And never feel that you are above being challenged.

Jo

Keep your head up - in six months’ time, you probably won’t even remember whatever particular challenges you are facing right now. As a leader, developing that resilience will enable people to take confidence from you as well.

Page Executive specialises in placing talented executives with employers across a range of dynamic sectors. With decades of recruitment experience and a well-honed expertise in diverse and inclusive hiring, we are always available to help you make a critical new hire or to enter an exciting new role.

To set up an introductory call with one of our expert consultants, get in touch today, or email:

Sarah Bradley, Partner, Page Executive
Sarahbradley@pageexecutive.com

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

How HR needs to evolve to support the future of work

audreygiam — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 06:59:41 +0000

How HR needs to evolve to support the future of work audreygiam

The past two years amidst the COVID-19 crisis have shown us that HR has been uniquely positioned to help organisations navigate and thrive. There is no doubt that the pandemic has profoundly changed the role of human resources leaders and accentuated the importance of HR in the pandemic era.

Overnight, business leaders adopted and accelerated digitalisation across organisations, and companies shifted to remote work. These changes have significantly and profoundly changed the way individuals interact and societies operate and have led to talent issues like the Great Resignation and amplified talent shortages in various industries.

The pandemic has shown us how human resources are at the heart of every company and are critical for an organisation's success

HR leaders need to find ways to support their business leaders. They need to reevaluate processes to redefine business stability and drive people transformation in order to strengthen their organisations' ability to support the future of work.

Rebuild Culture in the New Workplace

Adopting remote work and more flexible work arrangements, while vital in the new normal and have benefited organisations in different ways, poses a threat to office culture. This lack of in-person interaction amongst employees can be detrimental to creating a collaborative culture, which is vital for employee retention and satisfaction, and organisational success.

The hybrid work model is not going away. Therefore, HR leaders need to focus on employee engagement. An organised and consistent process that includes open dialogue needs to be established to strengthen relationships between team leaders and team members to foster community from a distance.

HR needs to create communities to engage employees. One area to focus on is diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Depending on your company's DEI policies, HR teams may opt to get employees involved in related committees and programmes to create a more profound sense of purpose and promote further engagement within a company. This is also an opportunity for HR to catalyse purpose within employees.

Also, HR can conduct anonymous employee satisfaction surveys to understand the state of employees' well-being, and get their suggestions on internal communications and how best organisations can support them to perform at their best.

Redefine Performance Review Systems

Performance review systems need to change to retain talent. As the market continues to be candidate-driven, HR needs to assure employees that they want to help them develop their careers. So, as we move towards a people-centric workplace, traditional yearly reviews are no longer sufficient. These need to be replaced with regular reviews. Organisations should also provide personalised coaching and opportunities for upskilling for all employees.

Realign Reward Schemes

Many businesses are left with weakened balance sheets due to the impact of COVID-19. They may have caused them to cut costs by decreasing the number of employees, deferring bonuses or even reducing employee salaries and benefits. These measures may make sense at the start of the pandemic and may not work in favour of the company in the long run.

If companies are unable to provide high salaries for top talent to join the company, they will lose out in this talent-driven market. Therefore, HR leaders need to evaluate how they can incentivise employees to stay competitive in the market.

For a start, companies could permanently implement personalised, flexible work arrangements to allow employees to work out their preferred hours and arrangements with their immediate supervisor. Companies can improve health insurance and dental care coverage or add new benefits such as optical care and free health screenings.

Invest in Digital HR

The HR industry is radically changing. Moving forward and beyond the pandemic, HR needs to look into digital transformation within HR. This would enable HR to improve process efficiency and effectiveness in recruitment, internal communications, performance management and people development and be competitive in a candidate-driven job market.

HR leaders must evaluate current processes to analyse what could do better with a digital makeover. This is also an opportunity to engage with employees of all levels to understand their priorities and concerns that may have been blindspots for HR.

Digital HR can come in several forms. These include the adoption of new video interviewing platforms to streamline the hiring process, performance management tools to allow managers and employees to receive and share feedback, and employee self-service software to provide a single self-service portal for employees to access information on company benefits, apply for annual leave and empower them to manage their details online.

To continue to add value to the business and its bottom line, HR should utilise data and analytics to capture insights that would drive leadership and business decisions. HR leaders can also regularly analyse and monitor employee performance and engagement metrics to help them monitor workforce performance. This would also aid HR teams to make better decisions on revenue, talent acquisition and development as they support the workforce for new challenges during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Future of HR - Post-pandemic

The pandemic has shown us how human resources are at the heart of every company and are critical for an organisation's success. And thus, it is vital for HR to consistently look for ways to support business leaders while increasing employee engagement and improving productivity for organisations to succeed in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

Richard Barber
Associate Partner
Hong Kong

Summary

How HR needs to consistently support business leaders while increasing employee engagement and improving productivity for organisations to succeed in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Women in Leadership – Owning your seat at the table

Phoebe French — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 16:35:24 +0000

Women in Leadership – Owning your seat at the table

Phoebe French Thu, 04/14/2022 - 17:35

Page Executive’s annual Women in Leadership Dinner brings together top female leaders from across the country to discuss their career paths and share advice and guidance for other aspiring female leaders.

https://www.pageexecutive.com/women-leadership

Leading Women: Transcend gender bias with mental toughness

deniseli — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 05:24:19 +0000

Leading Women: Transcend gender bias with mental toughness deniseli

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of women we work with here in Asia.

In this feature, Rasleen Kaur, Head of Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations at Policybazaar Group, explains why it is best to not get too carried away with real or perceived gender bias at work. Sometimes, the best strategy is to set your mind right and to let your work speak for itself.

