Patrick Lee
Managing director
Kohler Power Systems Asia Pacific
What is your biggest employee-related challenge?
Talent retention is the biggest challenge in Singapore, especially in good years. The pressure has eased due to recession but I am sure it will be back once the economy recovers.
How do you overcome this challenge?
We focus on developing active and high quality development plans for each associate covering on-job-training, coaching, specific projects, training programmes and formal education to enable each associate to reach his or her career objectives.
How do you manage your busy schedule?
I use my Blackberry/ Microsoft Calendar to schedule my appointments and meetings. I like to allow a buffer between appointments to ensure that I will be on time for the next appointment.
I plan my activities forward not forgetting to take one day at a time. Each morning I prioritise my daily tasks and get to work on the top most important, complete it [and work down the list]. I don’t like to leave tasks to the last minute. I will plan on completing it at least two to three days ahead of deadline.
As a managing director, what spurred you to embark on an EMBA from SIM-University?
All along I have had a strong desire to gain more knowledge and skills in managing business. In the first 20 years of my career, I wasn’t able to find time due to heavy work commitments and extensive travel schedules. In 2002, I was promoted to managing director due to my strong performance as sales director.
In the first three years as MD, I didn’t have all the skills necessary to deliver top performance. Managing the staff and business is very challenging when one has no training in organisational behavior, human resources, strategic planning, finance and leadership. I was relying on personal experience to motivate and lead associates and to handle any personnel issues such as poor performance, conflicts and dysfunctional team.
After three years, I realised that to bring my organisation to a new level of success, I needed to acquire new skills to help me to manage areas that are new to me. I needed to develop my skills in all aspect of business management in order to enhance my performance and be an effective leader.
Would these lessons have been less painful if you had undertaken MBA or business management studies earlier?
Certainly! There are many case studies in the MBA programme which could be used as a guide to tackle poor performance and conflicts. It would have made me more effective [as a leader]. The leadership module opened my eyes and my view of leadership change completely. I learned various leadership styles and now I try to change my leadership style to suit the situation and individual. This is not easy. But I believe it is necessary.
