Purpose, happiness and dedication: the only PhD one needs in life
Three major challenges facing the world today are the new business-as-unusual, mental well-being, and an ageing workforce, says UOB MD Ian Wong
AMID the ongoing transition to a new “business-as-unusual” operating environment, the transformative power of leadership can both drive regional success and uplift the communities that people operate in.
Making this point was Ian Wong, UOB’s managing director and head of group international management, who added that companies could create value-chain and business opportunities across the region. This, he said, would enable them to create meaningful jobs for the communities they are in and accelerate the development of human capital.
“By cultivating opportunities to nurture a next generation of global leaders with a keen regional perspective, we can achieve sustainable business growth and contribute significantly to the greater social good in Asean, and for the countries connecting with this region,” said Wong.
Coaching and mentoring culture
Speaking at the inaugural Global Leadership Symposium on Oct 19, Wong discussed how schools and business organisations can enable their leaders and people to navigate and thrive in today’s “new” normal.
One way to do this is to nurture a strong mentoring and coaching culture where all stakeholders are inspired, empowered and personally accountable to do better and contribute purposefully for the greater good.
Having this culture in the workplace could rally employees to contribute fully and to do so with purpose, happiness and dedication, he said.
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“Coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires to maximise personal and professional potential and accountability,” he said in a keynote on thriving internationally and intentionally.
The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) partnered UOB and the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) to organise the symposium. The half-day event was held at the university’s campus with nearly 500 students, academics and industry executives in attendance.
The symposium, the first of an ongoing series, also featured a presentation by renowned executive coach and best-selling author Marshall Goldsmith, who shared his methods and insights for personal and professional growth. During the event, he presented UOB with the Marshall Goldsmith Coaching Culture Excellence Award 2023 for Asia.
In his keynote address, Wong said the bank had embarked organically about two years ago to nurture a coaching and mentoring culture. “We started this journey as we did not want to put the pandemic crisis to waste. We very much wanted to rally our international colleagues to emerge stronger,” he said.
UOB has a dedicated foreign direct investment (FDI) advisory team that facilitates such investments into the bank’s network of 19 countries.
“We work closely with partners including government agencies and business associations like SMF, to attract and ensure seamless time-to-market deployment of these much-needed investments into our region,” said Wong.
“The ultimate purpose is that more meaningful jobs are created, thereby strengthening the social fabric in the societies we operate in.”
He added that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, UOB partnered both online and offline stakeholders to attract sustainable FDI.
Such a mental pivot enables teams to be purposeful, dedicated and happy whenever they are able to onboard new clients that create new jobs, said Wong.
“Some of my colleagues shared with me that it feels like they’re doing corporate social responsibility every single day, and they get to meet their financial key performance indicators,” he added.
Embedding mentorship in leadership
Effective mentoring and coaching enables organisations to better stand their ground against three major challenges facing the world today, said Wong. These are the new business-as-unusual; mental well-being; and an ageing workforce.
For seniors to purposefully contribute, organisations should leverage on the strengths and accumulated wisdom of their older employees, and actively manage any negative perceptions of them, he said.
Likewise, mentorship allows employees to feel cared for and heard. This would allow interventions to be deployed in a timely manner to support them in becoming the best version of themselves, and before mental well-being becomes a challenge for them, said Wong.
At a later panel discussion in the Global Leadership Symposium, he said that future leaders will succeed if they are able to address these three “unstoppable phenomena”.
Said Wong: “It always starts with your organisation’s purpose. The clarity of purpose will align everyone – individual, team, and organisation – to rally and address all these challenges, come what may.”
This panel – moderated by Peter Chee, president and chief executive of coaching and leadership training consultancy ITD World – also featured Dr Goldsmith; Victor Seah, acting director of BI@Work at SUSS; and Melvin Tan, vice-president and honorary secretary of SMF.
Enabling loved ones
During the discussion, Wong said that mentoring and coaching allow a leader to bring out the best not just in their employees, but also in themselves. More importantly, a leader should adopt these skills back at home and harness them to empower loved ones.
Drawing from his personal experience, he shared that his weekend walks with his father at the Botanic Gardens serve as a time for them to reflect on how the week went and as a coaching moment. For instance, he would ask his father to share his happiest moments from ages 10 to 20, following up the next week with the moments from ages 20 to 30, and so on.
“As he narrates this, you can see that he’s rejuvenated,” said Wong of his father, whom he hails as his “hero”.
In his closing remarks, Wong encouraged the audience to have clarity of purpose and be happy in what they do. “Purpose and happiness drive dedication, which, in turn, brings you closer to your purpose. Purpose, happiness, dedication – probably the only ‘PhD’ you need in your life,” said Wong.
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