Why more Singaporeans should consider a ‘tour of duty’ in overseas markets

IT has never been so difficult to be a corporate leader. Boardrooms continue to be stretched by the health and economic impact of the pandemic, rising inflation, turbulent geopolitical dynamics and armed conflict in Europe.

There are new expectations to be met on retaining talent in the workforce and dealing with rising concerns around environmental sustainability. CEOs are increasingly finding that they are required to take a stand on issues that have nothing to do with traditional metrics like profit and loss.

At a panel session I attended in London a few months ago, a Fortune 500 CEO was taken aback that the first question he was asked was not about how his business was doing, but on his stand on the constitutionality of Roe vs Wade.

After COP 26, sustainability in business has also become top of mind for investors, even if consumers are not as willing to pay for it. We see boardrooms have increasingly limited bandwidth; and CEOs are required to take a stand on issues that have nothing to do with traditional metrics like profit and loss.

But it is precisely in times like these that leadership makes a difference, that experience and exposure count and that strong networks are necessary. To be able to come together as a community of leaders to learn from each other will become increasingly important in a world characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

The ABCs of leadership

Here are some ideas on the 3 key leadership skills – or the ABCs of leadership – needed by a 21^st century leader.

The first is A for agility. Change is the new norm. And even as we anticipate change, we can still expect surprises that will require quick organisational reflexes. 

Agile leaders inspire agile teams. Singapore Airlines is an example. Its CEO Goh Choon Phong and his management team realised early in the pandemic that without drastic action, the national carrier that Singapore spent 7 decades building could go out of business. In this unprecedented situation, it showed its ability to pivot and leverage existing strengths.

The management found ways to raise funds to outlast the crisis – S$22.4 billion through persuading retail and institutional investors to buy shares and bonds, in addition to getting support from Temasek.

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They retained staff where possible by implementing pay cuts and allowing flight crew to temporarily take jobs elsewhere. Then, they repurposed idle assets. At one point, SIA turned an idle A380 plane into a pop-up restaurant, which was met by huge demand.

These moves allowed SIA to respond quickly to the relaxing of travel restrictions and to restore capacity faster than some rivals. By March this year, SIA was operating at 47 per cent of pre-Covid capacity and expects to reach the two-thirds level by end September.

The second is B for boldness. Leaders today must be comfortable operating in the fog of war. We speak a lot about data-driven decision-making but most of the time, we will not have all the data we would like to guide our decisions. There are a lot of known unknowns and even more unknown unknowns. Courageous leaders take bold strategic steps in moments of ambiguity to challenge the status quo and steer companies through difficult times.

The third is C for context-sensitivity. Some companies have found themselves casualties of changing context and not understanding the winds of that contextual change, especially for regulation, governance and political reasons. More so than ever, leaders must be very sensitive to changes in context and operating environment. They need to not just understand, but fully internalise and experience the considerations.

Going overseas

Many Singaporeans have all the attributes needed for A, B and C. Our intellectual competencies and our bilingual capabilities put us in good stead to help businesses navigate various cultural environments.

Both MNCs and Singaporean companies like Grab, SEA and Razer, which are expanding worldwide, are looking for leaders who can handle the complexities of a global market to helm their teams.

We are in a region with strong growth potential that offers opportunities to those willing to seize them. But to really get a sense of context, show agility and have boldness rewarded, we need more Singaporeans to leave the comforts of home and succeed out there.

Companies are telling us that doing a tour of duty in key markets overseas is necessary to progress upwards. The scale of projects in these markets forces leaders to be comfortable with complexity and ambiguity, and to deliver under such conditions.

Career-mapping of global leaders by the Center for Creative Leadership highlighted cross-border roles as one of the three critical experiences required for global roles. In fact, the Singaporean global leaders in our semiconductor, digital, pharmaceutical and aerospace companies today are there because they were willing to take the plunge on overseas assignments earlier on in their careers.

Yet there is still reluctance to take on overseas postings. A manpower survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore last year highlighted that risk-aversion was preventing Singaporeans from taking chances on our careers, including taking an overseas posting. According to the survey, we are uncomfortable dealing with the uncertainty and ambiguity that comes with global rotations, and have concerns around career opportunities for our spouses and re-integration to the local education system for our children.

These are valid concerns. But there is a lot of opportunity that is left on the table if Singaporeans do not do this.

The Singapore Global Network, which connects with overseas Singaporeans, is part of the EDB. This community often says how enriching the experience abroad has been. They have learnt and grown in market and their families have grown more resilient due to the overseas stint.

We encourage Singaporeans in global companies to take on overseas roles not only in corporate and compliance functions but in key operating units that are critical to business growth. Do so not only in comfortable developed countries but also in high growth markets that may be less developed; not only when you are young and unencumbered, but when key leadership opportunities surface later.

We have come a long way since we first started attracting global MNCs by promising a diligent, English-speaking workforce. That workforce has changed. It is now full of talent, innovation and has produced some remarkable C-suite leaders in those MNCs. We want this to continue and for Singaporeans to succeed as corporate leaders, to spark more opportunities for others around the world.

Jacqueline Poh is the Managing Director of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. This is an excerpt from her speech at the recent launch of the Singapore Leaders Network, supported by EDB and run by the Human Capital Leadership Institute.