Karen Loon confesses she used to believe putting in the extra hours was the key to career progression.
Having accumulated extensive experience working for major firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Australia and Singapore; Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand; and Pictet Wealth Management, Ms Loon became a corporate partner at the age of 33.
She said: “I worked very hard early in my career. (But) after working for a few years, my progress started to slow down and people told me I needed to develop my managerial skills."
Ms Loon said it was important to engage mentors who had "made it" as leaders.
“I had a good mentor who I still keep in touch with today," she said.
"People who succeed can handle their stress and they try different things.
"There will always be hard times, such as feeling like an imposter at work. If people don’t learn to manage their stress properly, they will get derailed. It’s also vital to have a solid support network and equally, knowing when to take down time.”
So, what makes a good leader?
Ms Loon said being a leader is not without its challenges, particularly if they’re from a diverse background.
Her book ‘Fostering Culturally Diverse Leadership in Organisations’, published in August, focuses on how leaders from diverse backgrounds negotiate their identities within the workplace and provides lessons for aspiring leaders.
Ms Loon interviewed Asian-Australians who discussed how they broke through barriers to become leaders in their respective fields.
She said: “The motivation came to me when I was at a diversity leadership meeting at PwC. I saw many books about addressing gender gaps in the workforce but there was nothing about cultural diversity that applies to the Asia-Pacific region. I felt if I had to write the book, I should interview people who have made it (from Asian backgrounds)."
She added that because people from minority backgrounds may experience barriers throughout their careers, they might then feel compelled to act in a certain way to convince their seniors, peers and team members that they’re capable leaders.
Ms Loon said: “When you’re under pressure you often resort to patterns you’re comfortable with."
"You’re worried about what people might think (and experience thoughts) like 'I might say the wrong thing and I get told off'. This may be more projected if you come from a minority background."
Ms Loon said she had been at meetings where there were less than 20 per cent women and Asian females in the group.
People are following you, but you can develop your own leadership style. Before I took on a leadership role, my predecessor was an Asian man and a 'father figure' to his team members. There was also another leader before me, and both of them were 10 years older.
Speaking about her own career progression, Ms Loon said there was no way she could have simply copied the leadership styles of her predeccessors.
“I had to work out my own way to lead. I focused on building my own team, encouraging them to thrive as well as giving them the space to learn, and it was successful," she said.
"If you’re leading a team, you can have your own style and don’t feel you have to have the same style as the leaders before you.”
Ms Loon added leaders succeeded because they were willing to try different things.
She said: “I interviewed one lady who was originally born in Asia and came to Australia as an adult. She used to just work very hard, but she learnt it’s important to get people to know who you are as a person.
"People who succeed are proactive, for example they did stretch assignments (a project beyond their level of knowledge and skill) to learn and grow their skills.”
How important is networking in career progression?
Sabrina Li, a Chinese language teacher and winner of this year’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian Australian’s education category, says she hasn’t encountered the leadership barriers faced by many Asians known as the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ before and believes self-development is important in career-building.
The term 'Bamboo Ceiling' was first used in the US in 2005 to refer to the barriers to career progression such as racial stereotyping faced by Asian Americans.
Ms Li said: “I socialise with a lot of people and participate in different activities. Whether you are studying IT, agriculture, business or real estate, I speak to everyone and learn a lot from them. I think this is very important for your own self-growth.”
“Once you’ve fulfilled what you wanted to achieve, you can get a mentor. You also need a team, rather than walking down the path on your own. You can make further progress with a team. It’s very important to have the support of the people around you.”
Sabrina Li
When asked about her leadership style, she said: “Once you become a leader, you must encourage your team."
I think one of the things I’m good at is finding everybody’s strengths. I encourage my team a lot and they deliver as a result.
“I think once you’ve done all of the above, over time and with constant effort, the ceiling won’t be there, you won’t find it.”
Ms Li started an online education platform, ‘Guanxi Academy’. She says the idea came to her during the pandemic when parents approached her and voiced their concerns about how to motivate their children to do their homework.
She said: “During the pandemic, and especially in Victoria, we couldn’t really go out. A lot of parents told me their children didn’t speak Chinese at home and didn’t do their homework. So, I developed a platform where students can do online courses, which could be Chinese or other subjects, at a time of their choosing.”
Online learning platforms may replace the need for teachers altogether. Source: SBS / SBS/Abby Dinham
Ms Li says that ‘guanxi’, or social networks helped her establish Guanxi Academy by tapping into experiences and relationships she has cultivated over the past 10 years through her work in promoting Chinese language education in Victoria.
When asked if networking is important she replied: “It is very important and it is the same across the world.”
“Because without the help and guidance of Chinese teachers and other local teachers, and without my own team of teachers and students, I don’t think I would have achieved what I have today.”
Diversity and inclusion in Australian workplaces
The journey of career advancement can be a bumpy ride however, some Asian-Australians argue their chances of attaining managerial roles are limited by the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’.
, 61 per cent of Asian-Australians says they felt compelled to abide by “Anglo” leadership styles while only 18 per cent felt there was no cultural bias in their workplace.
In recent years, many organisations and companies have stepped up their initiatives to increase diversity and awareness in their work culture. Under Ms Loon’s leadership, PwC was the winner of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore’s Diversity and Inclusion Award.
From her experience, Ms Loon says she believes organisations should take a holistic approach when building up their diversity and inclusion framework as some diversity programs run the risk of just showing external results.
She said: “I do find some company cultures inhibit greater diversity as staff are too scared to raise questions. Establishing and improving diversity and inclusion is a slow progress and it takes time to change peoples’ behaviour."
Some businesses justify increasing diversity as a way to make more money, but this can lead to short-term thinking.
“Change needs to start from the top. I also find a lot of companies view diversity as a compliance issue. They put into place rules and procedures to comply but workplace culture needs to be inclusive too so everyone feels comfortable and not embarrassed to speak up.”
