women in leadership

Asia’s female leaders: How to be more confident at work

Simone Wu — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Asia’s female leaders: How to be more confident at work Simone Wu

Confidence can take a dip when you work in a toxic environment, fail a test, fall out with a loved one or experience a setback at work. Everyone experiences low confidence levels in various degrees.

How confident you feel comes from life experiences related to culture, trauma, childhood bullying, parenting style, race, gender and sexual orientation – even the most highly driven individuals can experience the classic symptoms of impostor syndrome.

Understand women's confidence levels globally

The Women's Confidence report, published in March 2021, found that globally, women's sense of confidence is moderate. Commissioned by an American cosmetics company, IT Cosmetics, and conducted by consulting firm Eranos, this global women's confidence report was conducted over three years in 11 countries with 11,176 women between ages 18 to 69.

The study found that women in Mexico are the most self-confident, followed by those in China, the USA, Russia, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.

Researchers for this report also worked with academic experts, and successful and confident women to provide a well-rounded perspective on a woman's confidence. According to this white paper, confidence stems from 14 different interior and exterior sources, such as intuition, resilience, routine, spirituality and support system. How you draw from them is directly related to your personality, the time of day and your current life stage.

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A brief overview of experiences that influence a woman's level of confidence from this report

28% of Australian women, or almost one in three women, affirm that they have special skills as women in a professional context, which gives them an advantage over men. This echoes the idea that womanhood gives them an edge over their male counterparts.

81% of Chinese women believe that their condition can be improved by banding together – an exceptionally high ratio compared to other countries. Chinese women are more than aware of the key role they play in society and family, as opposed to men. In a country where protests are not common practice, women are very conscious of the cause that binds them together.

62% of Hong Kong women say that they would hesitate to break the rules even if they deemed them unwarranted. Respecting the rules is still a strong cultural standard, and contesting them openly is not welcomed.

34% of Japanese women, or more than 1 out of 3 Japanese women, think that all bad things happen for a reason, and we have to accept that, even if it is hard. The ability to accept fate is valued in Japan. On top of that, almost one out of three Japanese women say they feel stress or anxiety very often.

63% of South Korean women seek inspiration and strength from their predecessor’s experiences. In work, family, individual and social situations, in general, Korean women draw great lessons from those with more remarkable experience than them.

A lack of confidence can slow down career advancement for women. In 2019, research carried out by My Confidence Matters and the University of Glasgow found that 79% of women lack confidence (compared to 62% of men) when it comes to their careers and speaking up at work.

On top of that, LinkedIn’s Gender Insights Report found that women feel that they need to meet 100% of the job description criteria before applying for a job. In comparison, men would often apply for a job after meeting about 60% of the job description.

This confidence deficit can lead to many minor issues that will build up to have a significant impact on women’s careers. Creating a psychologically safe workplace can drive meaningful behavioural shifts, according to the Grant Thornton Women in Business 2024: Strategies for Success Report.

“Following female leadership calls and conferences, I’ve seen women become more empowered and determined. Hearing from each other gives them greater permission to be their authentic selves,” shares Ngozi Ogwo, CEO at Grant Thornton Nigeria.

For instance, when women do not speak up at appraisals, they miss the chance of getting promotions and negotiating for a higher salary. Also, when you feel confident, you are more likely to act on criticisms with a positive and motivated mindset than to dwell on negativity.

Advice from Asia's female leaders: Ways to build confidence

To build confidence, it is firstly essential to identify the cause of the lack of confidence. (Here is a quick confidence quiz you can take.) And from there, work on how you can become your biggest cheerleader. Ahead, 11 female leaders share their tips for building confidence.

“In the face of new world norms, to gain confidence, leaders today have to possess a strong conviction, trust our instincts to take calculated risks, develop a lifelong sense of curiosity, excel in navigating through ambiguity to form meaningful learnings and reframe mindsets to see failures as opportunities.” – Alison Ee, Director, Head of Customer & Marketing, Omni Grocery Business at FairPrice Group.

