We are delighted to launch our inspiring LeaderTalks series, featuring in-depth discussions with our leadership team. Today, we have the honor of sitting down with Quang Doan, our Director of Client Services. Quang will share his valuable insights, personal experiences, and humble wisdom, aiming to inspire our Innovaturers on their own journey towards becoming exceptional leaders.
Quang’s Leadership Style
Which leadership style do you prefer: strict or easygoing?
Result-oriented leadership style; emphasizing productivity, efficiency, and accountability. The benefits of a result-oriented leadership style include increased productivity, improved performance, and a focus on continuous improvement. By setting clear goals, holding individuals accountable, and fostering a problem-solving mindset, result-oriented leaders can drive their teams toward success. However, it’s important for leaders to also consider the well-being and development of their team members, as solely focusing on results can sometimes neglect important aspects of leadership such as employee engagement and work-life balance.
Has your leadership style remained consistent or changed over time?
Yes. I was more relaxed when leading teams during the first few years of leadership. It took time but I realize relaxed style doesn’t maximize an employee’s potential. To help employees grow and maximize their potential, clear goals, sufficient guidance, and accountability are critical.
How Quang approach challenges
What are the most important decisions you make as a leader?
I think every decision is important because each affects certain people, certain business processes, or certain functions in a company in some way. For every decision that I’m not sure 100%, I always try to gather as much info as possible from the team, assess benefits vs risks and try to balance it and have a plan for the unfavorable outcome.
Can you provide an example of a challenge or obstacle the company faced recently, and how the leadership team approached and resolved it?
As the company grows, scaling up teams while maintaining high standards of performance and service quality to the clients is a challenge. This could potentially impact the business growth if it doesn’t get handled properly. To tackle this, management has decided to prioritize the strategic shift to customer-centric service delivery while investing more in building a strong middle management level which plays a critical role in scaling our operations.
- Embracing a customer-first approach is an ongoing journey rather than a one-time task. It requires a commitment from all levels of the organization, from leadership to front-line staff. By consistently prioritizing the customer and adapting to their evolving needs, businesses can build strong customer loyalty, drive growth, and establish a competitive advantage in the market.
- Building a strong middle management level is crucial for the success of any organization. Middle managers play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between senior leadership and frontline employees. They are responsible for executing strategies, managing teams, and driving results. By investing in their development, empowering them, and providing growth opportunities, organizations can build a capable and effective middle management team that drives success.
What do you think is the biggest strength of this company right now?
The biggest strength of the company is our talented employees. Our management responsibility is to find ways to better utilize our talent pool to allow them to contribute more and make big impacts on the company
Collaboration With Employee
How does the leadership team communicate and collaborate with employees effectively?
We collaborate with the mindset that nobody can solve everything alone by themselves. We proactively seek feedback/ guidance from each other, especially in matters that impact the company or business. We debate to arrive at the best option and execute it. Most importantly, we encourage everyone in the management to continuously learn from each other to become a more complete leader.
Can you share an example of a successful collaboration project within your team, highlighting the key factors that contributed to its success?
RFP process that requires cross-functional collaboration. We first agree on the theme and message we want to communicate in the RFP as a company then each department head is responsible for providing a response that is tailored to the needs of the customer. This way we were able to capture meaningful functional answers while still aligning with the company’s overall message.
Quang’s Valuable Pieces of Advice for Innovaturers
A piece of advice do you give to Innovaturers who want to strive for excellence and aim for a leadership role?
Leadership doesn’t come naturally. It’s the result of a long period of learning, hard work, practice, and experience. Pay attention to the manager you admire, observe how they do things, how they lead, and how they execute, and practice them continuously whenever you have a chance, not necessarily in a leadership role but even in your daily tasks. Gradually, those will become your instincts which will help you greatly when you are placed in the manager role.
See more»
