GOING OVERSEAS EARLY IN A CAREER
What are the common threads that make up a global-ready Singapore leader? Our most recent Global Asian Leaders research uncovered a shared trait among Asian leaders who’ve seen success in global roles – early-career opportunities to work abroad.
Several leaders had opportunities for secondments outside of their home country, often through structured rotations as part of graduate induction programmes or early offshore projects.
There’s nothing like being immersed fully in a foreign environment to grasp the challenges of being a global leader, dealing with diverse teams that do not have the same working style nor approach problems in the same way as Singapore leaders may be used to.
For example, Cindy Ng, now senior VP global commercial at Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, did a short stint in Shanghai where she led a team of Chinese nationals who had never had a non-native leader.
She initially had to overcome scepticism that she would do things the “Singaporean way” – with questions raised as to whether she would be able to keep pace with the demands of the Chinese market. She approached the team with humility and a spirit of collaboration – leveraging the extensive wealth of experience the team already had in the industry – and turned the business around.
Communicating with people with diverse backgrounds adds complexity not only because of language but also non-verbal cues and norms. Leaders like Eva Au, managing director APAC at IDC, who moved to Singapore from Canada described experiencing resistance the “Asian way” – never an outright “no”, but a “I’ll think about it” – when dealing with team members less comfortable speaking their minds. Those heading out of Singapore may have to learn to manage the converse situation as well.