Career advice

Practical guides for a Hong Kong career

Curated writing from operators, recruiters, and HR leaders — written for people building real careers in HK.

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Are daily chores bogging you down? It’s time for bosses to get out of the spreadsheet swamp, says Catherine Zhu
Career Coaching & Guidance

Are daily chores bogging you down? It’s time for bosses to get out of the spreadsheet swamp, says Catherine Zhu

This week I spoke to a CEO on the day of his retirement from a company he had led for many years. I asked him whether there was anything he would have done differently. He didn’t hesitate. I’d take a longer-term view in my decision-making and be less obsessively focused on quarterly and annual performance.” He mused that, had he taken more time to reflect on long-term trends and brainstorm new business models, his company today might have been a few steps ahead of technologies and competitors that are reshaping the market.

Nobody’s perfect: each one of us is a work in progress
Career Coaching & Guidance

Nobody’s perfect: each one of us is a work in progress

I recently had the privilege of meeting an exceptional leader – one of the few female CEOs in Japan, a country in which female professionals are still rare. This CEO hadn’t followed a traditional path. She studied abroad, pursued a successful career in multinationals, and became a single parent. As she recounted her journey, she emphasised that nothing had been easy. As a single mother in New York, her salary had barely covered the cost of babysitting – so she flew her retired father in from Tokyo to look after her daughter while she travelled for business.

Play to your strengths
Career Coaching & Guidance

Play to your strengths

For too long, performance management and leadership development have focused on fixing managers’ weaknesses, rather…

Engage to succeed
Career Coaching & Guidance

Engage to succeed

Much has been written about Alibaba and its recent US$25 billion initial public offering – the world’s largest ever….

Show you can lead
Career Coaching & Guidance

Show you can lead

I recently witnessed two senior candidates interviewing for a China CEO role. Both candidates had great track records and talent – but only one was able to stand out as a leader. The unsuccessful candidate – let’s call him Mr Manager – had plenty of experience in government relations, a key requirement for the job. He had even managed a major government relations crisis for a multinational in China, with noted success.

Keeping it fresh
Career Coaching & Guidance

Keeping it fresh

If you’re a senior manager with aspirations to lead a company, you’d do well to look beyond the bounds of your…

Don’t be dinosaurs
Career Coaching & Guidance

Don’t be dinosaurs

Recently I spoke with the regional head of a large tech sector company. He had a dilemma: to tweet or not to tweet? Without a social media presence he might be seen as a dinosaur, yet he worried about the time and skills needed. So he hired a professional marketer, who now tweets for him daily.