“A good start is to model leadership – by taking a page from the many leaders, we see around us. No one is born a perfect leader. We all build a unique stack of different skills, such as communication, strategy, and people management, that help us become better managers throughout our careers. Having said that, modelling will only take you so far. After some years of experience, it’s just as important to transition to trusting yourself, your instincts, and that stack of skills you’ve now developed fully.” – Angelia Teo, Founder at Futura.

“What’s worked for me is taking risks and stepping out from my comfort zone, which sounds unusual coming from a Chief Risk Officer, but it’s really about taking calculated risks. Also, speaking at conferences and publishing thought leadership articles help build my confidence too. I enjoyed that connection with people, and that also helps me build confidence. Another way to build confidence is to have a sense of passion and purpose in whatever you do.” – Anita Menon, Chief Risk Officer at Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad.

“I was not born with confidence. I had to work on it and build it up over time. I think having the humility to know that I am not perfect is one thing. The second thing is to know that, sometimes, things fail no matter how hard I try. It is about the ability to learn from your mistakes and rebound from failures. Also, I was a math major, so my approach is to look at problems, no matter how complicated they seem, and break them down into little pieces. So to me, confidence is not about having no fears. It is, realising that you have the strength to overcome those fears.” – Farra Siregar, VP, Strategic Partnerships at Zuellig Pharma.

“What really helped me was being able to come to the realisation of my weaknesses. I do believe my own strength, as well as knowing my weaknesses are important. One of the ways to gain more confidence as a leader is to embrace my weakness. I am a quick learner and fast thinker, which can also, at times, become a weakness. If you think you need to know everything in your team, you’re in trouble. For example, I’m not an expert in manufacturing or supply chain as I grew up in marketing and sales before becoming a general manager. So instead of hiding the fact that I have certain knowledge gaps in these functional areas, I try to embrace them by pausing before speaking. And by asking more questions before I jump to conclusions.” – Huilin Min, Vice President & Managing Director, Castrol Greater China

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“I realised that to gain confidence, I needed to practise. It’s all about practice. A lot of people were asking technical questions, and I started to spend a lot of time presenting in conferences; every year in the early 1990s, there were four to five conferences around the Asia Pacific. So I started to build confidence by [doing] repetitive work, repetitive presentations, each time trying to figure out what to do better than the next, and hearing feedback from people and what works for them. So it’s gaining confidence by pushing yourself into areas that make you uncomfortable. I still have butterflies in my belly every time I go up on stage!” – Irene Oh-Buhrfeindt, Vice President in Sales and Commercial Strategy, APAC at Tronox Limited.

“Everybody learns from their lessons and failures. That is how we can achieve success. I’m not sure if you have heard of the writer from Japan called Junichi Watanabe. He wrote a book called The Power of Insensitivity, about the sensitivity of [people], about how we care about the comments of others, about our failures, about how we are fragile. We call this ‘office glass heart’, so if you have an ‘office glass heart’, that is a problem. You will be easily beaten and lose your confidence. That’s why, according to Watanabe, we need to build up this power of insensitivity, put aside the comments from others and do the right thing. Gradually, the confidence will grow. At Ping An, we call this ‘AQ’, or ‘Adversity Quotient’. It is your ability to stand up in a challenging environment.” – Jingle Pang, Group Head of Business Tech & Ops at Zurich Insurance

“It always starts with domain knowledge. Confidence, for me, always comes from a good mastery of whatever that thing is. The second factor is about having a support system. Having a group of advisors, such as mentors, sponsors, your peers, your friends or family members, who can see you, see the value in you, that can really help you.” – Paula Wang, Managing Director, Google Play, APAC at Google.

“Knowledge is important. As I’ve said before, I benefit from the fact that my work and personal life are so closely aligned. The rest of it has to do with preparation. Do your homework because nothing replaces that. It adds to your knowledge and ability to solve big problems. I have also gained experience and confidence by working with people, gathering inputs and taking feedback, especially when preparing for critical decisions. So my advice is this: keep learning and keep practising. I learnt so much from interacting with my children, and it is incredible when they tell you the most honest feedback. I think, in life, we have to learn to receive feedback in the raw form. Don’t miss those opportunities. Sometimes you build confidence just by engaging with your own children.” – Penny Wan, Member Board Of Directors at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories.

