A call to nurture Budding Leaders. Why them?

Tech and science keeps advancing, but it is the leaders whose hearts are in the right place that define the future. Nurture them early, as some things are too costly to unlearn later.

“Why budding leaders (as my clientele)? They don’t pay well. The C-suites do.”

I get this a lot. So, let’s set the record straight.

💡 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 - 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 '𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬'. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.

If you’ve worked under both great and terrible leaders, you know how crucial it is to shape leadership early - before bad habits form, egos take over, and the wrong lessons stick.

I’ve had great leaders who:
✅ Told me to “𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮” - a nudge to embrace my unique voice instead of feeling demoralized for standing apart.

✅ Took the time to explain why he chose me for a role I had never done before. That belief changed everything.

✅ Let me be the ‘𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦’ (in his term) - yet knew how to ‘ride’ this ‘wild horse’ without breaking her spirit. Thanks to this trust, I set industry precedents.

✅ Told me I have “𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.” That simple remark made me see my own entrepreneurial drive.

✅ Taught me strategy when my naive question “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺?” got him speechless. That strategic mindset is my greatest asset today.

✅ Told me - 20 years later - that he “𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦”, because no one else had taken on what I did as his 1st hire, helping him build his consulting firm from scratch.

✅ Showed me unwavering trust when my supervisor resigned on day 1 I joined the company for an unfamiliar role she promised she’d train me into.

Gabriel Lim, Dr. Law Yean Kok, Tony Cousens, Noel Hawkes, Tony LAI, Christopher Ng:
You probably don’t remember saying or doing these things for me. But I do.

Because 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

And then, there were the others. The ones who threw me under the bus in a crisis, left me to fight battles alone, sidelined me out of fear.

Tech and science keeps advancing, but it is the leaders whose hearts are in the right place that define the future.

🧿 I was lucky. I had leaders who collectively stretched me to think boldly, navigate uncertainty, and create opportunities where none seemed to exist.

🧿 Their different strengths trained 2 ‘eyes’ in me~ a bird’s eye view of things, and an eye for details.

🧿 The opportunities they gave me in different roles and industries made me an all-rounder in what I now see as organizational effectiveness, the very foundation for scale.

We need more great leaders, and we need to nurture them early. Some things are too costly to unlearn later.

This is why I do what I do.