World class

I had no idea the sector even existed. D, as usual, led the way. She interned and then worked in that field before I knew a job like that even existed. I was happy living the expat life in the travel industry. 

She was instrumental in introducing someone who then introduced me to someone who gave me the job. I liked it. And then liked it so much I thought I'd move up, into a more prestigious firm. Kind of like moving from the championship into the premier league.

That became my third job, and one that I've held now for 17 years. Amazing, for a someone who in school was regarded as non-conformist enough to earn the label "non corporate guy". Well, to start with, management consulting is not really a corporate job... Well, not initially anyway. For the first six years, I worked with a number of clients across multiple industries on a variety of topics, so it seemed like a new job every quarter or so. No time to get bored. 

Then as a partner, for the next six years, I had to build up my client base, run an office, build the team. It was hard work and all my life lessons, courtesy of generous mentors, were out to good use here and especially in the subsequent 5 years as I was appointed to lead the region.

Earlier this month, I was asked to lead our practice globally. Happy and humbled, it felt like a lifetime achievement in a way. Like KH who headlined my interview with him in the Straits Times, "small town boy who learnt to dream big".

Yes, I had constantly aspired for more: for my team and for myself. Whether to bring my scout troop abroad on our own resources or to go to a bigger city for better educational and economic opportunities.  And with help of mentors, I learned how to calibrate those goals. I harboured dreams as of being a captain of industry and was most intrigued by the notion of world class. 

My first inkling of what it meant to be world class was in Seoul. I had been dispatched there by my boss to help colleagues there figure out a National IT Agenda, based on my experiences in Malaysia, in particular the learnings from the Multimedia Super Corridor.

As I was savouring a Japanese lunch alone and enjoying views across the expansive Millennium Seoul Hilton hotel gardens (their photo above), I thought to myself that this is what being world class meant, ie to have an expertise that is useful and applicable to other parts of the world, even the developed world. 

That was nearly 20 years ago and I had just got into my 30's. Now, at the cusp of my final year in my 40's, I am asked to lead the Public Sector practice across the world. Yet strangely, world class doesn't seem the appropriate description anymore for this global role. At this juncture, the job feels more like a mission and I am fully aware of what I can and more importantly what I cannot do. It's not about what experiences of mine that can scale across the globe, but rather how I enable such that the collective capabilities of all my partners, directors, principals, managers can be enhanced and deployed effectively to great impact. 

So, if there's one thing this small town boy has learned, it is this: everyone can and will contribute to this world. We all just need to find our platform. Some of us are lucky enough to be shaping and managing the platform. But everyone contributes, in their own small and not so small but always special way.