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Secrets of success from Asian telecom leaders [23.03.07]

In my meetings with top managers and key decision makers in some of the best telecom companies in Asia, I often asked my favorite question -- just how did they reach their fame, or what was the secret of their success... And almost unanimous opinion was that one should like what he or she is doing, work hard and share the knowledge. 

I am a proponent of constant learning and understanding what makes people tick, how one reaches the goal, and what needs to be done to make just another step in the right direction.  So, here is the excerpts from my interviews with telecom leaders of today, which I am sure you will enjoy just like I do...

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John Chiu, Chairman of the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association:

"You need to learn to find solutions to your questions on a human basis.  We are so overloaded with technologies, standards, etc.  However, the core key remains human relationship.  If you know how to build these relationships correctly – you will always win."

Tony Seeto, Director of Business Development, CSL:

"No. 1 rule for success is to understand what your customer wants, understand your customer’s behavior. And my role is to make use of technology, find out what the trends are and marries them together. How can we use technology to serve the customer better? I never lose sight of what my customer wants."

Chris Lau, Director of Future Services, SmarTone-Vodafone:

"I wouldn’t call myself very successful. And I am not just being modest! Probably I am very lucky in the extent that my career has always been in the telecom sector, and   I had different experiences in different countries. And I’ve been lucky to move from an engineering to the product development side.

I think that the key is to have passion. You’ve got to like what you are doing. And you need to be on a permanent alert, constantly curious about things. And asking and questioning, not just others but yourself -- why is it like that? What is it? Can it be improved??

If you have passion, you can spend hours at work and not get tired. Yet here lies the unlucky side too. You spend so much time at work! Sometimes I feel that I’ve been sucked into a black hole. And there is no time to do anything else! If you look at other industries, they are not changing that quickly like ours. Yet with us, every month there is a new device and technology coming, and each month it is slightly different. 

So the secret is how you think, how you focus on your customer, and how you try to find a way, and how you convey this to the customer. You need to ask yourself, how can you sell this service or product  to your customers? Why does the customer want this? 

Curiosity and passion, and willingness to challenge yourself are the keys.   Finally, you do need to have the support of your family, and I am very fortunate in that. I have a wonderful wife and family and appreciate the time I spend with them."

Charles Henshaw, CEO, China Mobile Peoples Telephone Limited:

"I believe in the humble approach…not being charismatic or proud … I listened to the people, gave them my time. I like working closely with people and instilling teamwork… this is so very important…

And I am not a “dictator”. I believe that the fundamentals of business are very, very simple. Keep an eye closely on what you are doing. Never take your finger off the pulse of the company or the business. Take time to look at the details from time to time.

Having worked for vendors for many years, I know how to arrive at the best partnership. I am always keen to ensure that it IS in fact a partnership! And not something else! Partnership is definitely a 2 way street with give and take along the way. There will be good times and some bad. A true partner is one that will stay with you for the long term regardless of any short term upsets. It is a true marriage and we all know how ugly divorce can be!!

In addition, I enjoy speaking at conferences and meeting many people from around the world to talk about the Company. I have met so many people and made a great deal of contacts that maybe one day could be important to us. I know people from all parts of the world; Pakistan, India, Korea, Bangladesh, Japan…

Another thing I want to mention is that I like to make sure that people can trust me, and that I can trust them too. I always ask a question – how can we all work better together? I really like to support my staff, my vendors, my partnerships As CEO, I am actually a “jack-of-all-trades” and have to rely on strong relationships with all my departments.

On the contrary, I have to be a good “policeman” as well. I always try and keep a watchful eye on the relationships in the office to make sure that everything runs smoothly. If I see that something is going wrong and needs my intervention to resolve then I will act quickly. Resolution of any internal misunderstanding or conflicting ideas is very important for a company to run smoothly.

I also always sign all purchase orders, I want to know what is going on. I want to see what is really happening. In other words, I feel that a senior manager must keep an eye on so many things even down to the smallest detail – without losing sight of the bigger picture!

I also really like to see and meet people, two or three levels down within the company. I want to hear what they have to say and see if I can help them to resolve any issue by suggesting a solution. And this works, you know. I find that people are coming to you, starting to rely on you, trusting you, knowing that they can always find help.

As a manager, I’ve always relied on three principles: 1) you’ve got to encourage people’s creativity; 2) you’ve got to promote initiative; 3) people MUST be given the responsibility to carry out what they want to achieve.

Say, if an employee has a genuine idea, not necessarily with a proven successful result, and he or she comes to me with the confidence that this is going to help the organization, I will encourage and support this employee. I would never scold anyone for trying their best even if the result did not turn out to be successful. However, I would not be pleased if someone failed to voice out their idea for fear of being rebuffed."