Q: What are some of the strategies that can help women achieve more prominent roles in male-dominated industries?

First, do not think of it as a negative. I would say that women in these positions should view it as a blessing in a disguise because it’s an opportunity to stand out without having to do anything. I guess a positive frame of mind always helps, whether you’re in the situation of being a minority or when it comes to any other challenge that’s thrown at you. Once you’re confident in your head, you will also do whatever it takes to achieve the goal you’ve set for yourself.

Second, don’t hold back just because you think the world has a bias against your gender. This may or may not be true. So having this mindset will save you from doing a disservice to yourself. Nobody appreciates weakness and I think if you’re strong enough to command what you want, you will get it, woman or not. There cannot be a rule book or a one-size-fits-all strategy for dealing with this. When you are in the game, you do whatever is needed.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Rasleen Kaur. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Navigate complex teams with respect and effective communication

Simone Wu — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:27:21 +0000

Leading Women: Navigate complex teams with respect and effective communication Simone Wu

Our Leading Women series highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of women we work with here in Asia.

In this feature, Carol Lee, Chief Supply Chain Officer at KFC and Pizza Hut Malaysia (QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd), shares how the role of collaboration and differentiated communication styles are critical in building strong workplace relationships and resolving conflicts, especially when managing co-workers of different seniority in a male-dominated supply chain industry.

Q: How do you empower and engage with your team?

I strongly believe in freedom, true responsibility. I think it’s important to clearly set the objective, the direction and the expected deliverables or the expectation of the project. And along the way, though, of course, there will be pulse checks to ensure alignment.

And there’s two-way communication if there are any issues. But most importantly in empowerment is to allow mistakes. Allow mistakes because when we empower someone, we have to bear in mind that we are taking certain calculated risks.

Making small mistakes is okay because that’s how we learn; how we grow talent. That’s how we take away the fear factor for people when it comes to making decisions. Sometimes, we often feel that the team members will fear making decisions when there's a blame culture. And that's where you need to empower your team.

So very important, it’s to allow mistakes, learn from the mistakes and move on. And that’s how we improve.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Carol Lee. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Stay true to yourself and lead from the heart

reikochew — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 09:01:40 +0000

Leading Women: Stay true to yourself and lead from the heart reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this feature, Normalis Mohammad-Sharif, Danone's Human Resources Director in the India-Southeast Asia Region, shares how staying true to her values helped her flourish in her career. She also highlights her insights into the evolution of human resources (HR), how HR teams adapt during COVID-19 and the best strategies for female leaders to rise and succeed.

Q: What do you feel has been the biggest changes HR has gone through as a profession over the years?

Yeah. So, what I feel is that in recent years, HR business partnering has played an increasingly important role in contributing to business decisions and business strategies. When I first started work more than 20 years ago, HR was more of an administrative function. But now, it is an essential function to business performance and business success. So as HR leaders, I would say that we need to be business savvy. We need to keep abreast of the developments in the markets that we are working in. We need to design people’s strategies that will contribute to the deliverable of your business strategies. And in the past, of course, you know, HR is, you know, the function that usually safeguards the company’s policies. I wouldn’t say that has changed. But it would be good for HR professionals to become agile to adapt and advise our stakeholders on how to make the policies work for the business instead of the other way around. That’s how I see his HR has evolved. And by right, yes, in most big companies, HR is actually a very important business partnering function to the business leaders.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Normalis Mohammad-Sharif. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Progress by taking calculated risks

reikochew — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 08:10:32 +0000

Leading Women: Progress by taking calculated risks reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this feature, Priti Shetty, Head of People at WeWork India, shares her self-development strategies and thoughts on how organisations can support women’s careers, especially during this pandemic period.

Q: What do you think will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you, and how can organisations ensure support to overcome such challenges?

Yeah, I think the pandemic and this extended work-from-home period have forced women across the world to make some tough choices between their careers and personal priorities. And I believe that providing flexibility and helping women find boundaries between work and their personal life will help us bring women back into the workforce. I’m proud to work for a company that enables this journey through many of the products we offer.

Apart from that, I think feeling a sense of belonging and feeling invested in, is important for women, especially in the hybrid working environment that we are operating in today and will be operating in the future. Workforces will be distributed; they are going to be global; we are going to be working across time zones, right? Therefore, organisations need to build a culture that helps women reach their potential through policies and a network of allies, sponsors, and mentors that they can count on. They need to offer formal leadership development and experiential opportunities for women to test themselves out and move out of their comfort zone.

And finally, I think health and well-being, not just physical health but also mental well-being, will become focus areas for companies supporting women through various stages of life. We just can’t ignore that biological differences exist, and women do have responsibilities beyond work. And that’s something that organisations need to accept, acknowledge, and offer policies that enable both aspects of a woman’s life.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Priti Shetty. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: The art of embracing doubt

reikochew — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 09:40:56 +0000

Leading Women: The art of embracing doubt reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Jane Lo, Senior Director, Asia at Duracell Professional, talks about embracing doubt, learning from defeats and adapting to life as a stranger in a strange land.

Q: Do you ever experience self doubt?

As a leader, you are not the only one executing everything. You work with your team, you work with your peers and you work with your managers. So sometimes you don’t know how a decision is going to be perceived, how it is aligned with everything or if it will turn out the way you envision. Also it is inevitable to make mistakes along the way, and you will feel defeated. Maybe it is my personality, but I just cry for a bit and move on.

