+IESE
Agent of change
How did working at Apple prepare you for this role? Apple was a remarkable experience. I was the youngest among 50 leaders, mostly men, and I was leading the biggest locations in the world with the fastest growth. Every month, I had to go to California to share the challenges we faced and bring back new ways of working. I had to learn how to adapt practices from headquarters and make sure they were applied with local nuances. Apple had a policy that leaders had to interview every single new member, which meant meeting thousands of people. This experience taught me how to hire by values. I realized that academic or industry background needs to be integrated with “culture fit.” This meant looking at their personality, their empathy and their ability to think critically and be solution-driven. I believe the best hire is the person who has the background, in terms of knowledge and intellect, but also a lot of humanity and empathy, in terms of understanding the culture and values. The way we measured success was by retention. The team was strong because we focused on their purpose, happiness, fulfillment, growth and well-being. We had this strong
“The future of a business is about leading with responsibility, not responding. Build your power from the inside out, and co-create business success together”
sense of community, an aligned way of working, and we were transparent in our communication. We said absolutely everything; there were no taboos. This was unique in Asia where it’s more about politeness. We ended up with some of
Leadership means being Triple A Aware of the changes and your personal impact and responsibilities. Authentic in expressing who you really are and never losing your roots and values. Aligned so everything you think, say, feel and do is in harmony with your values, the values of the company and the community you’re in.
the highest retention rates in the world, around 90%. This is massive in retail, which is normally below 50%. Tell us more about The Cage... The Cage is a 12-week ignition and development program created to support early-stage technology startups that enhance customer experience in the luxury and lifestyle retail industry. We see hundreds of companies, but we only select a few each year. Once we select, we commit to them, letting them take up residence in our Hong Kong headquarters, giving them access to our retail platforms for prototyping their ideas, and allowing them to leverage our industry connections. How do you sell corporate entrepreneurship? By working closely with internal teams. I talk with the presidents of the company, C-level teams and key stakeholders about what’s happening in the industry and learn what their challenges and pain points are. By identifying these individual needs, we can then find the best startups with solutions to their challenges.
40 | IESE Business School Insight | no. 154