Mr. Robin Bradshaw, the country manager for Philippines of Cathay Pacific Airways, was our 4th guest speaker. Prior to his assignment, he was assigned as Country Manager in Indonesia for 7 years. He also worked for Cathay Pacific in Middle East, Malaysia, Brunei and Italy. He joined SWIRE Management trainee in 1995 and had been involved in Sales, Marketing and Country Management for Cathay Pacific Airways and John Swire and Sons. He holds the Bachelors degree of Philosophy and Theology from St. Peter's College, University of Oxford as well Advanced Management at INSEAD.
He shared what he learned and experience he had. He shared first about the company he has working for. According to him, they recruit people wanting to stay for life and they value the experience their people get inside the company. This is unusual proposition and I was amazed to Cathay Pacific. How I wish that I work for them ^_^
To begin, SWIRE has been going for 200 years (1816-2016). The company was established by the Swire family and still running by Swire 5th generation with the same values and integrity. Their headquarter in London and 49 share in Cathay Pacific headquartered in Hongkong. Swire business includes properties, aviation, beverages and food chain, marine services and trading and industrial.
He worked for 21 years in SWIRE such as in automotive, offshore, agriculture, and logistic. In addition, 12 years in Cathay Pacific, he done management pilot, sales and distribution. The company move him out, 6 years in Philippines, 2 years in Malaysia, Indonesia for 3 years, Singapore, Hongkong - move you in different countries, move in different industries and move in different functions.
What he can share? He shared his technical expertise - if you can manage people and you can manage numbers it doesn't mean what matter in business you are in. You will find your specialist by doing your best out of it. The genuine general manager is about - "Finding the right people and getting the best out of it."
And to learn more about SWIRE, here are their motto, training principle and five core values:
SWIRE's motto - "Esse Quam Videri" which means "To be, rather than to seem to be". - Let the brand do the talking, let good people in front, let the product do the talking and do what we say.
The training principle that SWIRE practice is the 70 - 20 - 10 which is 70% for learning the job, 20% training, and 10% mentoring and relationship build.
Five (5) Core Values of SWIRE:
1) Integrity is essential in individual and in company. Treating people with integrity
such as telling the truth what's happening to the company.
2) Humility - humble inside and with service mentality who wants to help others.
3) Endeavor - continue to work hard to get the job done and think for the long term.
4) Continuity - work with the same strategies
5) Excellence - caring not hurting the staff
Here are some questions that he answered:
What were your defining moments where you exercise leadership?
- Under pressure from the manager to do something I did not agree with
- Having to terminate a long serving staff
- SARS
If I am going to business in the future, I've learned that I should think about the education of my people by keep training them. Good managers open up and good people develop.
The most difficult things Mr. Bradshaw did was when he terminated a long service staff. I think there are times when we need to do something that can be better for both parties. Employers have the basic right to terminate the employment of the employee however as long as the company will comply with the labor standards and human rights legislation.
During the SARS issue 80% of their passengers cancelled their flights. What Cathay Pacific based in Hongkong did? The management called the team and told them to go to leave (2 months unpaid leave). But at the end of the year when everything went well, they paid and return to employees all the unpaid leave. Because they build trust and integrity to their staff, it went smoothly. That's the true management - face the staff and tell them the truth.
What have been the issues your organization/industry faced over the past three years (or are still facing)?
- over capacity
- non level playing field
- loss of prestige over the idea of flying
How are you harmonizing your work and the other facets of your life?
- stay interesting keep learning
- put your health first, stay active/sleep well
- use my experience to share and teach/my passion
I've learned that you should keep learning and have passion for your work. You should also know yourself - who you are? what do you want to do? what's the importance of your life? In addition, take good care of your health, sleep at least 8 hours. And the most important, to be more effective manager, he advise to always communicate. Hence, I need to improve my communication skill.
He showed the video about the selective attention test (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo) - count how many times the players wearing white pass the basketball. The moral lesson for this "don't missed the gorilla in your life, in your personal life - understand what's going on and what's important to you, to company and to family"
 |
| photo credit: Ms. Pia Manalastas |
He shared what he learned and experience he had. He shared first about the company he has working for. According to him, they recruit people wanting to stay for life and they value the experience their people get inside the company. This is unusual proposition and I was amazed to Cathay Pacific. How I wish that I work for them ^_^
To begin, SWIRE has been going for 200 years (1816-2016). The company was established by the Swire family and still running by Swire 5th generation with the same values and integrity. Their headquarter in London and 49 share in Cathay Pacific headquartered in Hongkong. Swire business includes properties, aviation, beverages and food chain, marine services and trading and industrial.
He worked for 21 years in SWIRE such as in automotive, offshore, agriculture, and logistic. In addition, 12 years in Cathay Pacific, he done management pilot, sales and distribution. The company move him out, 6 years in Philippines, 2 years in Malaysia, Indonesia for 3 years, Singapore, Hongkong - move you in different countries, move in different industries and move in different functions.
What he can share? He shared his technical expertise - if you can manage people and you can manage numbers it doesn't mean what matter in business you are in. You will find your specialist by doing your best out of it. The genuine general manager is about - "Finding the right people and getting the best out of it."
And to learn more about SWIRE, here are their motto, training principle and five core values:
SWIRE's motto - "Esse Quam Videri" which means "To be, rather than to seem to be". - Let the brand do the talking, let good people in front, let the product do the talking and do what we say.
The training principle that SWIRE practice is the 70 - 20 - 10 which is 70% for learning the job, 20% training, and 10% mentoring and relationship build.
Five (5) Core Values of SWIRE:
1) Integrity is essential in individual and in company. Treating people with integrity
such as telling the truth what's happening to the company.
2) Humility - humble inside and with service mentality who wants to help others.
3) Endeavor - continue to work hard to get the job done and think for the long term.
4) Continuity - work with the same strategies
5) Excellence - caring not hurting the staff
 |
| photo credit: Ms. Pia Manalastas |
Here are some questions that he answered:
What were your defining moments where you exercise leadership?
- Under pressure from the manager to do something I did not agree with
- Having to terminate a long serving staff
- SARS
If I am going to business in the future, I've learned that I should think about the education of my people by keep training them. Good managers open up and good people develop.
The most difficult things Mr. Bradshaw did was when he terminated a long service staff. I think there are times when we need to do something that can be better for both parties. Employers have the basic right to terminate the employment of the employee however as long as the company will comply with the labor standards and human rights legislation.
During the SARS issue 80% of their passengers cancelled their flights. What Cathay Pacific based in Hongkong did? The management called the team and told them to go to leave (2 months unpaid leave). But at the end of the year when everything went well, they paid and return to employees all the unpaid leave. Because they build trust and integrity to their staff, it went smoothly. That's the true management - face the staff and tell them the truth.
What have been the issues your organization/industry faced over the past three years (or are still facing)?
- over capacity
- non level playing field
- loss of prestige over the idea of flying
How are you harmonizing your work and the other facets of your life?
- stay interesting keep learning
- put your health first, stay active/sleep well
- use my experience to share and teach/my passion
I've learned that you should keep learning and have passion for your work. You should also know yourself - who you are? what do you want to do? what's the importance of your life? In addition, take good care of your health, sleep at least 8 hours. And the most important, to be more effective manager, he advise to always communicate. Hence, I need to improve my communication skill.
He showed the video about the selective attention test (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo) - count how many times the players wearing white pass the basketball. The moral lesson for this "don't missed the gorilla in your life, in your personal life - understand what's going on and what's important to you, to company and to family"
No comments:
Post a Comment