Take COVID-19, for example. When it first hit, I had just returned from my trip to the US. The shutdown happened five days after I returned, and I remember joking that everything would be open by April last year. When that didn’t happen, we said it’d probably be open by summer, and that didn’t happen either. Now it’s April 2021. So we do doubt our business decisions, if we were making the right call during the pandemic, things like that. Should we continue to grow the business? Where’s this COVID-19 going to take us? Am I going to stay in Hong Kong? Will I have a job? Ultimately, it’s OK to doubt, but I think it is not OK to freeze and stop working.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Jane Lo. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Finding confidence through vulnerability

reikochew — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 09:32:08 +0000

Leading Women: Finding confidence through vulnerability reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Sharmini Wainwright, Senior Managing Director — NSW at PageGroup, shares her biggest personal sacrifices, how vulnerability builds confidence and how one disruptive boss changed her views on talent development for the better.

Q: What is the best decision that you have made with regard to your career?

I spent 10 years working in our Australian business, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a more brilliant decade. I was in my 20s, I didn’t know a lot of things, so I could just enjoy the career for what it was. The business and I grew up together, and there was such a great group of colleagues. At 33, however, I figured that I needed to leave and board the Asia growth bandwagon that I kept hearing about. I was nervous but I thought, what have I got to lose? So I landed here as a director, I was given a portfolio of people to look after and grow the business — but I didn’t know anybody in Hong Kong. I had no track record there, the team looked at me and was like, “Who’s this Aussie Indian chick? What’s she going to do?” That was a huge year of just being uncomfortable, meeting as many people as possible and trying to connect with and understand Hong Kong. What an experience, you know, to be thrown into the deep and after 10 years on the job just to prove yourself.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Sharmini Wainwright. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Learning to lead by walking the talk

reikochew — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 05:47:16 +0000

Leading Women: Learning to lead by walking the talk reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Sylvia Wong, Regional Finance Director at PageGroup, shares the most common assumption leaders make, the importance of empathy in these troubled times, as well as how her hometown shaped who she is as a leader today.

Q: Why is empathy so important to you as a leader?

Empathy is the ability to place ourselves in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel about things. Considering the unprecedented times, many people are going through different types of challenges, so I think, as leaders, we cannot assume that we know what others are going through. We need to consciously remind ourselves to make time, listen to the team and find out how they are doing. I feel that leaders who take the time to understand the needs of their employees are the ones who can provide the support they actually need, to press ahead and deal with the challenges they’re facing. In the past, leaders, including myself, tend to make assumptions. That’s why I need to make a conscious effort to ask them how they are feeling and what they need from me.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Sylvia Wong. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Leadership Starts With Self-Awareness

reikochew — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 01:19:33 +0000

Leading Women: Leadership Starts With Self-Awareness reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Nagashree SR, Finance Director at Cargill, shares her strategies to build a successful and meaningful career and how there is a need to reinvent ourselves and adapt in a world that is hurling towards digitalisation.

Q: What are some assumptions or biases you have noticed as a female leader around you?

Many. [That] women can’t do challenging jobs. They can’t be hardworking, they can’t do stretch assignments. If you hire young women during their reproductive age, they will go for maternity leave. And these days, the funniest thing, which I’ve been hearing a lot is that many people look at us as privileged and preferred, as every company is trying to increase their diversity score.

At times, you know, it gets very annoying because you know women always existed as part of this whole system. It’s just that we’ve been driving something now because just to increase the scope, but I think there’s nothing which, what do I say, we don’t get any exemptions because we are women. We have to do whatever it takes to do our jobs. I don’t know why people think like that. I think we need to change some of these thinking around us.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Nagashree SR. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Succeeding through grace and grit

reikochew — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 06:25:15 +0000

Leading Women: Succeeding through grace and grit reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this feature, Pia Arellano, President and CEO at TransUnion Philippines, shares the key leadership traits that embody the leader of today, the best strategies to empower your employees and strive in a male-dominated industry

Q: How do you set the tone as a leader?

I think when it comes to setting the tone, clarity of communication is really key. So as a leader, I really do my best to effectively communicate our vision, mission or business objectives so that, as a team, we can come together and collaborate as one unit. But just as important as the “what we must achieve” is also the “how we are to achieve them”. And, you know, this really underscores our values and beliefs as an organisation.

And as a leader, I do my best to model the way so that my people can adopt and mirror, you know, the work ethic and the behaviour that I want them to adopt. I also tried to foster a culture of curiosity and constant innovation; I challenged my people to always, you know, challenge the status quo, I reinforced the fact that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, and really encourage them to speak up and to speak out. So, ultimately, by creating a safe environment, I feel that I’m able to inspire respect and trust and confidence, which allows them to achieve, you know, great things.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Pia Arellano. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: The fight against uneven expectations

reikochew — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 05:49:55 +0000

Leading Women: The fight against uneven expectations reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Neha Arur, Senior Director of Human Resources India at Midland Credit Management (an Encore Group Company), shares the two greatest career decisions of her life, as well as how today’s women leaders have to battle uneven expectations at work, at home and within the society at large.

Q: Have you ever had moments of self doubt in the course of your career? How did you manage it?

My biggest self doubt came when I wanted to start a family. I was at the top of my game, I was doing very well, and I was holding a global role. I was skeptical to start a family at the time because I didn’t know if I could manage both work and family. I had a lot of self doubt with regard to creating that balance and remaining relevant after my maternity break. I feared that, as I was taking care of my child, the entire world would change and I’d not even know how to work on a laptop. I was also afraid that I would be judged for the life choices I made. Some of these were unfounded fears, but fears nonetheless. The way I managed it was to take baby steps, one day at a time. It was just a matter of days or weeks before I was back to being my normal self.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Neha Arur. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Standing strong through a personal tragedy

reikochew — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 10:07:38 +0000

Leading Women: Standing strong through a personal tragedy reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Vanee Gosiengfiao, General Manager at Sanofi Consumer Healthcare, Philippines, shares what it means to pay it forward as a mentor, how she stayed strong through a family tragedy and the brand new life she is now building for her family.

