Magnus Ekbom, Co-founder and Chief of Strategy at Lazada

Transcript:

I think if I were to pass on some advice with some thoughts I think that the first thing that I would say is that people have, I really mean that people had phenomenal capabilities. And to do things and do things or do much much more things than you believe is possible. And often when people think themselves that they can do. And I think that that is from even been the guiding principle to really believe in the team and the organization and our ability to adapt and also because there’s no other way.

There is no other choice and I think that to have the willingness and the perseverance to just never stop, never quit, never look back, always, always look forward to what’s ahead focus on opportunities realize that some things will go wrong and it’s no one’s fault it’s just the way that way things are sometimes right. And I think to have that fundamental optimism I believe is so important especially as we go through a year like this one because there are good things that will come out at the end of it as long as we are willing to really see the journey through right and I think that that is probably the best thing that that I can say.

No crisis comes twice and I think that’s also important to recognize right that every crisis is unique and we can write reflections from this crisis some of them will be applicable to the future, or for future crises. Others will not be but I do think that to have that fundamental optimism is going to be a life both lifelong and also a future-proof piece of advice that we can pass on to them to the next guys.

Hari V Krishnan, CEO & Managing Director of PropertyGuru Group

Transcript:

The first thing is to get some perspective when you look at your job or your career, it is always important to have something that’s more important than the day-to-day ups and downs of the business if my moral, myself worth was based on how well PropertyGuru is performing it will be challenging because in a year like this most businesses are grinding hold in the second part of the year and yet for me my perspective comes from my family from my friends and so I’m always able to step back and understand when I’m doing well and when I’m not, I do not measure my success by the success of initiatives within the organization that I believe has made me more successful professional.

The second thing is to actually create plenty of time to think, the biggest mistake people have is to mix activity or mistake activity with progress just frantically working does not mean you’re progressing at all as an individual or as an organization one thing that I religiously am actually create time slots, every day of the week which are called thinking slots and that time is entirely for me I can use it to read a book I can use it to go for a walk I can use it to finish up my email but it allows me to understand that I’m a human and not a robot I need my brain to cool off in between major activities and I think that has allowed me to be far more effective as a leader.

And I think the final thing is you know nobody controls your happiness other than yourself there’s a lot of advice out there about what makes you happy and etc I think for me the main thing to understand is never let someone else control your happiness as an organization we promise purpose, not happiness I can’t promise happiness to my employees because I don’t sit in their shoes or I do not sit in their seats, what I can promise is a sense of professional purpose hopefully have some amount of happiness but I stress all the time is that happiness sits in their own hands and that is critical for every professional to be autonomous. 

Walter de Oude, Executive Director & Deputy Chairman of Singlife

Transcript:

Everything is possible. Every challenge can be overcome. Anything that gets thrown in your way it can be dealt with. There is no bottom right yeah. Everything with a positive mindset in a positive way forward, you can find a way to wade through it, and sometimes change is actually not a bad thing. Before the changes of 2020, we were all working so hard in a defined way. And I think 2020 gave us an opportunity to rethink how we can work without losing the positivity of meeting potential. Without losing our ability to actually deliver. We’re now spending more time at home, more time with families, more time exercising, more time in the community.

These are all really really good things for, for, for well-rounded from a human nature perspective. Myself, I’m exercising more, playing more touch rugby, spending more time with my kids, but I’m still finding myself to be very very effective, because I have much more control over my time, given the way the changes in the way in which we work. And the business has done phenomenally well despite all of these challenges because of the agility for us to work in the way in which we want to. So personally it’s this kind of never give up and all things all we all will be well and the glass is half full, and if you reach for the stars you might get most of the way there if you just try. 

Nils Swolkien, Managing Director of Decathlon Singapore

Transcript:

First thing, you need to dare. You need to dare to test new things. Don’t listen necessarily to people who say it’s not possible. Many people have always like majority say that it’s not possible. So, if you feel that something can be a good solution, a good idea but go and push towards testing it and always when thinking about should I do it or should I not do it? Try to evaluate the risk of doing versus the risk of not doing.

So what can I lose in case of failure and what can I lose in case of not trying? This is something I always try to share with my team. So, don’t be worried I mean try, go, risk, act, this is how humanity evolves is by experiencing, by exploring what you need to just keep in mind OK to what is the same I accept the acceptable loss. But the worst thing is not to decide and for me, the person who doesn’t make any mistakes is probably the person which has nothing to prove or nothing to show because there are no mistakes, no decisions. I mean only when you take a decision you will make mistakes, you will grow, you will learn, and you will progress personally.

Choong Luen Lien, General Manager of Gojek

Transcript:

It’s gonna sound quite trite, or it may sound a bit trite without the full context and the details, but I would say perspective and balance. Singapore is in a very good place– and we’re in a very good place because of a lot of sacrifices that were made. And because of all the sacrifices and there were made and then being in a very good place, we can then afford to have this conversation, we can afford to talk about business growth. Other locations of the countries may not be as fortunate and there really could be a much higher impact in terms of lives. Not just livelihoods, but lives. And so we talk about perspective and balance.

Let’s put things in context. If there are lives at stake, then let’s worry about that first. If your health is at stake, mental health is at stake, let’s worry about that first. When these key things are taken care of then, then, then we can have this kind of conversation around what business growth or business aspirations look like. So have that sense of perspective. Worry about the people first, worry about the big things first, worry about the lives first, and then after that, we can talk about business and business growth.