女性領導力:以「幽默感」直面挑戰,用謙遜聆聽建議

企業高管

Page Executive近期推出"女性領導力"專題，採訪了微軟、喜力、安進等亞太區各行各業的女性高管，從她們的分享中一探女性職場的晉升與發展，感受「溫柔的力量」。

As part of Page Executive Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

LeadingWomen

作為Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad的首席風險官，Anita Menon認為身處高位，更需要一份「幽默感」來應對職場上的各種挑戰。而她的高管哲學，讓她入選了Cambridge IFA評選的2019年度Top50女性人物（伊斯蘭商業與金融領域）。今天的女性領導力故事，讓我們來看看她對於女性職場的認識。

In this story, we speak to Anita Menon, Chief Risk Officer at Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad and the Top 50 Women in Islamic Business & Finance by Cambridge IFA in 2019. She shares how she navigated her way through several male-dominated industries, the importance of having a sense of humour in leaders, as well as how equality begins not at the workplace, but at home with the family.

（視頻為英文，總長約14分鐘）

01

作為領導者，你如何授權團隊和成員？

As a leader, how do you empower others on the team?

Anita：我覺得一個公司的文化以及行為直接反應了領導層的風格。對我而言，授權意味著信任以及全權代表。要給你的團隊成員設立目標和期望值，能讓他們意識到自己的責任。另外我覺得非常重要的一點是溝通。一直以來我都試圖解釋「為什麼」，美籍英裔作家，TedTalk嘉賓Simon也曾提到過這點。以及，亞洲人通常都比較含蓄，所以我經常鼓勵我的團隊要大膽發言。我們公司最近就上線了一個app 「Tell Me」，讓所有級別的員工都能在上面暢所欲言。

I think the culture of an organisation and the behaviours within it are direct reflections of the style of leadership by the leaders. For me, empowerment is about trust and delegation. It’s about setting up objectives and expectations for your team members up front so that they are aware of their responsibilities.

The other thing that I feel is really critical is communication and communicating on a timely basis. I try to explain the 『Why』, as famously mentioned by Simon Sinek, a British-born American author and motivational speaker. Also, Asians tend to be very polite, so I actively encourage my team to speak up and voice their opinions. I am also particularly excited that we』ve recently launched an app called 『Tell Me』, which is rolled out to all levels of staff. It allows them to provide direct feedback in real time.

高級人才招聘

02

對女性高管，最大的挑戰是什麼？

What are some of the top challenges for future female leaders?

Anita:如今一代女性領導人已經擁有了更多機遇，比如紐西蘭女總理Jacinda Ardern就向人們展現了一個強大且富有同情心的形象。當然，女性依然面臨很多挑戰，比如生活與工作之間的衝突。如今的社會依舊默認女性應該承擔更多家庭義務，這也讓她們壓力山大。第二點，在一些機會面前，女性仍面臨不平等的對待。這是為什麼我們一直都致力於多元化的推進。

作為女性領導，以及一個媽媽，我教育我的兩個兒子，女性和男性應該在家庭中承擔平等責任，這是作為女性領導者應該在家庭中起到的引導。

I think there are huge opportunities for the current generation of women, we saw many leaders stepping up. There’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand who demonstrated that it was possible to be a strong yet empathetic leader. Having said that, though, I think women still face a number of challenges, such as the conflict between work and life. Society still expects women to do most of the heavy lifting at work and at home. This puts a lot of pressure on them. Secondly, women face unequal treatment when it comes to opportunities, so we try very much to have diversity and inclusion as an agenda.

As a leader and a mother, I tell my two boys that responsibilities at home are shared equally between men and women. That’s the message that we, as women leaders, can impart on our families.

女性高管

03

哪些領導特質最能引起你的共鳴？

What leadership traits resonate with you the most?

Anita: 首先我想到的是真誠，領導者最重要的是做自己以及待人真誠。我很榮幸在工作經歷中曾和很多擁有此特質的領導共事，他們都擁有明確的目標和價值觀。他們同樣也樂於分享，賦能他人。他們給予他人應有的信任，都非常專業。我同樣也很欣賞和佩服那些勇於表達的領導，即便他們的觀點並不被廣泛看好。最後，我覺得領導人最好能有一點幽默感，這樣才能和團隊有更好的連結。

The first thing that comes to mind is authenticity. Increasingly, I think leadership is really about being true to yourself and being authentic. I』ve had the privilege of working with many such leaders in the course of my career, and they all have clear visions and strong sets of values. They are also people who are willing to mentor and lift others up. They also give credit where credit is due, and they are very professional. I also admire leaders who have the courage and the conviction to speak up, even if it is not a popular choice to do so. Lastly, I think a sense of humour is very important, too, because it creates bonds with the team.

企業高管領導力

04

你在職場中學到了哪些重要的事？

What leadership lessons have you learnt across your career?

