At a work event, fresh-looking Valerie is the first to arrive in her neatly pressed uniform. The rest of the ground staff chat freely with her and treat her like a friend. Whether it is seeing to an inquiry or clearing the table after customers leave, she would do it voluntarily without waiting for others to do so. Valerie sounds like the ideal employee, except she is really the boss of the 200-employee strong company.
If you haven’t received the memo, grey hair and formal suits are no longer the necessary credentials for one of the most coveted job titles in the corporate world, chief executive officer.
Three CEOs Human Resources speak to, including Valerie, have two things in common. They have no grey hair and they are all 35 and younger.
Breaking the stereotypical mould
Valerie Tan, the 34-year-old CEO of Pinnacle International, a parallel car importer says that youth doesn’t hinder nor does it open doors. “It is just numbers because there are so many young CEOs these days.”
Tan started the company with her husband, Larry Teo, in 1996 and has achieved remarkable growth for the company since, making an estimated $220 million in gross sales last year. She might be a seasoned CEO now but back then, her staff were in their late twenties and early thirties with much more experience in the automobile industry. Bumps on the road were naturally expected. “Of course, those were the years,” says Tan. “Your views, strategies and the way you want to run the business is very different so you will have difficulties convincing people to buy in.”
Not that Ivan Lee, the 33-year old CEO of restaurant group Thai Express Concepts disagrees with her. While his company now brings in an annual revenue of $80 million, youth was a hindrance when people had difficulty believing in his vision and direction for the company. “People think you have no experience, knowledge or composure.” Naturally, the young go-getter brushes off such obstacles despite having “to work a lot harder” to convince older employees. “Overall, your energy, your enthusiasm outweigh the disadvantages.”
Inexperience had also created problems for two young male police officers who knew nothing about the predominantly female-operated childcare industry, but they wanted a slice of it anyway. Cherie Hearts co-founder Gurchran Singh, 35, was one of the former policemen. “Being a youth and on top of that, a male, people did not take us seriously enough and there were some people who think we would close after a short while.”
Harnessing experience
It is hardly surprising then when all three CEOs admit leading older employees with a wealth of experience was considerably harder when they were fresh faces on the job. Not satisfied with having mere followers, they wanted to win their employees’ hearts as well. “It’s never tough to get the staff to listen but it is tougher to get them to believe what they are doing is going to bear results,” Tan says. “There would be different commitment levels.”
Likewise, Lee from Thai Express Concepts feels the concept of employees being paid to solely follow orders does not mean much. Workers who are more independent and intelligent would not “automatically” listen to the boss, he explains. But he is not encouraging total democracy in the company either. CEOs would still have to make demands of the employees from time to time. “You can’t have a vote every time you want to do something.”
Singh from Cherie Hearts prefers a softer approach when training his teachers with 20 to 30 years of experience to acquire new mindsets. Besides assuring them the young bosses were in it for the long run, Singh adds, “We got down and dirty with them.”
Hence, Singh used to cut grass and wash drains together with his staff during the childcare centre’s spring cleaning sessions. Singh also made sure every employee’s opinions, from experienced staff to new graduates, were taken into consideration for every business decision. “We run the centre as very close friends. They realised we are not here just as bosses but we work as a team.”
In the end, having successful results validated the mavericks’ leadership ability to their employees. Lee says, “So long as you can hit targets, you are right whether people agree with the way you do things.”
Youth versus wisdom
When it comes to effective leadership, all three CEOs agree age is just a number. Their energy and willingness to learn more than make up for the level of wisdom usually found in older CEOs. While they are appreciative of the experience seasoned CEOs bring to the table, there are exceptions to the rule.
Tan says humility plays a big part when comparing young upstarts versus weary warriors. Danger arises when a successful, mature CEO becomes a “know-all” and shuts his door to new ideas. “You have to believe there is a lot more you do not know that your staff can teach you,” Tan says. “That is the difference between myself and some of the older CEOs I know.”
Lee diplomatically adds not all leaders are alike as differences can occur even among CEOs of similar ages. “I don’t think I would dare to say who is better. Everybody needs to learn as much as they can from everybody. Nobody is perfect.”