Q: What were some sacrifices you’ve had to make for your career?

I wouldn't think of it as a sacrifice. It’s more about choices. I chose to leave the Philippines and go to Thailand. I also chose to leave Asia to live in the US. When we had kids, we chose to go back to Asia to have the right family support, to help me with my job while raising a family.

My biggest choice probably has been to go back to the Philippines. Coming from Bangkok, I was in a General Manager position at that time. Great country, great business, great team. But I had to make the choice to go back to the Philippines, because that was the time when we found out that my husband had liver cirrhosis. Because he was sick, we decided that it was best to be here. He needed a transplant and it was best to be in our home country, where the family is around, and also to facilitate the transplant. That was a choice that we both made, and I don't regret it really, because it's opened so many other opportunities for me.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Vanee Gosiengfiao. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Becoming an adaptive leader

reikochew — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 07:27:34 +0000

Leading Women: Becoming an adaptive leader reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Suzanna Smith, Global Sourcing Director at Tom Tailor, shares what it means to be a leader in today’s fast paced apparel industry and how one fateful decision landed her a role in Indonesia with a company she’d never heard of before. It turned out to be one of her best career decisions yet.

Q: What are some lessons or stories that are unique to you being a female leader?

In my view, women tend to not ask for things that are important to them; women also question whether they deserve a promotion. Women generally don’t complain about pay inadequacy. Although women seem to work very hard and drive for results, it’s assumed that this will gain them the recognition and compensation they deserve. It doesn’t always work out that way, especially if they don’t ask for it.

It’s my personal goal to help young women through these issues, as I’ve had to go through them myself. For example, when I was promoted to Senior Director at Gap, I didn’t expect this or understand how I got there. I’ve learned now as a leader what it means to be assertive, to ask questions, ask for support and insist on clarity on how to get ahead.

Is this a question for women leaders or all leaders? I feel it is both. In my view, companies don’t put enough focus on communicating what the expectations are and set a clear path for each person, man or woman, in terms of how can we all be successful.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Suzanna Smith. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: A leader with a mission

reikochew — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 02:55:51 +0000

Leading Women: A leader with a mission reikochew

As part of our Leading Women series, we highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with.

In this story, Grace Zhou, Founder and CEO of biotech company Immvira, shares her experience running and managing a successful startup, an arena that’s dominated by her male peers, as well as her journey thus far as a career woman leader.

Partner with us on your next career opportunity.

Q: Most board members today are male, and many industries and enterprises are dominated by them as well. As a female founder, how do you think women can stand out?

That’s an interesting question. I noticed an interesting phenomenon when recruiting students, be it those with Master’s, Doctorate or Post-Doctoral degrees, many of them are women. However, once you return to the industry after 10 or 20 years, you notice that there are very few women as leaders. It saddens me to think that many of them must have lagged or dropped out of the industry altogether.

On a personal level, I rarely looked at myself and said: “You are a woman and a female entrepreneur”. Once your female identity becomes less of a focus, you become just ‘one of the boys’ at work. The times when my female identity comes to the fore are when I am face-to-face with the employees at work, and I am there as their female boss. When you have a certain sensitivity to things, that’s when I feel the most female. As for success, and it doesn’t matter if you are a male or female, the key is to be quick to learn and adapt. If you can do that, then you will naturally succeed.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Grace Zhou. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Charting a course of your own

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 06:36:02 +0000

Leading Women: Charting a course of your own Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Elizabeth Faber, Chief Talent Officer of Deloitte Asia Pacific, shares her battle against imposter syndrome, becoming a sponsor for others, as well as the decision to move to China from the US when she was three-months pregnant — and without a job.

Q: What are the traits you admire the most in leaders?

Humility and vulnerability. Those are the traits that have been quite valuable lately. Having the courage to be vulnerable is something I admire a great deal. Also, to think big and bold. That’s something that I am working on myself. It really helps to advance what’s possible. I admire leaders who call things out, who say the things that no one wants to say, but everyone is thinking about. It really helps to clear the air. After that initial shock of getting over what someone said, then there’s a great deal of relief that I find in the room and in the team. Because then you can focus on what really is at the root of the matter. So it’s about being humble, being more bold and calling things out.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Melisa Teoh. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Playing to your strengths as a team

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 08:08:46 +0000

Leading Women: Playing to your strengths as a team Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Rosa Lee, Executive Vice President of Bosch China, shares how strength-based development lies at the heart of diversity and team management, as well as how female leaders must lift each other up at the workplace.

Q: Since there tend to be more male leaders in industrial companies, what have you done over the years to stand out as a woman?

To be honest, in a male-dominated industry, the reason you stand out has nothing to do with gender. Fundamentally, for both men and women, the most important thing is to perform the current job. You must try your best to finish your work perfectly and exceed expectations that others have for you. The second thing is to go the extra miles. When an opportunity comes along, don’t say ‘No’. Make sure you’re fully prepared. Thirdly, and this is gender related, women should help women at the workplace. I firmly believe that, in a male-dominated industry, the economic term of ‘30% Club’ still works. You will be able to change something once you have women taking up 30% of your team. Therefore, it is not enough to stand out alone. You should also help other women stand out. In short, you need to first perform extremely well at your current job, be willing to go the extra mile, then help other women get to the same place too.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Melisa Teoh. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Leading with bravery

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 08:17:48 +0000

Leading Women: Leading with bravery Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Melisa Teoh, General Manager & Chief Marketing Officer at MyDoc, Simplify Healthcare, shares what it is like as a woman in the startup world, a particularly scary situation at work and the lessons learnt from that experience.