“Confidence comes from deepened competence and capability: Read widely, learn continually through courses, industry and peer dialogues, and equivalent professional platforms to triangulate insights and form unique points of view. You can also find someone more senior and from a different field to mentor you and harness alternative perspectives. In turn, take on younger individuals as your mentees to give back the knowledge acquired.” – Romona Loh, Deputy Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore.

“Self-care. A person who is happy and well can lead better. You’re relied upon for decisions and motivation for the entire team. What you do is very contagious and can impact everyone. So caring for yourself, ensuring that you exercise and sleep well, that’s probably the most important thing. So when it comes to self-doubt and self-criticism, just being aware of these thought processes allowed me to understand that they are just that – thoughts. They are not real.” – Teresa Condicion, Founder and CEO of Shoplinks.

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5 ways to improve equity in the workplace: IWD 2021

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 03:43:19 +0000

5 ways to improve equity in the workplace: IWD 2021 Anonymous (not verified)

‘Diversity & Inclusion’ has quickly become more than just a hot-topic issue for businesses around the world — and for good reasons too. After all, discrimination of any kind has no place in our society, let alone the future workplace. However, beyond just the right thing to do, studies have also shown that diversity and inclusion is good for business, too.

In a recent analysis, Wall Street Journal revealed that the 20 most diverse companies in the S&P 500 performed better than the least diverse firms over five- to 10-year periods — 4 percentage points more in terms of average operating profit margin, to be exact. A separate study from Mckinsey reinforces this point, with the top 25% of companies studied for their gender diversity having a greater chance (21%) to experience above-average profitability.

Considering the hard figures, the business case for diversity and inclusion is hard to ignore. However, recognising the potential benefits does not necessarily equate to action and implementation, at least among S&P 500 companies. For example, less than a dozen companies in the S&P 500 have at least 50% female boards; less than 5% are run by a female CEO or equivalent; the number of female executives averages at just 18% in 2020. That is not to say that headways have not been made over the years. In 2020, S&P 500 boards appointed 413 new independent directors, with 59% of them being women and minority men, a small yet significant step in the right direction.

As part of International Women’s Day 2021, Page Executive recently hosted an exclusive webinar session that featured an esteemed list of female leaders from across APAC: Datin Yasmin Merican, President of Malaysian AEON Foundation & CEO, Trax Associates; Aliza Knox, Non-Executive Director of Healthway Medical Group and Grand Thornton International (London); H.E. Margriet Vonno, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Singapore & Brunei; as well as Noni S.A. Purnomo, President Director of PT Blue Bird. Representing Page Executive was Jon Goldstein, Regional Director of Southeast Asia at PageGroup.

Part of the conversation touched on practical actions that businesses can take to improve equity at the workplace. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Going beyond mentoring at the workplace

Mentorship at the workplace means giving advice and guidance to less experienced employees within the organisation. Sponsoring, on the other hand, goes beyond just giving friendly career advice. Knox explained that mentoring is about investing in an employee’s career and using your influence and network to connect them to high-profile assignments or decision-makers. “Many tech firms have these calibration sessions, where [there is] a limit on how many people we can promote at once. Sponsoring means that you are out there saying, ‘Listen, I understand that all four of these people are equally good, and we can only promote three, but I really believe that so and so is ahead’,” Knox said. “Sometimes, that person is a man or a woman, but I think as women, we can look to sponsor other talented people, and we bring them up.”

2. Be willing to challenge the status quo

Recruiters, too, are in an interesting position to improve a company’s equity. During the discussion, Goldstein said that it was a good idea for leaders to ‘get out of what’s in their heads’ when hiring. “A lot of clients come to us with [an] ideal based on what they know, and what they know generally refers to the male idea of what the ideal candidate is,” he explained. One way to deal with this mindset, then, is to challenge the status quo. “One of the most important things for me, my peers and all the different recruitment companies out there is to challenge back. We encourage our clients to consider a female candidate. It’s a risk, and we risk our clients pushing back, but that’s just the right thing to do.”

