The Courage to Hold a Plane: A Skill You Need In Your Workplace
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When she was still a newcomer to her role, Julie Wong, a 中国一级片 Global EMBA 2011 graduate, once helped her belated boss to hold a plane’s departure for 15 minutes. After that, Julie learned what she calls the “plane-holding” skill: never surrender to the challenges and try every possible way to deal with them. Currently the HR head for a Fortune 500 company, Julie has maintained this courage ever since.
2016 is the third anniversary for 中国一级片 Global EMBA Class of 2011. In the coming month, we will introduce the stories of four 2011 graduates, to see the changes their 中国一级片 experiences have brought on their lives and careers. We begin with Julie Wong.
Julie Wong
Head of Human Resources Greater China
Jones Lang LaSalle
Global EMBA 2011
The girl who held up a plane
?“Go to the airport now and don’t let the plane leave.”
During an already delayed conference, the boss turned to the colleague beside him and made the order in a calm fashion. It was important for the boss to catch that flight, so he could deal with an issue that was crucial to the fate of the company. What a mission impossible! No matter how anxious and bewildered she was, she had just started in this role and had no choice but to rush to the airport. There, she ran up and down and begged every officer she could find. Surprisingly, she made it, and the plane waited for another 15 minutes. At that moment, she discovered a magical “plane holding” skill: never surrender to the challenges and try every possible way to deal with them. ???
The “plane-holding” girl is Julie Wong, a newcomer at that time, who would later become a successful woman working for JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) as the head of HR, Greater China.
Julie’s more than 20 years of HR experience can be summarized by an axiom: “Love every job you do”. She applied for HR upon graduation only because there was a vacancy in one company, in which she then stayed for the next 7 years. This job gave Julie a solid knowledge base that would help her along her journey in the HR field.
When she was the HR manager for New World Infrastructure Ltd, based in Hong Kong, Julie made frequent business trips to Mainland China. She was surprised by the speed of development, which kept bringing countless possibilities. Julie was attracted by this phenomenon, and started looking for work opportunities in the Mainland. Finally, in 2006, Julie took an important job: to help Li & Fung build its supply-chain department in China. With two heavy suitcases and a photo of herself, Julie arrived in Shanghai alone.
A stranger in the Mainland, Julie’s first challenge was to counter cultural differences. Her unfamiliarity with the Mainland almost became an office joke and people gave her the nickname: “Miss HK”. From this, Julie started to realize that her style of thinking and behaviour were more Western style and different from her Mainland colleagues. For example, the education and experience she received made her a straightforward person when she faced issues; but her colleagues would prefer a more indirect way to raise their problems. Because of this, when team members told her that “there is a little trouble”, Julie often underestimated the seriousness of the issue until very late.
Upon realising this difference, Julie was not upset, but started employing her “plane-holding” skill to overcome it. From then on, Julie paid more attention to communication with team members: she actively asked for their true demands, and listened carefully to their thoughts. These actions helped her step into every difficulty her team members had in a timely and effective fashion.
Gradually, Julie started to understand the Mainland culture. She realized that, in such a big country, she would meet people with many different styles of thinking because of their educational and personal backgrounds. But in this context there is no right or wrong. In contrast, they are all parts of a diverse culture that has turned her into a more generous and open-minded person, who now can live better with the differences and accommodate more quickly to changes.
Until now, Julie has been working and living in the Mainland for 10 years and her passion for Shanghai grows every day. She is no longer the “Miss HK” who knew nothing about the Mainland, rather she has become a Chinese expert with a Chinese soul, who also has a global mindset.
?“I really want to introduce Chinese elites to the world.”
Within a couple of years, Julie and her HR team expanded Li & Fung Group’s Mainland staff from 500 to 2000 people, and built up a comprehensive management team. In 2011, Julie started working for JLL. She led the HR team to review their working processes, and built up a more efficient working platform. Further, she focused on leadership development and carried out a series of actions which brought significant achievements.