Q: In what ways have you empowered others?

I am a very collaborative type of person, and I believe that individuals have unique talents, interests, experiences and knowledge. So I tend to mix things up. When I build teams, I tend to look for complementary skill sets depending on what it is that we are trying to accomplish and the circumstances within which they are operating. I will combine people that work well together, a bit like a cooking recipe. I tend to also invite others to share ideas and, even if they have different thoughts on how to do things, I think it enriches the whole experience. I love creative thinking and working with people who bring different perspectives.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Melisa Teoh. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Advocating lifelong learning

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 10:38:03 +0000

Leading Women: Advocating lifelong learning Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of women we work with in Asia.

In this feature, Hilda Chan, Vice President of Operations for Hasbro in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East, talks about the challenges of being a female leader, the importance of continually learning and upgrading yourself, and the necessity of staying one step ahead. Hilda is one of the inspirational female leaders in Supply Chain & Procurement in Asia helping to pave the way for other women to achieve success and climb the ranks in this field.

Q: What’s the greatest risk you’ve taken?

The greatest risk that I have taken in my career experience was my move from Hong Kong to Singapore in 2008. The challenge was to close down the Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters in Hong Kong and build a new headquarters in Singapore with my management team. I had to start from scratch and rebuild the whole supply chain team in Singapore, covering planning, customer service and logistics. Apart from the challenge of relocation, my comfort zone was challenged through the culture shock I experienced. We faced a number of team member conflicts due to the diversity of the team, with people coming from all walks of life. It was my first time handling a team of this nature, so there were some learning points for me. With all the challenges we were facing, we were still expected to uphold a seamless customer fulfilment process.

It is true that you will never grow unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, so I’m glad I was able to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Hilda Chan. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: A journey from poverty to empowerment

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 07:44:41 +0000

Leading Women: A journey from poverty to empowerment Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Teresa Condicion, Founder & CEO of Shoplinks, shares what it was like to grow up in abject poverty and how embracing her roots has given her a newfound sense of confidence and leadership.

Partner with us on your next career opportunity.

Q: What kind of barriers did you experience prior to your success?

So many! Here’s one example. I’ve had the privilege of having a very diverse experience. I’ve lived in the Philippines, Singapore and China, and I’ve worked in a corporate startup and have both technical and leadership experience. Coming from a fishing village in the Philippines, I was hesitant to speak up when I first started working. I had a lot of self doubts. One time, when I was invited by my alma mater to speak about my experiences, I just froze. I couldn’t say a word. That experience stayed with me, and I really avoided that kind of speaking engagements.

At some point, because of my corporate role, I knew that I couldn’t avoid it anymore. As an entrepreneur, I had to pitch to hundreds of investors, and I had to speak for an organisation that was rapidly growing in size. I also had to speak to reporters, join interviews, appear on television and be seen by millions of people.

At first I was incapacitated, but I knew that I just had to get through it. I realised that it was just a muscle that I had to build. Public speaking was something that I had to do again and again until I felt confident about it, and it became more second nature. I learnt that a lot of it had to do with my mindset. It’s something that I still struggle with from time to time. It takes practise.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Teresa Condicion. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Fighting the good fight against female stereotypes

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 04:54:54 +0000

Leading Women: Fighting the good fight against female stereotypes Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Dione Song, Chief Commercial Officer of Love, Bonito, shares the most common stereotypes that she’s had to battle at work, staying positive despite the odds, as well as the playlist that keeps her going on the running track.

Q: What kinds of obstacles or biases have you experienced along your journey as a leader?

At the very first company I worked for, I was given a promotion three or four years into the job, and it was for quite a senior position. I was one of the few women in the management team. My predecessor, who was also a female leader, told me before she left, ‘Hey, I think the men working in the same role within this organisation are being paid more.’ She also gave me a tip. She told me to ask, or at least try to have that conversation when they do promote me. I am very thankful that she gave me that heads up. Maybe it was not just a gender thing, because I happened to be one of the youngest on the management team also. Anyway, so I negotiated and eventually got what I asked for — the same as those in the same executive roles.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Dione Song. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Leading with Integrity

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:48:12 +0000

Leading Women: Leading with Integrity Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia. In this story, Polly C Heiss, Global Commercial Director - Integrated Logistics at Kerry Logistics talks about the struggles to balance work and her personal life, being successful in a male-dominated industry and some of the best advice she’s received.

Q: In reaching the level of success you have, if anything – what have you sacrificed along the way? Have you experienced any barriers in the journey to becoming a leader?

Work life balance doesn’t exist for me. No matter how hard I try, there are times when work consumes my personal and family time. I try to avoid a conflict when setting up a meeting or work trip by scheduling my important family events ahead of time but even then, I have ended up missing many of my children’s development milestones due to work commitments. When Ryan (my eldest son) lost his first tooth, I was in Macau attending a work conference. After I had my second child, Markus I was back at work 10 weeks after his birth. Thankfully, my husband is very supportive of my career, and has my back.

In the past, I have been on the receiving end of biases against female leadership. Back then, when I graduated from college, logistics was a male-dominated industry. However, the logistics workforce today is supported by many women, including those in senior leadership roles. There is a growing awareness of the importance of gender equality in recent times. Large corporations now see that diverse teams produce better results. While it is progressing, there is still a lot to do to close the gap.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Polly C Heiss. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Female mentorship and the power to inspire future women leaders

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:37:05 +0000

Leading Women: Female mentorship and the power to inspire future women leaders Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia. In this story, Alexandra Cerruti, Client Services Director at Design Bridge, shares about the women that have inspired her professional career, what keeps her motivated and engaged at work, as well as how the company at large celebrates diversity on a day-to-day basis.