Learning the ropes
Before they became CEOs, top executives may need a little help sometimes to make better decisions for their companies. While Tan has her husband as a mentor during her early years of running the company up till now, Lee relies on his friends instead to help him see things another way.
However, the tight spot appears when there are no suitable advisors available. “Unfortunately in life, there are many things you have to decide on your own.” The best advice to follow then would still be yours, Lee adds.
Not knowing anyone from the childcare industry initially, mentorship had come from an unexpected source when Singh needed help. “The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports’ family services division, childcare branch, really took care of us.”
But attaining CEOship doesn’t quite mark the end of learning for these chiefs holding the mantle. All three insist they are still learning and it is a continuous process despite their titles. Perhaps Lee says it best. “Till today, I always keep my eyes and ears open. Every now and then, I see something worth learning from.”
Measuring up
Seen as the beacon of an organisation, successful CEOs often have similar qualities that earned the respect of their employees and peers. It is no different for these leaders who are not the brash upstarts as one might think. In fact, two leading traits – creativity and positivity – stood out from the long list of qualities each of them gave.
Imagine operating in the fast paced world today and lacking adaptable business plans to remain competitive. Hardly a pleasant thought, Tan feels. “That’s why CEOs must be ever-changing. New ideas are very important.”
Recognising the power of positivity is equally important for these CEOs as it inspires their employees to give that bit more at work. Qualifications and competencies can always be trained, but not a positive attitude, explains Singh. “It rubs off in your work. If you are positive, it’ll be seen in your decision[s] but if you are negative and hesitant, somehow it’ll rub off in everything that you do.”
Positivity also tends to draw like-minded people together as all three leaders agree they consciously look out for energetic and positive talent to be part of their team. “Energy is very important in anything that you do,” says Lee.
Guiding the bloodline
Even though these CEOs were placed in the hot seat without any prior leadership development programmes, they have wised up to the necessity of providing their future leaders with proper guidance. Pinnacle International would throw potential leaders into projects first to gauge their capabilities and teamwork before entrusting them with larger responsibilities. Tan says, “You have to show them the ropes. It is not something whereby you throw somebody in the position and expect that person to excel. It is [a] process.”
While Thai Express Concepts’ senior management, together with Lee, spend 50% to 80% of their time everyday interacting with future leaders as part of its mentorship programme, Cherie Hearts enjoys putting prospective leaders “in a hot spot”. Singh personally relishes in leading them to it. Making impromptu decisions, he explains, allows him to gauge the talent’s competency levels. “Sometimes people react much better when they are in such spots and they do very well, surpassing their own limitations.”
Room to fail
As radical as it sounds, the CEOs would like to see HR practitioners give budding leaders plenty of room to fail. How else would entrepreneurship be cultivated, all three ask? Without employees willing to take risks, companies would find themselves drained of ideas pretty soon.
Rigidity is frowned upon in these companies where all three CEOs had climbed the rungs of success through entrepreneurship. Playing to their strengths of being good listeners, HR should remove the boundaries for talent to come forth with innovative ideas, suggests Tan. “Staff should have freedom to fail and also freedom from fear. That’s how I came up from when I just started till today. If you fail, so what? Just pick [yourself] up and walk again.”
Complacency is a big no-no in Singh’s book as that means the CEO is not giving his employees opportunities to showcase their talent. “By having new innovation ideas, you are injecting healthy new blood into the company. That’s how the company will continue to expand.”
In fact, like Lee, Singh encourages employees to come up with the most ludicrous suggestions whenever there are brainstorming sessions. “No idea is stupid or ridiculous. We may need it for future.”
After all, running a successful business requires enterprising leaders who can deliver results. But first they must learn it is okay to make containable mistakes, says Lee. Even if the employee made a wrong call, HR should refrain from sticking to the rulebook and lay the blame at their feet. Because what matters in the end is that valuable learning curve, which will ultimately benefit the company. “It doesn’t matter if it fails, what’s important is you have tried,” says Singh.