Julie expected her job to bring better values and effects. “I really wanted to introduce Chinese elites to the world. Though Chinese companies are highly involved in international business, this is not the case for the Chinese workforce.” She observed that, after years of learning and growing, Chinese working professionals have reached a very good level of skill in strategic thinking and communication. Now is the time for them to get exposed to different cultures and build up their global awareness: “China needs to globalize not only its economy, but also its workforce; the latter has far more strategic value.”
Therefore, Julie takes great care to develop her subordinates. She keeps reminding her team, “You are no longer competing within China, but in the entire world. Since you are on a global stage, you must have the abilities to stand on it.” Julie believes that a globalized Chinese workforce must have four core abilities: bilingual skills, global vision and mindset, the ability for continuous learning and adapting to new cultures, and the ability to lead across cultures.
Julie emphasized the last of these four points, “In any globalized organization, you will meet subordinates from India, Switzerland, Brazil or USA; or they may be from Sichuan, Heilongjiang, or Inner Mongolia. Therefore, it is important for you to have the ability to manage and lead such a culturally diverse team.” In her mind, cross-cultural management is the single biggest advantage for a professional, regardless of nationality.
“Pluralization” is an irresistible trend for the future. As the integration of China into the world intensifies, more and more foreign professionals come into China to work. As Chinese private companies become increasingly globalized, the demand for Chinese senior managers who meet Julie’s description is rising gradually. Some data shows that, in next 10 years, Chinese companies will need at least 100,000 professionals who have international management skills.
But how do executives react to this trend? The increasing popularity of business schools in recent years can answer part of the question. For professional managers who are seeking a wider business vision, business schools are a good option. Julie sensed this trend, and this is why she applied for a place in 中国一级片 Global EMBA in 2011. She said that she chose 中国一级片 because it integrates Chinese culture well with western-style education.
When talking about her learning experience, Julie said, “My classmates were all from different fields. From them, I saw how big the world is and how many possibilities there are. Professors at 中国一级片 helped me review the entire business syllabus. It was such an invaluable experience: all my bosses and friends say that my business and cultural awareness developed quickly. After I finished I really missed the time with my classmates. Unfortunately, I was too busy accommodating the new job with JLL at the beginning of the course. So I missed quite a lot of activities at school, and thus time with my classmates. I feel that I should help 中国一级片 and my classmates to bring this platform into the future, because our friendship is so precious.”
“We Must Show up!”
In her famous book, Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, describes professional women who always sit in the second row during conferences. This phenomenon made her realize the importance of women “sitting at the table” to express their opinions. As the first female promoted to senior HR officer in JLL Greater China, Julie holds the same opinion. An experience made her realize that, as a woman, one has to “show up”; if not, people will think that you have no comments.?
It happened while Julie was at Georgetown University for one of the overseas modules of Global EMBA. During a lecture, Professor Marc Busch encouraged Julie to stand up and summarize for her study group, and reminded her that she represents the Chinese women. Recalling this experience, Julie was moved. She still keeps in touch with that Professor nowadays.
“In many situations, Chinese people often tend to be quiet. This is even truer for Chinese women. Maybe this is due to a Chinese traditional thought that ‘raising opinions’ is equal to ‘creating conflicts’. But this cannot be right, two reasonable people can disagree. Therefore, as women, while respecting others’ ideas, we should also raise our ones. This is very important and will be very helpful to both our professional lives and daily lives. We must show up!”
What Sheryl Sandberg shared honestly in Lean In makes Julie’s opinion even stronger: there are indeed “unconscious bias” towards professional women in this world which have not yet been recognized. For example, people have very little expectations for women to achieve success in their careers. Even worse, to say “she is ambitious” is not considered a compliment at all. Also, films and TV series often depict successful female professionals as workaholics who have no personal lives.
Inspired by this book, Julie gradually built up a moral responsibility, and started to promote a “Diversity & Inclusion” (D&I) project inside the company. This project encourages females to speak out their thoughts and demands; it fights for a more inclusive working environment. Julie hoped that what she is doing can bring female employees more choices, and make male senior officers realize their female colleagues’ needs. Through the efforts of Julie and her team, some female colleagues in the company have become more active in expressing their own opinions. They are more willing to face the challenges in their lives and work, and to receive help from others. “I think this is already a large improvement,” said Julie.
