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On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns and Ben Gathercole speak with Alvin Hew about the leadership and cultural differences between Proctor & Gamble and L’Oreal; L’Oreal’s Confrontation Room; disrupting L’Oreal’s Asian approach; and Being bestowed the award of Chevalier de l’Ordre Nationale du Merite by French President Jacques Chirac. We also discuss his roles as a Board Director, why he has taken up running and the purpose and vision for Southgate Ventures Ltd throughout ASIA.

Background

Alvin Hew is an experienced CEO and Board Director who has been instrumental in positioning products and leading teams for some of the world’s leading global companies.

Based in Singapore, he is currently the Group Managing Director of Southgate Ventures Pte Ltd, which is an Education platform company headquartered in Singapore with 11 international schools in Indonesia, Korea and India under the name of SIS Group of Schools and Singapore Global Schools. 

His 30+ years of corporate experience covers private equity at The Abraaj Group; financial advisory at H2O Capital; commercial banking at TD Bank and investment banking at Lancaster Financial Inc. in Canada; business development and marketing at P&G in Switzerland, Vietnam, Southeast Asia and Australia; and top management experience at L’Oreal where he was the Managing Director of its companies in Malaysia and Taiwan.

He currently serves on the board of Maxis Berhad (Malaysia’s No. 1 mobile telco), Petronas Dagangan Berhad (Malaysia’s national oil and gas company) and on the Global Advisory Council of Queen’s University Smith School of Business in Canada and served on the boards of the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and Taipei American School. He is also the President of the Queen’s University Alumni Branch in Singapore.

He holds undergraduate degrees from Queen’s University, Canada and an MBA from INSEAD France. He is certified with the Canadian Securities Institute and has attended executive programs held at IMD, Stanford, USC and UC San Francisco.O

Alvin talks about:

• Spending his teenage years away from his Malaysian home in Winnipeg, Canada
• The decision of studying economics and finance at Queens University Smith School of Business, and how that set him up for the business world.
• Having the responsibility to lead Proctor & Gamble South Asia.
• The Malaysia General Manager role running the consumer sector business with brands such as L’Oreal Paris, Garnier and Maybelline, before becoming Managing Director of the L’Oreal Group in Malaysia
• The decision of L’Oreal to change the global language from French to English, to meet its ambition to be a truly international company.
• Proctor & Gamble give the consumer what they want versus L’Oreal giving the consumer what they dream of.
• His leadership style blending an innovative with process-driven.
• Doing the homework in getting the data right and then having the guts to make the call and going for it and not being afraid to make some mistakes.
• The difference in leadership meetings between Proctor & Gamble and L’Oreal.
• L’Oreal’s confrontation room, where one goes to present new products, new concepts and new markets.
• Being able to transform L’Oreal Asia through disrupting the approach from shampoo to cosmetics, hair care and skin care.
• Being bestowed the award of Chevalier de l’Ordre Nationale du Merite by French President Jacques Chirac.
• Creating the first ever KL Fashion week with Star Publication Group in Malaysia.
• Transforming into a Board Director for multiple companies, not-for-profit organisations and educational institutions.
• The purpose and vision for Southgate Ventures Ltd throughout ASIA.
• Running the Singapore half marathon for the first time in 2018.
• Packing a pair of running shoes provides and easy opportunity to keep fit while travelling often.
• Would love to solve the question of, which destination will he retire with his wife Juanita.

Active CEO Wellness Tip                                                

Plan of Attack What is your plan of attack to ensure that you get some exercise in every single day? Remember ‘failure to plan is planning to fail’. CEO’s and leaders often keep track of their important dates, meetings and deadlines in an online schedule or physical diary. Some may even use a PA that keeps them on time, for them. Your exercise and fitness should be no different. Exercise is a fundamental building block to achieving peak performance as a CEO or Leader, therefore it is important to take the time, sit down and assess each week, month or year and seeing opportunities to block out regular timeslots for exercise. You should treat these time-blocks the same way you would any other meeting.

Tweets

“Doing the homework in getting the data right, and then having the guts to make the call and going for it and not being afraid to make some mistakes.” Alvin Hew explains his leadership style, on the active CEO Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

Alvin Hew LinkedIn
Proctor & Gamble
L’Oreal
Southgate Ventures Pte Ltd
The Abraaj Group
H2O Capital
TD Bank
Lancaster Financial Inc.
Maxis Berhad
Petronas Dagangan Berhad
Queen’s University Smith School of Business
European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei
Taipei American School
INSEAD
Canadian Securities Institute
IMD
Stanford
USC
UC San Francisco.
NRG2Perform www.nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn
Ben Gathercole LinkedIn
Ben Gathercole Performance Coaching www.bengathercole.com.au

Recommended Reading:

Better Than Winning – Ben Gathercoles’s best selling book