Leading lessons

Eoin O’Shea

Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

Staff loyalty and commitment thrive in a working environment where difference is not just celebrated and respected, but actively nurtured and protected – just like any other valuable corporate asset. Hence, leadership that values the diverse perspectives of its employees is one that drives sustainable growth over the long term.

You can only start to tap the full potential of every employee when you create a working environment that consistently welcomes and encourages a wide variety of opinions and perspectives. This is, frankly, more easily said than done. The uncomfortable truth is that many of us cling to the familiarity of our personal comfort zones, and exclude or push back views without even realising we are doing so.

Only when leaders move forward from policies and rulebooks, and proactively focus on building a genuinely meritocratic workplace – built on the foundation that human capital drives competitive and business advantage – can they then start to see how divergent views can drive better solutions for clients and lift staff productivity.

Melvyn Ho

Vice President, Consumer Imaging & Information Group – South & Southeast Asia, Canon Singapore

Too often leaders take it upon themselves to bear the weight of their company. At Canon, empowerment is the key to our ongoing success. Employees are encouraged to think of the business as their own. By approaching their jobs with an entrepreneurial spirit, employees take ownership of their success – at a personal, team and company level.

Examples of this include:

Taking a long-term perspective: Short-term losses are acceptable, if long-terms gains are the endgame;

Being prepared for ‘what ifs’: Establish backups, spend time taking stock of the situation and set milestones to chart success;

Be on the lookout: Embrace change and seek opportunities to improve things. Small positive changes can drive enormous growth;

Hire smart: Hiring intelligent people is good. Hiring intelligent and passionate people, is better;

There is no shortcut to success: Only through dedication and perseverance will companies be profitable in the long run.

KK Leung

Managing Director, UPS, Hong Kong and Macau

If I could teach just one thing that drives the growth of an organisation, it would be to abide by an important policy that we live by at United Parcel Service (UPS). That is to inculcate a sense of ownership among employees. Much of the success UPS has attained can be attributed to our policy of employee ownership. We strongly encourage our employees to participate in the equity ownership of UPS. It is our goal to have employees share in the success of the company, and to achieve this, we have created various plans to reward and encourage further participation.

As part of their compensation packages, managers and supervisors receive stock awards based on company performance. All employees are also entitled to purchase stock at a discount to the market. When staff have “ownership” of the company they work in, it spurs them to boost their commitment to the organisation and in turn, the company’s overall productivity increases. Employee ownership programmes at UPS have also resulted in greater employment stability.