Anita:就我個人，我的價值觀基本是被我所工作過的組織所影響的 。當你有很明確的價值觀或原則導向，就很容易做決定。另外就是注意細節，很多人說過，細節決定成敗。我也很樂於和他人分享，幫助他們如何面對職場。有同理心很重要，它能讓你和他人建立互信。另外我也是一個聆聽不同觀點的堅決擁護者，因為這些人會帶來全新的觀點，甚至挑戰你的思維。最後，我覺得所有領導人都應該謙遜接地氣。

Personally, my values have been dictated by the organisations that I』ve worked with. When you have a strong set of values or guiding principles, it’s easier to make decisions. Paying attention to details is a big one for me because, as they say, the devil is in the details. I also enjoy mentoring others, men and women, in their career journeys. It’s important to be empathetic as it helps you create bonds of trust. I’m also a firm believer in surrounding yourself with very diverse views, because these people bring fresh perspectives to the table and challenge you. Lastly, I think it’s always important for leaders to remain grounded and practise humility.

高級人才

05

對在男性為主的行業中擔任領導的女性，你有什麼建議？

Do you have any advice for female leaders in male-dominated industries?

Anita: 進步源於意識。近幾年，我們看到越來越多的女性在傳統男性為主的行業裡獨領風騷，這就能很好地幫助人們提高意識。同時，也能讓更多人有意識地去追求類似的成就。第二個很重要的點是在組織中建立支持體系和同盟。這點上男性非常在行，女同胞們值得學習借鑑。第三是要消除無意識的偏見，在我所在的公司，我們並不缺少女同事，但當她們晉升到更高的職位，因為一些偏見，她們會選擇放棄。她們甚至自己都會認為，應該放棄事業、專注家庭。如果企業和組織能夠幫助她們消除偏見，這會讓她們的職場道路更加長久。

Progress starts with awareness. In recent years, we』ve seen and read about women in the media who』ve played prominent roles in traditionally male-dominated industries, and that helps to create awareness. At the same time, it inspires other people to hopefully pursue similar careers.

The second most important thing is to build a support system and identify allies as you progress through an organisation. This is something that men are generally better at, and I think women can take a leaf from that.

Thirdly, it’s about removing unconscious biases. At Prudential BSN Takaful, we certainly don’t lack women in the workplace, but I do observe that, when they get higher in the organisation, they tend to drop out of the workplace due to unconscious bias. Even they believe that they are the ones who should give up their careers to focus on their families. So if organisations are able to address that, we will certainly help women go a long way.

06

女性中最讓你有啟發的人是？

Name a woman who’s inspired you the most.

Anita: 我的其中一個榜樣是我媽媽，我媽媽來自一個傳統家庭，她自己也是個家庭主婦。但是，她很獨立，也很有責任。我從她身上學到了我可以走出去，可以得到任何我想達到的成就。如果要從商業領域選擇一位，那麼是Indra Nooyi，前任百事CEO。她的故事很讓人振奮，包括她如何來到美國，如何成為全球500強企業的CEO，以及如何做出每一步商業決策。她同時也是一個很謙遜的人，每當她回到家，她就會卸下自己的工作頭銜，全身心投入家庭，我覺得這是真正優秀領導者應該做到的。

My role model is my mother. My mother came from a very traditional Indian background, and she was a homemaker. However, she was also someone who had a clear sense of responsibility and independence. From her, I learnt that I could go out there and achieve whatever I set my mind on. If I were to choose someone from the corporate field, it would be Indra Nooyi, the former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. I was hugely inspired by her story about how she moved to the US, how she became the CEO of a Top 500 company, and the sort of decisions she had to make at every step of the way. She also comes across as a very grounded and humble person. I read somewhere that whenever she came home, she would leave her CEO title at the door and focus on the family. I think that’s the hallmark of a truly great leader.

企業高管招聘

07

如何建立自信？

How have you developed your confidence as a leader?

Anita: 我的做法是直面風險，這聽上去好像和我的職業是衝突的。但我覺得承擔適度風險是有必要的。比如，我之前擔任畢馬威的合伙人，我也很喜歡這份工作，但是當我有機會能加入BSN，我接受了這個機會，因為我想跳出自己的舒適圈，挑戰我自己，學習新的東西。實際上，我最早是STEM行業裡的科學家，但後來我發現這不是我的興趣所在，我更喜歡和人打交道。所以後來我轉投到了諮詢公司做金融服務。這些經歷都很寶貴，另外我覺得多在公眾場合表達自己，也對建立自信很有幫助。

What’s worked for me is taking risks, which sounds unusual coming from a Chief Risk Officer, but it’s really about taking calculated risks. For example, when I was working at KPMG as a partner, and I really enjoyed that role. However, when this opportunity came up at Prudential BSN Takaful, I took the role because I really wanted to step out of my comfort zone, challenge myself and learn new things. In fact, I started my career as a scientist in the STEM industry. I discovered, however, that it wasn’t my cup of tea, and that I enjoyed working with people much more. That’s why I switched to consulting and financial services. These experiences have been truly invaluable. And I guess speaking at conferences and publishing thought leadership articles help too.

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More stories of Leading Women will be shared in coming weeks.

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