3. Becoming role models for the next generation

Fostering diversity and inclusion at the workplace goes beyond the current generation of workers, too. To Vonno, it is also about nurturing the next generation of leaders and inspiring them to become better, more equitable leaders. During the webinar, Vonno shared how, as a child, the person she looked up to was her father who gave her a lot of encouragement. Now that she’s an adult with a daughter of her own, she aims to become a role model as a way to pay it forward. “When my daughter was younger, she would tell me that she wanted to become a mother! She then clarified that she wanted to be a mother and then hop on an airplane to go to work. So she already knows that she can work and be a good mother at the same time, and I am very pleased with that,” Vonno said. “She also wants to drink lots of coffee, which is what she thinks I do all the time.”

Clockwise from top left: Jon Goldstein, Regional Director of Southeast Asia at PageGroup; H.E. Margriet Vonno, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Singapore & Brunei; James Chau, International Broadcaster and Host of The China Current; Aliza Knox, Non-Executive Director of Healthway Medical Group and Grand Thornton International (London); Noni S.A. Purnomo, President Director of PT Blue Bird; Datin Yasmin Merican, President of Malaysian AEON Foundation & CEO, Trax Associates.

4. Recruit those who share the same mindset about diversity and inclusion

It is one thing for female leaders to support women at the workplace — but what about the men? What if they don’t share the same ideas about diversity and inclusion? Purnomo believes that, on top of giving women the flexibility and confidence to make their own choices (that is, to be a mother, a full-time working professional or both), it is also about recruiting men who share the same mindset about workplace equality. “When I recruit new employees, especially male, the first question I ask is, ‘What are your views on having a wife who’s trying to climb the corporate ladder?’ Also, what happens if she earns more than you? It is important to know these things because, to make it sustainable, we need to change the culture. This means we have to recruit those with the same mindset. It is very important that their personal views align with the corporate view.”

5. Childcare-related policies or facilities

One question that piqued the interest of panellists is regarding the work culture in Japan. Specifically, an attendee shared that many of his female colleagues had to choose between becoming mothers and their careers. As the country with the highest rate of ageing globally, Japan’s working female leaders are thus in a real conundrum as many of them feel that choosing one means compromising the other.

On that front, Knox said that childcare at the office is an excellent step in the right direction. “That will maybe change after the Covid-19 pandemic because it’s unclear where employers could provide such a thing,” she said. “I mean, right now, if you want to be home with your kids, you have to make some trade-offs. You can’t do both at the same time. You can’t be baking with your child or playing with trucks and be on a work call. However, if you want to work but can’t because you can’t get childcare, I think that’s where both the government and companies could step up more in terms of practical action.”

The panellists also took a moment to recognise that progress has been made in markets in the Asia Pacific. “In Malaysia, we have achieved quite a lot when it comes to getting women in the workplace,” Merican shared. “In the latest report, Malaysians achieved 33% [when it comes to] getting women into senior positions. That’s compared to the global average of 29%. So to me, International Women’s Day is a chance for us to stop and think about what we can do to contribute.”

Ultimately, the panellists agreed that the most important way to improve diversity and inclusion is to look beyond just International Women’s Day. The other 364 days, too, are just as critical. “My concern is that it becomes something we do for one day a year,” Knox said. “We really should be thinking about gender parity all through the year, as well as other kinds of diversity. So what International Women’s Day means to me is [an opportunity] to challenge ourselves, to think about concrete things we can do, recognise the people who have come before us and pay it forward.”

Michael Page

women in leadership

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women in leadership

Asia’s female leaders: How to be more confident at work

Understand women's confidence levels globally

A brief overview of experiences that influence a woman's level of confidence from this report

Advice from Asia's female leaders: Ways to build confidence

Join over 60,000 readers!

Job Match

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5 ways to improve equity in the workplace: IWD 2021

1. Going beyond mentoring at the workplace

2. Be willing to challenge the status quo

3. Becoming role models for the next generation

4. Recruit those who share the same mindset about diversity and inclusion

5. Childcare-related policies or facilities

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