Q: What have you sacrificed for your professional journey?

Would you ask the same question to a male professional? Unconsciously, people tend to think that women have to make some sacrifices to progress professionally. As for me, I am very grateful to work for an inclusive organisation that gives equal opportunities to all. Three out of every five Managing Directors at Design Bridge worldwide are women, as are half of our most senior-level Creative Directors. Flexible working arrangements are becoming the norm and will be extended in the post-COVID world. This also facilitates a healthy work-life balance. Having two young children myself, I need to be flexible and organised, but nothing is impossible here. Internally, our culture is not to compete, but to celebrate each other and our collective wins.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Alexandra Cerruti. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Building resilience through mastery

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:35:04 +0000

Leading Women: Building resilience through mastery Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Paula Wang, Director of APAC App Developer Sales at Google, talks about the pain of rejection, the role of luck in her career and what it’s like to be a female leader in a billion-dollar company.

Q: What do you think are the main challenges and opportunities for the next generation of women leaders?

I really do think that the opportunities outweigh the challenges. Take the US Presidential Election, for example. It’s exciting to see a woman of colour being the new elected Vice President for one of the most powerful countries in the world. Certainly, the awareness level is unprecedented with regard to diversity and inclusion. We’re also seeing a lot of good progress in the business world and politics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw great leadership demonstrated in countries like Germany and New Zealand, both nations led by a female leader. So for the next generation of women leaders, they should feel like they’re standing on the shoulders of other women. The future is very bright for women leaders.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Paula Wang. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Making space for learning, empathy and empowerment

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:32:49 +0000

Leading Women: Making space for learning, empathy and empowerment Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Penny Wan, Regional Vice President and General Manager, JAPAC at Amgen, shares the unexpected blessing of remote work, the key ingredients to build confidence, as well as lessons of resilience from the most important women in her personal life.

Q: Could you name a woman who’s inspired you the most?

I would say my mother and my grandmother. My father passed away when I was very young, and my mother raised three young children on her own. She had to work full time and provide for the family, all while playing multiple roles. My grandmother, too, raised two young daughters after my grandfather passed away. Despite the challenging circumstances, they shared what they had and supported others in need. My grandmother adopted my unrelated uncle when she was making barely enough money to feed her own children. Both women instilled in me a sense of resilience and empathy. My upbringing also taught me that it is better to give than to receive, and I have tried to adopt this approach to both my personal and professional lives.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Penny Wan. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Standing strong in the face of adversity

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 07:35:58 +0000

Leading Women: Standing strong in the face of adversity Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, Jingle Pang, Deputy General Manager and Chief Information Officer of Ping An Technology, shares the greatest career risk she’s taken, what the ‘Adversity Quotient’ is and how it has helped her become a better, more confident leader.

Q: As a female leader, how do you set the tone of the team?

I start out with two key messages. First, I am together with you, and I am not your boss. I am your team member. It doesn’t matter if it is a failure or a success. We will share the credit and the dishonour. That way, we can build mutual trust and we can work together to overcome every problem and challenge that we face. Second, I let the team know that we are here to make a difference, and we need to have a collective vision to fight.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Jingle Pang. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Leadership with humility and a sense of humour

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 05:32:21 +0000

Leading Women: Leadership with humility and a sense of humour Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to Anita Menon, Chief Risk Officer at Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad and winner of ‘Upcoming Personality (Risk Management)’ at the Global Islamic Finance Awards, as well as the Top 50 Women in Islamic Business & Finance by Cambridge IFA in 2019. She shares how she navigated her way through several male-dominated industries, the importance of having a sense of humour in leaders, as well as how equality begins not at the workplace, but at home with the family.

Q: What leadership traits resonate with you the most?

The first thing that comes to mind is authenticity. Increasingly, I think leadership is really about being true to yourself and being authentic. I’ve had the privilege of working with many such leaders in the course of my career, and they all have clear visions and strong sets of values. They are also people who are willing to mentor and lift others up. They also give credit where credit is due, and they are very professional. I also admire leaders who have the courage and the conviction to speak up, even if it is not a popular choice to do so. Lastly, I think a sense of humour is very important, too, because it creates bonds with the team.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Anita Menon. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Fear, motivation and a sense of empathy at the workplace

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 05:08:54 +0000

Leading Women: Fear, motivation and a sense of empathy at the workplace Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to Connie Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Nippecraft Limited, an SGX-listed company, who speaks of the woman she most admires, how little the opinion of others should matter, as well as how empathy at the workplace leads to better business decisions.

Q: What are the main challenges that the next generation of female leaders need to be cognizant of?

I think it is the pressure to conform. Many people are not used to having women in senior roles, and they have a lot of opinions on who you are, who you should be, how you should behave, if you are too aggressive, things like that. And these opinions could come from the family, colleagues or even well-meaning managers. So I think the main challenge is how to navigate that. The way I went through this myself was to listen, learn to adapt and do things your own way, because you may not have too many exact role models out there. So listen with an open mind, but understand people have biases of their own.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Connie Chan. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Creating an engaging and empowering work environment

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 12:51:49 +0000

Leading Women: Creating an engaging and empowering work environment Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to Leanne Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of Asia Pacific and Japan at Citrix, about the value of mentorship, the one advice that changed her professional outlook, as well as the place that she cannot wait to fly to for vacation once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Early on in my career, I worked for a fantastic man from Zambia. He told me that if I couldn’t be replaced, then I couldn’t be promoted. So you want to find the best talent within the organisation and develop that talent, because you need to constantly be thinking about how to level up and find people who can replace you. You also have to make sure that this person is going to be comfortable in your role, even if you’re no longer in that organisation. That way you can move on to do other things, be it vertically or laterally.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Leanne Taylor. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Conquering moments of self doubt

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 08:01:01 +0000

Leading Women: Conquering moments of self doubt Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to Tan Bin Ru, Chief Executive Officer (SEA) of OneConnect Financial Technology, Co-Chairwoman of the Blockchain Association of Singapore, as well as the ‘Top 5 Women in FinTech’ and ‘Top 50 Asia FinTech Leaders’ at the recent Singapore FinTech Awards 2019. Here, she shares the greatest career risk she’s undertaken, what she learnt from an unexpected interview question, as well as the only thing that takes her mind away from work.