Sparking the leadership flame
Taking its cue from the CEO, the organisational culture sets the way employees behave in the company and the pride they have from associating themselves with the brand. Imprinted as the DNA of the organisation, it also determines how things operate within the company.
If the top executive believes in grooming people, the senior management follows his heed and the culture would cascade to the bottom, explains Tan. Hence, it is important to ignite the right leadership spark in everyone. In Pinnacle International, Tan maintains a high level of employee engagement with her ground level staff such as salespeople. “That is the way we interact because the business is about people. When a relationship is built, the bond is stronger.”
Managing people also takes up a lot of energy, says Lee. “You need to constantly talk to them [staff] and pump in energy into the company.”
Sharing knowledge freely among one another is another habit these CEOs want to instil in their employees. That’s how individuals achieve further personal growth and how the business benefits from their growth. Keeping information to themselves will only impede their progress. Lee says, “By sharing your knowledge, you actually gain and don’t lose. If a restaurant manager wants to grow one outlet to five outlets, the only way to grow is to share knowledge.”
Tan adds, “They [staff] should never fear that they have to guard their jobs [or someone taking their job away]. If you don’t have a second in line, you can’t move.”
Planning ahead
In the corporate world, good leadership succession planning is what makes companies outlive their competitors, long after the CEO steps down. And it is never too early to start the transition. Tan has named her regional director, groomed by the company since the beginning, the next in line after her. His task would be continuing the vision she has set for the company.
Yet succession plans are not set in stone as all three CEOs prefer to leave the reigns in the hands of their entire management team, instead of selecting a chosen one. As a matter of fact, Tan says, "Nobody is indispensable. The company cannot run on just one person’s capability. If that person resigns, leaves the unit or the company collapses, despite anybody's absence it should still move on."
Likewise, Lee has always emphasised building successful teams from the first day even though some of his senior leaders are capable of making the step up. Through years of rigorous preparation and selection, he now has a good management team which can function without him around. “I have never wanted to engineer anything that is a one-man show. If somebody is not around, it’s the team that steps in, not one person.”
Planning to exit in three to five years time, Singh has chosen a few successors to take over both his and his co-founder’s positions. But before the actual announcement, these candidates in their mid-twenties would be put through a series of challenges to determine their leadership pedigree. These days, adaptability is the name of the game. “Bringing the [brand] name globally is one aspect where I want to see how they are reacting to it and we will be around for a period of time to guide them into their positions.”
Exiting the building
At the end of the day, no dynasty lasts forever. There comes a time when a CEO has to head off into the sunset. Whether in glory or shame, it depends on how well the leader has prepared his understudy. The CEOs’ character and mindset would also be taken into consideration when it comes to deciding the length of the tenure.
Tan feels a timeline of 15 years would be ideal for any CEO even though she is in her twelfth year, and not exactly ready to hand over the leadership reins yet. “When people reach 10 or 15 years, they feel a bit [of a] drag already. But there are people like myself – I enjoy my work.”
Occupying the hot seat long-term would need an adaptable leader who can mould his thinking according to the changing times. Which is not an impossible scenario, says Lee. “Somebody could be 70 years old and still have a lot of good ideas. I don’t think there is a fixed expiry date.”
Yet Singh resolutely believes 10 years at the top is quite enough for a CEO to hold reign. Former CEOs can retain an advisory capacity but the company needs to bring in new blood to continue its expansion goals, he says. Otherwise it would mean the company has been sorely lacking in proper leadership. “I may be useful to the company but if I'm the only one bringing in the majority of results in the tenth year, I am not planning ahead and that is wrong. The company should always grow."
Only illness or a loss of motivation would deter Lee from running the company, yet for others, it could be a host of personal reasons. "Maybe when you decide to be a monk or a priest or if the country you are in has a war that breaks out," says Lee. Hopefully tongue-in-cheek.
When pressed for her exact retirement date, Tan says, "If I come across somebody who is capable enough, who can make more money for me and more than what I can do myself, then it is time I give up the seat.”
"But this person must fit into the culture. I am very particular about that."