Q: What’s the greatest risk you’ve taken as a professional?

Bin Ru: Switching careers to something that I’d totally never done before. In my early days, I’d never done sales before. I was a mathematics student, and I started in compliance and operational work. At one point, I was looking after three or four hundred staff in operations, and I decided to switch to sales instead. It was very difficult for me. Everybody told me that it was not a wise move because I was way too senior to move to sales, and I was moving to a smaller team on a lower corporate level. The whole world was basically telling me that it was a downgrade. But I did it for the skills that I wanted to learn, and I have never looked back.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Tan Bin Ru. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Positivity, sacrifices and resilience in an uncertain world

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 07:57:25 +0000

Leading Women: Positivity, sacrifices and resilience in an uncertain world Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to Farra Siregar, Managing Director of ASEAN at Corteva Agriscience, on the importance of self-care, leading in a time of uncertainty, as well as the biggest sacrifice she’s had to make thus far: precious time with her son.

Q: If you could give just one leadership lesson that you’ve learnt over the years, what’d it be?

One of the key things for me is that IQ alone will not cut it. I think really good leaders don’t actually believe that they have all the answers. It’s really about having the humility to know yourself and what you can and cannot do. Personally, being a leader is about finding the vision of what winning looks like, the steps needed to get there and who do I need on my team to make it happen.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Farra Siregar. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Breaking glass ceilings and the battle against gender roles

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 04:43:15 +0000

Leading Women: Breaking glass ceilings and the battle against gender roles Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to three leading women from Heineken Asia Pacific: Anna Campagna, Director Sales Transformation APAC; Maud Meijboom, Brand Director for Tiger Beer and Heineken; and Sarah Maddock, Marketing Transformation Director. The three powering ladies from Heineken share how gender roles have evolved over the years, how they have carved out spaces of their own in a ‘masculine’ industry, as well as how their childhood homes have shaped their attitudes towards leadership.

Q: What is one lesson learnt that’s unique to being a woman?

Anna: The one that sticks out for me is being proud of being the only woman in the room, and it happens all the time. It never bothered me in the past but, over time, I understood what it meant to be there, how to leverage the opportunity and minimise the constraints that come with it. It’s about getting a seat at the table, remaining there and enjoying every minute of the rollercoaster.

Maud: It’s something that my father told me. He used to say, “You have to do the best you can when you want something. And when you want something, you can do it”. He instilled that in me, that confidence, to go after something, and to speak up. I think that’s also a lesson that we, as women, can give to one another, that it’s OK to speak up for what you want and go for what makes you happy.

Sarah: For me, it’s a lesson that I wished I had learnt earlier in life. I feel that women, and that includes myself, feel a need to prove themselves, probably more than their male counterparts, and it’s something that I’ve recognised. It’s commonplace, and once you recognise that within yourself, it becomes incredibly liberating. You get so much more out of every interaction because you’re listening better and actually thinking about other people’s perspectives.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with the leading women from Heineken Asia Pacific. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Combating biases and leading with empathy at the workplace

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 07:06:29 +0000

Leading Women: Combating biases and leading with empathy at the workplace Anonymous (not verified)

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia. In this story, we speak to Davina Yeo, Chief of Staff at Microsoft Asia Pacific, who shares her thoughts on being a female leader in a male-dominated workplace, her double role as a Chief of Staff and a mother, as well as how she managed to relocate to a foreign country with three children in tow — alone.

Q: As a female executive, what were some of the biggest challenges and lessons learnt thus far?

I was working in Indonesia for a time, and it was my first leadership position in a very much male-dominated team. From that experience, I learnt to be unafraid to speak up and to represent. Even though I was in a privileged position then, there were many other women whom I needed to speak out for. So to me, that was the most important thing: to make sure their voices were heard. Not everyone has the platform, so we must help others.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Davina Yeo. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leading Women: Maintaining grace and femininity in a male-dominated world

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 06:10:27 +0000

Leading Women: Maintaining grace and femininity in a male-dominated world Anonymous (not verified)

The results are in: companies with the highest percentage of women executives and board members tend to enjoy higher returns on assets and equity — 74% to be exact. And while the number of female CEOs among major US corporations remain at just 5%, the representation of women in C-suite roles have increased from 17% to 21% since 2015. A similar phenomenon can be seen in Asia Pacific as well, where the number of women in management positions has climbed to 19% — second only to the US and ahead of Europe.

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia. In this story, we speak to Irene Buhrfeindt, Vice President of Tronox, a US-based producer of titanium dioxide and inorganic chemicals. From being the only woman working on a lumberyard to mentoring others in work and life, this is Irene’s journey as a leading woman.

Q: Throughout your career, who were your biggest inspirations?

There are two sides to the coin when I think about inspirational figures: those that inspire me and those that do not. People who inspire me are the ones who are authentic. They are genuine in who they are, who they want to be and they help you along the process. On the other hand, it’s disappointing to see people who behave in certain ways or adopt certain tendencies just to ‘fit in’ and ‘act like a man’, just because they feel that that is how they break into a man’s world.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Irene Buhrfeindt. For the full version of the interview, click here.

Join over 80,000 readers!

Receive free advice to help give you a competitive edge in your career.

Leadership challenges and the role of entrepreneurship

Anonymous — Wed, 31 May 2017 12:55:34 +0000

Leadership challenges and the role of entrepreneurship Anonymous (not verified)

Leaders in organisations everywhere are experiencing a continual evolution of norms in the way we view and react to political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. Even our personal lives are subject to changes impressed upon us by this changing landscape; a workforce with shifting priorities and working styles is forcing leaders to adapt and work in new ways.

It's no secret that the ability to spot and nurture leadership is key to business success. But, as technology continues to revolutionise the way we live, work and lead are companies, and crucially leaders, fully equipped for what lies ahead?

Recently Page Executive were delighted to host Reena Dayal, executive life coach based out of India and UK to discuss entrepreneurism, the challenges facing modern business leaders and the future of leadership and launch her e-book The Brilliance Quotient,. After the event Reena spent time with Sally Wilson, Business Manager, Strategy, Transformation and Change practice at Page Executive, to discuss the issues raised and how business leaders can equip themselves to tackle this changing landscape.

The key challenges facing business leaders in 2017

The modern workforce is changing the way that business is done. A diverse mix of ages, backgrounds, drivers and priorities that historically were not present have fundamentally altered the corporate climate. This change is mirrored in a new wave of business models, best practices, customer behaviours and technologies. The climate is fundamentally changing at a rapid pace and leadership is having to adapt to keep up.

As explored in Page Executive’s recent report on the Future of Leadership, management techniques and leadership styles that have worked well in the past are no longer wholly effective. Furthermore, those that have progressed through their careers under these traditional leadership models may be finding that a lot of what they have learned along the way is now outdated. However this should not be looked upon as a barrier, but rather an opportunity to learn, grow and do things differently.

Reena Dayal: ‘This should be looked upon as an exciting time for senior leaders, high performing key talent and new age entrepreneurs who want to stretch themselves and instil meaningful change in their organisations. Those with the ambition to do so can re-write the rules that will define the future of their teams, their organisations and their industries.’

The skills, competencies and experience do you envisage being important as the landscape changes?

RD: Let’s look around and we will find many suggestions on what could be on the list, but the fact is that we all lead busy lives with huge pressures and seemingly lesser time as each day goes by. A long list of to-do’s is not very helpful. Therefore my suggestion is to try focusing on a few key levers, mastering them through practice and making them a habit.

What are these levers? Here are some of my suggestions - The ability to think clearly and reframe in the moment so as to reveal powerful choices; to maintain a strong personal energetic presence inside-out; to master the art of playing to their natural strengths and that of their teams; to imbibe the skills of an experienced coach and above all be successful in embedding a culture that nurtures transformation and celebrates diversity.

In addition, I must make a vital point. With the changing landscape, I believe the leadership game just got bigger, deeper and wider. My submission is that a truly ‘great’ leader is someone who has moved into the realm of becoming a visionary in every aspect of their lives - not just at the workplace. They are the ones who are able to widen their impact beyond the workplace, who are operating as powerful visionaries, systematically connecting the dots, seeing the bigger picture and developing a unique perspective born out of intuition and wisdom.

With technology bringing a rapid and unprecedented rate of disruption, honing the ability to take risks, adapt to change and foresee implications for customers and employees alike will be critical to becoming a successful leader. Furthermore, the ability to encourage an entrepreneurial culture, and empower others to make decisions that improve the everyday (and more importantly, beyond), will become a must-have when transitioning from manager to leader.

The place of entrepreneurship in the current corporate climate?

Amongst many corporations we are beginning to see a growing culture of intra-preneurialism flourish. Corporations will support their employees in entrepreneurial activities, providing them with the time, space and independence required to develop creative endeavours. We will begin to see an increasing number of ‘Entrepreneur in Residence' job titles or initiatives, where time is set aside for people to pursue their own projects.

RD: I absolutely believe that organisations should be looking to attract, retain and nurture entrepreneurial individuals. Entrepreneurship is the one of the cornerstones of business evolution and one of the biggest drivers of success everywhere from the start-up and SME to the large corporates.

It is not enough to simply hire individuals with new ways of thinking about our business and industry, we must ensure that we have the in-house bandwidth to harness their talent and the trust in them to action change. The number of freelancers, start-ups and market disruptors is ever increasing and corporations can derive a great deal of value from the forward thinking approach so common among these individuals and businesses.

Leadership styles must adapt and evolve to manage a more creative and independent workforce. This will have structural and operational implications, as leaders grapple with a growth in the number of employees seeking leadership in the non-traditional sense. Supporting a culture of entrepreneurial spirit and creativity will require flexibility and aspirational guidance over structural leadership.

When it comes to tackling key business challenges, recruiting the right senior talent to provide strategy and leadership is absolutely essentially. To discuss how Page Executive can do this for your business please get in touch with Sally Wilson.

Sally Wilson
Tel: 0207 269 2599
Email: sallywilson@pageexecutive.com

Looking to hire your next leader?

Get in touch with one of our consultants now to discuss your leadership talent requirements.

Find a consultant

Looking for your next leadership challenge?

Explore our open opportunities right now.

Search jobs

Looking to build a Sustainability function in your organisation? Download our free eBook now.

Are you looking to hire? Request a call back from our team of experts now.

Thank you for submitting the form

Desktop skeleton